bincitysioux

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.

I would like to express my thanks to DI IN FARGO and aff for voicing their concerns about UND's finances. It shows me that they have quite an interest in the well-being of the institutions of higher education in throughout our region, as well they should. I am sure that if I went to the Gophers' message board I would find both of them posting about U of M's bloated athletic budget & their deficit. University of Minnesota Revenue: $51,721,017 Expense: $52,316,266 I'll bet that aff in particular has several threads on the bunny-board devoted to SDSU's economic conditions. South Dakota State University Revenue: $6,280,833 Expense: $6,547,381 NDSU, of course, had that last minute miracle donor. North Dakota State University Revenue: $7,668,848 Expense: $7,668,848 And then there is UND with that money-sucking hockey program. University of North Dakota Revenue: $10,021,643 Expense: $9,958,728 And I'm sure the both of them are constantly on the Coyote board because everyone knows that USD loses money so fast that it'll make your head spin. University of South Dakota Revenue: $4,311,013 Expense: $4,265,076 Thank you to all the fans of other schools that have expressed your concerns for the financial well-being of all the Universities in the Upper Midwest!

Augustana going to study "athletic changes". Article from the Argus Leader. Augie to study athletic changes

For some reason, decent UND football jersey's are somewhat hard to come by. The best ones are the collosseum brand that Scheels in GF sells. They are the ones that say "North Dakota" on the back where the player name should be.

So if the membership of the GWFC holds steady and UND joins, it'll have an autobid in UND's second year of post-season eligibility.

Article regarding NCC from the Duluth News Tribune. UMD not interested in DI. No new news. Future of North Central Conference Uncertain

star2city, you understand this stuff better than I do: Am I interpretting this correctly? If NDSU & SDSU are indeed admitted to the Mid-Con starting in the 2007 season, then they would be considered core institutions starting in 2012? They would have been active members of DI for 8 years, and members of the Mid-Con for well over two years. IIRC, the Mid-Con has six core schools, (I believe Centenary is not yet but will be in a year or two). IPFW is a core school, and if they join in 2007 they will satisfy the continuity-of-membership criteria by 2009. The Mid-Con will have 8 core DI institutions by 2009, and 10 three years later when NDSU & SDSU become core members.

This particular writer doesn't have alot of optimism for the future of the Mid-Con: Mid-Continent Conference woes: By BERRY TRAMEL The Oklahoman 02-JUL-06 Just more evidence, IMHO, that in three to four years when UND is a DI "counter", the Mid-Con will likely be looking to add more members again.

From the Omaha World Herald: UNO Will Study All Options, Including DI, Belck Says