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Your thinking of old information regarding the amount they pull in for football... the big 10 network has changed everything, and was impetus for expansion last summer. The figures before nebraska joined last year had Indiana and Purdue pulling in 5 million more than notre dames contract with NBC due to the equal revenue sharing of the Big 10 (which is also the reason that nobody cares how much Minnesota whines about moving their hockey program). The conference is going to be moving to 16 teams, and one of them is going to be Notre Dame... there's too much money for everybody involved for it not to happen.

UND will not be invited, under any circumstances, to the Big 10. And it couldn't afford to, even if it was. Playing in the BTHC would require UND to be broadcast on the Big 10 network. That would require UND to "buy in" to the network, as other schools (Nebraska) have been forced to do, and at this point, its not cheap. It would also mean that the Big 10 would have to negotiate to get the BTCH on in North Dakota regular television, which while possible, hardly seems worth the time with the population of the state. Add to that, how do you see something like this going down in Big 10 meetings? Do you really think that the most powerful athletic conference in the country is going to sit around debating the implications of adding a school like UND to the conference over what is basically filler for the network? No, they won't. UND isn't even close to having the academic profile to being associated with the conference. There was an uproar over Nebraska for petes sake. In addition, the Big10 is an "all in" association, they don't take affiliates. I'l add to this, those of you that are looking to Notre Dame for help on this... they'll be in the conference in the next decade, its inevitable.

Things may be different now for Texas in the Big 10, since the addition of Penn State. Notre Dame isn't going to be joining, and the addition of Texas would give the Big 10 its football championship game, as well as another traditional power in football. Add that Texas would likely be in a division opposite OSU and Michigan, not to mention the academic reputation of the school, and it could be possible. Missouri is also a possibility due to its academics and location. I seriously doubt Nebraska would fit the academic mold that the Big 10 schools are looking for, so I see them as unlikely to gain admission. I've always thought that the Big 10 addition order for a 12th spot would be: 1. Notre Dame 2. Texas 3. Missouri 4. Iowa State 5. Penn 6. Syracuse. I think the most likely scenario though, is nobody is added, and the conference will wait until hell freezes over to get Notre Dame in.

Geogria State and Kennesaw St. don't sponsor football.

I'm sure thats what coaches at UND and USD are telling recruits right now. Nobody is going to go recruit telling kids "Theres a chance you may never compete for a championship of any kind for your entire career".

Summit League? What the hell is that even supposed to mean?

No, thats wrong. For those, it would be a donation of $1714 a piece. Getting to the blunt point though, a single 100 million dollar donation from a dead man doesn't mean that you can raise endowment money faster than MIT. Sure its fun to think that some unknown mystery donor is going to give your school one of the largest donations in American history... but realistically its not going to happen. Honestly, I don't even know what the argument is about here. I was almost positive that several other members would agree with me, but guess not. Sometimes I think I could come on here and tell you that UND doesn't own the moon, and 10 or 15 of you would point at the ralph and tell me that "We could own it, people said the same thing about the ralph. Man they were wrong!".

So I take it you're willing to give up any new construction on campus in the next 10 years to fund this endowment? Or you think there is enough money to continue construction, as well as gain another half billion dollars for the school? If anything, you've just proved my point. The total amount of construction from all funding sources at UND in the last 10 years has been less than the amount you're talking about raising. How in the world can you expect to double that amount of money? Like I said (and has sarcastically been replied to), I'm not trying to be a jerk, but that figure is ridiculous.

I don't know Rick, why don't you tell us their background, and maybe we can give you an explanation? Did they grow in Grand Forks? Do they have relatives that play for the Sioux? Are they fans of other local D-II schools? Do they enjoy hockey, so they are forced to purchase tickets to the football game and want to use them? Are they visiting friends in Grand Forks that go to the games? Do they enjoy sports and split time between the Bison and the Sioux? Are they imaginary, and you just invented them in a vain attempt to convince others that UND is better than NDSU? A little more info. for that question would be nice.

You must be talking about the guys who said that a move to D-I was going to cost an extra 1 million a year a couple months ago....? I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist posting that.

Guess he's going to be at SDSU for a few years. I don't see a school taking a chance on him after this for awhile.

The argus leader article mentions that SDSU matched the offer from UW Green Bay, so I doubt salary was a concern either way. It is kind of a puzzling move though, I thought Johnstons next move up would be to a Big 10/12 program. I think SDSU may have some transition trouble because of Johnston's offense stressing speed, as opposed to size in many cases (fast skinny centers). It will be interesting to see if they can find somebody to step in with a similar offense to what Johnston had them running.