RD17

There was a very interesting study released by the NCAA this week regarding the schools that have moved from D-II to D-I in the last 20 years. It studied the economic impact on the different schools and also looked at things like alumni giving, enrollment, etc. The short version: moving to D-I makes very little sense in most cases.

West Chester is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The coaches in that conference are unionized and have just voted to authorize a strike if a new contract isn't agreed upon by this fall. This would of course mean no football for the schools in that conference and would mean that the UND/West Chester game for September 3rd would be wiped out. UND would then not have a home game until week four (9/17). The people I have talked to say a strike is a very real possibility at this point, so it's something UND fans need to keep an eye on as the season approaches.

I have been told that as of right now, Kuper would be a 4th-6th round pick in next year's draft.

Yes, but there are also a lot of little differences between divisions that necessitate the transition period. For example, the different eligibility standards between DI and D2. There are many D2 schools that sign JUCOs or high school recruits that aren't eligible for DI. In theory a D2 school could sign a boatload of these types of players with the promise that they could compete for a I-AA title when the school switches divisions the following year. You also have the issue where a D2 school could get a recruiting advantage over other D2 schools by promising to recruits that they will get an opportunity at the I-AA postseason in their careers. You also have the whole issue with the NCAA now having a federated structure. By that I mean that D1, D2, and D3 essentially operate as seperate entities under the umbrella of the NCAA. They all enact their own legislation, vote exclusively on their own rules, etc. It used to be that all three divisions operated essentially as one. This will lead to more of these little quirks and rule differences between the divisions in the future.

The main reason it's there is for stability. If you didn't have that transition period in there, schools could jump around from division to division on a whim and simply move right back if it didn't work out. Basically the transition period insures that only schools that are serious about competing in the new division make the move. I do agree though that the probationary period should be shortened if a school can prove that it is reaching certain benchmarks sooner than expected.

The moratoriums basically stopped the momentum of so many schools switching and gave the NAIA time to make some changes to appeal to its membership. Kind of a cooling off period if you will. The NAIA improved its insurance package and also added this "champions of character" initiative that many of the private faith-based schools find attractive. The other major thing the NAIA did is change its rules so that a school leaving for D2 or D3 would no longer be eligible for NAIA postseason play. It used to be that NAIA schools could continue to play in the postseason during their provisional periods into D2. So in some cases, schools were playing in the NAIA postseason one year and the D2 postseason the next. Now a school like U-Mary isn't eligible for any postseason play for a few years after making the switch. This makes the transition much more painful and encourages schools to think twice before making the change.

The NAIA started as a national basketball tournament for smaller schools in Kansas City back in the 40's. It was attractive at that time because it offered the postseason possibilities for small schools that the NCAA did not. When D2 began cutting scholarships in football (especially that last cut to 36 about 10 years ago) it became more and more attractive for the top NAIA schools to join. Almost every school that at one time played NAIA Division I football (there were two divisions at one time) has now joined NCAA D2. If not for the two membership moratoriums that D2 had in about 1996 and 2000, the NAIA would likely have collapsed by now. The other reason the NCAA has attracted so many NAIA members is because the NAIA had no catastrophic injury insurance and also did not reimburse its members for postseason travel expenses like the NCAA does. Postseason play was literally bankrupting some of the NAIA schools that had successful athletic programs. There are really two things that make the NAIA attractive to a segment of schools now. First, there are no overall sports sponsorship minimums to play in the NAIA. There are many, many NAIA schools that only offer 4,5,6 sports. To be D2 or D3, you have to sponsor 10 sports. Secondly, it serves as a place for small private schools that want to offer some athletic scholarships. Most NAIA schools could not be competitive in D2.

From what I have heard, two six team divisions.

Just to clarify... starting August 1st Division II schools will need to sponsor 10 sports instead of the eight listed in that guide.

C'mon Dave.... everyone should vote for this thing because your son deserves to play in a better place? I'm assuming you're also willing to vote in favor of most any taxpayer funded project- no matter how illogical it might be- because someone elses kids "deserve" it? I'm not saying that all arenas or entertainment facilities funded by taxes are bad- but think about what you're saying here.

