star2city

A cross-country odyssey with extreme sport like snowkiting has the potential to generate a lot of positive publicity for ND. Iditarod - type event in the future? http://www.minotdailynews.com/News/article...?articleID=6590

USD will gain entry into the Gateway within a few years, making it 10 teams. USD and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville will likely be the two schools going into the MidCon, making it 12. If any MidCOn school leaves, Texas-Pan American will be the replacement. Exactly right!

With this quote, I'm sure McFeely made all kinds of friends in Bisonland. It is a black eye for NDSU when Taylor, Bohl, Miles, and Dorn all get publicly rebuked.

Is this why there doesn't to be any urgency in getting Freund playing time? Also, is Landry that impressive that he could start as a redshirt freshman?

Supposedly, WKU will be scheduling "home" games an hour away in Nashville against schools like Vanderbilt or Tennessee. Since EKU is staying IAA and is a large draw, WKU will likely have that game annually. In addition, WKU's other more local rival, Middle Tennessee, will now be a biennial home game. MTSU wouldn't play at WKU unless WKU moved up from IAA. In the entire Sun Belt, WKU probably has the best traveling and most passionate fans - mostly geared toward basketball. To stay off NCAA probation for IA attendance, a school needs to exceed 15,000 only every other year. With their expanded stadium (adding 5000 seat) and a away "home" game every other year, WKU can probably meet that criteria rather easily if they schedule correctly.

From that article, this quote is key and is a fundamental reason why bison fans don't understand UND's DI move. Again, IMHO UND has a 90 to 95 % assurance that it does have a bid. It cannot be officially revealed at this time, but it is coming. UC-Davis, C Arkansas, Winston-Salem St, Kennesaw St, North Florida all have taken similar approaches. To Bison fans, a school just declares that you are moving to DI and hope that you are "lucky". IPFW, Savannah State, Utah Valley, New Jersey Inst of Tech, Longwood, SDSU, and NDSU all took this approach. Of that list, it is very apparent that NDSU and SDSU are the fortunate ones. If it wasn't for Chicago State dropping out of the MidCOn in the same year that Valpo left - NDSU and SDSU might still be homeless.

You need to ask the AD and President of Pacific, who have been lobbying to get in the WCC for a number of years. Seems you go to absurd means to pigeonhole UND in the MidCon. One day you'll see the logic of UND going to the BSC - it does take time for it to sink in, especially some people.

If the WCC moves to ten, it would most likely be with Pacific and Seattle. Pacific is already a basketball power in the Big West and the WCC doesn't have a school in the Central Valley. IMHO, Denver U is still the school left out.

In order to be a IA football school, one has to be in a IA conference (unlesss you are Notre Dame or one of the service academies). With UND's (and NDSU's) geography and ND's demographics, getting a bid into a IA league (MAC or WAC) would be very dificult. We should strive toward excellence in winning, attendance, and facilities and if somehow somewhay a IA opportunity presents itself, we should be open toward it. Very few observers would have predicted that Idaho would ever be able to get in a decent IA conference and find any level of success at the IA level, and yet they are now tied for second with Hawaii in the WAC. Even after last year's difficult season, it would be very difficult to find Vandal fans that would go back to IAA. The IA level does get bashed for its bowl system. But, the bowl system actually allows fans to travel with reasonable air fares, something that is impossible with six days advance notice with the IAA playoff system. The bowl system does a better job of appealing to non-local alumni.

With the majority of DII -> DI moves, a gentleman's agreement has already been made with an existing conference several years before the move happens. As an example, Seattle U is already a lock for the WCC. After SDSU's conference search, the South Dakota Board of Regents has been educated in the politics of DI conference, that IMHO is why they insisted on having a meeting with MidCon officials during the SDSU site visit. SD officials have a vested interest in keeping USD strong, and I do believe USD already has a gentleman's agreement from the MidCOn as a result of that meeting. IF USD was going to have a problem with conference affiliation, as fiscally conservative as SD politicians are and with relatively limited resources at USD, IMHO they would never allow USD to move to DI as independent with no forseeable conference affiliation.

Perhaps they are considering either location. A football stadium generally isn't too compatible with higher density commerical or residential development, while something like a 5000 seat baseball stadium would actually make commerical/apartments more valuable (especially with there was a minor league team). If UND is after more long-term rents from Bronson commerical development, a football stadium would seem better placed at University and Columbia.

