bincitysioux

I'd expect Dale to use Freund as the 4th quarter mop-up QB. Got to get his feet wet, he should have an outstanding chance at taking over the offense next season as a junior. Anybody know anything about Brandon Strouth's recovery? We need him at full strength. He is alot quicker and shiftier than Beatty, and a better receiver out of the backfield. We'll need his speed against Northern Iowa to have chance, as I expect that to be the fastest defense that the Sioux will see all year. I hope that Ryan Chappell lines up next to Dressler on kickoff returns. Kickers don't like to kick to Dressler, but they may not think Chappell is a much better alternative. I think the biggest question mark on offense is the wide receiver position. Losing Grossman was huge. I'd expect Loegering to start opposite Dressler. Hopefully some of the young kids can contribute especially the ones with size like Caufield, Hegg, and Wahlin. We were far too small at the WR position last year. Fast, but small. Any body heard anything for certain about ZBJ? I heard he was gone, then that he was coming back. He would be a huge asset to a defense that graduated several key members.

I don't think that there is any question that 98% of all fans from either school would prefer the Big Sky over the Mid-Con. But I think star2city is a little hard on the Mid-Con. Sure, there are more name-recognizable schools in the Sky i.e. Montana, Montana St., & Idaho St. But if NDSU & SDSU are admitted (and possibly USD down the road) then the Mid-Con offers far better travel and natural rivalries than does the Big Sky. MplsBison offers a valid point that the Mid-Con/GWFC is a conference that the four big Dakota schools could become the anchor for in the future. Again, I prefer the Big Sky, but I wouldn't blink twice or be the least bit disappointed about joining a Mid-Con conference that included two schools that were in very close driving distance of UND.

I'm a farmer, so I usually end up missing one or two home games each year (with only 5 home games this year, I hope to keep it to one at the most ). I've never made a road trip but my wife and I have decided to try and make a point of going to at least one away game each year from here on out. This year we're planning on St. Cloud St. because it falls so late in the year so it should work out. I'd love to go to the UNI game, but it is just too early in the season, and I think we'll be too busy.

It was a fact finding report that gave no recommendations. President Kupchella made the decision upon reading it. I read that report, and I didn't see the page where the results said: "UND should remain in Division II". You must have gotten a different copy.

According to Jeff Kolpack: Free advice for Dale My favorite part of this is how he compares UND's Title IX situation to SDSU's. He thinks because we both use the "equity dollar" route, that UND will be as slow to add schollies as SDSU has been. Apparently he is unaware that the South Dakota Board of Regents requires South Dakota universities to meet all three of the criteria for Title IX compliance, as opposed to the one out of three methods as mandated by Federal Law. He also apparently missed the other article in the Herald that specifically said that UND will offer 57 football scholarships in 2008.

What? Then football will suck up most of the money at NDSU. NDSU has a smaller basketball budget than Division II UND, but will be near the top of the Mid-Con while UND will be below the average Mid-Con school?

NDSU Total Basketball Expenditures: $1,184,705 NDSU Total Basketball Revenues: $744,602 ----------------------------------------------------------- UND Total Basketball Expenditures: $1,337,081 UND Total Basketball Revenues: $1,230,619 Office of Postsecondary Education

I've never really understood the status quo/bullet point philosophy of Bison Fans thinking that UND doesn't care about basketball. Historically UND men's basketball has had far more success than any other collegiate program in the state. Our women have won three national championships. Up until the last few years (the men's program has been going downhill in recent years, hopefully that will start to turn around this year) UND basketball has traditionally drawn more fans than any other collegiate program in the state, while not even playing in the largest metro area in ND. UND has had more NBA draft-picks than any other collegiate program in the state, and former UND coaches have gone on to become head coaches in the NBA. And the UND basketball teams now play in the nicest facilities that any collegiate program in ND can offer. All that, and we don't really care about basketball?

Good article from todays GF Herald that talks about UND's plans for adding schollies. Good news for the football team, they plan on adding 21 right out of the gate, so that they can average 57 for the next two years and cash in on a DI-A payday game. 14 more for women's sports from the start. Men's basketball the next priority. TRANSITION TO DIVISION I ATHLETICS: A battle of the sexes

Here's an article about Southern Utah: More scholarships for SUU football They are adding football schollies starting this year, in an effort to become a "counter" so that they can cash in on DI-A payday games in the future. You need to average 57 for two years to be a counter. They've been at 40. This is significant to UND in the fact that it could, down the road, make SUU more attractive to the Big Sky. Not only could they end up taking a spot in the Big Sky that UND covets, but they could also further deplete UND's near-term future home, the Great West.

It's not very close to Clifford.

Hockey isn't going to hurt UND in the transition to DI, or in the search for a conference. The very least it can do is help. This has been discussed alot before. My take on it is sure, hockey is king at UND.......and football is king at NDSU. Does anyone really think that the fact that NDSU sponsors football is going to keep them out of the Mid-Con, a conference that doesn't sponsor football? Nope. Thanks to hockey, UND already has working relationships with many DI schools like Minnesota, Denver, Maine, New Hampshire, the list goes on and on. Thanks to hockey, UND is already a known and recognizable commodity to not only administrations of DI athletic departments, but to the fanbase of many DI institutions. And of course, thanks to hockey, UND is blessed with outstanding facilities. Can't think of a nicer place to hold conference basketball tournament than Ralph Engelstad Arena.

