bincitysioux

That's disgusting that the the women's hockey coach makes more than the head football coach. Also embarrassing that the first-year women's basketball coach makes more than his counterpart in the Men's program who has been here for 7 years, and has actually had some success.

I just consider travel. For baseball, if you cancel home games due to weather, they are fairly easy to make-up if the opponent is a bus ride away rather than an airplane ride away. We saw this in the NCC. With WAC affilitation I see cancellations. With Summit affiliation, I'd see postponements. As far as swimming, I admit I'd just see travel savings. I'm speaking from a purely financial perspective. These two sports generate absolutely zero income for the University unlike hockey, football, basketball, even volleyball. So in my eyes, mitigating expenses is paramount............

I understand completely what you are saying. Note that I said "small part". Make no mistake, though, that if South Dakota gave their University Presidents the same authority that North Dakota does, that USD would have just finished up their first season as a member of the Big Sky. There would have been no time for the 11th hour MVFC deal. IMO, the economic impact to the state of South Dakota and the city of Sioux Falls for having the Summit Tourney cemented there weighed heavily on the Regents. If Regent approval for a change wasn't required, North Dakota and South Dakota would have had joint press conferences with the Big Sky in November of 2010. Again, I said small part. I agree that USD is far better off financially in the Summit/MVFC. As far as tourney sites go, again, I agree with you. I think especially in the Big Sky's case, the campus site format works best due to the expansive geography of the league. If it did go to a neutral site, I would think ONLY either Salt Lake City, or Boise would be the best locations. Both locales are an easy drive for Weber, Montana, and Idaho. It has to be close enough for Weber and Griz fans to travel. Sioux Falls works well for the Summit because 4 schools are less than 3 hours away.

Folks, Breitbach left because he had a desire to become a head coach. He's applied for other jobs in the past. Mannassau left because of a great opportunity that he was well suited to him and that will allow him to spend more time at home with family. Mussman came close to leaving when he was OC 7 years ago for the Mankato head job. Dale Lennon left his DC post to be a head coach at UMARY. This is what those that have chosen the coaching profession do: try to move up in the ranks. I'm quite excited about the new coordinators. Kotelnicki has coordinator experience at the DII level and has been an assistant at an FBS program. Schleusner has been "passing game coordinator" (whatever that is) at both the DII and DI level. I think both are rising stars in the football coaching profession. Especially Kotelnicki. I don't expect him to be here much longer. He has bigger fish to fry..................

We don't need a "scheduling alliance" with anyone. We can play Big Sky schools in non-conference play like Portland St. last year and Montana this year. Just another benefit of Big Sky membership..........................

I do not know if North Dakota did or did not get an invite to the Summit for baseball. I would not be surprised if Douple refused to pursue UND even as an affiliate, given the crap-storm he created surrounding the nickname issue. If they did in fact extend an invite to North Dakota for baseball, I would not be surprised if Brian Faison and Robert Kelley told him to take a hike, given the crap-storm that Douple created surrounding the nickname issue. Faison has a lot of contempt for inept conference commissioners. He spear-headed the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, and one of the reasons that he publicly stated for doing so was because he questioned the leadership of the WCHA. When UND chose to join the Big Sky one day before Douple and other Summit officials were to be in Grand Forks for the site-visit, one of the reasons he gave publicly for choosing the Big Sky was that he is "very impressed" with Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton. Now, we all know that the biggest reason that UND chose the Big Sky was for football. My point is that Faison has never been shy about criticizing conference commissioners in public, Tom Douple being one of them. I will say this though: If Douple was too proud to pursue UND for baseball affiliation, that is really too bad for the members of the Summit because if he did not, he's obviously letting emotions get in the way of improving the league. By the same token if Faison and/or Kelley were too proud to accept an invitation to the Summit for baseball, that is really too bad for North Dakota baseball, because they'd obviously be letting emotions get in the way of improving the baseball program. I've said many times that baseball doesn't work at North Dakota, but it would work far better in the Summit that it will in the WAC. And the Summit NEEDS baseball schools. Same could even be said for swimming. I believe the Summit is near the minimum for swimming members, and that would also be a better fit for UND than are the WAC and MPSF. I'm of the opinion that moving the Summit tourney to Sioux Falls for the long term was a factor in Oral Roberts departing the league. There were other factors, but that didn't help. I believe the Tulsa area hosted it before it was moved to South Dakota. On the other hand, I also think that played a small part into cementing South Dakota as a member, when they were ready to bolt. But by all accounts, the tourney in SF has been a smashing success as far as attendance goes. Tourney locations for low-major leagues like the Big Sky and Summit are a bit of conundrum. The Big Sky is looking at going to a neutral or pre-determined site as we speak. Both formats have their positives and negatives. I kind of like what Big Ten Hockey is going to do, rotating between St. Paul and Detroit.

