bincitysioux

NDSU is now in a conference, so scheduling is easier for them now. You're exactly right about it being economics. It makes sense to play regional opponents for a few warm up games and schedule fillers, just like we have been doing for years with Dickinson, Minot, VCSU, Dakota Weslyan, etc, etc. We've gone around on this a couple times, and we just agree to disagree. I would rather play THE University of Montana than Duluth. You said Northern Iowa is coming to GF next year. Well maybe they'll take Minot's spot on the schedule. Wouldn't you rather see them on the schedule than Augustana, for example. After all, we have won 19 of the last 21 meetings with UNI! We've been playing local lower level colleges for years, and we'll continue to do so. But in time they will be fewer and farther between rather than more and more common like has happened in the last seven or eight years. I don't expect Big 10 and Big 12 schools to come to GF regularily if at all, and no one really should. But what I consider our peers (athletically, academically, and demographically) probably will become regulars. Like Montana and Montana St, Idaho and Idaho St., Wyoming, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Drake, and the list goes on and on. All those schools and about 150 others sound better to me than St. Cloud, Augustana, Bemidji, or Wayne St. I look forward to UND basketball returning to the glory days of the 60's and 70's when they regularily competed against some of the teams that now make up the Mid-Major schools of DI.

Overall, it is a decent first year schedule. Not much for home games obviously, but there is still USD which will be alot of fun, and the other two transitionals (SIU-E and Seattle) have been solid DII programs for years. Not nearly as good as the women's schedule, but there's alot more involved on the men's side I suppose. I give credit to the staff for doing most of this without an A.D. Nice away schedule. 2 MVC teams and a Big 12 school. Nice to hear that UNI is coming next season, rather than have us travel twice before getting the return game. I would think that Green Bay and Northern Colorado are amongst the teams returning games next year. Walrus, I know you were pretty much against the move to DI, and a big basketball supporter but come on. UND has played Crookston every single year since 1999, and 3 of those games were at their gym. On top of that, UND hasn't played less than 2 NAIA teams a year (4 last year) in the same time frame, travelling to play them on a couple of occaisons. After this season, we can only have 4 non-DI games a year. I'm guessing we will almost always play 2 NAIA's probably from the DAC each year, and probably 2 DII's each year. I would think, and actually hope, that one of our non-DI games each year will be either Mary or Crookston.

Of course we are excited about playing Idaho. They are a 85 scholarship FBS program that could be very winnable games, and are likely paying a decent guarantee. Excitement should be high for the first game in Moscow, as we will probably be christening there newly renovated stadium. Sure, they have been a poor team in recent years, in fact a quick check of the Massey Ratings shows they were rated at 120 (dead last) among FBS teams last season. Only 12 spots behind Minnesota for the sake of comparison. I don't really know if that is a good indication of where they will be 2 years from now though but we'll see. At any rate, I'm excited about those two games. I think it was mentioned a few times in the 2008 Schedule thread. But why talk about it really? Nobody is excited about it, but that is the type of games that fall into place in the first transitional year for a new DI program. Alot more common than you might think. I don't recall anyone here giving Valparaiso the credit of being as good as any D2 team. They are just like LaCrosse, they don't have any scholarships. They are very similar except for the fact that LaCrosse wins against the other non-scholarship competition that they play, while Valpo is not very competetive against the other non-scholarship competition that they play. I think it is right here. At any rate, I'm excited for this opportunity to play Texas Tech. Could likely end very ugly, but it is just not the type of experience that many student-athletes or fans from small schools or states like North Dakota get to experience very often. And of course the pay check will be nice. As for the game itself, it is pretty early to make projections, but my biggest concerns are what TT has done to their other recent FCS competition, and the fact that we will be breaking in a new Quarterback that game. That will be one hell of a way for a small-town QB to presumably be making his first start of his career.

Nov. 18 vs. Southwest Minnesota St. Nov. 22 vs. Bemidji St. Nov. 26 vs. Upper Iowa Dec. 2 @ Montana Dec. 6 @ Northern Iowa Dec. 10 vs. Valley City State Dec. 17 vs. Dickinson St. Dec. 30 vs. UM-Crookston Jan. 2 vs Minot St. Jan. 13 vs. University of Mary Jan. 19 vs. Mayville St. Feb. 3 @ Southwest Minnesota St. Feb. 12 @ Northern Colorado Feb. 19 vs. SIU-Edwardsville Mar. 1 @ SIU-Edwardsville TBA vs. Seattle TBA vs. South Dakota TBA @ Seattle TBA @ South Dakota TBA @ UW-Green Bay Mar. 7-8 UND Tournament

Very cool. I'd be interested to know how we got this game since UND won't be eligible as a counter for a bowl game until 2010. At any rate, it looks like our openings for FBS teams are full for the coming years with Texas Tech in '09, and Idaho in '10 and '11.

