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"And now the Grand Forks school is working overtime to derail new Ph.D. programs at NDSU." NDSU has launched or is planning to launch the following doctoral programs: Communication Psychology Education (pending) History, English (pending) Criminal justice Food safety Natural resources management Software engineering Genomics, Transportation and logistics Musical arts Industrial and manufacturing engineering, Civil engineering, Mechanical engineering Agricultural and biosystems engineering, Electrical and computer engineering Molecular Pathogenesis Human Development The first six would be competitive with UND programs, and only education and English programs have been objected to by Kupchella. By any standard, the pace of these program expansion are aggressive and also very costly. Chapman

"The UND School of Medicine is doing its utmost to prevent re-establishment of a family practice residency program in Fargo." The last family practice residency program in Fargo closed because of debts, and the UND School of Medicine was out $700,000 because of it. Where was the Fargo Medical establishment then? Did they not have some responsibilty? The Legislature allowed forgiveness of the debt. There are three other family practice programs, in Minot, Bismarck, and Grand Forks. Because of low interest in family practice, filling the slots is not easy, and the Forum is demanding a fourth site be added? One of the goals of the family practice residency programs is to encourage physicians to locate in rural North Dakota. From Fargo, one in fifteen residents moved to a rural town, but from the other sites one in four locate in rural areas. If the welfare of the whole state is considered, the existing locations serve the state much better. And with Fargo having three of only seven residency programs in the state, it is not as if Fargo is not being served by the UND School of Medicine. Furthermore, how does this even support the editorial premise that UND is undermining NDSU? The subject does not pertain to NDSU. Finally, the Forum Columnist Janell Cole reported this: So the Forum makes a stand that UND is attempting to scuttle NDSU

Although this editorial (Thinking small not good choice) has already been discussed in the

If USD chose to add hockey in Sioux Falls, student attendance would almost certainly be abysmal. The funding would have to be from alumni sources, not from student fees, but the upside is that almost all the tickets would be full price.

In cities or areas that are important to UND's enrollment growth (Twin Cities and to a lesser extent Colorado's front range), UND is much better known than NDSU. The hockey program is a big factor, and IAA football is no factor, for recognition in those markets.

If only Friday/Saturday games were considered, the average would almost certainly be over 5000 for those nights. Adding in perhaps 500 alumni with spouse or family that would go just to support USD, a 6000 attendance figure seems almost attainable (but with alot of work to get there). Schedule a series with UNO, whose fans really can't travel to any away games, and the Sioux Falls Arena would probably be close to a sell out (8000). Without a doubt there would be high level of risk, but the possibility of a cash generating sport exists with a fallback solution: drop hockey. The Div IAA option would only bleed cash out of USD and the fallback solution to Div II would be more tramatic.

Well said, Sicatoka. There is one more model that would possibly be appropriate for a school like Augustana: Drop football or drop scholarship football, use the savings to move to Div I, and emphasize the one remaining revenue sport: basketball. Vikings basketball could move to the Sioux Falls Arena, if there is space after USD hockey ( ). The power of the Mid-Con Conference, Valparaiso, is also a private Lutheran college in a Midwestern city with less resources than Sioux Falls. This model is not nearly as far-fetched as it may sound as it is used by most of the Catholic Div I schools in the country. For USD, the loss of relevance in the Sioux Falls media (and thereby the whole state of South Dakota) if SDSU moves up is a major motivating factor. Rapidly growing Sioux Falls has got to have the largest concentration of USD alumni anywhere, so it would make sense to bring some games to its graduates, many of whom would go even just because it is USD.

And then there are those 3.7% that are not (by the way, those were not statistics but financial projections). How is this for a basis: - - - - Program - - # of - - Avg - - Ticket - - Ticket - - Seat Lic Year - Cost - - - Games - - Att - - Price - - Revenue - Revenue - Loss 1 - - - - 1.3 M - - 18 - - 2500 - - 10 - - - 0.45 M - - 0.05 M - - - - 0.8 M 2 - - - - 1.3 M - - 18 - - 3000 - - 10 - - - 0.54 M - - 0.1 M - - - - 0.66 M 3 - - - - 1.5 M - - 18 - - 4000 - - 12.5 - - 0.9 M - - - 0.25 M - - - 0.35 M 4 - - - - 1.7 M - - 18 - - 5000 - - 15 - - - 1.35 M - - 0.35 M - - - - 0 M Terms of an arena lease often depend on who retains concessions. In this case, it is assumed USD gets no cut. Yes. But the scholarships would be phased in over time. Considering what MAAC hockey schools spend on their programs, the budget above is probably overly generous. (A CHA school budget should be much much less than UND's).

