bincitysioux

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?

This is about 10 days old, but here is what Steve Hallstrom had to say in his Bison Media Blog after he finished working on his feature last week about UND's DI decision. NOTE: Please do not copy and paste the entire text of articles from other sites on to SiouxSports.com. Thank you. A moderator.

Here are some more articles on DI conference happenings/possible shiftings that could all impact UND if we go Division I now, or sometime down the road. Playing ball with the WAC (Sacramento State) [url=http://www.i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=78478]I-AA West: The Mid-Con May Play a Big Role in the Great West

Back on topic, I'll reiterate my opinion that the Big Sky will end up adding just one, and will be announced to be NDSU later in the summer or early fall. The western schools will consent to adding one Dakota school (not 3 because of travel concerns) in order to appease the Montana schools and lessen the threat of the Griz leaving for the WAC. Had the Mid-Con situation not come to fruition, I doubt that expansion would be on the Big Sky's agenda at all.

Yes but that was the only statement from Boyd in that interview that could even remotely be interpreted as a "pro-DI" comment. During the rest of the interview he pointed out the massive travel expenses that UND would incur if we were to join the Big Sky and repeatedly brought up the portions of the survey results that indicated that most respondents favored staying DII. I hope I am wrong, but it just seems to me that the UND brass is doing everything they can to accumulate enough evidence to use as reason not to make this move, starting with the "Modest Proposal" and culminating in this task force and its survey findings. I pretty much lost all hope when I saw Kupchella's interview with Steve Hallstrom and basically repeated verbatim his 2004 letter to football letterwinners...........to paraphrase, "It may make no sense at all to make this move, but emotions may force us to." To me that just reinforces my assumption that he has not changed his mind on this issue since it was first visited in 2003. Unfortunately, I fear that it is in fact Dr. Kupchella's emotions that are getting in the way of this very important issue.

Agreed. There are either going to 10 or 12 if they do expand.

I see an American Indian scout leading an American soldier. Makes me very proud to see an image of two Americans working together.

In response to the Mid-Con showing interest in expansion, the Big Sky will also show interest in expansion by asking NDSU, SDSU, SUU, and UND to submit "institutional profiles"/letters of inquiry to the league office, the same thing they did in the fall of 2004. Then they'll study the issue. With the recent comments coming from both Kupchella and Boyd, I fear that DI may be a dead issue at this point for UND . The fact that the Montana St. President is pining for NDSU, and considering the positions of the western Big Sky schools, I now think it is becoming more likely that the Big Sky will in the end expand by one, and that one will be NDSU. SDSU and IPFW will eventually end up in the Mid-Con. UND will continue to toil in DII and anchor an NCC that will add DAC schools.

He does, or has been, coaching on the floor. He was named Dirictor of Basketball Operations after this last season was over. Link. Isn't Rich Glas going to be Director of Basketball Operations at UNI?

Yep, if a neutral sports fan in Hillsboro has the option on a Saturday to go to Fargo to watch a North Dakota college take on Montana St. in football or Kansas St. in basketball versus going to Grand Forks to watch a North Dakota college take on Shippensburg in football or Emporia St. in basketball, where do you think he/she is going to go?