star2city

Thanks for posting, Puck Swami! It would be interesting to know what your inside contacts at DU think of this possibility.

Perhaps we should ask "The Walrus", a regular poster on this board. If I'm not mistaken, he may know.

Congrats, BCS!! Truly a time of Thanksgiving, for your new son!

UBC awaits word on move to NCAA CBC News had the above report on UBC's NCAA bid. It repeats some comments by UBC's AD, but I found these comments in bold particularly revealing:

Understand the FAR compliance part (but wouldn't it have been easy for Harmeson to teach one class with a TA?), but then why keep Harmeson in the WCHA role? The new FAR could use as much exposure as possible. I can only conclude that Harmeson's role in dealing with hockey interests (and possibly DI interests) is far more crucial to UND's near-term interests than the new FAR's role with the NCC. Considering the stability of the WCHA, that is signficant IMHO.

Fargobison: Correct me if I'm wrong: didn't NDSU's last media contract extend over five years? If so, NDSU chose not to open up negotiations while entering the transition years. And isn't NDSU's current contract running for two years, one that will be as an independent and one year that in all likelihood will be as a member of the MidCon? The MidCon membership should have made NDSU's contract more attractive than an independent schedule in basketball. Apparently, even this spring, NDSU was not anticipating a MidCon bid in 2007-8 but one in 2008-9. The next two-three months will determine if UND enters DI without a conference.

http://www.fightingsioux.com/sports/news/r...RELEASE_ID=5007

Why would UND withdraw Harmeson as the FAR for the NCC? Harmeson is the "big gun" that knows the political in's and out's of most area DI and prospective DI institutions, from what I understand. If UND was hurting for a conference, this would be the worst time to pull Harmeson from that relationship with the NCC (and non-WCHA schools like USD., Augie, UNO, etc that are contemplating a DI move). IF UND's conference hopes were minimal, Harmeson would be needed to patch together an independent scheduling alliance. But yet, Harmeson maintains his relationship with the WCHA, where he will continue to hob-knob with WCHA administrators like those at Denver U. With the NCAA recent encouragement to UBC to become a member, I know many readers will be skeptical, but something is up. UND's WCHA membership, hockey tradition, facilities, and media outlets could very well open doors in DI that other schools couldn't open.

Getting banged up playing DIA teams doesn't help your conference cause. If your school is in a IAA without an autobid (like the Great West), going 0-3 against IA teams hurts the school's chance of getting an at-large bid.

According to our SDSU and NDSU resident experts, a Canadian school (UBC) in the NCAA can never happen. But could these experts be wrong? Guess what could very well be happening: UBC tantalizingly close to NCAA nod If UBC becomes available as an NCAA school, the Vancouver market would be very enticing to a lower level conference like the Big Sky. Regardless of UND's or UBC's eventual all-sports conference membership, UBC's likely DI hockey program will have an effect on UND athletics. This statement implies that no DI conference arrangement is imminent. If UBC attempts to immediately join DI, it will take seven years for it to attain post-season eligibility in all sports. If it went DII, UBC could obtain post-season eligibility in DI hockey in five years.

North Dakota's pair of aces

There can be a number of reasons why the athletic budget shortfall can increase that has nothing to do with normal day-to-day operations of the athletic department. For instance, the athletic budget likely includes the cost of the consulting firm for assessing long-term facility needs. If an architectual fee is also tentatively included for an indoor practice facility, that would also distort the true operating budget. If a building like a indoor practice center is later approved by the state board, many upfront costs (like architecture) would then be capitalized and the "deficit" would be adjusted lower (or eliminated) after the building's approval. It is like Iowabison claiming that the REA budget had a million dollar shortfall which required an infusion of a million dollar "gift". But during the same time period, it was known that a large gifts were given to the REA finish the Betty in granite and leather like the main Ralph arena. It's easy to jump to conclusions if the whole picture is not understood.

You're right - the ones out there sure are passionate!

Just for jollies, here's a SWAG at Minot's interests" 1. H. S. Basketball 2. H. S. Hockey 3. Vikings 4. H.S. Football 5. UND Hockey 6. Minot St Basketball 7. UND Football 8. NDSU Football 9. Minot St Football 10. H.S. wrestling Any Minot residents (current or former to comment)

Curious about other ND cities, too. For instance, here's my SWAG at Bismarck fan allegiance's/interests. 1. Vikings 2. H. S. Football 3. H. S. Basketball 4. Twins 5. H. S. Hockey 6. Mary Football 7. UND hockey 8. H.S. Wrestling 9. Mary basketball 10. (tie) UND football, NDSU football, Denver Broncos P.S. Really don't have a feel for how deep fan allegiance is to the U of Mary.