Hockey would be an expensive sport for USD to start, but it would not be the continuous financial drain that a move to I-AA would be in the

I'd give odds of better than 50% that USD has a hockey team playing its home games in Sioux Falls by fall 2006, even with the lack of a practice rink today in Vermillion. USD has to respond in some form to SDSU's changes, and they are not in a position to follow SDSU step-by-step. Both schools need and compete for Sioux Falls media attention, and USD wouldn't stand a chance without a special local attraction. A USD hockey team playing in Sioux Falls would automatically gain media attention, support from the Stampede hockey fans, and rally USD alumni in Sioux Falls. Comparatively, SDSU could only play a few basketball games in Sioux Falls without alienating its Brookings fan base. With the existing hockey base in Sioux Falls and all games played there, a USD hockey program would have a great chance of being revenue positive almost immediately, even if the Yankton-Vermillion area and the USD campus ignored hockey completely. From a pure business standpoint, hockey in Sioux Falls by USD can make sense. DIAA football or DI basketball in Vermillion would be financial catastrophes. As an added IAA football note, East Tennessee State this past Saturday announced it will be dropping football after this coming season. Considering that ETSU is in arguably the strongest conference in IAA (Southern) and was ranked #8 in preseason (Street & Smith's), this loss of a significant program is a major indictment against the financial underpinnings of DivIAA football. Surely the USD adminstration recognizes their limited options, especially the expense of IAA football. Creating a new USD team just for its most important student and alumni market, Sioux Falls, is a potential masterstroke.

It would appear USD is serious about hockey, and not DIAA: USD Looks to Join Hockey League

Two other comments I wanted to make:

The following article has been briefly discussed in both the GF Herald and the Fargo Forum: The Buffalo Roam Again Although the topic is not at all about the Fighting Sioux name, the article is relevant to North Dakotans, the Sioux Nation, and by extension, UND. The following quote pretty much sums up the article:

The Greeley Tribune has had three recent articles on UNC's move: This article on UNC baseball and wrestling explains that since there are no other Div I Colorado schools (except national 'recruiter' Air Force) offering these sports, the caliber of recruited athlete and eventual success of UNC in these sports should be high. UNC also has a considerable baseball tradition that they would like to revisit:

This little news item from the AP may indicate that some sort of permanent change in the Grand Forks County Fairgrounds is imminent: By placing permanent investment near the Alerus Center, everyone would benefit. If a new racetrack was part of it, that would certainly put a kink in the plan, as it would need to be well out of town.

The ChannelCats have been gone for a couple of years. The facility and the interest level both probably were factors. The Northwoods League is still going strong, though.

Assuming that a decision on a UND basketball/volleyball venue will be made soon, the one significant venue that Grand Forks / UND needs would be a decent baseball park. Although it would seem unlikely that a new ballpark would be built anytime soon, it would make sense to at least have a plan of where it should eventually go. Financially, it would be difficult to justify a baseball ballpark unless a Northern League team would locate in GF or if other uses / benefits would be gained by building it. Two locations would be obvious candidates: near the Alerus Center or near the Engelstad Arena. The Alerus Center area would probably make the most sense, as the indoor/outdoor waterpark and baseball park would lead to a real summertime feel to the complex. Furthermore, the Grand Forks County Commission has been considering permanently moving the site of the County Fair to the Alerus property, which would possibly include building some auxiliary exhibit buildings in addition to using the Alerus. The ballpark could serve as the grandstand for the fair or other outdoor concerts. Since the City of Grand Forks and the Grand Forks Park Board are already stretched, Grand Forks County is the one local government branch that could really pull it off financially. To me, it is really a shame if a arena or stadium is built that does not incorporate multi-purpose use into its development, such as retail, entertainment, business, and even residential units. Incorporating other functions into a sports development is often difficult only because different government agencies, private businesses and private organizations each want separate monuments. Arenas built without accompanying activities are like mausoleums when they are unoccupied, which is >95% of the time. Minute Maid Park in Houston (formerly Enron Field) and the American Airlines Arena in Dallas are two examples of where the ballpark/arena development was just a portion of well-thought out plans for an entertainment / retail / restaurant / business / residential development. I certainly wouldn

Another good sign is that Kentucky Wesleyan has not yet announced any signings, as it is likely that UND is competing for some of the same players. What is somewhat surprising is that UND has not been able to capitalize on any of the talent coming out of Twin Cities this year. The talent coming out of the Cities is deeper than ever, while out-state talent is sparse. The following list from GopherHole ranks the 40 top Minnesota BB seniors. It would appear there is some unsigned D-II talent available starting at position 19, but probably not fitting UND's needs. Only MSU-M and NDSU from the NCC have so far benefitted from the Twin Cities talent.

