FargoBison

I guess this is better than nothing....

Well there are 3k more alumni living in Big Sky states vs Summit/MVFC states. That said, the 20k+ alumni living in the area from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee are much closer to the Summit/MVFC than they are to the Big Sky. So I can live with that fact.

2009-2010 Summit League Men's basketball average attendance ORU-4662 NDSU-2792 Oakland-2733 SDSU-2204 SUU-2098 IPFW-1947 UMKC-1749 IUPUI-1314 WIU-983 CC-881 Average 2110 2009-2010 Big Sky average attedance Weber St 5310 Montana State 3389 Montana 3382 UNC 2271 ISU 2167 EWU 1564 PSU 1009 NAU 839 Sac St 680 Average 2400 I won't break down these seasons team by team, but here are the averages... 2008-2009 Summit 2,579 Big Sky 2,298 2007-2008 Summit 2,312 Big Sky 2,329 So far this season... Summit 2,328 Big Sky 1,949

A three quarters empty arena? NDSU has played four games in SF... vs Centenary 5,481 vs SUU 5,986 vs Oakland 3,804 vs ORU 6,285 Capacity 6300 Last year, Oakland vs IUPUI title game... 3,122

The Big Sky had a lot coverage in ND before 2003? I must have missed it, the Montana schools are as far away as Chicago they got zero coverage in Fargo from what I can remember(same goes for the Gateway). On a national level the Big Sky got the same coverage as the Gateway. Of course we wanted to join the Big Sky, they were a conference looking for members and Chapman came to NDSU from Montana State. So we had their president's unwavering support. It only made sense, NDSU had interest in joining the Gateway as well and they said we had to pay our dues before anything would happen. The Big Sky was the only conference that showed an immediate interest. If the Mid-Con/Gateway had shown an immediate interest as well things would have been interesting, very interesting.

When did I denigrate another conference? I just said that the Big Sky isn't really all that well known when compared to the MVC.

I think historically people knew about the MVC and that dates all the way back to Larry Bird playing for Indiana State. That is why the Gateway changed their name to the Missouri Valley, people are much more familiar with that brand. The Summit would be a different story but I would never put the Big Sky on the level of the MVC brand. People around here are much more familiar with that conference and would regard it to being better than the Big Sky. A conference that is known as being the Montana's and those other schools.

NDSU has always recruited mainly in the same area(MN, Wisconsin and Illinois) being in the MVFC only enhances recruiting in those areas. Nebraska has only recently opened up, but that is another area that is in MVFC footprint. Joining the MVFC has really made us more competitive with UNI in recruiting, especially for the top recruits from the Twin Cities area.

Yeah, people have never heard of the MVC? Come on now, this is getting ridiculous.

I never said TV and internet didn't matter, I just said it can't replace being there live for family and friends. NDSU recruits in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Those are our core pipelines, the MVFC puts us in those areas. The Big Sky takes us away from those areas, the Big Sky gets zero coverage where we recruit. So I completely disagree with what you are saying about players and parents taking the Big Sky over the MVFC. The MVFC isn't a big name like the Big 10 is in those states, but it is at least an established brand and has at least some significance. I'm glad you guys are happy in the Big Sky, I enjoyed my trip to Bozeman. I don't know why Bison fans run down the Big Sky, it is a fine conference with some great schools. It is just as good as the MVFC/Summit for a school like UND that is still establishing itself in DI.

I think it is still a pretty big deal to have mom and dad plus some friends in the stands. Sure internet and TV has made the world smaller but it is hard to replace being there live. I do agree both school are moving in directions that they want to go and I don't see it changing.

USD has always coveted the MVFC/Summit. It fits their needs perfectly, I don't know if them getting in was done by skill or just dumb luck but I think the higher ups definitely didn't have to force them to join. Once the MVFC came calling it was a slam dunk.

Why would Bohl want to be taken away from the area he recruits? Why would the players want to go west away from their families? What makes the Big Sky so much more attractive?

Sanford did end up giving the U of MN some money, I think the hall of fame or something in the stadium is named after him. Also NDSU has gotten bigger donations in the past 10 years, all Sanford wanted was to replace Innovis. Teaming up with NDSU was much more about reaching out to the community than it was wanting anything from the school. I

NDSU has been working with Scheels for a donation since before the UP/Scheels Arena was built...They were very close to giving NDSU three times as much a few years ago but the economy went into the tank and put things on hold.

In 2007 they were all home and homes or FBS money games. In that year we did start home and homes with WIU and Illinois State(they were scheduled before joining the MVFC), we might have paid Illinois State a bit extra to come to Fargo first. We might have done the same for Sam Houston State but it was worth it to get those teams to Fargo. The best thing the XDSU's had working for them was their relationship with the Southland, that conference provided us with a ton of games. They have since expanded so I'm sure that cut into who Faison could schedule.

Don't see any $100k plus guarantee games on these schedules(final transition years for both NDSU and SDSU).... NDSU's 2007 schedule... 9/8 vs SFA 9/15 vs SHSU 9/22 @ Central Michigan 9/29 @ Western Illinois 10/6 vs UCD 10/13 @ Mississippi Valley State 10/20 @ Minnesota 10/27 vs SUU 11/3 vs Illinois State 11/10 @ Cal Poly 11/17 @ SDSU SDSU's 2007 schedule... 8/30 @Western Illinois 9/8 @YSU 9/15 vs UNI 9/22 vs Texas State 9/29 vs SFA 10/6 @ Georgia Southern 10/20 vs Cal Poly 10/27 @UCD 11/3 @Central Arkansas 11/10 vs SUU 11/17 vs NDSU If I was a UND fan I'd want answers and I'd want them soon. I mean seriously SDSU had six full scholarship FCS schools at home in their final transition year. What I don't get with your schedule is that right now is the optimal time to set yourself up for the future and get a good FCS home game or two for a future year so you can avoid the struggle we had initially in getting six home games when were playoff eligible.

With the new rules on transitioning it is going to be very difficult to add many more schools, each school needs a conference invite. The tournament is the NCAA cash generator, I don't see anything changing.

Only a matter of time until USU and La Tech leave...

It does and it doesn't. Everything does really boil down to the conference tournament but if you do have a strong RPI you at least have a shot to play a team that you could maybe knock off if you should make the dance. Of course neither will likely ever sniff an at-large bid, so again the conference tournament really becomes magnified.

RPI doesn't mean anything until about the middle to the end of January. Teams need to get a few weeks into conference play to really solidify the ratings.

I actually think the tournament is perfect, thankfully they only added a few teams because anything more than what they did would have killed it. I do agree about the lack of true on campus games, lots of great matchups are played in front of a pretty boring atmospheres. If I wanted to watch good teams play in front of a quiet crowd I'd watch an NBA game. I love the TV games, but I'm a junkie. I can't get enough. As for the product on the whole college basketball is deeper but elite talent has been hard to come by as of late. The Duke team that won last year might be weakest champ I can remember in sometime.

Pretty sure BWW just bought the remaining endzone tickets, when I was at the BSA late this afternoon only about three sideline sections had seats still available and those seats were limited. If you've ever been to a basketball game at the dome the sideline seats are much better than the endzone seats. .

Game is sold out, I guess Buffalo Wild Wings bought out the remaining tickets and will give them away tomorrow. From Swany at Bisonville...

I agree it is time to stop with finger pointing, our teams are playing again and arguing about the past is just pointless.