AJS

Will they score again this season?

I think everyone knows that you take high school stats with a large grain of salt, but here is how the UND recruits stack up. 2. Judd Caulfied (So) 16G 29A - 45P 5. Braden Costello (Jr) 19G 20A - 39P

"The only sport that matters is Women's hockey, so clearly cut the 2-4 sports " Goon

Very, very annoying to read that over and over and over in every single one of his posts, when it just isn't true.

Correct, last year was rough at the beginning of the year (first 4 games or so). This upcoming year, I couldn't be more excited for the unit. No matter which way you slice it, you have 4 starters returning from a unit that gelled and played relatively well at the end of the year. Besides the 4 starters, you have 4 others that started at least a game. On top of that, you have a talented RS Freshman class (SFI guys said yesterday that Tobin / Nyguon will play next year for sure) and along with those 2, Tom Miller also said he's heard great things from Russo. Long story short, not only will they have experience next year, but depth also.

So, what's your solution?

Was in the plans from who? Ralph? I don't have enough information on the rest and you could be right and that's the reason it wasn't on the chopping block, but I can guarantee what I put in bold would not be the reason for keeping it.

It's hard to comprehend this post, do you think UND is looking at cutting sports just for fun? You do realize the budget crisis that North Dakota / UND is facing, right? Sports need to be cut. Lets get back to neutral and try again with your post taking those facts in hand. I can accept that you covering the team and as a fan of the sport you don't want it cut, but don't act like everyone here just wants Women's hockey to be cut, just because it would be fun. That's not the case. People are brainstorming ways (like Kennedy is doing) to figure out the most logical way out of this financial situation.

They are packed in with a lot of teams right now, if they gain .01 points they sit in 6th, if they drop .01 points they drop to 14th. There needs to be a playoff mentality starting this weekend. They need a sweep at home this weekend.

Yes. If you can't cut it, I'm all for this. No more foreign players, just stick to ND / Minnesota.

I'll disagree big time here. If you put all the cards on the table, it's so clear that WH should be the first sport cut, no question. I think you're nuts if you don't think there wouldn't be major backlash. The society we live in would have an absolute field day with it. Logic would be thrown out the window, it would be how sexist, ect, ect, the University is. That's just the world we live in.

I think there was a net gain of 2 recruits over the past 3 recruiting weekends. Definitely not the number they were supposedly shooting for. For awhile there was tons of momentum (think Colorado players committed). Seemed to stop after that.

This. Also, would like Schlossman's reasoning as well.

So, what happened with the vote today?

Here's what I don't understand. The goal currently for Football is to win a FCS Championship, right? The goal for basketball is to make the NCAA tournament, right? Why would you pay more in expenses (as well as potentially less revenue) to accomplish the same thing? For those who are saying look towards the future, what in the upcoming years would the Big Sky provide that the Summit / MVFC wouldn't?

I know rankings like this are completely subjective, but let's combine the MVFC and Big Sky. Ranking teams you want to see, rest being relatively similar (i.e. Northern Arizona and Illinois State). I'd put it: 1) NDSU 2/3/4) SDSU, Montana, Northern Iowa 5/6/7) Eastern Washington, USD, Montana State I think the MVFC has three teams that everyone will be very excited to see at home, compared to 1 in the Big Sky.

I can understand the wanting to pave your own path crowd, but when you really take a step back, I don't see any negatives with this move. It saves you $500K a year on travel and should increase revenues, by playing more teams people actually want to see. UND has been on an island for years and I don't think its helped any of their programs from a hype standpoint. I want UND to have a well oiled athletic department and this is the first step. Step two is to cut a couple programs.

It's like this year after year too. The Big Sky is not a good basketball conference.

I understand how this can be a very emotional issue, especially if you have a real connection to one of the sports that is possibly on the chopping block. Emotion won out a couple months ago with Kennedy and his decision not to cut. Like has been said before, nobody is happy that a sport(s) have to be cut. It would be devastating to be a student / athlete of one of those programs. Like everyone else, I wish there wasn't a budget shortfall and there were no talks of cuts. That's not where we are right now. It's time for Kennedy to recollect the facts and cut programs that make the most sense. Not only helping to fix the current budget problems, but pave the way for a stronger, more stable athletic department in the future.

I don't think there's anyone that thinks that. If you need to save $2 million dollars, and they cut sports, why would anyone think that they would reciprocate that to other sports? Then they'd still be $2 million in the hole. Now, in the future, once UND balances it's budget, not having these programs will help spread the money around with any budget increase.

I'm genuinely embarrassed for Goon after reading that tweet. He must have been so proud when he pushed send, took a victory lap while he pats himself on the back for being such a great guy. No money issues at UND, you think a women's sport should be cut? Sexist.

Well said. Kennedy needs to sit down and look at current athletic budgets, look at revenues, expenses, potential revenues / exposure and then make the best decision (obviously). To me, WH is the clear #1 to be cut and it's not even close. Now, I don't know the impact on Title IX and how the "tier" system works, so maybe WH stays for that reason. Regardless, sports need to be cut. What's really unfortunate is even though it seems like a no-brainer, there's going to be a very vocal minority that would be out for blood for cutting a women's sport. I think at the end of the day, you cut a sport that has equal men's / women's (Tennis, Swimming / Diving). We don't live in a world of common sense anymore.

This is great! No doubt, need a minimum of 6 wins to end the year. All starts this weekend!

Are you sure about this? I don't think that was the case.

Sweep this weekend and get back on track! I'm with you that if they make the regional in Fargo (I expect them to), that anything could happen. Just get hot at the right time!