bincitysioux

Yes

It's not Sanford...............it is me! In accordance with the tradition of referring to the hockey arena as "The Ralph", and the football stadium "The Al", I've asked the practice facility be officially known as "The Bin".

Absolutely agree with everything you say............. Just sayin' I'm not now, nor in the next 5-10 years, going to get bent out of shape about having one DII, DIII, or NAIA on the schedule, because I think that is what it takes to make ends meet. Quite alot of FCS programs use the same model. Especially given the fact that we play in a sparsley "FCS populated" region of the U.S., and have to find 7 non-conference games each year.

Iceberg, could you expand on this potential problem?......... The reason I ask is because for the last two seasons, the transponder I scan in is always exactly 3 MHz off of the published coordinates. This is on virtually every channel I tune in on my FTA system, which is motorized.

You are correct on all of your assumptions............. USD hasn't released their TV schedule yet, but their last two home games with North Dakota were televised on Midco. SDSU has a poor track record regarding television...........but their new A.D. may have different ideas than his predecessor. I'm confident that at least one of the games in South Dakota will be televised.............

Thanks for the heads up! That brings the number of TV games for North Dakota to 5.......................

As far as Sioux Falls go, I'm not really on board with the "buy them out or else" crowd. It's quite likely that more often than not in the world of DI FCS football, we will have at least one sub-DI opponent in a given year. I really don't care if it is Sioux Falls, Humboldt State, or Grand Valley............it is just a reality to make the economics of college sports feasible. To me, it is no different than a Texas Tech or Idaho playing North Dakota.

Seeing as how North Dakota, NDSU, and SDSU all just completed their 2010 schedules back in April & May, I'm not too worked up about not having the 2011 slate finished up more than a year before the season starts. I'd suspect that there are very few D1 level schools that do have their 2011 schedule completed now.

All Griz games are on KU/Free-to-air satellite............I would think it is a good bet that FSSN/Midco would pick up the feed and air it locally, like they did with the Northwestern St. game last year.

Idaho was picked 4th in the WAC media poll, and 6th in the coaches poll........

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Phil Steele has released his preseason All Great West Teams.......... Queoff, Boyle, Kasowski, and Hawkins all made 1st team, while Landry, Sutton, McGurran, Brenneman, Dublanko, Cochran, and Ankenbauer made 2nd team. Phil Steele is pretty respected/knowledgeable, but I was shocked to see Cal Poly's QB Tony Smith named the 1st team QB. He looked pretty awful to me in GF last season. According to AGS, he may not even open the season as the starter. Davis, SUU, and USD all have new QB's this season..........despite his up and down season last year, Jake Landry is possibly the most proven and perhaps reliable QB in the league to start off this season. I would have picked Davis as the favorite coming in to this year, but when their QB Denham decided not to return, I think made everything wide open. Despite North Dakota's wide receiver situation, we could potentially have one of the most experienced offenses coming back this season with Landry/Goska under center and Sutton/Murray in the backfield. And I have to think that the defense will improve with Dublanko, Boyle, Brenneman, and Hawkins progressing.

As far as the type of atmosphere to expect, Idaho averaged 12,546 last season. For their home opener against Mountain West foe San Diego St., they drew 10,324 coming off of a 2-10 season. Their highest attended game was against Mountain West member Colorado state at 16,000. I'd expect the atmosphere to be similar to playing at a higher-end FCS program with a crowd somewhere in the 12,000-14,000 range. Excitement is high right now for the Vandals. In addition to that exciting bowl win, they are coming off of their first winning season since 1999. They recently announced a major upcoming renovation to their Dome. This is a program that was extremely competetive at the FCS level until they moved up in the late 90's. It is however, IMO, a very winnable game for North Dakota.

I don't think I'll refer to it as I-AA anymore, since that it isn't its name. Similar to how I don't refer to my wife by her maiden name anymore, since it isn't her name.............. Now excuse me while I go look for some hockey on OLN...............

Drake Tournament (Sept. 3-4) Drake UW-Green Bay Southern Utah North Dakota

I am Coach's club, and they just got in touch with me last Friday........

Looking ahead to the OBVIOUS trickle down effect this is all going to eventually have, I wonder what doors this may potentially open or close for Denver down the road who has been the subject of alot of speculation as a potential Summit member along with North Dakota. Does the WCC try to strengthen their numbers by taking Seattle and giving in to Denver? Would any of the California WCC schools consider moving to the Big West if Cal Poly or UC Davis opened up a spot by moving to the WAC? Is the WAC going to try to grab anyone they possibly can, like football-less Denver? If the likes of TCU, Utah, or BYU get pilfered from the Mountain West, do they start looking at non-football schools like Denver? Interesting times.................