I don't think people are as disappointed in the results from the basketball program as how they are arrived at. Take this year for example: No doubt that the conference was really tough this year. At the beginning of the season, 20-10 might not have looked too bad. But, UND knocked off Kearney and Northern and a couple of other tough teams in the non-conference schedule. Then UND beats eventual champ UNO twice and preseason favorite MSU in the first two weeks of the conference season. Halfway through the conference schedule, UND is on top of the league and people can see that this team has the potential to do some damage. But then comes the inexplicable loss on the road to a bad Augustana team. UND goes to USD and gets blown out of the gym. Then the worst- with the entire season on the line at Duluth to close out the regular season- the Sioux don't even show up. So, what once looked like a promising season 3/4 of the way through is in shambles by the time the conference tournament starts. Fans aren't stupid- they can see when a team is playing to its potential and they can also tell when a team is regressing or playing poorly. 20-10 might look OK on paper, but it's not accomplishing much at all when you follow the entire season. Then there's the other factors that have added up over the past five years or so: -the fact that UND had the rarity of having a NBA draft pick on its team (a post player at that) and did nothing with it. Not to mention that UND had another conference player of the year in Kyle Behrens in this same time frame. -the unacceptable non-conference losses to UMC, Minot, U-Mary, etc. They seem like a yearly occurence now and fans have almost come to expect it. -the embarrassing Myron Allen fiasco. -the fact that a pair of players (Brandt and Lyndahl) that were all-conference as sophomores severely regressed later in their careers. -the fact that the UND team rarely seems to match the intensity of it's opponents or have any sort of killer instinct like you often see in the great teams. -the fact that UND now has the finest facilities in D2 for basketball and it doesn't seem to be making a difference in the quality of the teams (and no, I don't buy the whole geography thing). So, you add all of these things up and it's pretty apparent why a lot of people are frustrated. Now I know that Rich Glas is a great guy that loves UND and had some great teams early in his career here. But at some point the status quo needs to change and the UND basketball program needs get back to where it was in the past- consistently competing for conference and regional championships.

I know someone that works at Concordia and the rumor has been that D-I hockey is something that the school might be considering as part of a long-term strategic plan. Who nows how valid that rumor might be, but I do think that since Concordia already has a men's and women's hockey program and isn't in the mess that MSUM's athletic department is, it's far more likely that the Cobbers would take the dive than MSUM. I really think though that if there was any possible way to make it work, hockey is something that MSUM should seriously consider. The school will always struggle for fans, corporate dollars, and media attention with NDSU across the river. Hockey would give MSUM its own niche in the market and I think alumni and the serious hockey fans in the F-M area would really take to it. Just make sure that all home series are scheduled opposite of UND.

OK...it's later From watching the spring game (and some other spring practices in general) I think the big change on defense is going to be the speed at cornerback. Franklin (assuming he's healthy), Longe, and Alexander can all really fly and I think they will give the Sioux defense more options as far as press coverages and things like that. I don't remember a UND team ever having this kind of speed at the CB spots. Obviously, the rest of the defense is deep, talented, and experienced and is of no concern. On offense, I'm encouraged by what I saw from the wide receivers. More depth than last year, and just as importantly, more size. Caufield looked good out there for a freshman and Presthus and Tatum also look like good sized guys capable of making a contribution. I also think Dressler looks very good and I'm extremely comfortable with him being the number one guy. He's going to cause some headaches for opponents this year. At running back, I was impressed by Strouth's speed and how explosive he is at hitting the whole. Beatty also looked good and I think he can replace Roland as the "hammer". And although Charles isn't extremely talented, he's experienced and won't hurt you if called upon. Quarterback- from what I saw in the previous Saturday's scrimmage and a couple of practices, Belmore looked very good and is clearly the number one guy. He did not play particularly well in the scrimmage though. Manke looked good in the scrimmage and I think he is also more than capable of doing the job. Whoever plays, I think this position is solid and experienced and it won't be a major issue if injuries creep up like last year. I think the key to the whole offense is going to be the line. The look like they are capable of opening some holes in the running game like last year, which is good. The question I have is the tackles (Buisker, Hoffelt, Bronson, Bauer). Are those guys (and the line in general) going to be able to pass protect well enough one on one so that the offense feels comfortable spreading things out and throwing the ball down the field? If so, we can go to a lot of 3 and 4 receiver sets like in 2003 and run and pass out of it effectively and really give people some problems. If not, we'll have to go back to the tighter formations like last year and play it more conservative (and probably have a hard time scoring points again at times). So, all and all, I think it comes down to the offense. If they can be more efficient and put just a few more points on the board (like 2003), there is no doubt in my mind that this is a national championship caliber team. If the offense struggles to score like last year, this is still a great team, but it will be much tougher to accomplish the ultimate goal (a national title).

