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The REA wouldn't likely host an NCAA men's hockey regional and certainly not a men's basketball regional, but there are a number of events that it could host, including the women's Frozen Four, women's hockey playoffs, regional women's basketball (arenas the size of the Ralph are actually typical for 1st/2nd rounds) as well as an men's/women's NIT (now owned by the NCAA) games. REA spokesman have been quoted a number of times as having interest in hosting multiple women's Frozen Fours: it would be one way to have a more national spotlight on the Ralph.

Based on the my perceived earlier expectations of the lawsuit based on ND government official statement and the actual settlement, isn't that proof that a healthy level of skeptism is appropriate? Again, politically, this settlement is an ideal cover for a name change. In order for the Fighting Sioux name to be on any solid ground, Standing Rock and Spirit Lake would have to agree to some type of legal covenant with UND. An athletic department with its marketing and brand name can not be held perpetually hostage of the whims of tribal politics.

Seems to be a big deal to certain coaches and boosters, namely in football. Dorgan, Conrad, and Pomeroy received no backlash from their inaction. Why would anyone else suffer? The Board members aren't even elected.

I was very disappointed in the settlement, but with the NCAA changing their by-laws, why pursue a victory that will become moot? When the lawsuit first came up, it wasn't clear that the NCAA Executive Committe would have the necessary support to ramrod a bylaw change through. While officially there is still hope that UND can retain the nickname, the settlement seems to be an admission that the days of the Fighting Sioux are numbered. It does seem that the pragmatists won on four issues: 1. Economics: Costs to retrofit the REA went down significantly relative to the cost of the lawsuit. 2. Politics: UND leadership (especially the new President), the NDBoHE, and ND officials no longer have to take political heat if the name changes. 3. NCAA relationship: If UND had gone through with the court case, the NCAA would have made UND's DI transition hellish. 4. Athletics: With a name change, UND can play Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. There was already pressure internally to make the change - now there's convenient cover.

You mean the Sioux-SUU game (where the Sioux had like 5 turnovers) or the NDSU-SUU game? NDSU +35 over SUU - 3 pts for homefield = + 32 pt advantage UND + 27 over SUU + 3 pts for away game= + 30 pt advantage Comparative score: NDSU by +2 on a neutral field.

That's precisely why UND athletic leadership needs to be proactive on a nickname change while we still have the Fighting Sioux name. If PC group that forced the Fighting Sioux change subsequently object to Roughriders or Cavalry (which are both important historically to ND) after the FS name has been dropped, their minority voice will carry the day then too. If the Fighting Sioux name is dropped and Roughriders installed, the anti-nickname people could still claim a victory and any further squacking by them about a new nickname would be viewed as controlling.

Unfortunately, agree with this position. The new President should initiate discussions of what the new nickname should be. However, two of most appropriate names, Roughriders (it is the Roughrider state) and the Cavalry, wil be vehemently opposed by the same PC profs that opposed the Fighting Sioux name on account of Roughrider and Cavalry being too militant, non-inclusive, oppressive, and inappropriate for women's teams. The whole political correctness issue still has to be dealt with, otherwise we'll end up with a nickname like the Greendoves.

The Fargo Forum is pushing this NDSU PhD dissertation from its School of Communication as a barometer of what could happen to UND. NDSU Dissertation on Colleges that discontinue use of Indian logos The data used is so full of holes that it's an embarassment to the state's education system. For example of its many shortcomings: his data analysis doesn't take into account that Syracuse opened the Carrier Dome shortly after they dropped their "Saltine Warrior" mascot (the nickname then remained Orangemen), so attendance went up tremendously because of a new venue (moved from 26,000 seat Archibold stadium to a 50,000 seat Carrier dome). Wouldn't at least one of his advisors be competent and savy enough to recognize such a blatant error? It also wails on the morality of Indian nicknames, but never gives an underlying basis for that morality except "feelings" and "being offended".

Look at the rating in the MOV (Margin of Victory) column. Massey himself states that the MOV ratings is more accurate, but the BCS ratings require no MOV inclusion. By MOV Massey ratings, NDSU is #58, UNO # 78, UND #109, and Minnesota is #127. In the FCS, the teams rated above UND (by MOV) are UNI (top rated IAA Massey by MOV), NDSU, McNeese, UMass, Delaware, James Madison, S Ill, Wofford, Elon, Yale, Appy State, and Montana (barely). DII teams above UND are UNO, Grand Valley, C Washington, and W Tex A&M.

