star2city

Friday's game against UC Santa Barbara will be the second most difficult match on the schedule (the Sioux were competitive in a loss to Dayton, which remains a rated top 25 team). If the Sioux beat the Gauchos (vs an RPI #63 team on a neutral court), the Sioux should actually be favorites (and mostly heavy favorites) for the rest of the schedule. Hardee himself has said that this team has improved over last year - when UND and NDSU were rated about equal by the NCAA's RPI. A top 50 rating isn't out of the question if they run the rest of the schedule. What hurts will be playing very weak RPI schools in the Great West (all but UVU are well below 200 in ratings).

Congrats to the Sioux ladies on a great win! Record crowd for volleyball and a great atmosphere. Bison fans are probably b*tching and moaning about their play, but this Sioux team is for real. If it hadn't been for the large number of service errors in the second set by the Sioux, the Sioux could have easily swept the match. Hardee has this team on the way to being a very special program. Hopefully he stays and continues building. In the Midwest, UNI is a top 10 team in the nation, and Creighton is a top 20 program. The Midwest and California are the top recruiting areas for volleyball. The Betty is perfect for volleyball, so UND has the facilities to recruit that many other programs can't match.

Could see Scheels building along 42nd south of Alerus too.

The crowd was so much more involved in the UND vs Montana volleyball game, than the UND vs Drake football game. Can only imagine what the atmosphere can be like tonight. Break the 2000 mark in attendance and cheer on the Sioux tonight!

If they raise the money, Spirit Lake may go after the NCAA in Federal Court on discrimination charges. Based on the NCAA's arbitrary rules, Spirit Lake could easily prevail against the NCAA, but it would take a large amount of $'s and time. That's why they need an injunction. Interesting that Spirit Lake wants to take possession of the logo: UND brass must be sick over that item. Kelley is going to do his damndest to ensure that the Sioux logo merchandies can never again be produced after retirement. If Spirit Lake gains that right - don't be surprised if the legislature forces the handover of the logo to Spirit Lake - the Sioux logo would continue to sell for years and years, giving Spirit Lake a nice annuity. Meanwhile, the new UND logo won't sell, not even to the PC crowd, who only buy ND or UND-notated stuff anyway. The whole state political establishment isn't liking the idea of a nickname initiative referendum either. The portion of Standing Rock in ND will be forced to vote, making Standing Rock's leadership stand on this issue untenable. The state legislature may also require a vote prior to any retirement. No matter how badly the state of ND, the NDUS, and the NCAA wanted to kill the Sioux nickname, Fighting Sioux will live on in the hearts and minds of the people. Strange how the resdient PCer's on this board aren't demonizing Spirit Lake - who are going down a much more radical path than Al Carlson ever did. Carlson has been crucified on this board. Why does Spirit Lake get a free pass?

We believe in this team!! Send the bison fans back home with their tails between their legs!

Exactly. Further documentation that St. Cloud officials are the king of doublespeak and hypocrisy.

The problem with those four schools is that none of them have a rink with seating of more than around 2000 people. To gain CCHA entrance, Niagara would expand their rink to include seating on two sides, but it still wouldn't be large. Canisius doesn't have it's own rink (it plays at Buffalo State, a DIII school), but Terry Pegula and the Buffalo Sabres may help finance one on campus. Those four AHA schools have facilities that would have fit in decently with BGSU, WMU, Ferris, and LSSU's, but not with the NCHC schools. The NCHC should be in larger Great Lakes markets like Buffalo and Detroit: fans at major public universities in those cities like SUNY-Buffalo and Oakland have been clamoring to add hockey, but it never seems to happen.

Was at Thursday's game, and I have to say, the game experience has really deteriorated from the last game I was at two years ago. (Usually average a game a year as well as a hockey and basketball game at home). It's not that the game wasn't done professionally by the athletic department - it was. The fan base is just so deflated - except the students - no anticipation of excitement. It's more like the fans are just dreading that the worst can happen. The volleyball game last night was a study in contrasts - a lot of anticipation and noise from fans. The noise only abated when the match became a blowout in UND's favor. Sioux football teams of the past always seemed to execute every single part of the game. The machine-like precision was part of the beauty of Sioux football. Perhaps it was just first game jitters, but coaches have a long ways to go to evolve this team into machine-like behavior..

Sorry, no offense, but looks like the PC narrative that used to go like ..... it's all about what the Indians want ... to .... it's all about the student athletes need ... is now parroted by the fan base. Again, since I believe that the Big Sky situation is nothing but a bluff, the only team that will really may be impacted is football, if they become a playoff team again. That would be a wonderful "problem" to have.

