star2city

Hanson, who is an ex-bison FB player, is actually a UND plant. Because NDSU fans elevated a crooked Chapman to god-like status and worshiped nearly every decision, and ND officials let Chapman get away with his cronyisms for years, any future NDSU leader is going to face major issues: not only because of the corruption and character issues yet to be unveiled, but because of the blinding alumni fan devotion to Chairman Joe. Really sad how a school became a cult-like environment of personality, not principles.

Could easily be USD, SDSU, NDSU, even UNI (UNI took forever to get a basketball facility). NDSU seemed to take the hare approach to the transition, while UND is taking the tortoise approach. For the long term sake of the football program, a new practice facility on campus by the end of a DI transition exceeds a win over Minnesota, although both would be nice. The reference wasn't necessarily football. Consider the BSA: it was known to be a problem well before the transition, during the transition, and after the transition (even with an NCAA bid), yet nothing has happened. Where's the leadership on that issue. NDSU has seemingly squandered the transition lead it had. Granted, UND hasn't formally raised a dime in funding for the practice facility, but in the background seems to have been some type of informal pledges occurring.

Hopefully, a matching funds commitment or better. If this happens by 2011, what an awesome way to finish off the transition: our greatest facility need being met. Rather have the bricks and mortar complete than some short-lived fame but no facility upgrades, like a certain school down the road.

Several years ago, Sioux Falls attempted to sway Vikings summer camp away from Mankato to Howard Wood, and almost succeeded. Maybe off the wall, but wonder if UND could get the Vikings to relocate with state of the art facilities like MWSU apparently is getting. Build the shell first class and then get the offices etc later.

Didn't realize indor facilities were so rare at the FCS level (excluding USD, NAU, Idaho St, of course!). This should help make UND football THE FCS recruiting destination in the Upper Midwest.

So you're saying half the NDSU student population gets a 50% waiver? Or nearly the whole enrollment gets a 25% wiaver?

What other FCS programs have indoor practice facilities?

IMHO, the Big Ten leaked an interest in "14 or 16" to ensure that the Big East and Big 12 have plans in order to respond to losses of teams. When the Big 10 takes only one, no one will complain. If the Big 10 really did take three or more, the Big East would likely lose it's BCS status, and the Big Ten would be sued to high heaven. As far as Big Ten hockey, that train has been put on the tracks - barring a derailment of some kind it will happen.

The ACC made too many strategic errors by adding three at once - making the whole expansion a fiasco. The ACC is no where near where they expected to be as a 12-team league: their championship game draws flies, their football is subpar (Miami, Flor St, Clemson, Va all went south simultaneously). The Big Ten will be conservative - they always have been - and add one. Adding three is too many mouths to feed without understanding how 12 will play out.

The comparison you might like is the split up of the Southwest Conference: Arkansas going to the SEC, UT, A&M, TT, and Baylor to the Big 12. The rest: Houston, SMU, TCU, Rice were left in the cold. But TCU isn't half bad. And hockey doesn't have a BCS system to contend with, where you don't have true access to a championship game unless you are a BCS member. Or Big 10-[common sense] ?

The Big 12 has already copyrighted the Big 14 for it's own use!. The Big 10's been outflanked, and much as the Atlantic 10 is still the "10" when it's really 14.

The Big Ten is basically giving the Big East a courtesy and legal notice to get their house in order. To be an FBS league, the Big East MUST have eight teams or they lose their FBS and BCS status. If say Syracuse or Rutgers was gone today, the Big East would have respond quickly to add another school, but it's BCS status could be threatened anyway. Conferences needs a to have a number of years of transition so new members get acclimated. If the Big Ten didn't make this notice and proceed slowly , the Big10 would likely open itself to a major lawsuit. When the ACC expanded, it's expansion was totally stealth: it wanted Syracuse / BC / Miami over Pitt / Rutgers / UConn / Va Tech etc and threatened the very survival of the Big East. When BC/Miami/VT left, the rest of the Big East schools - with the exception of Syracuse - sued the ACC and received out-of-court settlements. The Big Ten doesn't want a repeat of that action. Syracuse, by not taking legal action and not participating in the ACC settlement, is not as ethically bound to the rest of the Big East members as say Pitt or Rutgers. Just happen to follow a Big East board.