Bryant accepts invitation to join DI Northeast Conference Bryant gets into the NEC over NJIT, which is three years ahead of Bryant in the transition. NJIT's options are not looking great. By adding Bryant, the NEC will gain autobids in a number of sports including men's and women's lax. Bryant's head Lax coach is the former Duke men's coach, and Bryant has intentions of being a power. Bryant also has a rapidly growing endowment, which is fueling athletic scholarship expansion and academic enhancement at the 3200 student school.

Some of the endorsements are seem quite revealing: especially Elbert obtaining Clifford's reference (thought Bruce Smith might have received Clifford's blessing) and Weisenstein getting Kupchella as a reference. Weisenstein, who was a finalist for the Florida Gulf Coast position, also put his name in for Louisiana-Lafayette's president. ULL today did not name Weisenstein as a finalist: ULL finalists Handicapping UND's internal candidates based on endorsements, Elbert might actually be the favorite to advance as a finalist, followed by Weisenstein, then Smith, then Harmeson / Groenewold.

ESPN: Houston Baptist, Seattle U. in the transition game to D-I

There are ebbs and flows in every rivalry. When Sioux football had their losing streak against the Bison in the 80's, it seemed it was impossible we'd ever dominate them again --> proven wrong When the Fargodome was built, many Sioux fans assumed it would be impossible to compete with NDSU again. --> proven wrong When Amy Ruley was continually beating the Sioux women, it seemed we'd never win the big game --> proven wrong When Grand Forks flooded, NDSU fans assumed UND never would be "back" - -> proven wrong When the REA was built, UND men's basketball was viewed as an ascending power with the REA as a recruiting and drawing card --> proven wrong The trends we see now, will not continue forever. Expect the unexpected.

NDSU has milked all kinds of mileage out of "UND won't play" us, even with UND having legitimate playoff reaons. The PR for NDSU to not play us out of spite would become politically intolerable for them. As far as IA football, many UND fans find it unthinkable for us, but yet possible for NDSU? The MAC and WAC have better geographic / media candidates. The best hope NDSU has for a IA football league is that somehow the Gateway morphs into a IA league or somehow the Big Sky will morph into a IA league with associate members. With either situation, getting to the minimum 8 teams will be a major hurdle, and UND, with a refurbished Memorial Stadium (or new stadium) would not be out of the picture. NDSU transition to DI has far exceeded anything I expected. But their success in football is not the primary reason (thought they'd have 7-4 seasons, rather than 10-1). The Bball success is what's truly outstanding and almost totally unexpected, even from die-hard Bison fans. Whether they can continue that success beyond next year when their "Fab Five" graduate is TBD. But even in spite of their basketball success, if it hadn't been for Chicago State dropping out of the MidCon, almost certainly NDSU would still have been without a conference. Without the MidCon (now Summit) bid, the Gateway wouldn't have happened either. Certainly, NDSU has to be given credit for being at the right time at the right place (through a lot of hard work), but adminstrative imcompetency at Chicago State is what Bison fans should truly be thankful for in their DI transition.

Leadership at America's Universities Has Become a Disgrace In the article, it referenced this website, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which gives speech code ratings for all major US universities. UND and USD were the only regional schools receiving "yellow" ratings, while NDSU, SDSU, St Cloud, UMinn, Wisco, and Iowa all received "red" speech code alerts.

Lefty-UNO: With UNO not being part of the MIAA football schedule until 2009, have you heard anything about the Red Mavs 2008 schedule? Scheduling as an independent will be tough - imagine you'll play all the GNAC teams. Any chance UNO would reconsider playing UND and USD? Last year Pat Behrns said this 2007 game will be the last between UND and UNO.

What are the roots of the problems with the defense? Poor decision making (coaches/players), poor coaching game adjustments, less linebacker experience, athleticism of linebackers, defensive line pass rush, other? Some posters have commented that the corners and safeties are actually more solid this year.

This has been discussed before, but a men's hockey program does not have to be paired with a women's hockey program to satisfy Title IX. DU has men's hockey and women's gymnastics, CC has men's hockey and women's soccer at DI, Mich/MichSt/NDame don't have women's hockey, Miami (O) uses its on-campus rink for men's hockey and varsity women's synchronized skating team, Wayne State dropped it's men's program, but not its women's, Syracuse added women's, but not men's (yet). NDSU, if it added men's hockey, would have no obligation to add women's hockey, but it would likely either have to drop another men's program or add an additional (probably much cheaper) women's sport.