USD has named their "review committee", and are looking at November 6th to be done with their review. Athletic Review Task Force Announced at The U

I think REA-style Club Lounges built in to the concourses above the endzones on the North and South ends would be cool. Other than that and more suites, there is no need to expand seating, for now.

Bwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

That could be good put Toews NHL career on hold for year or so if Chicago thinks Havlat will come in healthy and score.

While deep deep down I hope you're right about the Big Sky (it is my first choice as a conference to join), I really really hope even more that you are wrong about your opinion of the Mid-Con, because that is the most realistic place to hope for UND athletics to end up. Geography seems to be extremlely important to the Big Sky. UND is not in the footprint of the Big Sky. Geography seems to be somewhat less important to the Mid-Con, but it is still important for obvious reasons. NDSU & SDSU admission to the Mid-Con is a huge step in the right direction for UND, becauses it places UND within the Mid-Con footprint. Joining the Mid-Con-controlled Great West will establish ties to the Mid-Con right away. Another thing that could work in UND's favor in establishing ties with the Mid-Con as soon as we start the transition is swimming & diving. When Valparaiso leaves after 2006-07, that will leave the Mid-Con with only six schools that sponsor the sport. SDSU is already an affiliate member, and NDSU & IPFW do not have swimming & diving. With UND's strong tradition in swimming & diving, the ability to make those two sports playoff eligible in two years rather than five, and close proximity to a current Mid-Con swimming & diving school (SDSU), I feel there would be compelling reasons for the Mid-Con to admit UND as affiliate members in swimming & diving from the get-go. The two current members left of the Mid-Con that have been most vocal about wanting into a different conferene are Southern Utah & Centenary. If both were to for some reason leave at the same time in the near future, I agree that UND wouldn't be an option because of "core" issues. But I think one of them could go and UND would still be in play because of NDSU & SDSU presence (remember the bigger footprint), and because of GWFC and Swimming & Diving affiliation. If Centenary left first, UND would be a virtual lock IMO, concentrating the bulk of membership in the Upper Midwest. I don't necessarily feel that a school needs to leave the Mid-Con either before UND gets a look. With no football they could easily have 11, 12, even 13 or 14 schools if they wanted. For a historically unstable conference that has a high rate of turnover (22 members in 25 years), there is something to be said for "strength in numbers". Judging from history though, by 2009-2010 when UND is a DI "counter", I feel that the odds are pretty favorable that the Mid-Con could be looking for members again. I feel that after looking at past Big Sky expansion patterns, SUU will become a member long before any school from the Dakotas does.

While I like your thinking, star2city, I have come to the conclusion that the Big Sky is not an option until there is a shake-up that will involve Sac St., Portland St., and NAU exiting the conference. I don't see that happening in the next 10 years, much less within the next year. My greatest hope is that we are Mid-Con bound by 2010, and I think that is a realistic best-case scenario.

I agree that it would be especially nice to break into the Montana recuiting scene. ND's record agains Montana in the "Badlands Bowl" shows that there is alot of talented players in that state. It will be tough, though, recruiting against U of Montana & Montana St. I'd assume that's the biggest reason we rarely have Montana players on our roster. With NDSU's strong football tradition, and having played two games in the state of Montana in the last three years, I would have thought they would have hit Montana recruits hard, but to my knowledge they don't have any recruits from Montana. Hopefully, in the future, we can get some games going with the Montana schools and redevelop a rivalry with them to the point that UND is a quality visible football school to players coming out of Montana high-schools. Another area that I look forward to recruiting more is Iowa.

Of course we won't make it to the Frozen Four every year, but it is another revenue stream that would be available to UND, that is not now.

UND readies for a scheduling scramble

GF Herald article, USD should decide by the end of the year. NCC schools contemplate conference's future

There are several articles in today's Argus Leader (Sioux Falls Newspaper), regarding South Dakota's and Augustana's looking into DI. Seven questions facing USD, Augustana with D-I decision SDSU's D-I move gives Augie, USD blueprint for possible step up Division I stats, figures

You're credibility continues to grow with every post.

Are you saying that it is your opinion that U of M and SDSU "manipulated" their numbers to show deficits in the hundreds of thousands of dollars because that is more favorable than their actual situation? That doesn't sound good. The reason I used this site is because all institutions have to report their numbers to it, using certain criteria. It is the only source available, that I am aware of, that offers the information about every school in an objective manner, in which all schools must follow certain parameters while reporting. Unlike you, aff, I don't have access to all of these school's ledger books , so I feel that whether these numbers are "manipulated" or not, at least they are all reported following the same guidelines for each school. If you are more comfortable using the numbers from an SDSU press release and comparing it to the numbers you read in an article in USD's school newspaper writted by a sophomore journalism student and then taking those numbers and comparing them to the ones that NDSU has posted on the Equity in Athletics website, that's fine. Whatever floats your boat.