bisonguy

I'll keep the off-topic short. Grambling is a HBC, they don't participate in the IAA playoffs, and Tony Moss (the only national poll anybody thinks is accurate in IAA) doesn't list Grambling in the top 25. Back on topic- that still was an impressive outing for Scott

Grambling is considered middle of the pack, at best. They had the #1 offense in IAA last, but play in a conference that lacks any defense. For reference, the top IA offenses last year were Boise State, Marshall, Texas Tech, and Toledo. I guess the #1 offense stat is pretty worthless. The IAA boards were busy with people upset with ESPN stating Grambling was a top program in IAA. Why did Rislov leave UND? Anybody watch NDSU offensive coordinator Dan Enos lead Michigan State over Michigan on ESPN Classics today?

CoteauRinkRat, Are you a Sioux fan and a Bison fan?

UND 92,96 Thanks for the explanation.

Any red flags coming up for anybody on Caro? He signed with a DI team, was academically ineligible, transferred to a JUCO, sits out a year (most likely for not having the academic standards for a DI school), and now signs with a DII team?(still could not sign with a DI team) I would be a little concerned with the academic integrity of someone with a story like this. If he ends up with a 3.2 GPA ala Myron Allen, I'm shouting foul.

The NIT tourney( I know, it's not the Big Dance) only has a five year ineligibility period.

Don Hansen is a complete idiot. He has Winona, a team that lost to the worst team in the NCC last year(NDSU ) ranked higher than the second best team in the NCC. Ridiculous.

DamStrait, Unfortunately the DI NCC concept was shot down already. There was too much opposition, and those that were for it are moving up on their own. The proposed DIAA conference would satisfy SDSU's self-imposed requirement of a conference affiliation. I doubt UNO is capable of going DI, as they were nearly forced to drop their athletic program a few years back. Big Red is the only show in the state of Nebraska, much as the Gophers (I know you guys hate 'em) are the only show in the state of Minnesota.

It's a couple days old, but I haven't seen any Sioux fans comment on the news of ten new schools, including four teams from Puerto Rico, joining DII. From The Forum: Sports forum: NDSU

The PSAC is one of the major driving forces for scholarship reduction in D2. The Northwest region won't be that weak. The only playoff contender losses were NWMSU, Pitt. St., and possibly MoWest. I'm guessing that the NCC should be able to get two teams in when the playoffs expand to six teams per region. It will probably break down to the top two NCC, the top two GLIAC, one NSIC (if they take two, the selection process is a joke) and one indy (Central Washington).

This was posted on the D2football message board, and I thought some Sioux fans might want to see how the regions were realigned. It looks like UND put Central Washington on the schedule for the next four years to have a good in-region opponent. The MIAA will no longer be in the former Midwest Region (will become the Northwest Region), but the GLIAC and some indies will be added. NCAA DIVISION II FOOTBALL COMMITTEE Regional Alignment. That the following regional alignment be adopted, effective with the 2004 championship. Please note the proposed new names for each of the four regions. Northeast Region (34): Northeast-10 Conference (11) Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (14) West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (8) Independents (1)

I found the point breakdown after extensive searching on the NCAA site: CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW STUPID D2 IS BECOMING So, a win against an undefeated IAA, or IA opponent is worth the same as a win against a DII team with a record of .500-.750. A loss against a DI team is worth less than a DII team with a record above .750. It looks like UND will be better off playing one of the top teams in the NSIC, than NDSU in the future. At least for the sake of making the playoffs.

Actually that's unknown. There's archaeological evidence that the white man inhabited North America thousands of years before the American Indians did.

Sicatoka, Yes, the DII Football playoffs are selected purely by the numbers. This will be the first year, I believe. I don't have much of a problem with that technique when there are autobids available to the tougher conferences, but there aren't any for DII football. There was a big discussion about this on the D2Football message board earlier this year. How many times has the NCC champ been undefeated? It's a lot easier for a team in the MIAA(Pitt St. or NWMS) to beat one other team and have the rest of their schedule filled with W's. Teams are also penalized by scheduling out of region schools for the non-conf. schedule, by being awarded more points for a victory over an in-region opponent. This makes DII football more regionalized, and prevents teams from wanting to schedule good opponents from other parts of the country (i.e. NCC v. TAMUK, Carson-Newman, Valdosta, etc.). It also allows schools from weaker conferences(NSIC) a nearly guaranteed appearance in the playoffs. There are many scenarios that could see a team worthy of getting in the playoffs get snubbed by a team with a non-conf. schedule filled with creampuff conference teams that had a decent record. If football had as many games as hockey, it might not be as bad, but with only three or four non-conf. games, it will make all the difference in the world who a school has on the schedule.

pirate, I'm stating that the D2 football playoff selection committee doesn't care about non-conf. schedules other than if it's a "W" or not. A win against a D2 in-region team with a record greater than .750 can be worth more than a win against an undefeated IAA team . There is no longer any human element to the selection. Plug the numbers into the formula, and the field is set. If a NSIC team goes 12-0, one goes 11-1, one MIAA team goes 12-0, one MIAA team goes 11-1, and the NCC champ is 10-2, there might not be a NCC rep in the playoffs. It probably won't happen, but there is no such thing as an auto bid for being a d2 conference champion. The only thing that matters to the selection committee (computer) now, is which four schools have the most points. While winning the confernce helps a team as far as W-L record, it guarantees absolutely nothing. This new selection process is another reason to say good ridance to D2.

With the new "plug the numbers into the formula, absolutely no human component" playoff selection for D2 football, the key to success will be scheduling the top two NSIC teams for non-conf. games. They will both have records over .750, and are in the midwest region, so they are worth more points than a win over a IAA opponent.

