bincitysioux

I believe the deal with CBS Sports is for like 5 years and they have the rights to the tournament. Fox Sports 1 would have been a far superior alternative, but I suspect that the timing was not right. If Fox would have been a year earlier in their launching, I wonder if our relationship with Fox College Sports could have opened the door for a better NCHC TV deal? Denver also had a long standing agreement with Fox Rocky Mountain which became Root Sports. Timing is everything. I think the logo looks fine. I've only been to the X once for the Frozen Four against Michigan, thought it was awesome, and wasn't sure about the Target Center either. But I am looking forward to checking out the upgrades they are supposedly making. I do like the location of the Target Center better than the X.

I also think it is unlikely that the A10 doesn't backfill. Also feel that UMASS is eventually headed to the old Big East with UCONN, Temple, etc, although that may be a few years down the road. A couple Horizon schools like Valparaiso and Detroit would seem to be likely candidates to replace. I think all eyes from this area are going to be squarely focused on what the MVC does to replace Creighton. I personally think the logical choice would be to only add Oral Roberts. They private, solid in the two sports that the MVC focuses on in basketball and baseball, and fit geographically. But there are many wild scenarios to consider. If the MVC wants to go hog wild to protect against future unrest, they could easily look at any of ORU, Belmont, Denver, Air Force, and Valparaiso. I think Oakland will be Horizon-bound within 2 years, so it would be disastrous for the Summit Leauge if the MVC set their eyes on Denver. I don't think it is likely, but definitely not out of the realm of possibilities. The A10 will also take a hard look at Valparaiso, Detroit, and Belmont I believe. On the other hand, it looks like the Western faction of the A10 is off to the new Big East, so maybe the A10 would look to tighten their geography by looking to pillage some CAA schools. George Mason and Drexel come to mind. Both the Horizon and the Summit are hoping for this. If the A10 looks east, and the MVC only adds ORU, both the Summit and the Horizon could come out relatively unscathed. However, while I think those are the logical options, it seams strength in numbers is what is driving all of this expansion. Actually it is TV, but that seems to be translating to large leagues. As someone else pointed out, the A10 has 16, the Big Ten has 12 (soon to be 14), the ACC has 12 (soon to be 14), the Big Sky has 11 (13 with affiliates), the Catholic 7 started with seven, are moving to 10, and indicating they will end up with 12. In the back of my mind, I also have the feeling that both the A10 and MVC could poach several Horizon schools. If that happens, it could actually be a good thing for the former NCC schools that are in the Summit. All it would mean is that what is left of the Summit and the Horizon would merge. That could mean a 12 to 14 team conference consisting of NDSU, SDSU, USD, UNO, WIU, UW-Green Bay, UW Milwaukee, and a bunch of others that escape me right now. If Tom Douple was left without a job, that would be a huge step up for the former NCC schools. Regardless, I think the MVFC will remain in tact, and the former NCC schools end up just fine.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday's game against SUU, the Sioux will either have equal or more road wins in conference play this season. If anybody would have told me that to start the season, I would have called BS....................

I suppose I could be guilty of using the Big Sky conference partly as an excuse for the misfortune of this year's team. It seems there is a lot wrong with the women's team right now, but I don't think one should overlook the competetiveness of the Big Sky. While I recognize that the NCC in its glory days was a great league, probably the best in DII, I don't feel that it would have come close to the Big Sky. The Big Sky is a legitimate mid-major conference at the DI level for women's basketball. It is a huge step up from the Great West conference, where we did fairly well. But when you go from the worst league out of 32 in the country, to about the 15th best, you have to expect some growing pains along the way. I would not have guessed that the team would struggle like it has, but I also think it would have been unrealistic to assume they'd challenge for a title in year one. A season long injury to the best player on the team did not help matters either. At any rate, Brewster now knows the level of play of the Big Sky, and hopefully can address roster and talent needs going forward to improve.

I had seen that. However, with the conference having 11 members now, UND had 6 more games to achieve that compared to the last time they expanded when there were only 14 conference games. Still, a nice accomplishment.

Power Rankings from the Montana St. beat writer, including a nice comment about North Dakota and Troy Huff:

Big East, Catholic 7 reach agreement

I wonder if Johnson's return will spark a turnaround for the Griz. He is a very talented QB. However, it seemed to me that their biggest struggles were on the defensive side of the ball last season..............

Now we just need to be sure that there is somebody capable of getting the ball into the hands of all of these wide receivers. It is almost embarrassing how great the talent is at the receiver position in this program right now...............

Average attendance this year is 1,469 which is third highest in the Big Sky Conference.

Montana's Mathias Ward had surgery today that will end his playing career. Unfortunate situation for what sounds like to be a fine upstanding young man.

I think the 3rd place game is a good idea for the NCHC. No way is ticket demand going to be anywhere close to what it was for the Final Five. At least this way I know I can see the Sioux play twice that weekend regardless of how they fare in the semi-final game. I just reserved my tickets. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to go to a Final Five. Hoping to make the NCHC tourney an annual family trip starting next year. Will be fun to watch it grow................

Personally, I think Huff should be a lock for the first team. As far as Anderson goes, I know it is a big league with alot of good players but I would think one would be hard pressed to find four guards that have played better than him..............

They could always move a potential NCHC hockey game to the Olympic Arena................ Realistically though, we're only drawing about 1,600 fans this season. I doubt it will increase all that much next year, although I hope it does. I don't think that seating space for fans would be too much of a problem in the Sioux Center next season if North Dakota did end up hosting the Big Sky Tourney. Maybe years down the road it will, and that will be nice "problem" to have to deal with. I also believe that with a healthy roster next year, the Sioux look like they should be in the hunt for a regular season title and the right to host the tournament in 2014.

86 Montana 74 SUU Final

OT

SUU is keeping it close. Griz need to put them away so we officially clinch the 3 seed..........

Yes, they will be on Big Sky TV, except the championship game which will be on ESPNU..........

We need to get to the semis first. If the playoffs started today, that would mean a first round matchup against Sac St., whom we played one of our worst halves of basketball against all season..............

Now win next week and lock up the 3 seed.......

Great way to finish. Road sweep!!!!!!!!

Weber loses to NAU........

Actually, Jones was hired by Tom Buning..........

Aaron Anderson went over 1,000 points for his career tonight against Portland St. First time in UND history that teammates broke the 1,000 point barrier in the same season. Congrats Aaron.............

Results, 2/28/13: 74 North Dakota 66 Portland St. 67 Northern Arizona 58 Idaho St. 88 Northern Colorado 80 Eastern Washington 62 Montana St. 61 Southern Utah 70 Weber St. 55 Sacramento St.