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The Bison Sports Geek from the Spectrum implies that Gene Taylor was near the Sioux bench during the entire game. Touching the women players by NDSU drunks was allowed to continue until there was a verbal altercation. Only then did Taylor move someone behind the Sioux bench. Taylor clearly had the power to stop it earlier. Absolutely pathetic. If Gene desires any kind of future, he should stand up to women like Amy Ruley and the Women

From a secondhand source (my elderly parents), I understand Gene Roebuck was interviewed by a Grand Forks radio station today. The following intersperses the NDSU student newspaper Spectrum article with my own commentary: My parents reported that Gene said his players and coaches were constantly being harassed, including being touched, students getting into their faces, and students interferring with huddles. The smell of alcohol was prevalent among the student perpetrators. The women were referred to as b***ches and wh*res.

NDSU's seating arrangement at basketball games has been an issue for years. Other NCC ADs and coaches have firmly requested that NDSU change its seating arrangement, but it seems NDSU preferred intimidation at any cost. Their callousness about the safety and welfare of opposing teams is reprehensible and as such their decisions are accessory to anything that transpired Saturday night. If that is not incompetence by NDSU leadership, what is? If you want to accuse me of ill will toward NDSU, fine. But sadly, you are just participating in another line of denials by NDSU and some of its supporters. I am sure most NDSU fans are absolutely appalled by this behavior, and will be demanding changes. It is unfortunate that it takes incidents like Saturday nights to force changes that could easily have been initiated by NDSU years ago.

The unofficial official Bison press release on the

It will be interesting to see the public response by the NDSU athletic department, the NDSU Student Senate, and the NCC commissioner. The first two as a hypocrisy check, and the commissioner to see if he really has the fortitude to deal with this issue. Fan behavior has been an serious issue at Vermillion (BB and FB), Greeley (FB), and at NDSU (BB and FB). It's time this kind of behavior stops. If NDSU fans don't think this is serious, they should check with the commisioners of the Horizon, Gateway, Mid-Continent, and Missouri Valley Conferences. They would not touch a school with this kind of reputation.

At Saturday's UND/NDSU women's basketball game at the Bison Sports Arena, there was another alleged racial taunting event. This event is described here by the Fargo Forum, Coach accuses NDSU fan of racial slur. This is how it was reported by the Herald: And for those 'SU fans that will be angrily responding to this racial taunting issue by saying its was only a few, why did other fans allow it to continue? Two questions for NDSU administrators: (1) why are students allowed behind the visitor's bench, which is contradictory to NCC policy, and (2) why were UND's allotted seats in the upper reaches of the BSA, rather than at court level? It seems NDSU has a policy of in-your-face intimidation authorized by the NDSU athletic adminstration themselves, without basic regards for sportsmanship. When NDSU fans whine about the NCAA never choosing them for hosting playoffs, if they would ever examine their own level of class, they'd have an answer.

Try this High School Hockey Site: NDHSH Also, the AP reports can be found here: AP Wire Reports

Nevada State was created by the Nevada Legislature to reduce enrollment pressures at Nevada-Reno and UNLV. Nevada's college population is supposed to increase by 70,000 within a decade. From nothing, Nevada State is expected to grow by at least 1000 students annually over the next decade. The recent past president of Utah Valley State, which was formerly a junior college and now has 22,000 students and is in the process of moving to Div I, has become the president of Nevada State. It is anticipated he will also move Nevada State to the Div I level, but this is a number of years down the road.

The following I-AA football conference is just begging to happen: NDSU SDSU UNColorado SouthernUtah Cal Poly-SLO St. Mary's (Calif) Cal-Davis The likelihood of this football-only conference forming, in my opinion, is > 75%. For non-football sports, the difficulty in forming a conference will be monumental in comparison. It is almost inevitable that some sort of conference would be attempted from the following four schools, as there will be no other options for them: NDSU / SDSU Northern Colorado / Utah Valley State Only two other schools would be needed, (preferably four), and those pairs would need to be travel partners. Possible candidates would be: Wayne State (Mich)/ IP-Fort Wayne (or Grand Valley State) Texas A&M U-Corpus Christi / UTexas-Pan American Central Oklahoma / Central Missouri IP-Fort Wayne, TAMUCC, and UTPA would all hesitate as they are already full Div I members. IPFW has a reasonable chance of joining an established conference soon, but the Texas schools are getting desperate. None of the other schools have publicly announced Div I plans, but the availability of a conference would greatly reduce their risk in moving forward. Central Oklahoma would actually be shooting for Southland Conference membership, as that conference is actively seeking more football-playing members.