And that would probably be an ideal situation for North Dakota.

For me I would choose to be affiliated with the current Big Sky over the current Summit/MVFC. Aside from the 3 main reasons I outlined, I think it'd be pretty killer to have Montana, Montana St., Weber St., and potentially non-conference FB games from a combination of NDSU, SDSU, and USD in a given year. Same goes for basketball, volleyball, and other minor sports. Big Sky conference games, OOC games against the other Dakota schools would still happen as we move forward. Like I (and you) said, if the Montana schools aren't in the mix it would certainly tip the scales in favor of the Summit/MVFC. My biggest concern is solidifying the football program. While it is apparent that there will be changes/openings in the Summit in the future, I don't see those potential openings in the MVFC as being as highly probable. One last thing, I think the Big Sky gets much more exposure than the MVFC. Other than local broadcasts for NDSU games, you can probably find 3 times the number of televised Big Sky games versus MVFC on DirecTV and other media over the course of a football season. But I would be ecstatic to be in either league. Just a couple different perspectives, nothing wrong with that!

Are you blind?

My preference obviously depends on any membership changes. If one or especially both Montana schools left, I'd be more apt to change my tune and possibly favor the current Summit.................If the Montana schools stayed, and it were say a Sac St. or Portland State that left the BSC, I'd prefer the Big Sky ten-fold to the current Summit. And, I'm not sure that I agree that the Summit has higher quality membership and recognition. My own personal reasons: 1) Autobid for football..........Summit membership doesn't mean MVFC membership. 2) Opponent continuity............Since the hockey conference is already separate from everything, it'd be nice to have the same regular opponents in the other major sports of FB, MBB, and WBB. 3) Alumni base..............other than ND & MN, most of the alumni is west rather than midwest.

As long as they have an autobid, they are very attractive to us no matter what the membership makeup is IMO. On the flip side, whether a Montana school or Pacific coast school leaves the Big Sky, it creates an immediate need for the Big Sky to add SUU, and that creates another opening in the Summit.

I love all of this chaos...........and it is going to trigger a trickle-down effect all the way to the mid-major and low-major ranks, just like many have been predicting for several years. The irony is that it is starting in the west rather than the east (as in Big East) as most have thought. I'm a little bummed though, because of all the high-major conferences, I've always followed the Big 12 the closest for whatever reason..........but this is what the old Big 8 gets for bowing down to Texas in order to get them to join so many years ago. However, isn't this somewhat of a repetitive pattern? Seems like this is all a similar scenario to how the Mountain West was formed, when the WAC was expanding and expanding. Difference is that the WAC members of 15 years ago weren't getting $20 Million dollar checks annually from a TV channel to air their golf tournaments.................

And in most cases, University Presidents aren't glued to what is going on in the realm of college athletics...........they rely on their A.D.'s to supply them with information needed to make the best decision for the University as a whole. It's called delegating..............Now, what has Montana's A.D. been telling his president?............what has North Dakota's A.D. been telling his president (regarding the nickname)? I see a pattern..............

Put the poll up for ya........ I've stated my thoughts many times in the past. Having the same football conference as the rest of the athletic department would be ideal for opponent continuity. Also, since basketball is king in DI, it would be more beneficial to be in the Big Sky since it is a better better basketball league than the Summit. Also, like you said, North Dakota's fanbase/alumni lies mostly in the west, except for the Twin Cities. It would be better to recruit both athletes and donors from the western U.S. than from the Great Lakes and Missouri River Valley region.

I really don't see the potential controversy that should should come from this apparent arrangement. Regardless of a "50 year history" or not, it sounds like a good deal for NDSU. If a similar scenario were to play out for UND, hypothetically speaking.............if Rudy Luther and Downtown Jaguar of Minneapolis offered 3-4 times the amount that the Rydell Auto Group offered to be sponsor of the starting lineup at hockey games, I certainly wouldn't object. Business is business IMO. Having said that though, in my own personal opinion and based on my own personal conversations and correspondence with Gene Taylor, I wouldn't put much stock into what he tells the media or even NDSU's Teammakers. He definately has a future in Politics........