Thanks for the info. Isn't the SE corner reserved for Medical School expansion? Or is their room for both? Wasn't familiar with Cambria Suites until a seach: http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/htm...SuitesHome?sid= http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_2n...05_Cambria.html

The Betty is likely to be connected with the Wellness Center, Olympic Pool, and maybe a visitors dorm/hotel in the future. The new stadium/indoor practice facility/Hyslop would house football, track, X-C, soccer, and tennis and possibly baseball/softball. A rather Solomonic solution was reached: N 25th Street will be continued south through the site of the old REA and the property will be divided between the EERC and UND athletics. Also, 2nd Ave N will likely be closed off north of Memorial Stadium and given to the athletic department.

The NE corner of the Bronson property is being slated for commerical development with apartments on the upper levels last I understood. The parking lot east of Columbia and north of Memorial Stadium is where there is talk of a new stadium: http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?s=...st&p=175908 IMHO, Woden has rather good inside info on this.

Rather interesting article of the effect of U of Montana's stadium on Montana football. The Ralph changed the perception of UND athletics. Would a new outdoor stadium add even more attraction to UND? Washington-Grizzly Stadium - 20 yrs old So a UND stadium would be roughly $30 to $45 million.

As stated before, NDSU/SDSU to the Gateway is going to happen.

To build an indoor practice facility, an outdoor soccer/track, and a new locker room/office space building, it may require knocking down Memorial Stadium. Not that I like that, but Memorial would take a lot of money to refurbish and the track around the field really harms a football atmosphere. No combo track/football stadiums are built anymore. A football field also would have to have a large number of private boxes for high rents - which Memorial really can't offer. Agree with Hyslop --> tennis. A pool at the Wellness Center would have cost $10 mill (I think). That would have been too much of a bite for students at one time. "There is a pressing need to support football, track, and soccer (which coincidentally could also serve as lacrosse facilities)" Athletic Director Tom Buning said. Waiting to hear this quote in a few years: "With the venue change of football from the Alerus to UND's new outdoor stadium, UND will continue to utilize the Alerus Center as the home venue for its Lacrosse teams."

Dakota Student Article Football, Track, and Soccer upgrades Open Air Football Stadium - Article Implies IA Aspirations New Olympic /Recreational Pool at Wellness Center Ray Richards to 18 holes, Baseball, Softball

USA Today: NCAA weighing membership expansion to Canadian schools Looks like 2008-9 is the earliest UBC would be a provisional member of the NCAA.

Last year on Bisonville, there was a thread about how the "Sioux S*** S***" was still a prominent cheer in the student section - at both basketball and football games. Seems like anti-UND cheers were on the mind of Bison fans in the Metrodome too, according to this thread on Bisonville: http://www.bisonville.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...um=1161623315/0 Out of curiousity to a group of Auburn and Alabama fans at work, I've mentioned this phenomena of Bison fans chanting anti-UND cheers at games that don't involve UND. They unanimously agreed that that fan behavior is perhaps the most bizarre that they had ever heard. Both the Alabama and Auburn fans, some of whom have been season ticket holders, couldn't conceive of the same thing happening at a Bama or Auburn gaming unless the two were playing each other. Both sets agreed that NDSU fans must be obsessed with UND.

Have to agree with DCSIOUX's concerns. For recruiting purposes, NDSU now has a number of issues in its favor when approaching Minnesota recruits: nearing playoff eligibility, facilities, and playing UMinn once every three years. If NDSU can get in the Gateway, that would help their recrutiing even more with an autobid. For this recruiting season, UND will be able to offer recruits a larger scholarship package for 2008-9, but not for the next year. But schools like NDSU, SDSU, and UNI will continually point to UND not being playoff eligible for the entire playing career (until 2012-13). It is all the more impartant for UND to be get into a conference soon and to construct an indoor facility to help with the recruiting battles.

We've been over this before. The WCC is a Catholic/Jesuit based conference. They would prefer new members be similar. Seattle U fits the WCC profile perfectly. Pacific (which has wanted in for years), Denver U, and UBC, all of which would seemingly strengthen the WCC, do not fit the strict Catholic/West Coast profile. Pepperdine, the sole WCC with a non-Catholic profile (Church of Christ affiliation), is the most likely to leave and has supposedly has stated interest in the WAC. With the WCC already having another LA-based school (Loyola Marymount), the loss of Pepperdine and a gain of Seattle U would be a net gain for the WCC.

This has been rumored to be happening: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cbasketball/...seattleu21.html The WAC is rumored to be interested in Pepperdine as a tenth non-football school to get into the Los Angeles market. If Pepperdine does go to the WAC, Denver U will have no western option but the Big Sky.

The town you are referring to, if it is near Williston, is almost certainly Epping. The 2nd Biggest Little Town in North Dakota

A couple articles on Chris Coste in the Philadelphia media: Catching a Break Coste gets pitch from movie studio