Nov. 18 vs. Southwest Minnesota St. Nov. 22 vs. Bemidji St. Nov. 26 vs. Upper Iowa Dec. 2 @ Montana Dec. 6 @ Northern Iowa Dec. 17 vs. Dickinson St. Dec. 30 vs. UM-Crookston Jan. 2 vs Minot St. Jan. 13 vs. University of Mary Jan. 19 vs. Mayville St. Feb. 3 @ Southwest Minnesota St. Feb. 12 @ Northern Colorado Feb. 19 vs. SIU-Edwardsville Mar. 1 @ SIU-Edwardsville TBA vs. Seattle TBA vs. South Dakota TBA @ Seattle TBA @ South Dakota TBA @ UW-Green Bay Mar. 7-8 UND Tournament

Agree that they are most likely 2 for 1 agreements. The UWGB contract is a "multiple year agreement".

Nov. 18 vs. Southwest Minnesota St. Nov. 22 vs. Bemidji St. Nov. 26 vs. Upper Iowa Dec. 6 @ Northern Iowa Dec. 17 vs. Dickinson St. Dec. 30 vs. UM-Crookston Jan. 2 vs Minot St. Jan. 13 vs. University of Mary Jan. 19 vs. Mayville St. Feb. 3 @ Southwest Minnesota St. Feb. 19 vs. SIU-Edwardsville Mar. 1 @ SIU-Edwardsville TBA vs. Seattle TBA vs. South Dakota TBA @ Seattle TBA @ South Dakota TBA @ UW-Green Bay TBA @ Northern Colorado Mar. 7-8 UND Tournament SIU-Edwardsville will participate in the season ending tourney. I assume USD and Seattle will as well. Just a quick glance at the women's schedule shows home double-headers on Dec. 17, Feb. 19, and away Mar. 1 at SIU-E. I'd imagine the games with USD and Seattle will also be double-headers both home and away. Both the men's and women's season ending tournaments take place on the same weekend as well so there will be alot of basketball played that weekend.

Chappel's big play ability will certainly be missed, but you are sadly mistaken if you think that UND was only one-deep at the RB position last season, or that they will be this season. Although probably not the home-run threat that Chappel is, many feel, including myself, that Josh Murray will be just as capable. As far as Stroup goes, he was often injured during his sophomore season and really wasn't 100% all season. His on-field intensity is what will be missed most. But that is not needed either if his off-field antics come with it.

I can see SUU and USD duking it out to stay out of the cellar.

SME Broadcasting Projection

Thanks for the maps Hammersmith....... It seems like you are insinuating that NDSU's media coverage is head and shoulders above UND and it'll take years for us to catch up. I admit I'm impressed with all of the TV time that NDSU has had starting last year. They've taken UND's "in-house" model for TV and expanded on it. I'm very disappointed that UND has only decided to televise one game this year, but I suspect that somewhat unappetizing home schedule, along with A.D. change had alot to do with that, at least I hope that won't be the norm toward the end of the transition. In fact with NDSU slowly trimming ties with ForumComm, I wouldn't be surprised to see several UND games pop up across ForumComm's statewide ABC networks by years 4 or 5 of the transition. Hopefully anyways, we'll see. But as far as radio goes, reverse your two maps and that big footprint belonged to UND untill this fall. KFYR is what is making the difference, and NDSU I'm sure paid handsomely to get their games included on that station. And kudos for them for doing it, that is going to be somewhat of a blow to UND fans out west. I think it is interesting that the Bismarck and Fargo stations of the Radio Network are not Clear Channel stations. I wonder if Clear Channel is required to "farm out" the broadcasts in order to get them into those markets, or is UND allowed to make separate deals in markets where CC doesn't have a presence? On a similar note, your maps (nor did the press release from UND) did not include 1240 AM (football) and 102.5 FM (hockey) out of Devils Lake. Although KFYR and KXMR have agreements with NDSU and UMary, I wonder if one of those stations will still have hockey games on Friday nights and/or both FRI/SAT once football season is over. If no hockey will be heard on CC Bismarck stations, NDSU must have paid a very hefty price in order to offset all the advertising dollars those 40 hockey games generated from October to April. Remember, NDSU was thinking hard about dumping ForumComm all together in order to get on KFYR back when the contracts were up in 2006, but KFYR was unwilling to give up hockey at the time. All in all I think both UND and NDSU fans should be very thankful for the media attention that both schools get. I've been reading both the USD and SDSU boards in recent weeks on this subject, and it sounds like if you are not within 65 miles or so of Sioux Falls, you can't really reliably follow either schools sports. In fact USD just changed broadcast partners, and it sounds like there is some question as to how well the new signal will even be able to be received in Vermillion. Neither school have weekly TV coach's shows like UND and NDSU have for as long as I can remember.

Max has a cheesy voice. I don't like it but at least the ad exists.

This is my #1 alternative. Dartmouth (as obnoxious as they are) is the only school that I know of that does not have an official nickname or mascot. Like "Fighting Sioux", it would be unique. And without a forced replacement, it would indeed carry on. I think along the lines of the Montreal Canadiens being referred to as "Le Habs", or the Pittsburg Pirates referred to as the "Bucs". Unofficial, yet almost prevalent. If a new name like the "Freeze" or "RiverRats" or whatever is forced down our throats right away, then the name and tradition of the Sioux will drift into the past fairly quickly.