You can't win if you can't run. That is a fact. Pass happy offenses are fun to watch but they rarely have long term sustainable success. Look what Cal Poly accomplished last year. Montana has always had a balanced style. Despite what many people say, you don't need go chuck it around every single down to win in the Big Sky.

I could be wrong, but I think you are thinking of USD when they got into the MVFC. Either way, there were 2 or 3 schools that would only vote to include the Yotes if they didn't have to travel to the Dakotas so often.

Also have to remember that out of 5 former NCC schools that applied for membership to the Big Sky, Fargo U was among 2 that never received an invitation...............

I always wondered how often the Bisonville Bullet Points were updated. It must be fairly often. I haven't heard the one about North Dakota's hiring practices yet..........................

I watched all of Florida GC's games in the tourney, and I honestly don't remember any 3 pointers being made. All I remember is tall, athletic guys slamming down alley-oop dunks. We only have one guy that can do that. FGCU had like 4 or 5 guys that could......................

Illinois-Chicago confirmed today that they've been in talks with the MVC.

Regarding the strength of the Big Sky vs. the Summit in basketball, it can also be noted that in addition to both conferences receiving an equal seed to the NCAA's, both leagues also had a total of 3 teams each participating in some type of post-season basketball. I really don't think there is as big of a gap between the two leagues as some would like to think.........................

I agree that all those would be more appealing to fans as far as a money-game goes. We played Kansas two seasons ago, and Wisconsin the year before. Obviously everyone would love to get Minnesota. I think that game will happen fairly soon now that the nickname debacle is over. I was just throwing out UCLA because of the Jones-Alford connection. Here are the "money games" we've played recently: 2012-13: Kansas St. 2011-12: Kansas & New Mexico 2010-11: Wisconsin 2009-10: Iowa St. & Texas A&M 2008-09: Wichita St. & Texas A&M 2007-08: Iowa St. Seems like Coach Jones tries to hit the middle of the country for our "money games" in addition to tapping into his personal connections for non-conference games. Northern Iowa, for example has been a pretty regular opponent recently. He is an alum and their last two head coaches have North Dakota ties. Played Iowa St. twice while their HC was a former UND assistant. Played New Mexico shortly after Alford was hired. My guess is that our "money game" this year will be against a Big 10 or Big 12 team, and/or possibly an outside chance against UCLA. I still think it would be cool to play UCLA..............................

I know we've all alluded to this topic in a couple other threads, but figured I'd start a dedicated one so we can update it as the schedule progresses throughout the summer. Season ticket renewals came today and it indicated that Fargo U. and South Dakota St. would be on the docket. I presume both will be at home. Here is a thought: How about a money game at UCLA? Coach Jones' mentor, Steve Alford recently took the job there. We travelled to New Mexico a couple years back shortly after Alford took over that program. That would be fun............

I think if the Big Sky had not already gotten Idaho to commit, then they may have pursued Denver in order to get to an even number for basketball.

