mksioux

Do you seriously think the Ralph did not place a frikkin bid for any of the regionals? They host the most successful regional in the history of NCAA hockey, and they just decide, "you know what, I don't think we'll ever bid on one of those again..." They've consistently said they are actively working on getting another regional back to the Ralph. There are good arguments for choosing the Twin Cities, but the "nobody else bid" card is rediculous.

That's great for USD if true. Congrats to the Coyotes!

I think the key is whose option it is. If it's UNI's option, it's not going to happen. If it's UND's option, it already would be scheduled.

UND had made the decision to go DI by the time the UNI game was played, but not when it was scheduled. I doubt there was any concrete agreement for a return trip.

While they are not UNI, I believe Idaho State is making the return trip to Grand Forks in 09. A rematch of the original Potato Bowl for the 2009 Potato Bowl will certainly bring excitement. Throw in UC-Davis and South Dakota and you have three great home games already scheduled for 09. Until UND can get into an established football conference, scheduling will always be an issue, but there will be some exciting home games.

Think long term. The Great West Conference is an important first step in the transition, but it's not UND's ultimate goal. The long-term goal is to gradually establish regular competition with its peers, get into an established conference with an automatic bid, and regularly compete for conference titles. In my opinion, to get UND to that point would be much more meaningful than to stay in DII and compete for national championships.

I know many Bison fans would love it if the reason for this game was UND's football budget is in shambles and desparately needed this game to balance the budget. I don't mean to play into that, but I think it's a fair question to ask whether the game was primarily scheduled for financial reasons. I was not expecting a BCS conference opponent in the second year and the thought did occur to me. Glad to hear fundraising is going well. That makes me think the game was scheduled for the right reasons.

While it's certainly exciting to see Texas Tech on the schedule, I wonder whether 2009 is too soon. UND's first DI class will only be redshirt freshmen in 2009. It could get really ugly against a top-25 FBS team. I do see some merit in scheduling the game, but I just hope the primary reason wasn't because fundraising is not going as well as hoped and they needed the payday. Either way, now that it's scheduled, I'm looking forward to it.

I don't think it would have hurt anything. I don't know who decided on the name for the GWC, but I doubt it was at UND's insistence. I read somewhere that the AD for NJIT did not like the name (for obvious reasons) and Ed Grom said that they may re-visit the name at a later date.

I fail to see how the GWC affects Davis at all. They're not in it. Somebody tell me what I'm missing. UND and USD hope to get out of the GWC after their transition. Why do you care if a bunch of independents get together for a few years and borrow the name of your football conference? Particularly a football conference where any one of the members would leave in a heartbeat if a different conference invited them? Edit: After reading your board, it appears the answer to my question is that you are embarrased about having to share a name with the newbies. Us backward folk are moving in...there goes the neighborhood!

Which is exactly what Faison said about the GWC, that it was an important "first step" in the transition. I've agreed that Wayne Nelson should have included the conference auto-bid requirements in his story, but the straw man argument that UND officials have duped its fans into thinking it has found a long-term conference is getting old.

As a staunch UND fan, I'm not afraid to admit that whether or not NDSU has caught up to UND in perception, at a minimum, NDSU is certainly gaining on UND. NDSU has done an extraordinary job marketing their institution and using athletics as an important part of that marketing. UND's marketing effort over the past several years has been woefully deficient. While it's great that UND has a med school, law school, and aviation program, UND can not rest on those things. The overall marketing needs to improve and recognizing NDSU's success is a good thing, not a bad thing. It should be a healthy motivation. The former President never understood how important athletics can be in the overall marketing of the institution. Fortunately, I think the new President gets it and I look forward to improvement.

I don't think UND officials have been disingenous. They specifically said they want to eventually get into the Summit, which tells the reader that the GWC is not a long term solution for UND. The article probably should have mentioned the extremely burdensome auto-bid criteria for new conferences so the reader would realize there is no chance the GWC will be a viable conference for the long term. That is a legitimate complaint for the writer, but not really for UND officials. They aren't going to crap all over the GWC the day they join it. So they say things like "three-year commitment" and that it's an "important next step" for UND athletics. It should be up to the writer to fill in the blanks. But the less-than-stellar coverage by the Herald is not part of a grand conspiracy to fool UND fans. The simple explanation is that the Herald coverage of Sioux sports other than hockey is just not that good. The average poster on this board probably knows more about conference affiliation issues than the Herald writers. I think they need a younger guy like Schlossman, who does a fanstastic job covering Sioux hockey and regularly blogs even in the offseason. If the GWC had any effect on hockey, Schlossman would have been all over it in his stories and his blog.