Interesting facts about our Great West bretheren: New Jersey Tech -Was the first school to receive the top honor on the "Most Wired University" list, which has also included UND the last two years. -Has trademarked the term "Virtual Classroom" -Specializes in the research of "smart gun" technology -Founded in 1881 and currently has an an enrollment of over 8,000 Utah Valley University -8th fastest growing university in the U.S. -UVU graduates earn more money than graduates from any other Utah university -Founded in 1941 and currently has an enrollment of nearly 24,000 Houston Baptist -Ranked in the top tier of the Best Univeristies offering Master's Degrees in the Western region by U.S. News & World Report. -Undergrads are required to have a double-major -Qualified for the DI NCAA Tournament in men's basketball in 1984 -Qualified for the NAIA National Tournament in men's basketball for 10 consecutive seasons from 1997-2007 -Founded in 1960 and currently has an enrollment of over 2,300 Texas-Pan American -10th largest university in Texas -Ranks 2nd in the nation for bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics -Won the NAIA National Championship in men's basketball in 1963 -Participated in the 1981 NIT -Founded in 1927 and currently has an enrollment of over 17,000 South Dakota -Oldest university in the Dakotas -Offers the only Law & Medical Schools in South Dakota -Won the NCAA College Division National Championship for men's basketball in 1958 -Won the DII National Championship in men's cross country in 1998 -Notable alumni include TV personalities Tom Brokaw, Pat O'Brien, and "USA Today" founder Al Neuharth -Founded in 1862 and currently has an enrollment of over 9,000 Cal Poly -Ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report in the Western United States for public schools whose highest degree is a Master's Degree -Voted #3 architecture school in the U.S. by "Designintelligence" -Has the largest endowment in the California State University System -John Madden and Ozzie Smith attended Cal Poly -A 1960 charter plane crash killed 16 Cal Poly football players....assumed to be the reason for John Madden's fear of flying -Founded in 1901 and currently has an enrollment of nearly 20,000 UC Davis -Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the 42nd best university in the U.S. -Has a Medical School, Law School, and is arguably the most prominent Agricultural School in the U.S. -Ranks #1 in expenditures for Agricultural research -Won DII National Championships in men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis, and softball since 1990 -Has an endowment of over $600 Million -Founded in 1901 and currently has an enrollment of over 30,000 Southern Utah -Southern Utah University hosts the Tony Award Winning Utah Shakespearean Festival -Twice named as "Best Value College" in America -Twice named to Princeton Review's "Best in the West -U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attended SUU -Founded in 1897 and currently has an enrollment of over 7,500 -

I hate hunting...........by that I mean, I hate to actually physically go out and hunt an animal. There are about 9 million other things I'd rather do (including getting slapped in the balls) than get up at 4:30 in the morning, strategically place plastic birds in a field, and then lie down on the soaking wet ground in a heavy fog and wait for real birds to hopefully land near me. While I hate hunting myself, I do support hunters and appreciate those that enjoy it and do it the right way. I'm a farmer, and you would not believe the damage that deer and geese do to crops. IMO, the hunting seasons for those are way, way to short. In fact if I had my way, a person could shoot deer or geese year round! As far as elk farms or pheasant farms go, really what is the problem with that? How is it different than a beef cattle, or hog operation? Consider them different forms of livestock.

It could last for a very very long time if the University simply drops the name and logo, rather than replaces it.

See here.

From the Press Conference: There will be post season tournaments for men's and women's basketball and volleyball. UND has already submitted a bid to host the first volleyball championship. Looking for affiliate membership in another conference for S & D. Hoping to bring in full or affiliate members so the GWC can sponsor women's soccer. All schools have agreed to a 3 year commitment to the new league.

Faison just said at the Great West press conference that there is one game left to schedule.

From the Fightingsioux.com release:

Ironically as I'm reading through this thread, I just heard a commercial for NDSU football tickets on KNOX. That is indeed sad. And apparently no basketball games. Not even the USD basketball games? The FSSN is an asset that is so under-utilized. People can joke all they want about the FSSN (being on the home shopping channel in Fargo, for example) but it reaches over 300,000 homes in ND, SD, and MN on several cable companies. A two or three hour game broadcast of any sport is a great advertising tool for the entire university.

It would appear that Utah Valley is on board. UV to Announce Conference Affiliation

Great West expansion to be announced soon

It would be the same problem as with 740 AM. These two stations are "big sticks" that have a huge, multi-state daytime footprint, but power down so much at night that they are virtually unlistenable unless within a 20-30 mile radius of the trasmitter. 740 is 50,000 watts during the day and about 900 watts at night. Hennen's 1100 is 50,000 watts in the daylight and under 500 watts at night-time. It would be great for either or even both of these stations to be a part of the radio network, but I think a bad idea for either one to be the flagship. Stations like KFGO and WDAY are 5,000 watts 24 hours a day, that is why they can be heard at night time. Having KFGO air football and hockey games is very valuable.