Geography, Geography, Geography. I know I have harped on it over and over-- but if UND, NDSU, SDSU, etc. were 700 miles south, east, or west, they all would have been Division I years ago. The obvious problem is that being isolated in this area of the country with no conference possibilities is the limiting factor. If UND had decided to also be in support of D-I and made the move with NDSU and SDSU, we'd have three independent schools up here desperately searching for a home instead of just two. The Carr folks that came in and did the studies for NDSU and SDSU didn't include the caveat that a conference must be found before a move is made just for kicks. The standard line coming out of both schools that "no D-I conference would consider us before we officially declared for D-I" is garbage. Kennesaw State and North Florida both declared they were moving to Division I with conference memberships in hand. You may think you have a D-I school with D-I quality athletic programs, but if there is no one in the neighborhood to play, it will not work. Period! And Jack, there was just an article in the St. Cloud newspaper a few days ago. SCSU can only afford to fund 24 scholarships for football as it is! They also only drew 2300 fans for a playoff game against a top conference rival. How in the world would SCSU ever afford a move to Division I? Mankato is probably a bit better off, but not by much. Both would probably prefer to be the "big boys" in a souped up NSIC or all Minnesota D2 conference than ever consider D-I.

It's funny...I happened to be in Fargo one evening last week and ate at the Old Broadway in downtown Fargo. For those that don't know, the "OB" is a restaraunt/bar and is right across the street from the proposed arena site. The OB stands to gain from not only the new arena, but also the elimination of competition (Lauerman's and the Sports Bar would have to be torn down in the construction). Not surprisingly, the OB had quite a few signs up touting the benefits of the new arena and encouraging people to vote for it. The other thing I can't comprehend about this whole arena deal is how the proponents can say there won't be a parking problem. The same city block where they want to build the arena is about half parking lot right now and some of the most important parking space in downtown Fargo! Makes no sense to me. As an aside, an arena proposal seems to me to be something the city of Moorhead should be looking at. I realize that Moorhead doesn't have anywhere close to the sales tax base that Fargo has, but if a plan could be worked out to build a decent 5,000-6,000 seat hockey arena/convention center and place it along the interstate in South Moorhead it would revitalize the entire area. There is already one new hotel (Courtyard by Marriott, I think) in that area and I'm sure another hotel developer could also be convinced to move in and build an attached hotel. Bring in an USHL team or even convince MSUM or Concordia to start a DI hockey program and you have one permanent tenant. Plus it could be a venue for Minnesota high school tournaments (both hockey and basketball) and give the city of Moorhead something of "their own" to take pride in and support. Plus, I think Moorhead is more of a hockey town anyway and more likely to support a team if it plays its games in the city. Maybe this is all somewhat far-fetched, but the more I think about it, the more it makes some sense.

Why would Harmeson be against Bollinger getting the job and exactly what is he supposedly doing to make things difficult? I'm not saying any of this in an accusatory fashion, I just want to understand why.

I have no idea- is Cody Saunders still on the team or has he called it quits? I remember watching the field goal kicking part of the scrimmage on Saturday and wondering who it was out there because the number didn't seem familiar. But sometimes people switch numbers in the off-season or wear different stuff for practice so I didn't think too much of it. As an aside....I was/am really hoping Saunders sticks around for his senior year. He obviously doesn't have the range that Glas does, but he's accurate and would be a terrific insurance policy if something ever happened to Jeff.

I think it's critical for college hockey to have a league like the CHA. It serves its purpose as a "starter" league and gives new programs a place to call home while they get established. If you lose a league like this, it's going to hamper the growth of the sport because new varsity programs would be forced to not only take on the expense of the sport, but also face the reality of having to play the first few seasons as an independent. Not a real attractive option if you ask me.

OK....it looks like the new board is up and all the old information is intact. I was able to log in, but was denied permission to post. So there are still some kinks to be worked out but it looks like we're getting close. And the new board does look strikingly similar to this one!