Agree with the UAH part. UAH is a decent academic school in a market that is begging for a home team to root for (Alabama A&M unfortunately doesn't count ). If UAH was ever in a decent conference, it's recruiting potential would be very good. UAH also has a better rink than either BGSU or WMU and is in a bigger metro area. The problem with UAH is that its leadership seems no longer committed to hockey (hiring a non-hockey AD after their previous hockey-loving AD died from a heart attack seemed like a bad sign). Anyone the NCHC adds needs to be totally committed. Air Force can't totally commit to hockey (can't gain the needed recruits), so AFA shouldn't be considered (plus the NCHC already owns the Colorado Springs market.) If necessary, - and I know this wouldn't be popular with traditionalists - give incentives to certain programs to start hockey, like Iowa State, Buffalo, UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, or some other Big12 school. If the NCHC is really going to live up to being a National conference in scope, the whole idea of taking St Cloud would turn the concept into a joke. Let BGSU and WMU add four teams from the AHA to keep the CCHA going. Set up a partial interlocking schedule between this new CCHA and the NCHC, to ensure both have enough games. Maybe in a couple of years when any of those programs have proven their development (and had arena improvements), one or two could graduate to the NCHC, or the two leagues could merge.

That is almost certainly part of the situation - especially with regards to TV rights and where ND hockey would be broadcast: ND doesn't want to commit to anything until the dust settles. Joining the NCHC now could mean that the NCHC's TV contract might create unwelcome TV issues for ND's other sports, if it had to switch conferences later. Imagine if the Big East lost Syracuse, UConn, and Pitt to the ACC (which is a reasonable probability with the A&M news). The Big East would be forced to add a bunch of CUSA schools - making ND and the non-BB schools very unhappy. Notre Dame's end game if it wants to avoid the B1G: join the Big 12 (and get the same deal as Texas with its own network) or join the ACC and maintain some NE rivals (BC, maybe Pitt, Syracuse, and/or UConn).

Totally agree on Hardee. By far, he has done the best job of any coach in transition. Hopefully we sign him for a long-term contract and win many conference banners! In last week's tournament, Dayton was the #19 rated team in the country. Sioux lost 3-1, which is actually pretty impressive for a team at that level. The other loss was to James Madison in five sets with the last set going to 24 points instead of 15. The Dukes are a top 100 team. James Madison, UND, NDSU, and N Colo were all rated about the same last year. If the Sioux are better this year than last, the Sioux should sweep this weekend. The two major matches that will really tell how good this team is come up next week: Tues, vs NDSU Fri, vs UC Santa Barbara After those two matches, the Sioux should be major favorites over all the other teams they face. 2010 Volleyball RPI

SCSU extends contract with Gino Gino: Just this one time, mess this up badly: Translation: SCSU is doing everything possible to politic itself into the NCHC. On being commish of the NCHC:

A U-shaped Alerus modified for basketball at one end could make some sense for both basketball and football. Trouble is the city-owned part of it makes it difficult politically.

As mentioned earlier, women's hockey also takes up a number of dates in the Ralph and doesn't really need the seating of the Ralph. Four teams taking the same floor becomes a logistical nightmare. The proposal I suggested on an smaller ice rink / basketball that would be the arena converted over - sometimes on the same weekend. The Ralph would be dedicated to practice / hockey and any other event where crowds of more than 5000 were expected. To convert a rink back and forth between floors on the same time is certainly possible, as Wisconsin does it all the time. But Wisconsin is also building a women's hockey rink adjacent to Kohl's precisely because they want to limit the number of conversions between basketball and hockey and to increase scheduling flexibility. Wisconsin women's hockey will still use Kohl's main rink on days with huge attendance promotions. Time lapse of Kohl conversion

Highly unlikely, as a Commish needs a majority vote. If there is an existing contract, however, there might need to be a finanical settlement. The NCAA will grant the NCHC and B1G an auto bid, just that it won't occur until the third year.

