star2city

Agree: 'SU does a whole lot better job of having their graduates keep chips on their shoulders. (Just don't check the flavor!)

Read it again. The Washington Times implied that: I stated "don't expect an autobid out of this." The bigger question is: will history repeat itself? The MidCon scarfed up the East Coast Conference almost en-masse 15 years ago. Will the now Summit repeat a past practice and gobble almost whole another "conference"- this time from the "West"?

It's more like indepedent purgatory, as the Summit league is taking care of the hellish details (the Summit must have its reasons ) Washington TImes Story - but don't expect an autobid out of this.

What is most ironic is that hockey, the sport bison fans fart about most, probably will have thee lowest travel expenditures / athlete of any sport at the two schools.

Monitor: UTPA announces conference membership

Tampa Tribune: Lacrosse Booming In The South So Florida will spend $3.6 million for a women's -only lacrosse stadium, yet some schools have an $80 mill indoor stadium suitable for outdoor lax yet don't sponsor it.

In a bit of irony, in the same week that the "Great West" became an all-sports conference with eastern teams, the Great Western Lacrosse League no longer exists. It's teams are being absorbed into the ECAC, even though it's geography will extend to Colorado. Big Ten Network: Ohio State lacrosse joins the ECAC. Baltimore Sun

There's always a buyout, and it won't be $500,000. The year 2011 may see some major movements in many DI conferences: the IAA to IA moratorium will be lifted (where do Ga State, Jacksonville St, Texas St, among others, go?), the Big Ten may decide on its 12th member by then (especially now with the Big Ten Network getting a cable agreement), and the Big East football schools will either split off or a ninth Big East football team will be added. If travel costs stay high or worsen, that could very well have an impact too (e.g. La Tech in WAC, TCU in the MWC, SUU in Summit). What everyone has to remember is that the Great West is basically a Summitt-run league: if the Summit needs a Great West school there's no issue. The Summit will need some of the Great West teams eventually and may, after three years, take what it wants and discard the rest.

So 20-2 is just O.K.? Their win and near-win over the sorry Gophs gave them more regional publicity than they could possibly buy. My point is economics. At the same stage in the transition, NDSU had 7000 seats sitting empty. UND has about 2000 empty seats. NDSU potential gain from sellouts: $420,000 (6 games x 7000 x $10 / net per ticket) UND potential gains from sellouts: $140,000 (5 games x 2000 x $14 / net per ticket) Obviously, advertising has a much larger payback for NDSU. In the transition to DI, UND has to utilize its strengths: it has 50% more alumni than NDSU, they are on average wealthier, more likely to be out-of-state, and they give more. Out-state alums should be a major focus of UND's DI funding, which regional advertising doesn't target whatsoever. Where NDSU's non-athletic advertising has paid off IMHO is for their overall image. "NDSU Impact" signs seemed to be everywhere last week when I was in the RRV.

The VALPO game had huge numbers of 20-set tickets for 100 bucks ($5/seat). It did create a "media" wave in the FM area because the Forum, WDAY et. al. fully bought into the DI Valpo hype. (Agree that Valpo would struggle with many of the DIII UW's - Lacrosse, Eau Claire, etc). NDSU fans were so hungry to be anywhere associated with DI, they bought into it. Even they are more discerning now, and Sioux fans aren't going to get all lathered up for games just because they are labeled DI. Winning was the main driver behind their later attendance increase, not marketing. Sioux fans will flock to follow a winner, marketing or not. As examples, if the Sioux women's hockey team or it's DII volleyball team had been winners, UND would have lead the nation in attendance in those sports.

Fox Houston: HBU to Join Great West Conference

Thanks for the post, Jana. And welcome!

And an Olympic decathalete wouldn't necessarily make a good football, basketball or hockey player. What's your point? If you want a skills competion, go to your archery or shooting ranges. Lacrosse doesn't demand prototypical (or even freakish) body-types for different positions, unlike football and basketball, and American kids love it (unlike soccer).

Seattle U. out to prove it's ready for WCC Some 6,000 supporters welcomed the Seattle U. team on March 1958 at Seattle-Tacoma Airport after winning the Western Regional in San Francisco.

The student newspaper at CP- San Luis Obispo does more real reporting and research than community newspapers in the schools affected. A lot of the Big West schools (Presidents) look down on CSU-Bakersfield's academics (even CSU-Northridge ). But Bakersfield probably has more community support almost all the L A surburban schools, and would probably be close to the basketball attendance leader (after Pacific) with a half-way decent team.

Leafs get a Look at MacWilliams

UW bound: Big Foot senior fulfills a dream We need that aerospace engineering major now or at least the energetics program already in place.

It also is due to Minnesota's lack of vision when the built the new Mari.

Southern Miss does have a branch campus near Biloxi, so that has an effect. But many Mississippi Coast residents (who remain after Katrina) are not Mississippi natives or are Ole Miss or Miss St fans. What I was referring to was recruiting: USA will give USM a challenge. A good portion of Auburn's recent talent has been Mobile inner city or middle-class black-majority (whose parents went to Alabama State) high schools who grew up Alabama fans even though their parents went to Alabama State. JaMarcus Russel grew up a Bama fan (at least I was told), but went to LSU, even though Bama recruited him harder than anyone.

Gulfport/Biloxian's are more likely to drive to Mobile (or Slidell/New Orleans) than Hattiesburg (more services and better beaches in Al and Fla). Although, Hattiesburg's progressiveness would surprise alot of northerners. USM (as well as Troy and USA)) is benefitting from Alabama and Auburn being at or near student capacity. The growth around Mobile, Eastern Shore, and the Florida Panhandle to Panama City is just getting unreal. Several different initiatives are under way to create new communities of 100,000 from scratch (another one just announced today by International Paper in Baldwin County).

South Alabama (USA) had a change in Presidents a couple of years ago. The former president treated USA's endowment (270 Mil) like his own private treasury (the endowment board had all his people, who were paid ungodly salaries). When USA was started as a school in 1960, the state gave the school rights to off-shore oil royalties. When the royalties started to quickly pile up faster than anyone would have imagined, the state changed course and took back the royalties for its own treasury. Since the new president came aboard, the amount of construction on campus has been unreal (after basically nothing in the 1990's): a new on-campus cancer research center (USA and its medical school operate a couple of hospitals in Mobile), a new student fitness center, an indoor practice facility, started softball with good facilities, upgraded the outdoor track, a major upgrade to the baseball stadium, a decent library addition, a research park, a 10,0000 seat basketball arena (Mitchell Center), a huge privately funded student apartment complex, and a very nice and large outdoor intramural park. With the amount of football talent in Mobile and surrounding areas, it could become a good team quickly. Southern Mississippi is probably the program that may be most affected.

Go Rok!

Good luck, Chuck

The Forum had to play nice after all their anti-Kupchella rampages. The Herald's editorial was still kind, but not quite as flattering: http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/i...section=Opinion

There's a major reconfiguration of the DI lacrosse leagues ongoing. First, the Big East will sponsor lacrosse, so Notre Dame will move from the Great Western Lacrosse League to the BE. It was thought that Penn State might join their Ohio State Big 11 brethren in the Great Western, but instead PSU chose the Colonial. Finally, Quinnipiac, which strangely enough is in the Great Western, will move to the NEC in 2011. That leaves the Great Western Lacrosse League with the following schools: Air Force Denver Detroit Bellarmine (Louisville) Ohio State Notre Dame -> gone to Big East in 2010 Quinnipiac -> going to NEC in 2011 The GWLL needs one more team!! Geographically, this league has a tighter footprint than our propsed Great West or the Summit.