bincitysioux

8-3 we would be a lock. 7-4 would be on the bubble. There will be lots of sad 7-4 teams next season with expanded playoffs, but some happy ones too.

This should be fun.................. OUR OPINION: Champions don’t cheat: That’s the point

I notice on the updated schedule on the school website that the first three home games are going to be night games. I like that.

Offered by four DI schools yet chose the JUCO route. Academic issues......................... A.J. Patty Discusses VU Verbal

I'm a fan of an FCS school so I hate this new policy. But if I am a fan of a Big Ten school, I like this philosophy. IMO, to the people that are going to be selecting the 4 playoff teams, a win against the worst 85 scholarship team looks better on the resume than does a win against the best 63 scholarship team.

Seems like he is an up-and-comer. I'm excited about both him and Kotelnicki. Kotelnicki has done a good job everywhere he has been from DII, to FBS, to FCS.

Meh............... I was never much of a Breitbach-lover, but the highly touted Demler couldn't even beat out the disaster that was Joey Bradley. Methinks the cases of both Demler and Comes were just not great fits for either kid or for the program. They were probably both over-hyped by us and the media for the talent they possessed. Watching practices, I always felt Comes looked better than Demler, but neither of them ever put a twinkle in my eye. And neither apparently impressed the coaching staff all that much, or they wouldn't have both washed out after two seasons here.

Can someone please explain to me why there are sometimes extended waiting periods when teams leave for a new league, and sometimes there are not. UMKC gave the Summit about 5 months notice it was leaving for the WAC, then Oakland about two months notice that it was leaving for the Horizon. North Dakota, SUU, and now Idaho all have had two year waits before beginning Big Sky play. Is this just a Big Sky thing? I would've liked to have Idaho on board this season rather than next...................

I wouldn't be surprised if Denver lasts a couple, three years or so in the Summit. They are no different than any other Summit member: biding their time until a better offer comes along.................................

I get where you are coming from with the idea that football can stabilize a conference, in theory. But look at the WAC, the Southland, the SoCon, the CAA. All have football, and all have experienced significant turnover lately. The realignment/instability going on right now seems more geographic at the mid-major level to me. I think the Big Sky seems more stable, because there are fewer options in the west for programs to move to. I honestly don't care for the way that Fullerton floated the notion of going to 16 teams. With 16 teams, you have two 8 team conferences just waiting to be birthed. That's what happened with the WAC in the mid to late 90's that led to the formation of the Mountain West. I believe the Big East had 16 or 17 members, and that blew up. I really like how the Sky will be made up starting in 2014 when Idaho comes online. I would have preferred to have their football program and go to divisions in football, but the way it is will work too. I don't have any problems with the "rival" scheduling format in Big Sky football. And the 12 teams for the rest of the sports will make for good divisions and travel partners. X Division: North Dakota Northern Colorado Montana Montana St. Idaho Eastern Washington Y Divsion: Portland St. Sacramento St. Idaho St. Weber St. Southern Utah Northern Arizona

I can confirm Bowling Green.

Decline!!!!

I'll bet the commissioner of the WAC calls Omaha's A.D., Trev Alberts, every other day of the week. People talk about IUPUI and IPFW going here, Denver going there, the Dakota's going here....................... I think UNO holds all the cards to the Summit's future. UNO's A.D. has balls. Enough balls to kill one of the 10 best DII football programs. That says alot to me. He went out on limb by deciding to drop football, move to DI and focus on two sports: Hockey and basketball. The hockey conference he put his chips on at the time just went south, and the Summit is crumbling around him. Heck, I'd say Omaha places quite a bit of emphasis on baseball as well. Home of the College World Series isn't it? Is the Summit a good place to park a baseball team? Nope................. Laugh at the WAC all you want, Omaha fits the the bill quite nicely. Commuter school, urban location, no football, current member of a league that is in flux.....................