There was a Herald article by Wayne Nelson in which I believe it was stated that UND and Kentucky Wesleyan were both interested and were recruiting Ferguson. Because of some sort of rule regarding foreign (in this case Costa Rica) players, Ferguson is not eligible for Div I. Iowa Preps has reported that UND is recruiting Jake Wenig, 6'5" forward, but the competition for him looks to be fierce: Jake Wenig Iowa Preps profile on UND recruit Josh Doyle also showed Div I interest ( Josh Doyle ), so there may be hope. With relatively few scholarships spots available after this season (Beasley's, Walker's, Allen's, Porter's and maybe Kollar's), there may not be much more room for more signees beyond Doyle, Gutter, Jacobson, and Austin. If Ferguson and a good center sign on, it would be quite a recruiting class.

Bison_Kent: There are a couple of schools rumored to be interested in moving to Div I in a year or two: Central Oklahoma, which has a undergraduate enrollment approaching OU and OSU, and is hiring a new athletic director presumably to make the move, Central Missouri, which was believed to be considering the move, Nevada State, which is a major new university being constructed outside Las Vegas, Wayne State (Mich), which has a huge enrollment and is Div I in hockey, may move all its programs up. With these schools as well as Northern Colorado, Utah Valley State, which will begin Div I next year, as well as Div I independents IUPU-Fort Wayne, Tx-PanAm, and TxAMCC, there would seem to be the potential for enough members for a new non-football conference. Do you think NDSU/SDSU would be interested?

Bison_Kent: You seem to have a good perspective of the issues and rules involved in the Div I transition. I agree totally that the 13 year wait period is idiotic. It also makes the transition to Div I more difficult then ever. Are you concerned how Illinois I-AA schools view NDSU's recruiting success in the Chicago area? Schools like Ill St., E. Ill, W. Ill, S. Ill, and even N Iowa and Indiana St normally recruit heavily in the Chicago area and they may not look kindly on a new recruitment rival with good facilities. Scheduling games with NDSU would just make it easier for recruits to go to NDSU, as their friends and families wouldn't have to travel to Fargo to see them play. The views of Illinois I-AA schools could effect both scheduling and conference alignment with the Gateway, Ohio Valley, and the Missouri Valley. Should this be a concern? Schools from top conferences will normally schedule away games only with other top conferences. This year's schedule showed that Minnesota played two non-conference road games: at Nebraska and at Oregon. Wisconsin played three non-conference road games: at Temple, and at Marquette and at Wisc-Green Bay. Both the latter games were almost neutral court games because so many Badger fans were there. Even Creighton played only three non-conference road games: at Nebraska, at Notre Dame, and at Xavier. If NDSU is able to schedule any name basketball team in Fargo, that would be a near miracle. It's not fair, but that's the way it is.

For football, being an independent is 'easier' than other sports because relatively few games need to be scheduled. But the independent route is not helpful to generate and sustain fan interest, as rivalries don't develop. For other sports, check with any Division I athletic director about the difficulty of being an independent, and see what their response is. Actually, for men's basketball, the probation time required for an automatic bid is the same (13 years) whether joining an established conference or beginning a new one, if the new conference is established immediately after the exploratory year.

In Saturday's Herald: Showcase to the World

I have no problem with Chapman or anyone having a vision or a dream. I do however, have a problem when the difficulty and known obstacles of obtaining these dreams is never fully communicated to any of the constituents, be they alumni or taxpayers. Even remaining as an independent, I believe NDSU will make the I-AA playoffs within 2-3 years after their five year probation. But their other programs, especially basketball, will struggle even to reach Augustana's current level. If the move is all about football, its still a success.

JBB, Are you a retired member of the French Diplomatic Corps, as your and Dominique de Villepin's logic are strikingly similar? How about this as an answer: the NCAA has probationary periods to ensure Div I remains a monopolistic country club. Only existing members may reap the huge monetary benefits of the Men's basketball television contract. Prospective members need deep, deep pockets, or a lot of friends in the right places, for entry.

According to your own people, the 'stellar' football recruiting class at NDSU had 'full' scholarships waved at them in a year or two. Not only that, they were promised that NDSU will be Div I-AA in football. Credibility would be lost, and a whole bunch of football recruits massively P.O.ed would be gained.

