bincitysioux

I-AA will be viable for a long time. Schools come and schools go from all divisions, all the time. Fullerton is full of hot air, we know that. Moving the entire Big Sky to I-A is preposterous in my opinion. The only schools that I can see that would be in favor of it would be UM (only school that really has the resources, facillities, and fanbase to do it), Sac St. (only because of their President's infatuation with Fresno St., that could change if he ever left), and Montana St. (would only consider it if UM left first). You could make an argument at the current time for Portland St., but that is only because of Jerry Glanville. That talk will end in three years when he moves on. ISU would have no interest in the FBS (Idaho can't really support two I-A schools, much less 3). UNC............I don't think so. NAU with their location and facillities can't compete with ASU and UofA for the sports entertainment dollars in AZ. Same goes for Eastern Washington with regards to the Huskies and Cougars. Weber St. would have to contend with BYU and Utah. If UofM and/or MSU did make the plunge into the FBS, that would only be more incentive for the above schools to make a stronger commitment to I-AA, because that would immediatly make schools like NAU, EWU, etc. contenders in the FCS. The Big Sky would be far better off improving their standing within NCAA basketball. They are already one of the top 2 or 3 FCS conferences in the country. I-AA football is similar to college hockey..........it is a bit of niche sport, but the schools that excel at it, have a rabid regional and national following. The Big Sky gets much more attention as a powerhouse FCS conference than it would as a bottom-feeding FBS conference. Maybe Fullerton doesn't realize this, but I'm sure the University Presidents do.

UND and USD will certainly be close friends throughout the transition. But when either school pursues a conference, whichever conference it may be, or when a given conference shows interest in expansion, it will be every man for himself.

Yes I was referring to DI in Fargo

How come your name here isn't BisonBacker like it is everywhere else?

Not to knit-pick here, but in the last 8 years the Summit and Big Sky have taken turns in which conference has had the better RPI. The Big Sky has finished ahead of the Summit 4 times in 8 years, finishing as high as 14 in 2000 and 17 as recently as 2006. The Summit hasn't done any better than 21 in that time, and out of 32 conferences has rounded out the worst 5 conference RPI 3 times in the last 8 years. In the big picture, it has really been a wash as to which is the better Basketball conference. However the gap may widen with Valpo on the way out. The Summit has been known for basketball because they don't have football.

I think that is more a reflection of the state of DII football rather than our A.D.'s or Coaches scheduling philosophies Example: beating Winona (in region opponent) at home by 50 would mean more for playoff hopes than defeating the defending national champion NWMSU (out of region opponent). I'm sure we could have easily gotten an 11th game. But probably would have had to be on the road to get an attractive top 25 opponent. The alternative would have been a sixth home game against someone like Crookston or Charleston. With playoff stipulations to consider, perhaps 10 games and the extra bye week is more beneficial. I believe Mr. Buning also inherited an athletic department from RT that was running in the red and now has a balanced budget. From what I gather from posters here, most of the coaches liked RT. If I were an employee, I would probably also like to have a boss that allowed me to be a free-spender. As someone who has employees though, I know that my business probably wouldn't last long if I didn't keep a tight leash on how much money was being spent on what. Sometimes tough decisions must be made, and not everyone is going to like it.

Is it really that funny? NDSU's transition year was 2003-04. UND's is 2007-08. Your arrogance makes you forget that in July of 2003, NDSU didn't have any conference affiliations lined up. That is the equilivent point that UND is currently at in July of 2007. Considering that, I myself find it funny that you apparently hold UND to a much higher standard than you do NDSU. Actually I guess it is not all that funny, because I think most people do expect more from The University of North Dakota.

I fixed that part of your post for you. Keep consistent while making your insightful points.

Here's what I've come across for the women's schedule so far....... 11-16-07 vs Metro St. 11-17-07 vs Montana St.-Billings 11-20-07 @ Northern St. 12-28-07 vs Montana St. 12-30-07 @ Minnesota St.-Moorhead 01-02-07 @ UM-Crookston 01-10-08 @ St. Cloud St. 02-02-08 vs Augustana 02-07-08 vs St. Cloud St. 02-14-08 @ Augustana 02-16-08 @ UM-Duluth 03-01-08 vs UM-Duluth

Ha! That was over a month ago when I posted that, and we're still waiting! Here is what I have been able to piece together for the men: 11-16-07 @ Adams St. (can't confirm, just going by what Moody said that day on the radio) 11-17-07 @ University of Colorado-Colorado Springs 11-20-07 @ Northern St. 11-23-07 vs UM-Crookston 11-24-07 vs Western Oregon (can't confirm, just going by what Moody said that day on the radio) 12-11-07 vs Upper Iowa 12-15-07 vs Jamestown College 01-05-08 @ Iowa St. 01-10-08 @ St. Cloud St. 02-02-08 vs Augustana 02-07-08 vs St. Cloud St. 02-14-08 @ Augustana 02-16-08 @ UM-Duluth 03-01-08 vs UM-Duluth I'm glad to see Northern on the schedule again this year. Northern's record last year 21-8 Adams record last year 16-14 UCCS record last year 16-12 Western Oregon record last year 10-17 (beat UND by two) Upper Iowa record last year 3-25 Hopefully that tournement we're hosting on Nov 23-24 are going to be matinee games. The hockey team plays Duluth those days. Could make for a fun double-header day!!!!!

