MplsBison
-
Posts
2,229 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by MplsBison
-
-
Rumors are that CUSA and the Mountain West have entered into a full merger agreement, with the MWC's Thompson as Commissioner.
This new merged league will stretch from East Carolina to Fresno St. Apparently, the Central and Mountain Time Zone schools are pleased, but the EST schools (East Carolina and Marshall), as well as the PST schools (Nevada, Fresno St, UNLV) have issues.
Nevada and Fresno St both have to pay the WAC substantial penalties to leave the WAC this summer - but for what? No Boise St, no SDSU, and possibly no Air Force.
Nevada is denying that it has an interest in staying in the WAC, but of course they will initially make a denial. But the exit fee from the WAC will cost Nevada dearly. Unless the CUSA-MWC merged league TV contract is substantial, going to that league may not make business sense.
WAC Commissioner Benson is openly stating that he is making a play for Hawaii, Nevada, and Fresno to stay, and he's probably reaching out to UNLV to move from the MWC to the WAC.
UTSA and La Tech may be getting interest from CUSA, so those two may leave the WAC, giving the WAC a footprint mostly west of the Rockies. (WAC schools could end up being Idaho, Utah St, NMSt, UNLV, Nevada, Fresno, San Jose St, Texas St plus BB members Boise St, Seattle, Denver, and UTArlington. A league like that could actually be very appealing to Montana and Montana St.) New Mexico, Colorado St, Wyoming, could end up merged with the CUSA schools, which could include Tulsa as well Texas schools UTEP, UTSA, North Texas, and Rice in a western division.
Throw in the fact that there will no longer be automatic qualifying criteria for the champions of these ridiculous cross country leagues to the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta bowls and it makes it even more ridiculous.
In that case, if you're in the FBS and not in a conference that will be able to sign deals with major $$$ bowls, you're screwed. So why not at least stick to a regional conference and save money on travel. Save it up for a mid or lower tier bowl game that will still get 10x the marketing and general public interest than the FCS playoffs.
-
Can't see how the Big Sky can tell Davis and Poly that it's ok for them to be football only and Big West bball while then denying that same opportunity to Sac St.
Also can't see Idaho football in the FCS, too much pride and investment to take a step back to a DII level (in their eyes).
-
Nothing is final, yet. Some talk that a conference would have to have a top 14 or 16 rating to get an AQ (so this year, the Big East wouldn't get an AQ). UConn going to the Fiesta last year was a total disaster, and the Big East doesn't have any school to offer this year that will give good ratings or sell tickets (except WVU has fans that travel en masse - which is why the Big 12 offered WVU.) The problem the major bowls have isn't with Boise St or TCU, but with UConn and Cincinnati and other Big East programs like USF without national identities. Boise St and TCU had great ticket sales and ratings for the Fiesta and Rose Bowls. Because of that TCU was badly wanted by both the Big East and Big 12. Boise St's problem is that its academics is about like St Cloud States. UConn's and Cincy's capability to earn bowl's money have been atrocious, and nobody wants to touch them. That's why the Big East desperately needs Boise St (it lost TCU to the Big 12), as Boise St is the only real ratings powerhouse not yet affiliated in the BCS.
If the BCS system dies, its unlikely that the major bowls would lock out a Boise St if Boise St was undefeated and still in the MWC. Unlike the lower bowls, which need to lock in conference teams #3 and lower, the Orange (ACC), Fiesta (Big 12), and Sugar (SEC) Bowls would want some level of freedom in chosing opponents for their conference champion.
No AQ if not ranked high enough doesn't solve the problem they profess trying to solve. They want to stop conferences from grabbing teams for the sake of preserving the AQ.
I do think it makes sense to have the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta sign their own contracts with conferences. Boise won't get any help even if they go to the Big East. None of those bowls are going to sign deals with that conference.
-
The AQ's being eliminated has to be a huge disappointment for the smaller teams and conferences.
There basically is no more such thing as what Boise St has done. Part of their big success was being able to play a weak WAC schedule, be ranked in the top whatever and then go to a BCS bowl because of that ranking.
No more. Every bowl will do its own contracts with conferences like the non-BCS bowls do now. Only the big boy conferences are going to have access to the big money bowls. Boise will be back to playing in the Humanitarian Bowl every year, unless somehow, someway they can get a #2 or #1 ranking. I can't see that happening unless they go independent and have a Notre Dame type schedule, then go undefeated.