What is the most interesting about the Big Sky situation is what is not reported: In this morning

In Wednesday's Herald, the following was reported: Since only 21 signed, there may have been a late decommitment, or, someone is signing late. Of the players the Sioux were supposedly recruiting, no confirmation has been found of any commitment by the following: Brian Dykema LB Strasburg, ND Jeremy Faue FB 6'0" 205 Wayzata, MN Josh Bean LB 6'1" 205 Calgary, AB Justin Marsh RB 5'9" 165. Arvada, CO

In reviewing other NCC recruits, St Cloud really pulled in a trifecta with this trio: Kyle Gearman WR 6'5" 200 Alexandria, MN Chris Schwantz WR 6'3" 181 Becker, MN Justin Geier WR 6'4" Anoka, MN At one time or another, UND was supposedly pursuing all three. Last year, SCSU had three redshirt freshman and four sophomore WR's on the roster, so Hedberg's offense may become even more high powered even after the loss of Ben Nelson. In addition, the St. Paul Pioneer Press has reported that Brady McCamy, LB, Mahtomedi, will sign with SCSU (late). The Sioux were also believed to have pursued McCamy.

From donalexander's previous post, it seems likely that quite a number of Colorado high schoolers are considering UND. The Denver Post article listed five, but only because they are also considering Division I offers: D.J. Craft DB 5'11" 211 Littleton Arapahoe, CO (Colo St., UND) Justin Marsh RB 5'9" 165. Arvada, CO (ColoSt, UNC and UND) Tyler Weeks OG 6-1. 245. Littleton Columbine, CO ( Air Force, Brown, Colgate, UND and Princeton) Zack Kennelly OG 5'11" 270 Littleton Columbine, CO (UN-Kearney, Mesa State, UND and UNC) Dan Bierbach LB 6-3" 230 Littleton Columbine, CO (Brown, San Diego, Dayton, UND) There seems to be very little internet information on Colorado athletes getting exclusively Div II offers. But with the offers listed above, it would seem likely that UND is recruiting additional Jefferson County Conference players (the strongest Colorado HS football conference, which is western surburban Denver). Just at Columbine HS alone, there were four more honorable mention all-state athletes that are probably on the Div II radar: Donnell August DE Littleton Columbine, CO Chris Sheehan TE Littleton Columbine, CO Mike Johnson FB Littleton Columbine, CO Ryan Kluever OL Littleton Columbine, CO Columbine has been the powerhouse in Colorado football over the last four years, winning three 5A titles: Columbine Football With Jason Hoffschneider from Columbine already at UND, there is an existing UND connection and I just have to wonder if the Columbine players want to stay together as a unit. After all, there probably has not been a more difficult, yet maturing and team-building, high school in the country to be an athlete than at Columbine. On a day that we remember and mourn the crew of the Columbia, this story shows that even in the aftermath of the tragedy at Columbine in 1999, all things can work together for good: Columbine: Rebels with a common cause

From this South Dakota report,SoDak Commitment, Dustin Reiff, 6'1"195 LB (convert to S?) from Dell Rapids, SD has verballed to UND. Adam Wolff, red-shirt freshman LB, is also from Dell Rapids.