It is quite possible that the Horizon is considering NDSU and SDSU for affiliation in a sport or two, such as women's golf or women's soccer where the Horizon has low numbers. Full membership would be a near miracle. The Mid-Con may also be open for affiliate membership in baseball, softball, women's soccer, and maybe even volleyball, as they also have low numbers of participating schools. When all the affiliate memberships are made, an average fan would need a scorecard to know what conference each individual sport is affiliated with.

To answer your questions: Basically yes, as that is the only real way to be succesful, unless you have deep pockets. If several options each having a > than 50% probability of success are available, making a jump without a conference would make sense. A decent conference will not be inviting a school that is not D-I ready facility-wise, financial-wise, or any other wise. Having a Carr consultant report in hand will have nil impact on getting an invitation. Conference commissioner-AD relationships trump consultant reports every time. A decent athletic department is prepared for many different scenarios. The question is moot. No. But they wouldn't ask. The Southland and the SWAC have reasonable reputations especially in football and much more stability and tradition compared with the Mid-Con. The Mid-Con, and only because of Valparaiso, has better basketball. True, but any move is all about minimizing downside risk and maximizes upside return. For UND, the downside is huge, and the upside that is within UND's control is almost nil. Upside outside of UND's control may change at any time, or it may take 20 years. Waiting for the upside to have less risk is almost a no-brainer.

A copy of an extended on-line chat with Doug Fulllerton, commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, is located here. Even though his statements are three years old, almost all the information is still remarkably relevant. For example, the blackballing of Southern Utah as a member must still be intact, even after several years of lobbying by Southern Utah, and probably Northern Arizona and Weber State. Here was Commissioner Fullerton's comments on NCC schools (remember, this was April of 2000). Clearly, even in the year 2000, Fullerton had a very good understanding of who could and would go Div I, as I'm sure he did not include SCSU, MSU-M, UNO, or Augie as Div I potential. My point of all this is that well-thought out expansions are considered by commissioners and ADs for years. Agreements between Cal-Davis, Langston, and Central Oklahoma and their prospective conferences were not spur-of-the-moment decisions but was the fruit of years of relationship building and trust that began when there was mutual interest. In my view, Div II schools expecting Div I conference affiliation to happen on their time frame are certainly naive, and either foolishly courageous or blindly stupid.

To me, the above quote gets to the core of the Division I reclassification issue. If a conference affiliation is secured (however difficult), even the punitive regulations of the NCAA matter much less. One would think that Northern Colorado's AD would have some of the answers, as they are the first school to move up under the new rules. UNC's upcoming basketball schedule should provide a lot of answers about scheduling problems as a Div I independent in transition. In the near future, probably this summer, two lower division schools will likely announce their intention to move to Div I with conference affiliation: Central Oklahoma and Langston (Oklahoma). Central Oklahoma will move up if they get an invitation to the I-AA Southland Conference. The Southland, which has 11 basketball schools and 7 football schools, needs one school to get to an ideal 12 BB / 8 FB. The candidate school should be in a metro area in a neighboring state to the Southland's Texas/ Louisiana region. This is potentially the perfect situation for both the Southland and Central Oklahoma. Langston will move up if it gets an invitation from the I-AA Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is a conference of historically black colleges. By adding Langston, the SWAC will have 12 FB teams (they just added Morris Brown to make eleven), which will allow them to split the conference into divisions, add another state for media attention, and make possible a conference championship game (and another TV contract besides the Southern/Grambling game and the Heritage Bowl). With Cal-Davis's acceptance into the Big West as a third example, it shows it is possible for Div II schools to be accepted directly into Div I conferences. But it takes a lot of homework, a decent program, and being in the right place at the right time to benefit the economics of the existing conference.

The articles are available here (with registration): NDSU Quest for a Coach Candidate list longer than first let on Bohl lays out Philosophy On Monday morning, another article about the secret head coaching candidate is set, and on Tuesday, inside details on NDSU' quest for conference membership is supposed to be published.

UND92,96: Thanks for the posting. I found the articles very enlightening and am taking delight in wondering just how much the now-banned JBB and other Bison-backers are squirming about Taylor's Lennon comments. Apparently, there was validity to the rumors about Lennon going to NDSU, only it was NDSU's wish, not Lennon's. From the article, I also enjoyed segment about attempts to bring back Rocky Hager: