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Nine straight: Sioux beat NJIT in Newark 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 Sioux seem to be improving as the season goes on, based on previous score and home court advantage. Last home game next Saturday vs USD for ten in a row. Sioux have moved up 40 places in DI RPI.

Lennon's SIU is blasting SDSU 27-3.

Agree, UND by 42 ... UND 55 SOU 13

Montana's AD expects a number for schools to move from FCS to FBS after the moratorium. This is one prime candidate: James Madison $50 mill + stadium expansion

You're failing to comprehend at several levels: USA won't be in the SunBelt for long. Second, you're totally failing to understand TRAFFIC. So you'd actually drive to Birmingham to get to Tuscaloosa on a GAME DAY so you can be in that traffic jam for hours!! It takes forever and a day to get in and out of Tuscaloosa on GAME DAY: there is no easy way in or out.

USA is averaging around 20,000 this year playing junior colleges and prep schools. Next year is their first FCS schedule. There are way more Tide than Tigers fans in the Mobile area, but neither game location is very accessible from Mobile Bay (a Mobile to Tuscaloosa trip means taking 2-lane piney woods roads unless you veer way west into Mississippi). Tuscaloosa games pull in Birmingham fans while Auburn games pull in Montgomery plus a ton of Atlanta area alums. Don't be surprised if USA starts construction of their own on-campus stadium within a few years. USA owns a huge tract of undeveloped land plus (tragically) a large neighborhood of dilapidated single family housing in west Mobile, has a large endowment for the age of the school, and, rumor has it, that they have some $'ed benefactors. USA's program will not be like UAB's or Troy's: it could easily exceed the three FBS Mississippi schools.

Calgary Herald: Roughriders' Alexander not a typical rookie

How did USF begin to draw 60 k and gain BCS status when it didn't even have football 15 years ago? How did Florida State get 80k fans when 50 odd years ago, it was Florida State College for Women? FSU's program is very recent and was a joke until Bowden started in 1976. Allegiances almost solely based in the Florida panhandle shifted, but even in the panhandle, FSU probably doesn't have a majority allegiance. Yet Bowden built a program that at times put the SEC to shame. I now live in Va Tech/Tenn territory (border area): the Va Tech fans almost all admit to being new fans (within the past 20 yrs). The shift in allegiances within Virginia from UVa to VPI has been significant. Even now, the Tidewater Va area doesn't really have a team, except maybe the Redskins. Old Dominion has a major opportunity there. In N California, Cal and Stanford fans are all too high-brow to be fanatics. UC Davis has very loyal alum plus virgin football territory in Sacramento = recipe for a higher octane Boise under the right conditions. Contrary to what you believe, the present day football allegiances are not frozen, but fluid. Always has been: always will be.

Not sure you can say that. Florida historically was a Vanderbilt in the SEC. It never won an SEC title until this generation. Virginia Tech has moved to the upper tier: 30 years ago they weren't anyone. Before 1980, Florida State could just as well have been Arkansas State. Certain programs have huge upsides: Old Dominion, UC Davis, maybe South Alabama, possibly UTSA.

Very well-written ISU blog: ISU Bengal Blog: How Many More Times Will Montana Visit Pocatello? The Rise Of Montana The Fall of Idaho State Montana and Montana State moving on ?

What ever happened in the A&M game? How do you see Tech vs Okie, OSU, and Baylor? Is Tech bowl eligible now? Have heard conflicting info on whether the UND game counts.

UNLV announces 12.6 million scholarship fund from Engelstad Foundation Engelstad-facility-is-new-theater-in-war-on-cancer

Is Montana men's BB becoming a mid-major power? Montana

Soiux Falls Washington Tackle Derek Farniok SF washington

Jeff Glas back again with Barnstormers

I'd be shocked if UTPA or UVU added football: it takes huge amount of money and neither school has old enough alumni to manage that. UVU is in the shadow of BYU: doubt many would care. Boise St performance over the past five years gets the MWC a BCS auto bid. Houston and Fresno also raise the MWC's average, but more importantly, give access to media markets and recruiting. TCU needs another Texas team. San Diego St needs a true rival. Davis and Poly are appealing schools academically. When the SunBelt needed schools, it was allowed to add FIU and FAU, even though neither had the required 15,000 seat stadium. Being residential campuses, UC Davis and Poly have alumni that care about athletics: Sac St as a commuter school doesn't. See other thread on Montana. O'Day has changed his tune on FBS: before he vehemently denied interest. Now he's open to it.

Most of this decade, Montana's AD and President have denied any interest in moving up to FBS. That interest seems to have shifted. A subtle change in wording, but likely monumental for the Big Sky: Missoulian: Griz have what it takes to start thinking bigger The Montana-Idaho rivalry is in some ways more fierce than Montana-Montana St. Idaho's current 7-2 record (even in a Kibbie Dome ), the WAC's need for new teams, Montana no longer having a athletic deficit, and the continued sellouts of the 25,000 seat stadium, all seem to be playing a factor. When the WAC comes a calling after Boise St (and maybe Fresno St too, as well as La Tech for CUSA) leaves for the MWC, Montana seems likely to accept this time. Montana would back out of the visiting UND in 2013, if Montana does join the FBS ranks.

USD lost to N Colo. Three straight close games the Coyotes have lost. Their board wants Meierkort gone. Incredibly stupid, especially after two overtime losses. Next year's FBS opponents: Idaho moved to 7-2 with a 35-34 win over LaTech. Idaho will now almost certainly be going to a bowl. N Illinois moved to 5-3 with a 27-10 win over Akron. NIU also appears headed to a bowl.

Cal Poly is not the team it was last year. First, they have a new QB who isn't as talented, especially throwing. UND was able to stop the Cal Poly running game because Cal Poly didn't have a passing game. Cal Poly also had a banged up OL. UND strengths matched up very well with Cal Poly. Cal Poly hasn't proven it can win on the road yet (lost to FBS Ohio by 18, FBS San Jose St by 10, and lost to Montana by two points). But Cal Poly is the only team to beat SDSU. USF > UND > Cal Poly > SDSU, is USF the best team in SD? Cal Poly, UC Davis, and SUU would all be in the upper tier of the Big Sky and Missouri Valley. Because of the lack of FCS teams in the west, all three have been forced to play two FBS schools on the road. None of them got wiped out: UC Davis was in it's game against Boise St until late. With the FBS games, effectively, Cal Poly, UC Davis, and SUU start off with two losses (unlike one in the MVFC or the Big Sky) and are eliminated from the playoffs with one more loss. If those three teams could feast on Idaho St, Northern Colorado, Sac St, and Portland St like Montana does or W Ill, Ind St, Ill St and NDSU like SIU and UNI do, the three Great West teams would all be competitive for FCS playoffs. #2 Don't agree at all. SDSU recruits California, Arizona, and Texas heavily. The Upper Midwest is wonderful for recruiting OL, TE, QB, and sometime LB. Not so much for WR, secondary, and DL. Compared to 20 years ago, the number of farmboys from ND has dropped by 60 to 70%. There just aren't any kids in the countryside anymore. No surprise there. With Bohl's own questionable morals, how could he teach any morality to his players? No one's perfect, but Mussman is capable of being as much of a role model as Lennon was. NDSU fans and teammakers really believed that Bohl was the total package: Bohl's character issues weren't relevant after the 10-1 seasons he delivered them. Now they are paying for their own blindness: stuck with paying a long-term contract if they ever want to right the ship. Character does matter in the long term: always has and always will. It's like a whole another Presidential house cost overrun to correct the problem. Otherwise, they just have to wait a few years and rebuild with a new coach later. Why would recruits want to step into those situations, where they get dragged down morally too? Unfortunately for those recruits, the "freedom" they observe by NDSU players on recruiting trips is like a Venus fly trap. The Kelly and Stroup LB situations showed that Mussman wasn't going to put up with crap. And this with LB depth and skill needing all the help it could get. If Mohler or Washington had been under Mussman, would they even be on the team? Doubtful. The Cal Poly games shows the 3-4 can still work. Just need the execution, coaching, and skills to match up against a passing team.

Twitter and message board rumors are that the Big East will add Memphis, very soon. Also, Boise St to the MWC this spring is more and more seen as a "sure" thing, with the MWC also picking up Houston and Fresno St. If those two moves both happen, CUSA and the WAC would be experiencing some major shifts. CUSA would lose Memphis and Houston. CUSA would have to add two schools from a number of candidates: La Tech, Middle Tenn St., W Ky, N Texas, FIU, FAU and possibly even South Alabama (just now starting football), Georgia St, Charlotte (hasn't officially started football yet) or even Missouri State if it moved to FBS. The eastern part of CUSA (ECU, Marshall, UCF) has significant travel issues and wants more eastern teams. The western part of CUSA would prefer a footprint similar to the old SWC. The WAC could lose Boise St, and possibly Fresno St and La Tech, forcing it to add back three teams. Sac St, Cal Poly, UC Davis, Montana, and Montana St could all possibly be on the move up (even with the current FCS to FBS moratorium.) If the WAC has to add three, Great West football would likely end, and Southern Utah could finally make the move from the Summit to the Big Sky.

Mods: Can this post be pinned to the top of the football forum?

Great Post! Practically any coach or athletic staff that visits that Alerus Center for the first time are practically blown away by UND's facilities. Stony Brook's radio crew (including the SID) had there jaws open the whole game, practically. There's only a few programs that really have stand out facilities: Montana, Appy State, Texas St (soon), James Madison. The vast majority have major work to do: SDSU's Coughlin-Alumni or SIU's old stadium do not at all reflect well on those two schools, but yet they are winning.

The goals in DII and in FCS are the playoffs. In DII, a record of 9-2 wouldn't even guarantee a playoff berth. In FCS, odds are with an 8-3 record that you would be in. Even at 7-4 it's possible. There has to be a recalibration of the significance of W-L records as far as success.

With the Bison no longer a perceived "powerhouse", their scheduling will be much easier. No one wanted to go to the Fargodome and play a 10-1 team. There are benefits to being 1-7!! Prior to Chapman leaving, many had perceived NDSU being in the MVFC as a barrier to UND membership. For both UND and USD to gain MVFC membership, some sort of unbalanced schedule would have to be set up. That scheduling change complicates admittance. If Youngstown St were to leave, the dynamics of UND getting in increases.

Interesting .... within UND's Law School Faculty, Professor Johnson was once in-house counsel for Fox Sports Net (