star2city

Have to comment. WCC <10%: Agree with bincity that Seattle may still get in the WCC once their transition is over. But the second school the WCC may pick is Pacific, not Denver, as Pacific has a good basketball tradition. Then again, the WCC may be the most stable conference othe than the Ivy, so it doesn't need anyone else to share NCAA dollars. BSC: 50%, As bincity mentioned, Fullerton has actively talked with Denver in the past (both on radio and on print) and basically offered them a position. If the BSC is going to make an exemption for a non-football school, it might as well make an exemption for a number of lesser sports. A 10 basketball/9 football scheduling arrangement is perfect. Southern Utah is attempting to position itself for a bid by adding all Big Sky sports, by they'll run into vehement opposition from the Montana schools. MVC: < 2 % If Denver can get its RPI up in the next year or two, the private schools like Drake, Bradley, and Creighton would be interested. The MVC really wants schools like St Louis (which is eyeing a Big East split) or Butler. A Denver/UMKC addition, if both get their RPIs up, would really add to the MVC's television contract. WAC: 10% WAC commissioner Benson has already brought up the 10/9 model (with Denver, or a Gonzaga, or a So Cal school like UC-Irvine or Pepperdine). Denver's RPI hurt their chances. MWC: <1% The MWC is already loaded with Front Range schools (AFA, CSU, Wyo), so adding Denver wouldn't add anything media-wise. The MWC is attempting to become a BCS conference so it's targeting football schools like UTEP, Houston, (to partner with TCU) or Fresno St. Boise St is actively lobbying the MWC. Summit: 25% Although this wasn't a preferred conference, if worse came to worse, the Summit would almost instantly grant Denver membership. Denver's a core member and the Summit has to protect itself. Independent: <2% Denver's shooting for higher than the Big Sky and Summit, but one of those two would almost certainly embrace it.

Long-rumored, it is a reality: DU Clarion: Denver in search of a new conference Denver would need to add five new sports to meet the 15 Sun Belt-sponsored sports requirement. Here's the Sun Belt's Wyatt Report: Sun Belt Raises Academic and Athletic Expectations

UND recruiting Indiana?

The UNDEERC has ample land north and east. They could expand into their parking lot and pave other open land. One possible reason that UND could consider building aa practice facility at the Alerus is that such an expanision, if built on the south side, could double as additional mobile seating. Therefore, the 15,000 seat stadium threshold would be available near-term, if ever needed.

Arizona State men's tennis, wrestling, swimming fall to budget ax, Title IX Arizona State has won a national championship in wrestling, and should easily be nationally competitive in men's tennis and swimming. Yet ASU maintained the very popular women's sport of water polo. ASU just spent $1.3 M for wrestling facilities If there's a lesson to this, sports that produce revenue (be it from specific alumni donations or from tickets) are much more attractive in the current environment.

The lesson of Potts and Blunt

SI.com: Sparks Are Flying - not your Daddy's WNBA anymore Devil's Lake Journal

Side Note on English Departments: Dartmouth's Hostile Environment causes English Professor to Sue

When a football team that doesn't even exist yet (South Alabama begins play in 2010) is set to begin construction on an indoor facility, I get impatient. (Then again, I haven't contributed, but no one has asked. ) South Alabama football gets a field house of dreams I do recognize that North Dakota requires funding to be fully available before building. BTW, since USA will be an independent IAA program until they join the IA Sunbelt ranks in 2013, UND should set up some home/homes with USA. Georgia St (which is also starting football in 2010) might be another scheduling possibility.

Lacrosse's western expansion lifts Cornell, Ithaca Incidentally, two of the three Great West Lacrosse teams won this weekend to advance to the Elite 8: Notre Dame and Ohio St. Denver lost to Maryland.

Personally, I don't think UND's situation is identical to NDSU's. NDSU has an great on-campus stadium making it nearly ludicrous not to field a team. UND reallly needs something on-campus to be comparable. Furthermore, I can't believe other Summit teams (particularly Oakland) were exactly thrilled when the four-game series was cancelled after a late April blizzard. If UND was added to the Summit, teams would be forced to come to the Dakotas twice every other year, instead of just once / yr now (with either NDSU or SDSU). In addition, NDSU had a record single game baseball attendance when Minnesota came to Fargo: 1079. If that game can't attract more than 2000, what would? A couple of Summit teams don't have baseball (IUPUI and UMKC) and it wouldn't have any problems getting preferred associate baseball members (N Colorado or UTPA). The Big Sky has no baseball. Softball for UND is another story, as that is a Title IX issue.