I believe they were $16 last year. Haven't heard anything for this year yet.

Isn't Danny Freund a junior?

$75 for a season ticket

I got a call from the ticket office today saying that my seats were being moved. Not a big deal to me because my new seats will actually be a little better than my old ones. Here's the deal though: I have been sitting on the 15 yard line on the visitors' side for 3 years right next to the band. I was told today that the NCAA has told UND that the band cannot be in between the 20 yard lines, so they're being moved to my section. But I always thought the NCAA didn't have a say until it was an NCAA-sponsored event like a playoff game for which the band and students have always been moved from their regular spots the last few years? And if that is the case, after this year, there won't be any NCAA-sponsored events in the Alerus until 2012 at the earliest. So why the change now? Oh yeah.......this season I will have the band to my left, and the students to my right. Pray for me!

North Dakota wins 30-21. http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/i...;section=Sports

I blame him for this. Obviously it is all his fault.

If you are fairly good with wrenches and have a little patience, it won't be too bad. Setting it up with the motor (so you can change channels/scan satellites) is a little more tricky than a fixed dish, but all it takes for a novice is a little time. Don't expect to set your dish and point it a few hours before a game you want to see. Every year, when fightingsioux.com posts the coordinates, I spend a weekend afternoon pointing the dish to make sure it will work a few weeks in advance. To save time, get some extension cords and a 9 or 13 inch TV that you can place right next to the dish as you're "tweeking" it. This will save you alot of time. Do a google search on the net to find what your elevation should be, and after that it is as simple as turining the dish on the mast right or left until you peak the signal on the satellite that the Sioux will be on. Do "blind scan" 10 minutes before the first home game and you should be in business.

Hey Hammer, any concrete info on this? I've felt that UND will probably make both Men's and Women's swimming and diving the first to move up, simply for the fact that I think these sports could help UND establish early ties with the Summit leauge as possible affiliate members. I believe the Summit will be down to six members this season when Valparaiso leaves. On the other hand, I'm a bit torn because I know Volleyball could actually generate a little bit of revenue during the transition. The problem with that is finding an off-setting men's sport. The only one I could think of is baseball, but I don't think that would be a good idea, since we struggle to compete in DII.

This has been hashed over a hundred different ways, but I'll chime in again with my same old mantra. I feel it would be better for the UXD's in the end to land in a different conference than XDSU's. My hope is (and I know that it is probably a very remote chance) that there will be some membership changes in the Big Sky conference towards the end of UND's transition period that will make eastward expansion more favorable for that conference. IMO, if UND and/or USD were lucky enough to get in within 5 years, having conference games every year in all sports against schools like Montana, Montana St., Weber St., Idaho St., Northern Colorado, and then non-conference games against NDSU and SDSU would make for some really entertaining schedules every year. The XDSU's would be the same great scenario with conference games against schools Oral Roberts, UM-Kansas City, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, and big drawing rivalry and regional games against the UxD's. Having said all that, I think it is far more likely that the Summit League will be looking for members before the Big Sky will. As they begin their 26th season next fall, they will have had a total of 27 different members. I will consider UND lucky to join that conference if the opportunity presents itself. The only downside I see to Summit membership is that will likely mean long-term membership for football in the Great West. The Gateway probably won't look to expand within the next 10 years I feel. The Great West could be a wonderful conference, however when it is officially back up to 5 members in 2009, a minimum of 4 members will still be actively seeking different homes, maybe even 5 Cal-Poly as FBS aspirations like it sounds like UC Davis does. My prediction: UND will begin Summit Leauge play in the fall of 2012, and will be seeking their fourth consecutive Great West Football Conference Championship.

This has got to rank right up there as one of the best off-season threads of all time.

I'd like to be the first in this thread to commend Tom Buning on his ability to retain Dale Lennon. IMHO, that was a nice piece of Athletic Direction!

Absolutley

I haven't yet seen a link to a press release or news report that Lennon was in fact ever offered the job.

They are now also saying on bobcatnation.com that Lennon has turned down the job. Citing UND's running backs coach as a source?

Fabulous! Thanks for the update iramurphy!