Lucy Dalglish is a UND grad with a rather impressive resume (UND, Yale, St Paul Pioneer Press reporter, Vanderbilt Law, practiced law, RCFP)

You say wouldn't care, yet you probably check the scores of all NDSU teams: women's soccer, women's volleyball, wrestling, baseball, softball, etc. Those sports aren't even "events" at NDSU. Hockey would be an "event" and would have a "buzz". Most NDSU fans would have an interest in how NDSU hockey performed, even if they don't even "like" hockey, just because it would have an "NDSU" label.

Hmm, Centenary, a core member, has submitted papers (which can be withdrawn) for DIII membership. Southern Utah's AD says on radio that a "more desirable" conference is a top priority. Grom says the legislation "it is by far the most consequential in his tenure", but I guess NDSU fans knows how much its membership has upraded the Summit profile It will either be a bottom-feeding transient league, or it will morph into a DI version of the NCC. A Great West autobid is not on the table for at least six years.

With the limited number of DIAA schools in the West and Big Sky schools playing 8 conference games, Cal Poly and UC-Davis have and will continue to face more difficult scheduling issues than UND. Neither of those schools have a pot of gold to offer and normally face at least one DII and one DIA school to fill out their schedule. Here's Cal Poly's schedule : Sat, Sep 1 at Texas State L 35-38 -- Sat, Sep 8 at Idaho L 13-20 -- Sat, Sep 15 Weber State W 47-19 -- Sat, Sep 22 Western Oregon W 24-17 -- Sat, Sep 29 Northern Colorado 9:05 pm -- Sat, Oct 13 at California-Davis 4:30 pm -- Sat, Oct 20 at South Dakota State 8:00 pm -- Sat, Oct 27 at Idaho State 5:05 pm -- Sat, Nov 3 at Southern Utah 3:00 pm -- Sat, Nov 10 North Dakota State 7:05 pm -- Sat, Nov 17 Iona 4:05 pm -- UC-Davis: Sat, Sep 1 Western Washington L 21-28 -- Sat, Sep 8 at Portland State W 26-17 -- Sat, Sep 15 at Eastern Washington L 31-41 -- Sat, Sep 22 Northeastern W 28-10 -- Sat, Sep 29 at San Jose State 4:00 pm -- Sat, Oct 6 at North Dakota State 2:00 pm -- Sat, Oct 13 Cal Poly 4:30 pm -- Sat, Oct 20 at Southern Utah 3:00 pm -- Sat, Oct 27 South Dakota State 5:00 pm -- Sat, Nov 3 at Sacramento State 5:05 pm -- Sat, Nov 17 San Diego 4:30 pm -- SUU is one of the Little Sisters of the Poor in IAA and they have no trouble scheduling (mostly because other teams want the W) Sat, Sep 1 at Montana L 17-37 -- Sat, Sep 8 North Dakota L 10-37 -- Sat, Sep 15 Southern Illinois L 10-44 -- Sat, Sep 22 McNeese State L 20-41 -- Sat, Oct 6 at Montana State 3:35 pm -- Sat, Oct 13 at Youngstown State 4:00 pm -- Sat, Oct 20 California-Davis 3:00 pm -- Sat, Oct 27 at North Dakota State 2:00 pm -- Sat, Nov 3 Cal Poly 3:00 pm -- Sat, Nov 10 at South Dakota State 2:00 pm -- Sat, Nov 17 at Northern Iowa 6:05 pm -- The first year will be the most difficult when UND is not a counter. Again, see UC-Davis and Cal Poly. San Luis Obispo is not the easiest travel destination. Since when do football teams travel via commerical airline into Fargo? Teams with under 20 members do, but football? Whether to Fargo or GF, football teams are likely either to charter, or (for the schools wanting to save bucks) fly to Minneapolis commercially and then bus.

Success has led Bryant to seek move to Div. I With New Haven deciding to stay DII, Bryant has a decision. Bryant and NJIT may be voted upon as members by the NEC presidents.

Historical article today connecting Grand Forks with the Little Rock desegregation of Central High School fifty years ago in the International Herald Tribune and New York Times: SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE ROCK The day Louis Armstrong made noise