dmksioux

And now this tweet by Tony Jones... Tony Jones ‏@TonyAggieville A group of FCS schools back east, led by James Madison and Jacksonville State, are trying to go FBS and enter the WAC https://twitter.com/TonyAggieville

I understand that part of your post. The whole "UND will become the team to beat in the BSC" is the part to temper down abit. Remember, nobody on our coaching staff has coached a season in the BSC. They can be enthusiastic as they want about recruits, but until this coaching staff proves they can recruit the right kind of kidds and win week in week out in a strong conference (Great West was fine but only had four weeks), I find it premature about becoming "the" team to beat. As someone else stated, perhaps UND will become "a" team to beat...a team that finishes in the top 3-4 on a consistent basis. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about the future of UND football as well. Just don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves too quickly.

Highly unlikely. The WAC will do everything it can to preserve it's FBS status. If it loses that, chances are, they won't be able to regain it. Keeping Idaho and NMSU at the FBS level will allow the WAC to keep it's FBS status for at least 2 years.

As of now, the WAC has 2 football playing schools with Idaho and NMSU. There is some speculation that 4-5 Big Sky schools (UM/MSU/PSU/EWU/UND) may be a part of the WAC at some point which would put the WAC at 6-7 schools for football. Ideally a football conference would like to be at 10 schools. Perhaps the WAC adds a few schools now just to stay afloat. Meanwhile, the Big Sky "lends" a few schools for Olympic sports (UM/MSU/PSU/UND/EWU) with the hopes of moving their football program to WAC-FBS down the road. If the WAC does add a few eastern/southeastern schools, my guess is that they won't be there long term due to geography. Hopefully UND is able to hook onto the Montana schools and keeps their options open.

It's nice to see the coaching staff excited about recruits, but I would temper your enthusiasm just a bit. We haven't even played a game in the BSC yet. We have a lot to prove in the BSC and at the FCS level. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but recruits are just that recruits. Sometimes it translates to the next level sometimes it doesn't.

Here's another interview with Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton. Nothing too earth shattering, but it's still an interesting read. It's nice to see that the Big Sky appears to have a strategic plan in place and is carrying it out. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765592003/Big-Sky-is-isle-of-calm-in-sea-of-grid-turmoil.html?pg=all

Since Star isn't posting here anymore, I will share a couple of his recent posts from other message boards. I have no idea if he is connected or has reliable sources, but it is fun to read and speculate. Here a re couple of links to where Star..er I mean "Siouxfan" is posting: http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=451&f=2368&t=9153461 http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=451&f=2368&t=9158548&p=2

This article is from last week, but there are still some interesting quotes. The article is an interview with Jacksonville St. Head Football Coach. http://www.examiner.com/article/college-football-jacksonville-state-may-be-headed-to-the-wac He seems to think the WAC is going to be adding some FCS schools. The WAC is holding their football media day this Thursday. It will be interesting to see if anymore news comes from that. Also, the interim WAC Commissioner has been quoted as saying the WAC had 30 days to make some decisions. The interview he stated it in was in the first week of July.

Already posted and being discussed here: See post #506 http://forum.siouxsports.com/topic/16241-2012-early-look/page__st__500

Hmmm...I don't like the sounds of that.

I'm thinking it's time we add a new forum to the list on Siouxsports. A "Big Sky Conference News" forum should be added.

Any word on the helmet? I'm assuming it will remain green but curious if they would change the color or logo scheme on it.

You can add the Jack Rabbits to the schedule. We play in Brookings on September 4th. http://www.gojacks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=15000&SPID=7142&SPSID=64536

In the 49 year history of the Big Sky, UM has won 19 conference football championships. MSU has won13. The next closes is Idaho with 8 and Boise St. with 6. It's one thing to win a conference championship, which I think UND will do in the next 10 years. It's a whole other level when you are talking about being the best program in the Big Sky. Can UND get there. Perhaps, but it's going to take longer than the rest of this decade to get to that point. Montana is the program in the Big Sky and it's going to take some history of winning Conference chamionships in order for that to be considered.

I like the optimism of people towards the football program, but this is the reality. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Let's first reach the point of competing for conference championships before we worry about replacing Montana as the top dog in the conference. So blast me if you want but I will have to sell "dethroning Montana as the top dog in the BSC" within the first 10 years.

I'm not really sure which thread to put this in and I didn't want to start a new one so I guess this will have to do. It appears UND and UW have reached a tenative agreement to continue the series. Perhaps this is posted elsewhere. If it is then feel free to delete. Here's the link to Goon's blog... http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/

Both USD and SDSU have inked deals with Midcontinent. Nothing from NDSU...at least as of yet. UND appears to have a better deal than the two SD schools in amount of games/shows and money. It appears USD gets 15 games for the upcoming season and 24 "other" shows. http://blogs.midcosn...sports-team-up/ It appears SDSU gets 10 games for the upcoming season and 24 "other shows. http://blogs.midcosn...ce-partnership/ No mention of a multi year deal or money exchanging hands... EDIT: After re-reading the release, it appears SDSU reached a six year deal...

So, does anyone know if UND's received a letter from the NCAA? We will supposedly be done with the transition and a member of the Big Sky come July 1st. Don't we need that letter from the NCAA before we are officially a full DI member?

Seriously? Which FBS conference footprint does NDSU lie within? Big Ten, not going to happen. Big 12, not going to happen. MAC, have fun with that, still outside the footprint. Which FBS Conference footprint does UM lie within? Already's been courted by the WAC. With their stadium capacity, could possibly be looked at by the MWC and are in the footprint of that conference. Take into account that the Big Sky Commissioner has already been quoted as wanting to position the conference for that "second tier" of schools should the FBS schools leave and form their own league. Montana has already had the initial opportunity and are better positioned to be invited to a FBS school than NDSU. Does that mean it will translate to UND having the same chance? Who knows, but it's still nice to be connected to the Montana schools and a Western Conference where there tends to be more opportunities for moving up.

So it says if FCS picks up the games. Anyone have any information on how likely it will be for FCS to pick up the games?

According to this release from NDSU, it appears that it's the Bison that will be at the Air Force tournament. http://www.gobison.com//pdf8/848599.pdf

We should make them come up to GF and play us before giving it back.

FCS fan forum http://anygivensaturday.com/

To be honest, I didn't really look at the schedules all that closely. I basically went off of what I've read in a few blogs/websites. It seems as though PSU has some good talent being brought in and may be an "up and coming" type of program. I see EWU, Poly, and PSU as the early favorites. I see UM, MSU, and possibly UND at that next level.

Here's my take: 1) Cal Poly - 6.5 wins OVER 2) Cal State Sacramento - 3.5 wins UNDER 3) Cal Davis - 3.5 wins UNDER 4) Eastern Washington - 6.5 wins OVER 5) Idaho State - 2.5 wins UNDER 6) Montana - 8.5 wins UNDER 7) Montana State - 9.5 wins UNDER 8) North Dakota - 5.5 wins OVER 9) Northern Arizona - 3.5 wins OVER 10) Northern Colorado - 3.5 wins UNDER 11) Portland State - 8.5 wins OVER 12) Southern Utah - 5.5 wins OVER 12) Weber State - 6.5 wins OVER