The Big Ten order of preference: 1. Notre Dame (they will remain uninterested) 2. Syracuse (upstate NY, some of NYC, history, basketball strength, rival to Penn State, academics and research, side note: would add hockey) 3. Rutgers (NJ and NYC tv audience, academics and research) 4. Missouri (both KC and StL markets, academics and research) Pitt, although meets the Big Ten requirements, doesn't add many TV's - Penn State delivers PA by itself long shots: Maryland, BC, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska no chance: Iowa State (meets the academic and research requirements, but adds no new media), Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville, Buffalo (but meets academic standards)

Based on an earlier report, Faison and Erdman had been in contact about a game. IMHO, ideally if the first of a hom and home was Thanksgiving weekend in Mobile it would be like a bowl game for UND. Both teams would then get two more weeks of practice. Not sure why this game didn't happen. USA is traveling to UC-Davis, but not sure if it was a 1 and 1 or if UC-Davis gave USA a large quarantee for a single game.

Looks as if South Alabama is satisfied with a ten-game schedule with neither UND nor USD. The only FCS teams they will face are UC-Davis, Lamar, and Georgia State. USA schedule

Fox College Sports broadcasts Lax routinely. Who has a FCS contract? Such a contract would put UND on the recruiting map for western and midwestern recruits, instantly. Just need a practice facility now. We can't do worse in Lax than we do in say, men's BB.

Rumor in South Alabama is that USD will now play USA, possibly in late November. That would eliminate both as a late-season game. USD probably wouldn't want the game that late, as football attendance generally drops off then and students would be gone. Totally agree with the 10-game schedule - need a late November game.

UT-SA is aiming for CUSA: they and Charlotte might get in directly as FBS newbies if the Big East steals Memphis and UCF. Arkansas doesn't want to play any games in War Memorial anymore, but still doubt UALR would start football. UCA isn't that far away in Conway, and UALR, which has the UA Med School, would need approval from UA Regents. If a new Atlantic FBS conference starts, could see FIU and FAU leaving for that. A conference like this would exceed the Sunbelt in no time: Delaware James Madison Old Dominion Liberty Appalachian St Charlotte Ga State Ga Southern FIU FAU (with many other possiblities: UMASS, Stony Brook, Temple, Jacksonville St, Youngstown St, Kennesaw State, Coastal Carolina)

As far as the emphasis on the off-court stuff: yes that is a +. Look at Binghamton and their move to DI. But some of the rest is just excuses for worse than mediocrity. DI mediocrity is 200-300 on the RPI scale. To be on the tale end of a RPI bell curve - dropping 50 points on the RPI from last year - is shameful to UND. Not only are we worse than 98% of DI, but the majority of DII, as well as much of DIII and NAIA. Our RPI rating indicates that losing to Mayville State is "expected". It was not a bad loss, per se, based on RPI strength. USD has more disadvantages than UND does, yet they sit 150 points higher on RPI. There has been a conference affiliation on the horizon an it's been apparent for almost a year. When NDSU recruited their class of 09, they had nothing. NOTHING - crappy facilities, no conference (the Big Sky had just rejected them), no realistic hope for an autobid - the MidCon invited them a couple year later. NDSU had NOTHING yet Miles was able to recruit those players. There are other examples too: Texas A&M - Corpus Christi with Ronnie Arrow was able to recruit as an independent and their first year in the Southland they made the NCAA's and performed well. It is difficult? Yes. Is it impossible? No. I supported Mussman during this year: by far the worst game was Southern Oregon. His teams pass all the other tests: is the talent building to a higher level, do we have hope for next year, are the athletes performing well in and out of the classroom, are playoffs a reasonable hope once the transition is complete? For Mussman: yes, yes, yes, yes For Jones: no, no, yes, no For Roebuck: no, yes, yes, no

Good wins also happen, except in this program it seems. If you make an argument about Mayville State being a bad loss, please show me the flip side of that argument: a good win.

So Notre Dame spends $18 million, that is $18,000,000.00 to buy out Charlie's contract. Then spends likely $3 mill + (don't know the real numbers) annually on Kelley. Over a five year contract, the Domers are spending $6.5 mill/yr just on head FB coach salaries. Mistakes at the BCS level are huge - university presidents have been fired for much, much less.

My issues with Jones are four-fold at this point: Why no bona-fide point guard? Why all the dribbling in a Princeton offense? Dribbling and Princeton are not mutually compatible. Why was this redshirt class hyped, even in pre-season. Jones let an expection of a 15 win season seem possible. Why the seeming lack of half-time or game-time adjustments? I've preached patience for years now. I'd be very satisfied with promising at this point. Just don't see it right now.

Mods, can this so-called badger fan be banned? Please. There's a UW-UND series this weekend that is of no apparent concern except stupid trivial comments. There's a UW-UWGB game tonight that UW lost, yet he's tracking an NDSU-Dickinson St game on a UND board? This poster adds absolutely nothing, is not a Sioux fan, tracks NDSU basketball and actively cheers for them while the "Badgers" are actually playing an in-state game, and almost certainly purposely misrepresents his his allegiances. His main purpose seems to be aggravation of UND fans and denigration of UND athletics.