dmksioux

I agree with this post 100%. Everyone knew the transition would be difficult but I don't think most Sioux fans would have thought it would go as poorly as it's gone for football. Everything from the product on the field, to scheduling, to fan support/interest has gone south...way south. I understand that conference affiliation is also a huge hurdle and getting into the Big Sky is huge, but again, all the Dakota schools had to deal with these issues. I had to chuckle reading the press release. I understand the need to market but seriously, trying to market these three games is a lost cause. Knocking helmets with a team from the Frontier conference, DII transitional, 4 time NAIA national champions...do they really think Sioux fans are going to get excited about these games?

I agree...but we really don't know what we have at qb going in to next year and it is the first game of the season. I also felt we should have handled Sioux Falls and Southern Oregon. With the way the past two seasons have gone, I will take nothing for granted with the football team until they start to prove otherwise. I really do want to see UND do well with football, it's the sport I like to follow the most which is perhaps why I'm so frustrated with it's current state.

Wow...that's going to be a tough schedule to sell to the average fan. I don't see any way to put a positive spin on this schedule. I'm not so sure our attendance will be as good as some are thinking. Yes we generally draw well on Potato Bowl, but our team could easily be 1-2 or even 0-3 going into that game. If our play on the field is any near as poor as it was this year, that Sioux Falls game may turn into a home field advantage for Sioux Falls. If they are going to bring in sub FCS teams, they should have at least tried to bring in some quality/regional DII 's such as Duluth or even Grand Valley. Perhaps Faison did and was unable to make it work. Enough of the negative nelly comments... I do look forward to the Poly and USD game as well as the UNC game on the road. UNC typically finishes towards the bottom of the Big Sky so this game will perhaps give us a glimpse of where we may stack up heading into the first year of play in the Big Sky.

I understand where you are going with your post but this also illustrates how far the program has dropped in the last 10-15 years. To say that we are using Mayville State as a bench mark as to where our program's at, is to me, unfathomable. I look at both our Men's basketball team and football team and can't help but shake my head. I do see a bit of hope with the young freshman class that Jones has brought in, but we better see improvement from the beginning of this year to where we end the season or I would hope we would begin looking for a new coach. Most of us agree the freshman have talent and are just struggling with the team concept. This is where coaching comes in...time for Jones to show his mettle...

I do agree that the rivalry isn't what it used to be, however, if games start being played on a regular basis, I believe it will become as big as it was before. As far as BWW buying 2200 tickets, they bought them three days prior to the event taking place. I'm sure fans would have bought some of those tickets up. There was still over 6500 tickets sold for this game which is more than any NDSU or UND game has sold for a game since they both went DI. There also were several "Bison strong" signs place around the UND campus the night before the game. Somebody also spray painted "Go Sioux" in the snow banks outside the NDSU Student Union. Again the rivalry isn't where it was, give it a few years of consistent playing and I have no doubt it will be back where it was. You could even argue it will be bigger since neither school will be playing for many DI championships other than hockey or FCS football. Beating the rival school could be considered a 'championship' of it's own...

I am only listening to this game but sure sounds like big Mitch is having a heck of a game. Nice time for a "coming out" game...hopefully it continues in the second half.

Basically yes, but Vikings is over used. Norse is unique and in my opinion, sounds better...

Sorry...dislike this one. At least the football team could go with the "It's 'Rein'ing Fire," or "Step into the 'Rein' of fire, etc. I prefer to stay away from weather/natural element type of names.

These two along with the 'Nokes (Nokota) and Rough Necks, in my opinion, are the best that have been suggested thus far...

I believe RHHiT also mentioned Nokota's as a possible replacement name. Not sure where I had read it or heard it, but I'm pretty sure he mentioned this one...

I particularly enjoyed the following post from lakes referring to him hanging out with the CEO of BWW's... For the record the BWW's CEO is Sally Smith, a graduate of UND...

The quality of the video isn't as good as your version, but since it's "local" I figured I would post it...

You may want to check out this thread as it contains 1800+ posts of what Sioux fans think the new nickname should be...

I appreciate your enthusiasm and determination. I am holding on to the slim possibility that something may happen today as well. But with all due respect, I don't believe the NCAA will do much nor do I feel that they will necessarily respond. I did a quick google search for news regarding the Sioux name and only two articles regarding the Spirit Lake letter came up. It may be in the media in ND but not on a regional or national level, thus I don't think the NCAA will feel any pressure to respond...just my opinion.

On the ND Spirit Campaign website, Phil is listed as a member of the "National Campaign Steering Committee." Not sure what his role is but it appears as though he is involved in fundraising in some way, shape, or form which is a good thing in my opinion. Edit: Here is a link to the website...you will need to scroll to the bottom to see the names... http://www.spirit.und.edu/vision.html

Thanks for the post! I've said it before but I'll say it again, going in to transition I don't believe anyone would have thought that our vb team would handle the transition the best. Ashlee has done some great things for the program and has it headed in the right direction. Hopefully we are able to hold on to him for awhile.

If you're interested in how Sioux fans feel about being in the Big Sky, I would recommend reading this thread: For those that post on this board, I would say the majority are happy to be in the Big Sky...especially since Montana has decided to stay. There are many other reasons (peer instituions, Alumni fan base, television opportunities, etc) that people on here will cite as reasons they prefer the Big Sky. There are a few fans here that would like to see us in the Summit/MVFC...I was one of them. The Big Sky conference is beginning to "grow" on me however. It would be nice to be in a conference with the other Dakota schools, however, I am beginning to believe the Big Sky has a better future and offers more potential benefits for UND than what the Summit would have to offer.

For starters, only NDSU has a stadium big enough to meet the attendance requirements. FBS teams need to average 15,000 home attendance in order to maintain FBS status. Granted there are some creative ways to get around that requirement. I don't think any of the Dakota schools are going to go FBS until they know they are ready...if ever. I also think they will steer clear of the WAC as it is a sinking ship. Idaho should not be FBS, they made a mistake in moving up and it may come back to hurt them . They may end up independent or have to go back to the Big Sky if/when the WAC dies.

I see you've changed your avatar...perhaps the previous one was better than your current one J/K...and thanks...we see enough of those things on bv, don't need them here. Agree that depth is something UND will need to build. But first things first, and that is to recruit kids who can play at this level. He has brought some young talent in. My concern is that he is able to develop that talent to play at the FCS level.

Thanks for your concern...lose the Avatar and you may earn a bit of respect on this board.

Congrats to the Bison...not a great year performance wise, but they did enough to get the wins more often than not this year. I can't say I will be cheering for them...but I will acknowledge what they have accomplished.

I know many fans keep calling for patience and now that we are in a conference things will get better. I wish I could be as optimistic. It would have been one thing if we would have seen some improvement as the season went along but to me, quite the opposite happened. I know we lost a starting senior quarterback, but if that is the only reason the season tanked at the end of the year then we have lots of issues to figure out going forward. I'm also not referring to wins and losses when talking about how disappointing this season has been. Sure we have many freshmen and sophomores playing. The disturbing thing to me as I did not see much, if any, improvement out of their play from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. I haven't seen Mussman make any adjustments in game plans or make any changes in personal that give me hope for next season. I'm sure he will get one more season, but that doesn't mean some changes shouldn't take place. Hopefully he is able to make some changes in the offseason that will help in turning things around...

Bison had the playoffs on the line and they are competing. UND...not so much...

Definitely not worth the $12 I paid for it. From what I have been able to see, it appears as though the Sioux decided not to show up today

No tv but there is a webcast. Webcast is not very good though...quite a bit of rebuferring.