nodakvindy

With the embarrassment of riches we have at WR, I don't think its inconceivable for another transfer to fall into our lap like Hanson did. With the weapons at your disposal and the fact that you will be playing nine games indoors and the other two in Portland and Davis, California, UND has to be a pretty inviting place to make a big splash if you are a transfer looking for a place to play.

Regular Season - The National Cup Postseason - The NCHC Trophy The National Cup would be a cup resting on a base of 8 stick blades, with each blade having the name of a member school on it. The name of the winning school would be engraved on the cup, similar to the Stanley Cup. The NCHC trophy would be have a solid silver puck that would sit on end on a wood base. One side would feature the NCHC logo, the reverse would simply read Playoff Champion. Champions would be added to the base each year. The trophy could simply be marketed as "the Puck". The NCHC Final Four could be "the battle for the Puck" The eight schools of the NCHC have no collective history, so I don't like the idea of naming new trophies for people with zero affiliation with the NCHC. Let the league build its own history rather than trying to force it. When UND wins 8 of the first 10 title, maybe you rename it the Hakstol Cup, but at this point I think you keep things simple.

Its only aggressive when you don't telegraph what you will do. We should have thrown. That is what has worked today.

I think this is as much of a message to the school down south and to the legislature as it is to the hockey team. It is interesting that they are suspended for the Alaska game. Makes you wonder if they will even travel, since you normally only take one spare player along. Either that or they will only have 15 skaters for that first game. That would be rough.

I wonder if UND made any effort to require Midco to pick up ROOT sports on its systems as part of this deal. That would have been a savvy play to ensure that all of those games are also available to viewers in the region.

The Fab Five were pretty impressive last night in blowing the doors off the team competition. Wieber's story has gotten all the attention, but the rest of the team is plenty solid. Maroney on the vault is incredible. The Americans have also been pretty impressive in the pool. And they added some humanity with their Call Me Maybe viral video. The tennis at Wimbledon has been really great too. Love to see the big stars playing doubles as well. And finally, I guess as long as it's a shotgun, our shooters are golden. I actually met Kim Rhode at the Shooting Star casino when she made an appearance following the '96 Atlanta games. A great Olympics so far. Hope it keeps up.

I'm not sure if a retractable roof is really needed, A new stadium will only happen with a move to FBS. In that case, the latest you will have a non-bowl game is right before Thanksgiving. In general, you would work with your league to ensure your last game of the season is a road game. The truly bad weather games have typically come mid-to-late November or in December for playoff games. That won't be a consideration in FBS. Early November games you are more likely to have bad attendance due to deer hunting than weather. An enclosed stadium would also cut down on wind impact, which was really what made things tough at Memorial Stadium. Add some radiant heat like they have at Target Field and there is no reason to spend on a retractable roof. The most reasonable, cost-effective option would be to add three sides on to Memorial Stadium, switch the existing section to the visiting side, then build nicer seating and a new press box on the east side, along with additional bleacher seating in both end zones.

I think Exit 135 makes the most sense. There's already a bridge, so less work would be needed to get offramps there. It's also a good site for a belt road/bypass, with a bridge over to the East side. Outlet malls tend to be sprawling and this area would be a more logical site than so close in to residential areas.

You mean like Target did when it went across the street and left a gaping hole in Columbia Mall. No reason to think this won't be a second Wal-Mart. They aren't going to abandon the other location, especially with Sam's Club there as well. This new store seems pretty squarely aimed at the Canadians. Also, the old Wal-Marts in Minot and Bismarck seemed to get reutilized in short order.

Hopefully this deal requires that events be on Midco sports channel 1 (at least in North Dakota). It would be nice to be on the main tier near the other sports channels, rather than up in the 300s. If you have an older set or are someplace like a hotel or bar, you may not get Midco sports 2 or 3. I've been working in western North Dakota for the past couple of years and frequently missed Sioux games, while Midco 1 has had USD events or Northern Sun games, sometimes even things like repeats of South Dakota high school soccer. UND has to be there most attractive package, it should be placed accordingly.

I think people have to realize that with the unbalanced conference schedule, UND could put up a very good record and still finish in 5th. Here's a scenario where UND is 6-2 and alone in 5th Montana St 7-1 Only loss to Montana Cal Poly 7-1 Only loss to North Dakota Weber St. 7-1 Only loss to Cal Poly Montana 7-1 Only loss to Weber St. UND 6-2 Losses to Montana and Montana St. I certainly couldn't be disappointed in a season like that. A win vs. Portland State in the non-conference game would put UND at the magic 7 wins and likely mean a playoff berth.