Going into the final weekend before the Feb 5th signing date, here's the latest recap on UND football verbal commitments: Alan Sundby RB Cavalier, ND Drew Thomas LB Grand Forks, ND Jeff Richter LB 6'4" 240 St. Cloud, Mn Mitch Braeggleman TE 6'2" 265 St. Cloud, Mn Brett Bauer OL 6'6" 300 Dickinson, ND Aaron Austin WR 6'3" Hallock, Mn Preston Stewart FB/LB 5'11" 208 Flasher/Carson, ND Michael Hegg TE Thompson, ND Robbie Meek LB 6'1" 210 Bloomington, Mn Nick Bonnet DL 6'4" 250 West Fargo, ND Troy Ott WR 6'5" 210 Dickinson, ND The following probably have (or had) UND scholarship offers and a decision should be forthcoming. (Options they are contemplating are included in parenthesis.) Rick Presthus of Edina was moved from the committed to this list, as he may yet walk on at the UMinn. Rick Presthus WR 6'4" Edina, MN (UND, UMinn walkon) Brian Dykema LB Strasburg, ND (UMary, UND) Andrew Pratt OT 6'6" 280 Roseville, MN (UND, NDSU, Wyoming, Air Force, UMinn walkon) Barrett Anderson OG Rochester, MN (UND, NDSU, other Div 1?) Kyle Gearman WR 6'5" 200 Alexandria, MN (UMinn, SJoseSt, UND, NDSU) Chris Schwantz WR 6'3" 181 Becker, MN (SCSU, UMD, MSU-Mank, UND) Andy White DE 6'?" 2?? Hartland, WI (SCSU, UND, ) Devin Jones OL 6'5" 280 St Paul, MN (SCSU, UND) Jeremy Faue FB 6'0" 205 Wayzata, MN (UND, Uof Minn Walkon) Donovan Alexander CB fast! Winnipeg, MB (UND, NDSU, Eastern Mich, ) Josh Bean LB 6'1" 205 Calgary, AB (UND, Washburn (Ks)) The following almost certainly visited the UND campus. Offers may or may not be outstanding and could be dependent on decisions of the previous group. Andy Colburn LB 6'2" 215 LaCrosse, WI (Winona St.) Drew Hysjulien WR/P Grand Forks () Matt Holland RB 5'8" 180 Eden Prairie, MN ( ) Dan Roscoe OL 6'6" 300 Wayzata, MN () Jayson Winterfeldt 6'2" Hortonville, WI () Andy Soll OL 6' 3" 280 Fond du Lac, WI () This week, Luke Swan, a WR from Fenimore, WI decided to attend UWisco as a preferred walkon. He was being pursued by both UND and NDSU. His decision probably opened the way for Troy Ott's verbal commitment. Disclaimer: Above information was obtained from different internet sources. Quality information is not assured! NDSU's signings: NDSU Bryan Lanzy TE 6'3" 220 St. Paul, Mn Tony Stauss QB Transfer- Northwestern 6'1" 215 Racine, Wisc Allen Burrell WR - Transfer - UNK Aurora, Co Nick Jackson QB 6'1" 185 Cleveland, OH Cinque Chapman RB 5'11" 190 Chicago, IL Mike Dragosavich WR 6'6", 195 Oak Lawn, IL Alex Wiese RB 6'0" 200 LaCrescent, Mn Jason DePolo LB 6'1" 225 New Lenox, IL Steve Walker QB 6'1" 185 Lockport, IL Jamie Bechdol OL/DL 6'5" 270 Orono, Mn Joe Mays LB 6'2" 220 Chicago, IL Justin Frick OL/DL 6'4" -260 Yankton, SD Oustanding offers from NDSU (other than those listed above): John Majeski DB, WR 6'1" 185 Hastings, Mn (Wyoming, NDSU) Marcus Fitzgerald RB Richfield, Mn (Marshall, NDSU) Adrian Henry LB 6'3" 200 Mundelein, IL (NDSU, ?) Tom Conboy DL 6'2" 260 Rosemount, Mn (NDSU, ?)

Where was it stated explicity that NDSU will drop wrestling? What was stated is that NDSU will be vacating Div II for Div I. The effect of this change on North Dakota high school wrestlers is unmistakable: fewer college opportunities for excellent but not extraordinary high school wrestlers. It would seem, that just in the spirit of civic responsibility, some institution should step up and provide those opportunities. If you would take the time to read some posts on thematforums.com, there are passionate posts written about the impact of Div I on wrestling at NDSU and SDSU and the potential for the loss of wrestling at these schools. SDSU wrestling alumni seem especially concerned. They lament the loss of wrestling at any school and would rejoice if any school restarted it. If this is a minority voice you are not interested in even hearing, so be it. Actually, there is another one: North Dakota High Schools also sponsor boys soccer. Certainly, the presence of a wrestling program may be a deciding factor for a select group of football lineman or field event athletes who see wrestling as a possible fallback option. How about reading anything you want into a post, just because I've been critical of NDSU's Div I decision in the past? Tony, have you ever considered that just bringing up this topic would probably not exactly win a popularity contest with the UND administration, especially in the context of Chalenor vs UND? As the moderator of the Bisonvillecom, for consistency would you kindly be as vigilent in policing clearly offensive posts about UND as you seem to be interested in policing any reference to NDSU on this forum? I think that there is a 40% chance that SDSU will drop wrestling in the next five years (if they go Div I). I think that there is a 10% chance that NDSU will drop wrestling in the next five years. Based on: I think that there is a 30% chance that NDSU will actually gain affiliation with an established conference in the next five years. I think that there is a 30% chance that NDSU will drop wrestling if it gains affiliation with an established conference in the next five years. I think that there is a 1% chance that NDSU will drop wrestling if it stays independent or joins a new conference in the next five years. Result: (0.3 x 0.3) + (0.7 x 0.01) = 0.10 = 10% chance Just my two cents.

Land development around the Ralph and Alerus has been subjects of Herald reports again. How and when the land surrounding these two arenas is developed will set much of the tone for Grand Forks