govikes27

The students themselves are the only ones that can approve raising athletics fees, so I don't think that would be "forcing" them. You never know, maybe the student body will be willing to support athletics like a "real" DI school .

...wow. OSU is trying to move on up!

If put to a vote there is definately a chance the legislation could pass. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and the 18 schools convince the majority that the NCAA shouldn't be messing with things on this level and not have a vote at all. If not, perhaps they could say then ALL ethnic group mascots must be retired. No matter how liberal the presidents are I don't think that will fly. But I too fear that this issue, like politics these days, might just come down to ideology and not reason...

I too support UND moving up. It would be nice if DII had stayed as it was 30-40 years ago, but the truth is the Montana's and Deleware's and now NDSU's are being replaced by smaller ex-NAIA schools. Nothing wrong with this (if they are willing to step up support of their athletics)--but they aren't UND's peers. Yeah, it's funner to watch and support teams close to winning a national championship, but are we happy with who we are competing against? Maybe we are, but I think that, in the long run, there is a possibility of greater interest competing against our old rivals and DI competition than playing more and more DAC schools (which will happen next year with the NSIC getting bigger and looking for fewer nonconference games). Most people I know grumble that UND plays DAC schools more and more often. Well if we want better competition, would it not be logical to go up to the next level of competition? Yeah, you could say "then we would be playing Toledo and Manhattan and other schools we don't care about." Perhaps, but going by name recognition, playing Mesa St. and Colorado School of Mines doesn't sound thrilling either. Sorry for the long post, but I just think that looking at the size of UND's enrollment, its facilities, local support, and budget, nothing really says DII, therefore I believe the study will recommend UND moving to DI. And it CAN be successful, if the community and students are willing to work with the university to make it happen.

I'm no expert at S/D either, but I know that this year UND has beaten Northern Iowa, Wyoming, and one of the mid-major Wisconsin schools (GB?), and have gotten DI A and B cuts competing against big-timers like Minnesota, North Carolina, and Notre Dame. As far as DI status effecting recruiting we can only speculate.

Actually I don't see swimming and diving taking a "hit" at all. Our teams already compete against and have beaten multiple DI teams. We may not be a favorite to win nation titles anymore but I wouldn't see it as a step back. I'm no expert, but it seems considering how strong our program has been that a DI label might bring in better talent than we already do now.

Good point dags! The administration better realize how detrimental all this uncertainty is to both the University and the NCC. Hopefully the study's finding will be a solid answer, not noncommital jiberish. THIS study is a bit quick to be thorough, but the issue has been looked at for years now. If we're DII state clearly once and for all; if we're going DI say it so we can focus on what needs to be done to get us there!

I don't want to moan and gripe over EVERY lost this year, but what I find disheartening about this loss is that Minot's team is having a disappointing season themselves, and they still they beat UND...

Will there be any replacement road trips for the local TV crew this season? I wouldn't mind watching the Sioux at CC or DU. Since they had been willing to go to AA and all...

If UND were to cut the programs that UND would have no chance at all of being competitive at, would it run into Title IX issues? I know some other non-revenue sports could be increased to full scholarships, but football nearly doubles in scholarships. Perhaps adding women's lacrosse and just women's could be an answer?

Agreed, UND is more similar to a DI mid-major than almost all DII institutions. But in terms of athletics a closer measurement might be size of athletic budgets. I know that UND's is like much larger than almost any other DII school and most of the NCC, but what what about the nearby DI conferences? I think the Montana schools have budgets around 15-16 million IIRC. I'll try to look find out, but if anyone knows or can help I'd greatly appreciate it.

Yeah, the amount of traveling is probably too expensive to introduce lacrosse if UND is moving to DI. Denver has 8 road games during the 2006 regular season. Can't really call any of them a short trip, even traveling to conference opponents. I still think it would be a good addition to UND sports if it had the resources, but probably won't be happening anytime soon.

Yep, I think there is a lot of respect towards Maine and BC; maybe New Hampshire to a lesser extent.

Agreed, UND shouldn't count on increased revenue in terms of attendance. Although the SU's could have a slight increase when they are accepted into a conference. As far as DI schools coming here to play, if people are expecting Kentucky or Duke or any school of a major conference to come to ND of course they will be disappointed. But if they hope to see peer institutions (Montana, Montana St., Idaho, Idaho St., some of the New England schools perhaps, and of course SDSU and NDSU) I think they will be pleased. I think playing those schools would generate more interest than playing Crookston, Bemidji, Mayville, ect., but sometimes it seems I'm a minority.

I agree with Sicatoka, lax might not pay for itself, but I bet it would do better than baseball and softball. It might not pay for itself, but I think it's realistic to think it might come reasonably close to breaking even. I like the idea of offering partial rides initially, that way the school still has some added tuition coming in. The crossover of hockey fans wanting to get their fix after hockey season is over is very realistic in my opinion. As far as the Average Joe, I think some might be intrigued by how physical the game is!

The problem with the status-quo in college hockey is that all the conferences (besides the hodgepodge that is the CHA) are full, so that even if a school wanted to start up a hockey program it could have a hard time getting into a conference, especially ones west of the Mississippi. Not that there are schools lining up to have hockey programs, but hypothetically it could an obstacle in the sport's growth at the college level. I seem to recall UNO's revenue from hockey a few years after their program started turning a few heads, though I don't think anything ever really came of it. Maybe if the mythical Big Ten Hockey conference ever materializes it will shake things up. Anyways, just a few random thoughts. Wasn't South Dakota looking at hockey a couple of years ago? What happened to that, did it just fizzle out? (sorry if it's old news)

I too like the idea of UND lacrosse. But, I just don't see the athletic department going for it while a DI move is in the works. It does make sense to cut baseball and softball, if they're willing to make the realistic moves. ND's climate doesn't lend itself to golf either, but I just don't like the idea of cutting a programmed required for Big Sky. Maybe we won't get in, or some agreement made, but I think keeping our options open for the time being is the best move. So that said, I'm afraid financially the money saved cutting baseball/softball will not compensate the costs of lacrosse. Does anyone know how big a budget it takes to field a lacrosse program? I would assume with it's niche status in the West it would approach hockey, but I could be wrong. Does anyone know?

It would be awesome if UND had lacrosse! A vastly underrated sports IMO. However, even with cutting baseball and/or softball I think it would still be costly considering there aren't many local schools with lacrosse .Right now I'd rather have increase funding going toward a DI move.