FargoBison

I am not as a gloom and doom about UND's DI future or the current state of NDSU's team as some are. I don't know if UND will be as good or better then SDSU but I see no reason why they couldn't be. I don't think UND fans should be expecting dominance but they should expect to have a competitive team. As for NDSU I think Ruley had some trouble recruiting and in adjusting to DI(finding the right type of player). After 2004-05(I think NDSU had just one loss that year) the talent level dropped off quite a bit and the poor recruiting really started to show. From what I have seen NDSU bottemed out earlier this year and now it looks like Ruley is finally getting things back on track both on the court and in recruiting.

Apparently, you don't follow football outside of the DII world very much. Minnesota is 6-6 and going bowling, mediocore teams go bowling and that is what Minnesota is. You want terrible take a look at Buffalo or Temple or Duke becuase anyone of those teams would get thrashed and have gotten thrashed by Ball St and Minnesota this year. I'd take Ball St over any of the those DII teams by three TD's and Minnesota over any of those teams by 4 TD's.

Wow, your delusional both Minnesota and Ball St are decent I-A teams(and would destroy any DII team and most I-AA teams). As for Massey it is a pile of crap, any ranking system that tries to rank teams across divisions is always going to be flawed in my opinion.

Anti-Sioux chants haven't happend in the FargoDome for about 2 years, the only game it happend at last year was on homecoming when a few UND students in their Sioux Crew shirts were in the upper part of the student section. As for basketbal it hasn't happend since we played UND. I was also at the UMN football game and there was one Sioux Suck chant that lasted for about 5 seconds where I was sitting(right next to one of the NDSU sections). I do agree there are some Bison fans obsessed with UND to the point where it is sickening but they are way in the minority.

Hockey at NDSU, not going to happen. Too expensive and doesn't really take NDSU where it wants to go, which is either a I-A conference or the MVC. I think NDSU has a bright future with basketball and could really establish a solid mid-major program.

Wow, SOME UND fans need to learn to shut there mouths before talking about I-AA. This is ridiculous, when NDSU played and beat Nicholls last year they went to the I-AA playoffs and Northwestern St was a top 10 team when NDSU beat them. The year before NDSU beat Northwestern St and they where also a playoff team that year. Georgia Southern just lost to the #1 team in I-AA by 7 points in overtime, I guess they are terrible. Of course this year the entire Southland is down, way down in fact but that won't always be the case. Delaware is still a qualtiy program and win over them is solid but beating either WIU or NOVA won't get you any respect because they haven't done anything over the past few years.

First off, after reading this thread I have a lot of respect for you Sioux fans for cheering on a fellow ND team even if they are your hated rivals. Thanks for the support! You guys are a class act but I do have something to say about this.... At times it looked like Minnesota didn't belong on the same field as NDSU. Yeah, they won but NDSU more then proved they belong on the same field as a Big Ten team.

Well in a few years UND will be playing for this...... I-AA is dead, this is the new logo. Oh, and DaveK did you notice it said Division I championship.

If the Big Sky is the path of Destiny for UND I hope you guys get in. When NDSU got into the Mid-Con our path just started, next step is the Gateway and then the MVC.

The vote for NDSU to get into the Big Sky was 5 in favor and 3 against(Sac St, NAU, PSU). Those three schools can't afford to travel to the Dakota's and I think they've made it pretty much clear that they won't add a Dakota school. Fulerton and the Mt State president tried as hard as they could to bring in NDSU but they could never convince the far western schools to bring them in. They probably thought the more those schools know about NDSU the better chance they would have at convincing them and that is why they requested NDSU's information even though location was still a huge issue. You guys can talk about FSSN forever but it will not be UND's key into the Big Sky because it brings little to the table. Altitude Sports is on Direct TV and Dish Network and is broadcast on cable tv outlets in 10 western states, it provides a massive amount of exposure. Combine that with location and the Denver market and it's no wonder UNC was a shoe in. UND will face the same problems that NDSU faced in getting into the Big Sky but UND will not have a president in their back pocket or a travel partner. In my opinion UND faces a big uphill battle unless a far western school leaves for the WAC or Big West. I have a feeling I will be welcoming you guys into the Mid-Con in five years and the Great West even sooner, and I think that would be a much better fit for UND.

Those are all advantages but I see the ultimate advantage being exposure. I think the UND-NDSU game has the potential to be broadcast on ESPNU or CSTV in DI. Yeah, the boost in income is nice and so is a road game that fans are able to go to but you can't buy exposure. I still can't figure out why some Bison fans can't seem to grasp the concept that NDSU is going to play UND in football in 2008 or 2009. Besides the positives that have been noted in this thread that will make NDSU want to play UND there is also the fact the state wants this game to happen and Gene Taylor knows better then to deny the state of ND and many Bison fans a game they want to see that is easy to schedule.

hmmmmmm.... There are pots and kettles on both sides, agree? And there are only a few NDSU fans dismissing this game, many have given their props to UND and are impressed with what they accomplished.

Good game Sioux, you guys played hard and earned a lot of respect from this Bison fan. I didn't think you would win but as soon as this game was scheduled I told UNI fans to watch out because the Sioux won't be your typical DII game. Again great game, hope to see you guys on the schedule soon.

It didn't work that way for Stanford against UC Davis last year and I would say there isn't much of a difference between Stanford last year and Minnesota this year.

Northwestern falls to I-AA New Hampshire 34-17, that's right Davek a Big Ten bowl team just got dominated on their own field against a I-AA. NDSU can give the Gophers the game, most likely won't beat them but if the Gophers think they will sleepwalk to a win against NDSU they will be mistaken.

NDSU's first year football schedule was actually pretty good, it had a good mix of I-AA teams and lower division teams. So I doubt UND would see a drop off at all if it was given a similar schedule in year one, there would actually probably be a rise in interest. Also UND won't be in a conference until they have at the most one year of probation left, 2010-2011 would most likely be the soonest UND finds a conference home besides the Great West. Conferences don't want to drag schools through transition unless they have to.

Dave do you have any idea about anything that isn't hockey? I am not going to say the Bison are going to beat the Gophers or even come close to it but Dave the Bison aren't playing USC they are playing a team that has a lot of question marks and is looking much like a bottem feeder in the Big Ten. The Gophers have a terrible defense and I don't see it improving this year and on offense they lost their two best lineman and their best athletes(Russel and Maroney). They are talking about a more pass happy offense at Minnesota, that right there has got to send chills up the spines of Gopher fans everywhere. The Bison on the other hand probably have one of their most talented teams in recent years and will bring 10-15 thousand into the dome with them, again I doubt the Bison win or come that close(two tds) but you are cutting the Gophers way too much slack. As for saying NDSU is no UC-Davis take a look at the rankings or overall finishes in 05 and in 04 and Stanford would destroy Ball State. Saying the two are comparable is laughable at best, Stanford went into South Bend and gave the Irish a big scare(lost 38-31). I would also say the 06 Gophers will mirror the 05 Cardinal in that they will be very average and will not make it to a bowl game.

Gene Taylor is basing nothing on academics it is all about UND being a DI counter, NDSU is not going to play UND if they count on the schedule as a D2 school. NDSU wasn't a counter until this past year, Cal Poly missed the playoffs two years ago because of the non-DI's it's team played. NDSU will not make the same mistake and my guess is that Gene Taylor will put togather the best schedule possible to get NDSU into the playoffs in 2008. If UND is a DI counter by then or if they are in the GWFC they will probably be on the schedule but if not it the game will probably have to wait until the 09 season.

Right NDSU doesn't have any IA's scheduled for 08 and Taylor has already said that doesn't want to play any DII's in 08 because it may harm our playoff chances. Right now I really doubt NDSU will play UND in 08 but I would say a game in 09 is pretty much a lock.

I have been thinking about that scenario for a long time, a very long time. The Big Sky has been wanting Denver for a while now but Denver has always said no but if you bring a long time hockey rival into the fold it may make it easier to say yes. It's safe to say the Montana schools want NDSU, so NDSU, UND, and Denver make a lot of sense. The Big Sky needs to appease the Montana schools or it could lose them to IA and that would be a disaster for the conference. Adding NDSU, UND, and Denver would make a lot of sense for travel reasons and it would really strengthen the conference. I am not going to say this will happen but for the Big Sky it would be the perfect way to stablize your conference for a long time.

Did I ever call Fargo some great place? No, all I said that is probably easier to fly into Fargo then it is Missoula or Bozeman(dont' see why that veiw seems so crazy to you). If Hawaii is worried about their travel budget then Sac St or UC Davis is an obvious choice due to them being in California. All I said is that NDSU fan support, academics, and commitment to athletics make the WAC a reasonable long term goal. I'm not saying the WAC is going to add NDSU right now or next year, I'm talking long term. The MVC isn't immortal but with it's current power in hoops they are going to be very picky about who they add. When UNI was added getting an invite wasn't half as tough, if the MVC wants a qaulity hoops school all they have to do is poach from the Horizon or perhaps St. Louis from the A10. I also never said that NDSU was any better then SDSU, I have and always will have plenty of respect for SDSU. But I do think both schools favor different things(NDSU=Big Sky and WAC, SDSU=Mid-Con and MVC). Your first post was about SDSU and most of your posts since then are, that definately makes it seem like you are an SDSU backer. It's not like it's a bad thing your an SDSU fan and your doing a poor job at hiding it.

I hate to break it to you aff but it is probably almost easier to fly into Fargo then it is Bozeman or Missoula. NDSU has a great football tradition and Admin. that is definately not shy about taking chances, I wouldn't exactly rule out IA and the WAC for NDSU. NDSU academics, athletics, and fan support could make the WAC a possiblity at some point, the only way any SU gets into the MVC is if the conference loses schools(they are very happy with their current 10 school format). Right now NDSU has a better shot at the WAC then either SU has at the MVC. I also have to say that some of Aff's posts do sound similar to 89rabbits, aff does sound a lot like an SDSU backer at the very least.

The Big Sky won't add SUU because it has very poor academics, poor athletics that are underfunded, the school is hard to get to, and the Montana schools would flip if they were brought in. The last thing the Big Sky would want to do is drive it's most important team to the IA and the WAC.