The Montana-Dakota centered WAC envisioned above could make a lot of sense. It would give the six FCS schools a measured entry into FBS and they could take their time. There isn't likely to be any other opportunity to make the FBS jump in the foreseeable future. While being the clear third FBS league in the west, the FBS status alone would probably give them the firepower to build up to a multi-bid basketball league, which is a better situation than any of the schools is in now. The divisional setup would really cut down on travel, and would be pretty geographically sound.

The WAC should make a play for the flagship MonDak schools and Nebraska-Omaha. You would end up with this for football Idaho New Mexico St. Montana Montana St North Dakota North Dakota St South Dakota South Dakota St. And this for all sports Mountain Division Idaho New Mexico St. Montana Montana St Seattle Boise St., Central Division North Dakota North Dakota St South Dakota South Dakota St. Nebraska Omaha Denver You would have a league with affordable travel and keep/reinstate many rivalries. Could be a decent basketball league, I'd probably put the tourney at the Pepsi Center in Denver. South Dakota would probably need to play football games in Sioux Falls and we would have to sell lot of standing room to get to 15K, but it would be doable. The one odd team out would be New Mexico St., but I doubt their travel would be a lot worse than it is now, and they don't have a lot of other options anyway. This could be the one chance to move to FBS if that is indeed a goal for the these teams.

BC teams that good - maybe Jerry York that good - definitely - his teams have now played in five of the last seven NCAA title games. I can't imagine that's happened since Michigan back in the 50s. He's been in the title game 8 of the 18 years he has been at BC, and also has a title from Bowling Green. It will be interesting to see if BC can sustain that after he retires, likewise with Michigan and Berenson. That is one of the unique things about UND. The success have been able to be maintained despite coaching changes.

NCHC already has a deal with CBS sports, so not sure when this proposed Fox channel could become an option. However, this could be an interesting possible national option for the Big Sky Conference.

What I'd like to see is avoid intraconference matchups for as far as possible. If you have four teams from a conference, they should be separated one to each region. This year, four of the five CCHA teams were in one half of the draw. Use the ratings to establish the 16 teams, but to so slavishly stick to ranking for seeding is idiotic. The teams are generally close anyway, and with the minimal non-conference play, there is some question to the validity of various rankings. I think this would have been an ideal bracket, in terms of spreading out the teams and also staying Worcester -- Boston College-Michigan St. Ferris St.- Denver Green Bay -- UND-Mass-Lowell, Miami-Cornell St. Paul - Michigan-Air Force, Minnesota-Boston U. Bridgeport - Union-W. Michigan, Minnesota-Duluth-Maine All four brackets have one Hockey East, one WCHA and at least one CCHA team, with the two ECAC clubs on opposite halves of the bracket. Attendance would be decent, although would have been nice to get another eastern team into Worcester.

Jeff Lerg and Michigan State say hi. Union and Ferris State are playing with house money at this point, and whoever wins that semi should not be discounted in the final.

And wait until next year with western regionals in Grand Rapids and Toledo. With the attendance being what it is, UND should bid for a regional in Fargo (if we are every able to be a host again).

UND moves on and also claims the inaugural NCHC tournament of champions.

Back in the day, the tourneys existed to get the two eastern and two western teams for the Frozen Four. So the WCHA just played off enough to get those teams. The champion of the league was the regular season champion.

It also didn't hurt that all most of our non conference opponents did extremely well in their conference tourneys, benefitting us in the common opponents category and further upping our RPI.

They can't. ESPN has exclusive rights.

I don't really see it going this way, but I think this bracket would be the best attendance wise and still maintain the best bracket integrity. Unless you literally put people in their own backyard (think BC and BU in Worcester), the only legit travelling fan base is the Green and White. UND still makes Green Bay a winner with no Bucky in the field. With all the flights between Minneapolis and Detroit, Michigan's fans probably turn out better at St. Paul than Green Bay. What Should Happen Worcester 1 Boston College 4 Michigan State 2 Minnesota-Duluth 3 Boston University St. Paul 1 Michigan 4 Air Force 2 Minnesota vs 3 Maine Bridgeport 1 Union 4 Western Michigan 2 Ferris State 3 Massachusetts-Lowell Green Bay 1 North Dakota 4 Cornell 2 Miami 3 Denver What probably will happen Worcester 1 Boston College 4 Air Force 2 Minnesota-Duluth 3 Boston University St. Paul 1 North Dakota 4 Western Michigan 2 Minnesota vs 3 Maine Bridgeport 1 Union 4 Michigan State 2 Miami 3 Massachusetts-Lowell Green Bay 1 Michigan 4 Cornell 2 Ferris State 3 Denver

I'd say if we win it next year, we should keep it permanently. No one else will have ever held it.

Dominating the all tourney team Forbert MacWilliam Lamoureux Nelson Dell - MVP Along with Zucker from DU