Mertens isn't staying for five years, so that's seven for the next 4 years. Add in attrition due to injuries or other issues, there wil likelly be more schollies available.

Wait just a few years. Equestrian would be the next women's sport of choice for NDSU (except perhaps women's wrestling.) If UND added lacrosse, lax would become huge in GF and Fargo. Lacrosse is growing practically everywhere and shows no sign of stopping. With few men's teams being added and only Denver and Air Fprce west of the Mississippi, UND needs to be ahead of the curve. Western, Midwestern, and Canadian kids would enroll like crazy to get a chance to play DI lax. Aith the Alerus Center and a new indoor practice field, it's one DI sport that UND can become a power in. New Jersey Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Lax Here to Stay, Sanctioned by GHSA in 2005, sport has put down solid roots in Georgia Colorado Lax moves beyond Denver into Intermountain region

Hockey has never been popular outside the large schools (mainly because of numbers of athletes required and facilities (rinks) in small towns.) So swimming & diving, gymnastics, hockey, and soccer should all be cancelled by the NDHSAA. No small schools offer those, except through co-ops. NDSUs next sport: equestrian. Sponsored by the NDHSAA?

Baltimore Sun: Year of the Great Western Lacrosse League If UND should ever start men's LAX , the league it would join is moving on up competitively.

Who are the underclassmen?

Litigating Levites is actually close! Brandeis University, a Jewish University founded by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, has the nickname Judges, which can be taken both as the modern name or as the OT Judges (Samson, Gideon, Deborah etc).

The first men's team south of North Carolina becomes: Jacksonville. Jacksonville University (Fla) to add men's and women's lacrosse for the 2009-10 season Jacksonville probably considered DIAA scholarship football (they have non-scholly IAA), but with TItle IX and competing against the NFL Jaguars (and talk of a U of North Florida IAA team), went with lacrosse. That Jacksonville will sponsor the sport with no conference comittments lined up for men either or women speaks volumes for how much confidence they have with this decision. With lacrosse booming in parts of Florida and surburban Atlanta and with northeastern kids probably more than willing to take a look to a Florida school, lacrosse makes sense even with Jacksonville being mostly a baseball school. All the Florida DI public schools (UF, FSU, UCF, USF, FIU, FAU, FGCSU) have their hands tied either with Title IX or facilities issues, so Jacksonville may have secured itself a future in a fast-growing sport.

UBC application to NCAA not a given Somewhat of a surprise in the delay.

Hogan's Heroes is actually embraced by the German government because it mocks and ridicules the Nazi's. (If only the Russians would be apologetic for their Leninist/Stalinist past.) If there had been an African-American incident and some NDSU fan put out a KKK video comparing UND leadership to the KKK, everybody would be rightfully outraged. The Nazi laughter seems to verify that too many UND/NDSU fans are ignorant of Jewish sensitivies at the worst possible time.

People were entertained by movies that resembled 9/11 before it hapened. Not two days later. A studio actually pulled a film resembling that trajedy because it was in such poor taste relatively to its expected release date. The laughter here is almost like making jokes about rape on the UND campus two days after Dru Sjodin went missing.

It may have been gone, but we've lost the right to bitch about it.

With the Swatiska in the dormitory story this week and the continuing Sioux name controversy, any Sioux fan that laughed at this video has just kissed any chance of the Sioux name staying good bye. It's done. The PCers have won, and you're laughing with them. The Dallas Cowboys losing to the NYGiants video was funny and was not offensive to the PC world. This was offensive in the context of what occurred on campus recently.

Are there any Indiana State fans on sports forums? In Indiana compared to NDak, UI is like UND, as Purdue is to NDSU, as Indiana State (with the exception of the Larry Bird era) is to Minot State.

On a New Mexico State Aggie board, , I asked how Faison was perceived in Las Cruces. Most responses were very positive!