On a side note, I find it a bit ironic that there is somewhat of a parallel running theme regarding the formation of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and the metamorphosis of the Summit League. The NCHC was "molded" around North Dakota and Denver along with the best of the leftovers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Two of the most prestigious former members of the WCHA moved along to the Big 10, which is a prominent, name-brand league with national notoriety. One of those two teams refuses to play North Dakota in hockey, but the other one will. The Summit in recent years has been "molded" around Fargo U. and Brookings U. along with the best of the leftovers of the North Central Conference. Two of the most prestigious former members of the NCC moved along to the Big Sky, which is a prominent, name-brand league with national notoriety. One of those two teams refuses to play North Dakota in football, but the other one will. It's almost amazing how similar the two situations are.

FU spent a year trying to convince the entire NCC to move up en masse so that they wouldn't have to hunt for DI conference affiliation. Let's not pretend that they offered some sort of act of good will toward certain former members of the NCC as you imply, because it simply is not true.

I feel that the team will rely heavily on Jake Miller this upcoming season. With adequate O-Line play, I think Miller can be a very productive back. Sparks is the other guy I'm most excited about. That kid is built like a brick $hithouse.......................

The Summit option would have been great 3 years ago. I personally don't see the geography advantage. As it stands now, we play most of the regional Summit teams in non-conference anyways. Played FU, SDSU, and UNO all on the road in basketball last year, so that should have satisfied one's desire to make a short road-trip to see the Sioux away from Grand Forks. As far as recruiting, Big Sky membership gives North Dakota access to fertile recruiting grounds in Arizona, Colorado, and California. I'll take that over rural Illinois and Indiana any day.................. You can still travel to away games. We played UNO, SDSU, and FU all on the road last year. My guess is that all those schools will be a staple of the non-conference schedule. In time USD probably will be as well.

Only way I see NDSU getting invited before any defections from the current Big Sky occur is if Denver also comes with them. Travel Partners would be: North Dakota-FU UM-MSU EWU-Idaho ISU-Weber UNC-Denver SUU-NAU PSU-SAC However, I'd prefer to see them stay in the Summit. They seem happy there.

Well, this should spark some intelligent discussion.......................... SCHLOSSMAN: Big Sky should look toward NDSU

It is quite obvious to anybody not wearing green & yellow or blue & yellow glasses, that Douple has an axe to grind against North Dakota, even if that means damaging his own conference. There is absolutely no excuse for the Summit not pursuing North Dakota for affiliate membership in baseball, when it has obviously been made public that UND had a desire to join. The Summit League's leadership is inept, there is no way around it. It is not surprising that even NDSU's president has questioned Douple's leadership....................

I think placing the blame upon farmers for flooding in a city that is built along the banks of a river is misguided at best.............................

I think Weber is a step above everyody else. Given North Dakota's senior-laden class this season, and Montana losing Cherry and Ward, I give UND the edge amongst those two. It'll be a dog-fight after the top 3. I like Montana St., EWU, UNC, and NAU in that order to make next year's conference tourney........................

Funny isn't it, how Douple only came out with the "nickname conspiracy" theory after his conference was in the hurt bag........................ Fact is, Douple blew it with North Dakota, and he knows it. NDSU's own president gave him a negative review. For those that think that newly hired UND president Robert Kelley has enough power to persuade an NCAA Conference Comissioner to insert his positions into a federal lawsuit for the better-ment of a University that is not even a member of said conference, well then I've got some nice ocean front property for sale in between Bismarck and Fargo that may interest you....................

With UMKC and Oakland leaving, and the possibility that the Horizon may take a couple more schools down the road, doesn't the Summit really need to reach out to Chicago St.? I know they are terrible, both athletically and academically, but they have baseball, they are full-fledged DI school, geographically they are about as close to the center of the footprint as a school can get, located at a major airport hub. I know they recently committed to the WAC, but surely CSU is not looking forward to the travel that will require. As of now, the Summit will be an 8 team league including Denver. DU will be joining its third conference in 3 years this season. I doubt that the conference brass is counting on them being a member for the long term. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but at this point, even the most ardent XDSU fan has to admit that Douple really screwed the pooch when he filed North Dakota's application in his desk drawer at the same time that he accepted USD's. Back then, UND would have been all over the Summit, even without the MVFC offer.

That Garnica kid was pretty rough on us in the first game.