What's wrong with that? I think it is great to be associated with those programs, both athletically and academically. You're right. It was terrible. This year. Does that mean it will be next year, or 5 years from now? Did you know that 5 years ago it was normally finished higher in the RPI that the Summit? Denver was never invited to the Big Sky. But Southern Utah did leave the Summit for the awful, terrible Big Sky. For crying out loud, UMKC left the Summit for the freakin' WAC. Both NDSU & SDSU spent years courting the Big Sky and only considered joining the Summit after multiple rejections. UND had the choice between the two leagues and chose the Big Sky. The Big Sky champion got the same seed in this year's tournament that the Summit's did. The Big Sky has a more recent win in the tournament that the Summit does. In fact I believe the last Summit school to win a tournament game, is of course no longer in the league. It is not a perception that the Summit has had 21 former members in the last 22 years. That actually happened, and is continuing to happen. What happens if SDSU and/or USD get invited to the Horizon, or even MVC someday and NDSU does not? Or UNO foes to the WAC, they'd make a nice travel partner for UMKC? After all, every argument in favor of the Big Sky seems to come down to butGeography and butI-29.

I'm picking up the tab for it.........................

If North Dakota is to establish itself as one of the best FCS programs in the land, I think it is beneficial for them to be a member of the best FCS conference. I don't see what your problem with the Big Sky is anyways. Not only do we get to associate with great programs like UM, MSU, Weber, Idaho, EWU, Cal Poly, and UC Davis, all the time, but we still are playing your coveted 'I-29' schools in just about everything as well. So what's the big deal? It's really the best of both worlds.

I also heard Faison say that, and I am optimistic that it'll happen. It coincided with Altru's big gift IIRC. However, I've also heard with my own ears from Gene Taylor that construction would begin on the SHAC last spring, and the spring before so I try to temper my enthusiasm when Universities are talking about big construction projects like this. I've been hearing about the IPF for many years now. Looking forward to seeing some Earth moved this summer.............

There are 18 teams between the Summit and the Horizon. The A10, MVC, CAA, and OVC would have to take alot of them to kill either league. Both will do all they can to preserve their respective autobids to the basketball tournament. They will both stick around in some form. Look what the WAC did to preserve their autobid. It all depends basically on how many teams the A10 and the MVC pilfer from the Horizon. My guess is that it will be fewer than what we are all thinking at the moment. I still think Oral Roberts makes a ton of sense for the MVC, and that would likely quell alot of the potential flux that could be forthcoming for both the Horizon and the Summit. In the end, the ex-NCC Summit schools could end up aligned with UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. If I was fan of one of those schools, I'd consider that a net gain over the current Summit, even without Denver................. I wouldn't be shocked if in 3-4 years, the Summit is made up of North Dakota St., South Dakota St., South Dakota, Nebraska-Omaha, Western Illinois, IPFW, IUPUI, UW-Green Bay, and UW-Milwaukee. That is better than today's Summit League............. Having said all that, I think we are in store for a lot of conference shuffling over the next 4-6 years, and the Big Sky will likely not be immune.

Well either the UWGB beat writer is way out in front or he is a complete fool for already putting an article about it in the Green Bay Gazette website. Pretty reckless reporting if it isn't true.......

I wouldn't think so, but the A10 could take multiple Horizon schools if they want.

PantherU.com tweet: Apparently the guy breaking the story about UIC and Oakland is the beat writer for UW-Green Bay. He says that the Horizon is also targeting UMKC and Denver. If virtually every Horizon school not in Wisconsin is looking for a way out, this could all just end in some type of merger between the Summit and the Horizon. One autobid to the NCAA Tourney would be lost, but the conferences that are doing the plundering like the A10, MVC, Big East, would all like that because it would open up one more at-large berth for these types of leagues.

Dom Izzo tweeting that that Illinois-Chicago is going to the MVC, and Oakland is going to the Horizon.....................