-
It sounds like pretty soon there isn't going to be such a thing as a BCS bowl or a BCS conference anymore. It's going back to the way it was before the Bowl Alliance began - the Big 10 and Pac 10 will each have contracts to send teams to the Rose Bowl every year, the Big XII will contract with the Fiesta Bowl, ACC with the Orange and SEC with the Sugar.
Plus all the contracts for all the bowls and conferences for the lower bowls.
Then all the BCS is going to do is pair the #1 and #2 teams in a game played somewhere each year (not in a bowl) to determine a champion of the FBS division.
-
It does mean that adding Boise and BYU to the Big East is no longer necessary in the sense of the conference maintaining their auto-bid. Every conference would sign independent contracts with bowls to send teams to play in the bowl games.
Then any FBS conference could theoretically produce the #1 or #2 ranked team for the BCS bowl.
However in practice, none of your conference's teams can ever really get to #1 or #2 unless the in-conference games are perceived as difficult enough. So in the strength of schedule sense, it still does make sense for the Big East to add Boise and BYU.
So then, I wonder what the hold-up is about. Is the MWC trying to make some desperate last minute appeal to Boise and BYU, at least for football only - keeping in mind the possible new BCS configuration?
If there is no longer going to be automatic access for Boise and BYU to the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta Bowls via winning the Big East -- then what good does it do to fly their football teams 3/4 the way across the nation every other week? If BYU and Boise played 4 top quality schools in non-conference and went undefeated, I have to think they would get a fair chance at a #1 or #2 ranking even in the MWC conf.
-
Not directly related to conference realignment, but would be a significant change
Basically it means there are no more auto-bids for any conference to the Rose, Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls. Those bowls would do their own TV contracts and their own tie-in deals with conferences, like the rest of the bowls do now.
I like the idea, but you have to think that something with the potential to affect so much money is going to be fought hard. Status quo rules the day when it puts millions in your pocket.
-
I'd trade NKU to the OVC for EIU (plus a spot for them in the MVFC) any day.
-
How would you like to be the Mountain West? You go from one day being on the verge of a BCS auto-bid with powerful programs like BYU, Utah, TCU and soon adding Boise to the next day being left with San Diego, Wyoming, Colo St, New Mexico and UNLV (of which the latter two are a couple of the worst programs in FBS) and having to add a bunch of WAC schools just to stay afloat.
I suppose it could be worse, they could actually be the WAC.
The WAC will take Boise's non-football sports to go along with Idaho, Seattle, Denver and New Mexico St, La Tech with the new Texas schools. I don't see La Tech, NMSU or Idaho having any other options but to stay in the WAC and make the best of it. Obviously they'll try again to add Montana schools, maybe Portland State?
Port St - Seattle, Idaho - Boise, NM St - Denver, UTA - LA Tech, UTSA - TX St, Mont - MSU
12 bball, 8 football -- they could do worse.
-
Providence and Georgetown?
-
http://en.wikipedia....lley_Conference
I'm looking at the map on the link above and am trying to figure out why EIU would leave the OVC for the Summit/Missouri Valley FC.
Indiana St is very close and a very similar school and program to EIU. They have a rivalry now with Illinois St and the games with Southern Ill and Western Ill would be no brainers. SIUE does not play football and the Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama schools are the wrong culture for EIU.
I for one will be rooting for EIU in the Summit and MVFC.
-
Technically not oil, but thought this might be an appropriate thread. Don't assume automatically that it's an anti-petrochemical piece just because it's published in the NYT. It's not.
It's something I've said before: fracking can be ok as long as appropriate and reasonable regulation is in place. We can't trust the companies to do it the right way on their own, but it shouldn't be banned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/opinion/brooks-the-shale-gas-revolution.html?src=me&ref=general
-
Figured I'd check in on this thread to read about the Big East, Big XII, etc. But, it's more of the same as the last thread (despite the warning in the OP): garbage fake statistics and false arguments about how UND must focus on western ND and how the Big Sky is the only possible choice.
All you need to know is that Star2 has emotionally invested himself into hating the Summit league because he's bitter about the nickname retirement. He'll go to any length to prevent UND from joining that conference.
That's apparent, just read the lengths he goes in his posts to pigeonhole UND into the Big Sky - regardless if there are Montana schools there or not.
Just look at this picture, does this make any sense to you?!
