Bison101

Justwanted you guys to know that it sounds like your new AD has his head screwed on straight. Making the Alerus a 15,000 plus facility is crucial for the future of your program. The perfect scenario for both No-dak schools is to get into the Big SKy. There has been rumors for years that some big Sky members have DI aspirations. Perhaps at a later date this could be looked at for its future core members. UND, NDSU, ISU, MU, MSU.... Anyways that is speculation. Just glad to see he is upgrading facilities and having the infastructure in place before they (you) make the move.

Everyone knows that the Hockey shadow has hung over NDSU for quite a while. Hopefully once our transition to DI is over and we are in a conference we can look at Hockey again. My honest question is this. There are five teams in Minnesota and UND that are all recruiting the same area. UND and UM get the cream while the other teams fight over the left over recruits. Could the area handle one more DI Hockey team? If so, could we ever be nationaly successful. the goal of any sport should be to win a national title. Are the powers that be in college hockey so strong that there is just ot room for another program to become good. I would never expect NDSU Hockey to overtake UND or UM as regional and national powers, but we don't want to be a mankota or UAA or whatever. Is their a middle ground somewhere? I hope this post makes sense just trying to find out what the potential of NDSU Hockey could be given full support from the city and administration. (This also assumes that a new facility will be built next to the FFD someday.)

If PSU did add hockey and a BTHC was started wouldn't they have to add a couple of other teams for scheduling purposes. The two obvious choices would be UND and Notre Dame. Sounds like you guys would make out all right with that. UND in the Big Ten? Makes me sick to think about it. What I would love to see is PSU add hockey along with my beloved Bison. Now if and when UND goes DI then things could get interesting. Ponder this scenario. If everything works out with Big Sky and UND, NDSU and SDSU get in the next few years this chain of events could happen. -Sacremento and Portland State bolt for a west coast conferance. The Big Sky later adds USD and DU and the conference shapes up like this. NDSU UND SDSU USD Montana Montana State Weber State Eastern Washington Northern Arizona Idaho State Denver UNC Under this scenario assuming NDSU and USD and one other school adds hockey, perhaps we could have a Big Sky hockey conference that would be a primarily western hockey conference. Say goodbye to the CHA. There are a lot of if's and maybe's in this scenario but to me as an NDSU fan that would be perfect. (Wouldn't mind kicking out Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona and adding Gonzaga so we have ten Football schools and two basketball schools)

"I never said UND could make the Sky as a DII, but would have a better chance than SDSU/NDSU while on probation. The Big Sky is a pretty lofty goal for any Dakota school, but if UND were DI, they'd have a much better shot than SDSU/NDSU." <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That is insane. THe big sky is first and foremost a football league. NDSU would certainly be their top choice, it is crazy to think otherwise. However, as a package, UND and NDSU would be nearly impossible for them to pass up, in fact given the choice of the three Dakota schools, if they were only going to take two, poor SDSU would be screwed. But to think that that UND would offer more to a football league then NDSU is ridiculous. As far as us ever joining the MVC, I just can't see that happening. The MVC is first and foremost a basketball league. NDSU and UND don't have that hat to hang on at least in mens basketball. We ahve to find a football conference. As far as UND grads having a better recognized degree, I think it has hard to argue with that. How many big name politicians have a degree from NDSU? Not to mention, most of these magazines that rank institutions always favor Liberal Arts schools. However, I doubt that the educational experience is much different nor do I believe that UND grads are better prepared for the real world.

The best option for all of us is if Sac State goes to the WAC. Portland State is a joke and NAU belongs in the Big West My conference. NDSU UND USD SDSU MONTANA MONTANA SATE IDAHO STATE WEBER STATE EASTERN WASHINGTON UNC I don't care who you are, but that would be one hell of a conference that all members could live with for a long time.

I would agree with the a lot of you Sioux fans that NDSU did miss the boat with Hockey. Going D1 is critical for the future of NDSU athletics but having a NDSU team besides football that could actually (theoritically) make a run in a national tourney is critical. If we ever make the big dance in Basketball we will surely be a 16 seed and you know how that goes. Hockey was the sport that we needed. Thankfully it is not a dead issue but we are a few years away from even contemplating Hockey. We need to find a conferance for all our sports,finish our fundraising and then look to Hockey. The University is getting ready to go public with a 75 million dollar capital campaign for campus improvement which includes the BSA renovation. the vote downtown had nothing to do with Hockey. It flopped because it was a bad idea as it would have given the investors free reign to do what they wanted to downtown in that block. I am a huge Hockey propenent and voted no. It is a pain in the ass to go downtown now, imagine what it would be like if there was 7000 people down there at once. Insane! Here is the scoop, if you want to find out if NDSU has hockey in their plans for the future wait and watch for the announcement of this capital campaign. They have two different plans to update the BSA. The first is to do it up right and create a bowl with permenant seating, some skylighting and brick exterior on the outside. However, if they do this then they will have to build another indoor track with a permanent infield turf for Football. coach Bohl has repeatedly said that this something he wants so we will see what happens. Now, if they go with the second option, the BSA would be similar to what it looks like today with upgraded pull out bleachers, lockerooms and offices. There is a tract of land just west of the Fargo Dome that has been reserved for a future arena, whether it be for Hockey or Basketball is still unknown. If they go for the first option, then you can bet your bottom dollar that Hockey is coming to NDSU in the future in (+-) ten years. if they go with the second option they are going to be planning on a new Basketball arena there. It all comes down to fundraising and what they can get. Any new arena would have to be something that is similar to the Dome where the City owns it and NDSU has priority. Personally, I would rather see them save their pennies until they can do the BSA up right thus saving that land for a Hockey arena. It is completely ubsurd that we don't have D1 Hockey here in Fargo. Take my scoop for what it is worth, but this the info I have.

I was just curious what the opinion on Hockey at SU is up North. Although we have put off Hockey for now to achieve D1 status, how would you all feel if Hockey was to be added here? In particular, with word going around that Penn State is interested in Hockey, do you think they would form a big 10 league since they would have the required membership? What would UND do? Hopefully sooner than later UND will go D1 so we can get our nickel back. What about the possibility of USD ever adding hockey? They only reason I mention any of this is that with our move to D1, our current winter revenue sports will be bottom feeders, like it or not. Although I love basketball, Hockey could be the winter sport that we need here at NDSU to cover the gap unitl Football starts. The same could be said for other schools in the region and thats why I mention USD. Anyways, just rambling on and was curious what the opinion on NDSU hockey would be up North.