You said: You are obviously implying that UND is trying to sell the GWC as a real conference. But the reality is that UND is doing no such thing. The Herald article specifically states that UND eventually wants to get into the Summit. If UND was trying to sell the GWC as the best thing ever, then why would it state it eventually wants to get in the Summit? Nobody is hyping this thing as the best thing ever. When you say "face it - the GWC is only a scheduling alliance nothing more" it implies I think it is something more than that. I've already called it a "glorified scheduling alliance." UND fans on this board aren't pretending this is anything more than a short-term scheduling alliance that has a few other benefits like conference championships. In fact, NDSU fans seem to be the only people complaining about anything...and I honestly can't figure out why. This doesn't affect NDSU at all.

Please provide a quote from Faison or Kelley where they say the GWC is a long term solution.

UND set to join new conference

Of course it depends on the number, but when you factor in that a conference invitation in the next three years is very unlikely, I think that getting to play for conference championships is worth the remote possibility of having to pay a (likely small) buyout fee to get into a better conference. I really don't see any significant risk with this move. With NDSU doing so well, I can't believe you're concerned that the casual fan might perceive UND is doing well in its transition. You really need to shake your insecurity.

I don't think there's much of a downside in joining this league. I doubt another conference is going to extend UND an invitation in the next three years, but if they do, UND will pay the buyout and join it. We don't know the buyout figure yet, but I doubt it's very much. I don't see how joining this league will be a money drain compared to the other options that were available. The upside is admittedly not huge, but it's there. Conference championships being the main upside.

UND still ultimately wants to get into the Summit (f/k/a MidCon). While UND will technically be eligible for post-season play in 2012, the reality is that they'll never make it to post-season play without an automatic bid from their conference. The Summit has an automatic bid. The Great West does not and won't for a very long time. It appears UND gave the Great West a three year commitment. Hopefully UND will find a home in a conference with an auto-bid as soon thereafter as possible.

Ummm...let's just say this would have been an interesting discussion topic ten years ago, but I think that ship has sailed.

I couldn't agree more. FSSN should be seen primarily as a marketing tool for the university. More games, both home and away, should be televised even if some of them will lose money. UND should be in control of the broadcasting decisions and should fund the shortfall as a marketing expense. FSSN should be about exposure to Fighting Sioux athletics and the entire university. It should be about marketing the product. It should be about attracting new interest in the product and strengthening existing interest. It should be about getting people invested in Fighting Sioux athletics. To get people invested these days, people have to see the product. Once people are invested, they will go to more games, they will get involved, they

I didn't mean to imply UND shouldn't advertise their home games. Of course getting people to go to the games is very important regardless of the division of the opponents. I was suggesting, however, that I think a better investment of marketing dollars could be spent airing away games against DI opponents like Southern Illinois and Idaho State. That would generate the DI excitement that simply can not be generated by the home schedule. But, of course, all we'll get is one televised home game. http://forum.siouxsports.com/index.php?s=&...st&p=345365

They need to start televising more than two away games. And only airing one football game is pathetic. I'm glad this contract is only for one year. I'm becoming more and more convinced UND needs to take the leading role with FSSN. Yes, airing road games is a money loser, but it's a smart marketing expense in my opinion. <cue someone to tell me to open my checkbook....>

I agree UND should market more and market better. There are numerous things UND should be doing when it comes to marketing, including utilizing FSSN much more than it currently does. But let's drop the marketing comparisons to NDSU in their first year in DI. It was much easier for NDSU to market its first DI season. NDSU had four DI opponents on its home schedule. Yes, one was non-scholarship, but it was DI nonetheless. It's kind of hard for UND to market DI when there is only one DI game on its home schedule. I think you'd get more bang for your marketing buck by ensuring that a couple of the away games get televised and then market the heck out of them.

The UND fans on this board know exactly what's going on regarding this development. I've not seen anyone over excited about this news. We recognize this for what it is, a (hopefully) short-term glorified scheduling alliance. I agree that the writer should have put the story into proper context by stating the time and membership requirements for a new conference to get an automatic bid in the various sports. Perhaps you should email your frustration to the writer of the story. Or better yet, email the Forum and tell them to write an article about how insignificant this conference will be.