bincitysioux

I agree, I think they are very slim at this point, but............ .......The Mid-Con could very well add one or both NDSU and/or SDSU in June. UND has until July 1st to declare their intentions. If UND, coincidently with and extra $9 Million in the bank account, declares it's intentions to move to DI by July 1st, then in October the Big Sky (which is apparently more interested in adding one school rather than three at this point) is basically going to be deciding between Southern Utah and UND. Personally, I think DI is pretty much a dead duck at UND right now, but the DSU's desperation for conference affilitation could, in theory, land UND in the conference that they've both been seeking all along.

Athletically, at the very least, a portion of this generous gift should be put toward the women's hockey program so that tuition waivers can be done away with.

Heard on KNOX this afternoon that Kupchella says there is large need for Presidential Scholarships.

So now that we know what the gift is, and don't get me wrong I'm very grateful for it no matter what it is used for at the University, but what are the odds that a portion of this endowment will be used for athletics? If nothing else, the timing of this is certainly interesting. My hopes about DI have been dwindling, so right about now, I could sure use one of star2city's updated prediction/timelines!

I was looking at the pictures here. The bottom three appear to be the Wellness Center

So I take it that the Wellness Center is going to be named for these people?

The two biggest things are increasing scholarships (football would nearly double, also have to add alot of women's schollies to offset), and increased travel costs. DII is largely a bus-ride division, DI is mostly an airplane-ride division (i.e. hockey)

That's a good point that Smoggy made. I am surprised that as big an NDSU supporter as NanoBison is, that entering their 4th year of DI he hasn't seen anything good come out of NDSU's decision to go DI.

Listened to Jeff Dubay yesterday, they talked a little bit about the draft. Said Kessel's stock has dropped saying they'd be surprised if he went higher than fifth. They also said Toews would probably be a top three pick, and mentioned him possibly going #3 to Chicago and said that Chicago is on record as saying that they intend to sign whomever they draft. As a Hawks fan, I'd love to see them take Toews, but I'm not ready to see Toews leave North Dakota yet.

I think after the Big Sky deciding that expansion ain't on the agenda, that the DI issue at UND is an all but dead issue. The only thing keeping it on life-support at this point is tomorrow's upcoming announcement about the large endowment. However, the plug could be pulled tomorrow as that could very well have nothing to do with athletics. I'm still holding out hope, but I'm also doing alot of research on the University of Mary because it appears that that is who we will be competing with for in-state bragging rights for the forseeable future (until Kupchella retires). I think it is an unfortunate situation. I enjoyed competing against NDSU and SDSU, both of which being two major institutions of higher learning in our region. I would assume that fans of the University of North Dakota who have followed the program since the 60's and 70's are even more bummed out, since they got to see UND compete against not only NDSU & SDSU, but also schools like Montana, Montana St. Northern Iowa, UNLV, and Minnesota. In my opinion it is unfortunate that Dr. Kupchella views UM-Crookston, Upper Iowa, and Ferris St. as peers of UND, rather than NDSU, Montana, SDSU, and Montana St.

Yet you still felt the urge to join a UND Fighting Sioux fan-site? BTW, welcome to the board Nano, now that you're a member, you have two places to discuss UND athletics, just like the rest of us!

I got my renewal form today, and astonishingly, prices went down. They should since there is 2 fewer games than two years ago of course. $75 per seat, plus a $5 service charge. They were $90 the last two years.

I doubt we'll be seeing any DII schools joining satellite radio. However, could it be possible for UND and other hockey powers to work on a deal to get a XM or Sirius station that covered college hockey?

I admit I know nothing about either of these gentlemen, but after doing a quick Google search on them, I don't see anything to lead me to believe that an endowment from either of them would be meant to go toward athletics. Either way, it is good for UND.

Cool! I think all of that would be fair!!

And unfortunately, as I predicted, UND will continue to toil in DII for the foreseeable future. Luckily, I think we can get a pretty good border-battle rivalry going with Presentation College in Aberdeen. No interest from the Big Sky means Kupchella says DII is the way to go.

I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, I'm sure Swygman is going to mow and bag his lawn this week, so that will take up 2/3 of their program.

KNOX is easily heard in Fargo. That shouldn't be a problem. I live 100 miles from both Fargo and Grand Forks, and can clearly receive KFGO, KNOX, and WDAY all the time. I agree that money will be the deciding factor, and unfortunately Clear Channel will win. I just wish Tim and Swyg would actually put a little effort into their on-air non-play-by-play radio time. I'm so sick of hearing about Swyg's yard. Last week they spent 10 minutes debating about how many teams were in the Big Sky, and 20 minutes discussing Swygman's new patio. I think it is pathetic. I wish Dan Hammer was on a talk show, he is very good. I enjoyed listening to him when 1280 (then known as "The Ticket") in Fargo tried to do an all local sports radio station.

That really shouldn't be so hard. It's pretty easy to hear NDSU football in the western part of the state. The Fan 710 in Bismarck is Clear Channel and airs both Sioux and Bison football & Sioux hockey. KNOX can be heard west of Devils Lake and Jamestown. If they were the flagship, I'm sure arrangements could be made to get games on out west, just like WDAY/Forum Comm does.

Speaking of the radio contract, I think Clear Channel sucks. Tim and Swyg are a joke. The university hires a new basketball coach for the first time in 18 years on Friday, and this morning they devote 6 minutes to the topic by reading the UND press release, and that's it. And one of them is the voice of Sioux basketball! We are blessed with the some great play-by-play guys in Hennessey, Hammer, even Swygman (sp?), but it really bums me out that there is really no talk of UND in the offseason (or during the season for that matter) on GF radio. As NDSU's flagship station, WDAY in fact does alot better job of covering and discussing UND athletics than do the stations that hold the rights to UND sports, and I think that is sad. I'm sure Leighton Broadcasting would never be able to pony up like Clear Channel when the contract comes up, but it would be nice if they got a shot at it because I really think that they'd do a better job of covering UND athletics just because they are local to GF and they might just give a hoot.

The debate will last until Kupchella retires. And then when he finally does, the debate will really heat up. Excellent point. Why can't the UND administration see that UND doesn't go hand in hand with Upper Iowa?

I really don't know what the big problem about Jones is. I'm glad he ended up with the job. I think there were probably better candidates who applied, but he was by far the best of the four finalists, and is way more qualified than Smith. He spent the last seven seasons as an assistant at a DI university that is a member of the oldest and most storied conference in the history of the NCAA, and one of the top members of that conference as well. He also is familiar with the NCC, which unfortunately, UND will be a member of for the foreseeable future. To think we could have ended up with a high-school coach! My wife is a high-school coach, but it never occured to me to have her apply for the job. Wait and see, I think Jones will do a good job.

This really doesn't affect UND at all because UND will not be going DI within the next 5 years. As long as Kupchella is at the helm, it will not happen.

I guess it depends on how one looks at it. I believe The Great West is a conference. Some may call me just another pompous UND grad, but I'll bet UND could get into that right away. When you look at it that way, it sounds like 64% yes to me!

I'll interpret that as 64% being for a DI move, and only 28% against. When does Kupchella declare?