In his blog, Mike McFeely rated the popularity of sports teams in Fargo-Moorhead.. His answers were: Here goes: 1. Minnesota Vikings: 2. Minnesota Vikings: See No.1. 3. Minnesota Vikings: Ditto. 4. Minnesota Twins: 5. North Dakota State: 6. High schools: 7. University of North Dakota: 8. University of Minnesota: 9. Concordia football: 10. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks: Considering fan passion and numbers, what would be the ratings in GF ? Although I live far from ND, here is my guess: 1. UND hockey 2. Minnesota Vikings 3. UND football 4. H. S. Hockey 5. Minnesota Twins 6. UND women's basketball 7. H. S. football 8. Minnesota Wild 9. Minnesota Timberwolves 10. UND Men's basketball 11. H..S. basketball 12. UND women's hockey 13. G.B Packers 14. Chicago Cubs 15. NDSU football

The NCAA changed the rule in 2004 and now will supposedly enforce it. There are a number of exemptions but if a school drops below the 15,000 threshold 3 times in 10 years, the school loses its 1A designation. I personally believe that the BCS schools, now that they have the right to count IAA games for bowls, would like to eliminate one or two IA conferences (i.e. MAC and Sunbelt) so lower end bowls would be forced to give even more $'s at the low end. Schools like Eastern Michigan, Kent State, and San Jose St will have a very difficult time meeting the current rule. This rule won't have an impact for at least another two years + whatever time it takes for the first school to litigate the matter.

Haven't seen anything official, and there really can't be anything official until an invite is extended. Even if it is real, it probably would just mean a bigger conference exit fee if NDSU leaves within 10 years.

Not sure where this AP story originated, but it's in the Sporting News: AP: North Dakota has backfield depth

Interesting articles from the NYTimes on the University of Connecticut's plan to construct a town center from scratch. Although not entirely applicable to UND's situation, the northeast corner of the Bronson Property is just begging for this type develop to help UND become even more attractive to students. UND's strategic plan (See Table 18) includes a $7 mill hotel and $10 mill urban village near the Ralph, but that pales in comparison with what UCONN is attempting on 15 acres.

IMO, most Sioux fans, including this one, expected NDSU football to fare rather well at the IAA level. The surprise of NDSU DI athletics has been, by far, NDSU men's basketball. Who would have expected NDSU basketball to exceed SDSU's program? Miles has recruited very well in spite of the lack of a real basketball facility and any real NDSU tradition. It's a shame that, NDSU even in a conference, won't have a decent venue to showcase its basketball. NDSU women's basketball, otoh, has not lived up to its billing and will be rebuilding for some time. I also remember when NDSU fans were saying Northern Colorado and the Big Sky had absolutely no interest in each other as UNC was a lock for the MidContinent and how NDSU/SDSU were destined for the Big Sky. History has a strange way of not being predictable. Thanks for the complement on Lennon's and Roebuck's programs. But I'm sure they would be the first to state that there is a lot of hard work remaining.

So is this correct? NDSU must make a 10-year commitment to the MidCon. Extra penalties if NDSU withdraws from the MidCon prior to the 2017-18 season?

Or, apparently, if nd1sufan had speculated NDSU was joining the Big Sky. That, after all, was preposterous, even though NDSU fans has been postulating, dreaming, and speculating on it for three years. Now, any kind of such talk, even though Fullerton still publicly names UND, NDSU, and SDSU, is beyond the range of all "resonable" speculation. Apparently, "Politically Correct" speech has been imposed on a topic as mundane as conference affiliation because it hurts the egos, feelings and sensitivities of bison fans. Consider this: if the Big Sky was only going to take one school from the Dakotas, which school would the BSC choose? High on the BSC shopping list are camera and satellite-ready facilities, a dakota-wide cable network, a world class arena (or two), and an established record of winning DI championships. Now who might fit those criteria?. The plain truth is hurtful sometimes.

Wrong again, JBB clone. The Mid-Con is officially classified as a I-AAA conference by the NCAA. (A conference that does not sponsor football.) I-AAA conferences.

Good luck to the Bison while they entertain the MidCon officials. Seems like they aren't holding back anything to impress their guests. Personally, I really don't think NDSU fans have anything to worry about, as NDSU is in the MidCon if NDSU chooses to accept. [url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=135692