-
The people and media in Bismarck and Minot will be turned off by the Sioux Falls crap.
The prism that UND needs to be concerned about is Bismarck, Minot, Williston, and Dickinson as well as Billings, not Sioux Falls.
Billings - the media capital of Montana - is what matters, not Sioux Falls.
The Billings media is pumped that UND is in the Big Sky.
It's difficult to imagine the latest projections out of western ND:
1.2 million barrels / day (triple durrent rate, which has already tripled in two years)
A Williston with 50,000 to 75,000 people in 15 years.
Dickinson almost as big as Williston.
Minot almost doubling.
Bismarck growing 50%.
50,000 transplants from Montana in North Dakota.
25,000 transplants from Idaho
A huge number of native ND's returning to ND
A ND economy more than double what it is now, and actually dominated by the West.
A western part of the state that would be energized by the Big Sky and geography..
Billings' growth will be taking off - as well as the smaller Eastern Montana towns.
Let NDSU have the Summit, Sioux Falls, and SD to itself. Let NDSU be viewed as Fargo State.
Let Terry Vandrovec think he knows something and wax his poetical bull, when he doesn't know squat about economics or TV media or anything UND.
USD and SDSU have absolutely no relevance in western ND, where population and wealth will only continue to grow.
IF UND goes back to the Summit, the chance for UND athletics to become "the" collegiate team in western ND will be wasted.
UND is in Grand Forks, right? As in, a city on the eastern border with Minnesota?
-
We just need to follow Montana and Montana State where ever they go.
Denver, Seattle, Air Force, Boise St, UT-Arlington - rather decent company to be in.
There's actually a rumor among Boise St fans that their administration wants to start hockey. Boise has an arena and a hockey fan base, so its not that far fetched.
If CUSA loses four or more teams, and if the MWC loses AFA and Boise St, four conferences were become a jumbled mess: CUSA, MWC, WAC, and Sunbelt.
There's already war between the Atlantic 10 and CAA ongoing. The A10 wants to take George Mason and VCU from the CAA, while the CAA is trying to poach Charlotte, Richmond, and George Washington from the A10.
Maybe if UND had been in the Big Sky for the last 20 years, with great established rivalries with Montana and Montana St could you propose tagging along.
But you haven't even played a game in the conference yet. It's absurd trying to link yourself to UM/MSU already. You've never been in a conf with them. You're a central time zone, historically midwestern conference school while the Montana's are mountain time zone, historically western US conference schools.
UND's roots are still in the Dakotas, not the western US. Maybe it's time for you to pull your head out of the (Big Sky) clouds and return to your roots?
The Summit will be waiting when Montana's leave the Big Sky. Hopefully NDSU will back UND for MVFC membership as well. -
Obviously then the correct answer is for the city government to disallow greed-lusting apartment owners from agreeing to such ridiculous terms.
I know people who worship growth as the end all, be all of capitalist utopia will not agree - but unchecked, unplanned growth is not something to be excited about. It's something to be guarded against.
-
Idaho has just over 12,000 vs Bowling Green and 10,000 for UND. Now without Boise State in the WAC how will Idaho meet the requirement of 15,000.
They can use actual attendance or tickets sold, to meet 15k. However I think that if they use tickets sold then only tickets sold for some minimum fraction of the most expensive ticket count (in other words, can't just give them away for free).
-
Not commenting on Superiority. But it is a brand new 15,000 seat horsehoe stadium. (I should note that I like the Alerus.)
Their record crowd is just over 15k including the grass berm, so certainly the stadium seats less than 15k officially.
Other than the press box and the video board, the stadium is 100% high school style construction. CHEAP
Alerus is better, hands down.
-
The original Dome in the Dakotas is definitely showing its age, but unlike the Alerus it is owned by USD. This eliminates the need for an indoor practice and/or indoor track facility.
Also, unlike the Alerus, it has some expansion capability. Current plans are to build a basketball/volleyball arena that will seat approx 6,000 and will be attached to the Dome, with athletic offices, etc in the space between the two facilities. Once the arena is complete, the Dome will be remodeled and additional seating added to bring the capacity upto 16,000. All the permanent seats were replaced this summer with new red chair back seats. New turf is also planned as part of the remodeling, but could be put in as soon as 2012.
In summary, I would rather own and control the facility then have to lease it from someone else.
Those sound like great upgrades for USD.