I heard on the WDAY news tonight that Ross Brennan will not play for UND this year. He is still in Grand Forks, but having personal issues. WDAY said they knew what they were, but would not reveal them out of respect to Ross. Coach Lennon apparently stated that Ross' future at UND is in the air after this year.

I agree with the non-conf. scheduling, but my post was about finding a conference. Any scheduling with DI schools is good (including NDSU wrestling).

star2city, If a DI tradition in hockey meant anything, people on the other boards would bring it up. Something along the lines of "Didn't NDSU win seven DI titles in hockey?" or "Is NDSU in the same conference as UND, who won seven DI hockey titles?", but they don't! Instead, they ask "Is there a University of North Dakota?" Here's a quote from the ORU board that sums it up: Here's one more: This one is pretty good:

Southern Utah desperately needs a travel partner if they want to remain in the Mid-Con. They had been rumored to be looking at the Big West. star2city, I stand corrected on the number of flights to Grand Forks. There are seven daily, all from Minneapolis. Three flights are Saab SF-340 Turboprops, that hold a maximum of 36 passengers. Three flights are DC9, which hold a maximum of 139 passengers(this is probably more than the ones in GF, as there are smaller configurations of the DC-9). One flight is an Avroliner RJ, with a maximum of 70 passengers. This means a whopping 595 people can fly into Grand Forks daily. It would take 5 days for 2,500 visiting fans to arrive. Flights to Fargo There are thirteen daily flights to Fargo. You can also have a direct flight to Chicago or Denver(Two Mid-Con schools in Chicago) . The planes include one DC9-50, which holds 139. Two DC9-30, which hold 115. One DC9-10, which holds 90. Three Airbus A319, which hold 126. Five CRJ, which hold 70. One Avroliner RJ, which holds 70. This creates a grand total of 1257. Fargo could handle 2,500 fans in two days of flights. What does all this mean? It's a helluva lot easier to get to Fargo than Grand Forks, and there are a lot more hotels/motels in Fargo. Two of the criteria for "Tournament Sponsor" were travel and accomodations, yet you give NDSU and UND the same score. NDSU should have at least one extra point for all the exta passenger capacity and extra accomodations available.

star2city, IFPW was rejected by the Mid-Con in favor of Centenary last year. Unless they have made a major change in their athletice program, I don't see a different result. UTPA's program is supposedly a disaster. TAMUCC has too many letters and received less votes thanNDSU on the ORU boards "Who should be the next Mid-Con member" thread . How can NDSU and UND have the same score for travel/time? Do hourly flights into Fargo compare to twice a day flights into Grand Forks? How about Tournament sponsorship? Fargo wins on all three criteria you set out, but yet NDSU and UND receive the same score. Baseball is only important to ORU. The rest of the Mid-Con is focused on BB.

Some of the Sioux fans seem to think that DI hockey will help UND(would have helped NDSU) find a conference if they decide to move up to DI. I decided to break down the numbers and see if it would help. Here's what I found: Currently, of the 60 schools that have a DI hockey team, only 35 have full DI athletic programs. Of those 35 DI schools, 6 are Ivy league. We can eliminate them from accepting any school from the midwest or upper great plains, even though they play IAA football. Of the 29 remaining DI schools, 5 are in the Big Ten for other sports. No chance for anyone with a football stadium with seating less than 50,000 will get into the Big Ten. Of the 24 remaining schools, 18 are on the east coast in states such as New York, Mass., Conn., Vermont, and Maine. This would make travel costs outrageous. The six remaining schools are, drumroll please: Bowling Green(Bowling Green, OH), Miami of Ohio(Oxford, OH), Western Michigan(Kalamazoo, MI) - Mid-American Confernce- this is a conference that has IA football. The Mid-American also already has 14 teams. Denver(Denver, CO) - Sun Belt Confernce- Denver does not sponsor football- The Sun Belt is a conference with IA football. Notre Dame(Notre Dame, IN)-Big East/Independent in IA Football- The Big East is looking for teams to replace Miami and Virginia Tech, but I doubt the replacements will have "North Dakota" in their name. Air Force(USAF Academy, CO) - Mountain West Conference- this is a conference that has IA football. Now, let's look at three conferences of the above teams for geographical reasons(I left out the Big East for obvious reasons): Mid-American- University of Akron -Akron OH,Ball State University Muncie IN,Bowling Green State University Bowling Green OH ,University at Buffalo, the State University of New Buffalo NY,University of Central Florida Orlando FL,Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant MI ,Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti MI,Kent State University Kent OH,Marshall University Huntington WV,Miami University (Ohio) Oxford OH,Northern Illinois University De Kalb IL,Ohio University Athens OH,University of Toledo Toledo OH,Western Michigan University Kalamazoo MI Mountain West- Brigham Young University Provo UT, Colorado State University Fort Collins CO, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Las Vegas NV,University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM, San Diego State University San Diego CA, U.S. Air Force Academy USAF Academy CO, University of Utah Salt Lake City UT, University of Wyoming Laramie WY Sunbelt-Arkansas State University State University AR, University of Idaho Moscow ID, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette LA , University of Louisiana at Monroe Monroe LA, Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro TN, New Mexico State University Las Cruces NM, University of North Texas Denton TX Will DI hockey help UND find a conference sooner? In one word, no. Unless of course, UND plans on dropping football, or sponsoring IA football, which would require a new stadium.

From The Forum:

If you go to Roger Maris Golf and click on "pairings" you can see. They were in the second grouping. Hint 1: He owns hotels Hint 2: He likes softball and baseball Looky Here: Taylor lays out plans for Dome, BSA Looks like NDSU is working on facilities as well . Here's a thought: If NDSU and the Fargodome could raise the funds for the FargoArena, it wouldn't have to go to a vote.