WCHA needs a DI school to maintain vote at DI meetings If the WCHA doesn't gain either WMU or BGSU, it will lose it's right to vote at DI meetings regarding hockey issues:

The only schools left that have any say about the future of the CCHA are Notre Dame, Bowling Green, and WMU. The other 8 CCHA schools - who have all left - have abdicated the right to speak or vote about its future. In almost any conference , a school loses their vote on any expansion issues (and almost any other vote) when it leaves. The way the NCAA bylaws are now written, one school left in a conference - if it invites enough schools to retain the autobid - can save a conference and preserve the autobid. WMU and Bowling Green would have to vote to dissolve the conference prior to them leaving (thereby outvoting ND), which may still be possible. The CCHA schools should have voted for an actual merger with the WCHA if they had wanted the CCHA autobid to disappear. Instead, the WCHA offered individual schools bids - but did not technically merge with the CCHA. Right now, any of ND, WMU, or BGSU can still claim the CCHA autobid - and use it to recreate a conference - if any of those three are the last standing under the CCHA umbrella. I didn't write this was going to happen - just that it was possible and that certain schools (mainly Catholic ones - thnk Holy Cross, Niagara, Mercyhurst, Canisius) would actually be interested to playing second fiddle to ND in a ND conference. By only having 12 designated conference games, ND could play the B1G and BC, Providence, and Merrimack and whoever else all it wants and still have the benefit of a conference tournament and autobid.. With that type arrangement, ND's pairwise could be very strong even if it blew the conference tournament in South Bend. IF ND turns down the NCHC and goes independent, what I would like to see is that WMU and BGSU invite all the NCHC schools into the CCHA, rename the CCHA the NCHC, and therefore keep the autobid. Such a manuever is called a reverse takeover in the corporate world - but could also apply here. That way, the NCHC playoff champ would gain an autobid the first and second year of the conference.

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ND schedules Mich, Mich St, and Purdue every year in FB. The B1G hasn't stopped that despite the animosity between Delaney and ND. A B1G hockey conference will only have 20 dates and each school needs 14 more. B1G wants to schedule ND to keep B1G rivalries, making it easier for ND to say yes one day.

You misread what I posted: ND could sponsor a Catholic league using the autobid from the CCHA. (ND if it leaves the CCHA last, it could invite anyone who would accept.) Who would accept? Canisius, Niagara, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris (not Catholic but would accept) and possibly Army / AFA or even UAH. ND wouldn't want a full round robin schedule with those schools: just two games each (but the other schools would play 4 against each other) and then schedule primarily the B1G, so a conference like that would be unbalanced on purpose for ND's benefit. Conference championship tournament in South Bend with the winner getting the autobid. The other schools would play a full round robin. Ideally ND would want Merrimack and Providence, but those two just aren't leaving HE. ND can't be a true indie in hockey, as there would be 2 or 3 weeks in March when there would be no ND matches. ND needs those March dates for its new cable network and wants as many games as possible against "marquee" college names in the B1G. It also wants a "give me" autobid with its own home conference tournament in which it would be heavily favored.

Notre Dame is probably attempting to stick it to the NCHC with monetary and TV requirements (kind of like the deal ND gets in the Big East). What really doomed the CCHA is that WMU wouldn't commit to it, with a potential NHCH bid out there. Without WMU, Ferris St had no interest in sticking around, and the AHA4 was not going to move over either. Notre Dame is really the program at fault here by delaying their decision, and as a result UAH probably goes down the tubes. UAH would have likely been in a new CCHA if WMU had committed to the CCHA (assuming ND went to the NCHC). If WMU and BGSU commit to the WCHA, ND would effectively own the CCHA autobid : ND could start its own catholic conference from select ECAC, HE, and AHA schools, mostly play Big Ten nonconference, and host the post season tournament . The conference tournament and pairwise ratings would give ND a decent shot at the NCAAs.

Ferris State accepts WCHA invite Marquette Mining-Journal: WCHA insisted on arena upgrades from Ferris St and Lake Sup St South Bend Tribune: End near for CCHA If ND joins the NCHC, ND seems to be insisting that the NCHC only have 7 teams so that ND can have an extensive non-conference schedule. If ND rejects the NCHC and goes independent, then it seems the NCHC takes in both WMU and Bowling Green. Kalamazoo Gazette: WMU no longer tied to ND

If an on-campus football stadium was ever built at UND, the REA management would almost have to run it. They have the expertise to make a game day run smoothly and already have the people (ticket systems, greeters, security, concessions, management etc). The Islanders attempt to get funding for a new arena from voters was rejected: $400 mill was the projected cost. Figure half the price for ND compared to suburban Long Island, then add a premium back on for granite, brass, and leather. Going from suburban to urban environments can almost double the cost again: the new Barclay's Center in Brooklyn will cost $800 mill. To replicate the REA now with 11,600 seats would be closer to $200 mill than $110 mill because of steel and inflation. Nearly doubling the size would double the cost.