I was surprised to learn how much smaller the two research universities in South Dakota are compared to the two research universities in North Dakota - particularly USD. Looks like the regional colleges in SD have more enrollment and pull than the regional colleges in ND and that makes up the difference. In particular, SD Mines has the other accredited engineering school in SD instead of USD, where as UND has the other accredited engineering school in ND.
But I'm sure both a looking for growth opportunities that have come with the DI move.
-
The Betty is the practice facility - a brass and leather and granite plated one at that. Four courts can be used simultaneously (although not efficiently.) The Betty has like eight locker rooms, with home locker rooms for Volleyball, M&W basketball, and W Soccer, offices for all the coaches, as well as weight rooms and study rooms.
Again, between men's and women's hockey, there just are not enough weekend dates to meaningfully schedule the Ralph for men's and women's basketball, even for the lower bowl.
If the REA Olympic Arena had been made expandable to 3000 seats or more for women's hockey, then the Ralph and it's lower bowl would have every other weekend available. But the Olympic Arena can not be expanded in an decent way beyond its 1200 seats.
It's also not as if voter approval would be required, only a substantial donation. When the Betty was built, the structure was financed not through donations, but through bonds. (Many donations came in to upgrade the original plan for plastic seats to leather, as well other Ralph-like accessories.) It's my understanding that the REA has paid off those bonds (someone correct me otherwise). If a major donation was given for perhaps half the cost, the REA could float another bond issue to pay for an arena. It's really not that far-fetched.
An indoor practice facility is needed, but offers almost no cash flow back into UND athletics directly (yes, an IPF can be rented out periodically, and the IPF would be a tremendous resource for football recruiting, which would help attendance, but that is indirect ). A smaller arena with suites, club seating, and video monitorsoffers something the IPF can't - cash flow - and is about the only way a UND basketball program can break even. The Betty - even if it sells out - just doesn't have the extras that are needed to bring in revenue and sell the game to people under 30.
UNC's Dean Smith Center and UK's Rupp Arena are massive arenas (around 23 - 24 k seats each). But guess what, those arenas are in many ways dinosaurs in this arena age. Louisville's arena allows Louisville to have much higher basketball revenue than those two bigger programs, even with UNC's and UK's attendance advantages. Again, suites, club seating, and advertising gives Louisville a huge advantage over those two schools in generating revenue.
True sports fans may hate this, but college sports is maybe more about entertainment and socializing than about the game. Why is tailgating so popular? Why is the Ralph so popular? In large part because of the social and entertainment aspect. The Betty offers neither to any degree. The Ralph's lower bowl just isn't available.
At UND, men's hockey is what underwrites practically everything. Football and basketball run huge deficits and need the facilities to meaningfully contribute financially. The beauty of Louisville basketball is that was the only thing Louisville athletics had going for it 10+ years ago. Louisville was able to cash flow enough from basketball (without the help of being in a major college league) to help build up all their other facilities - before Louisville was even in the Big East. Now Louisville has first rate facilities in nearly everything. Louisville's other sports like football and baseball can now actually make money - putting less pressure on basketball to perform financially.
Great points and you're correct about the need for amenities at bball games in order for UND bball to maximize revenue.
But the problem still remains: you already have a perfectly good arena with those amenities. The REA can host bball and hockey in the same weekend. It's hardly the impossible job you're making it out to be. All you do is lay down something on the ice and lay the bball floor on top of it. You're probably talking about a matter of hours to set-up/take-down.
Men's and women's bball could play a 12:30 - 2:30 double header and the ice would be ready for a 7:00 night game on a Saturday - I really don't think that would be hard to do.
-
-
Will Carlson and his cronies in the Legislature push to get student numbers lower? It seems that the pressure from the Legislature is for no growth......which seems to me to be damn backwards. One would think Higher Ed in ND should do well with all the additional Bakken revenue flowing into state coffers. But, the last legislative session was a bust for Higher Ed with some destructive political games being played between Carlson power grabbing from the SBOHE.
What does enrollment growth have to do with anything? If you don't have space - why keep cramming in more students? Do you have some sort of misguided assumption that in general growth is good, flat is bad and negative means start firing people?
It's not like the higher education needs of ND high school graduates are going unmet. Any enrollment growth is students enrolling from outside of ND.
The only enrollment they should be trying to grow is graduate enrollment. Without grad students, the school can not expand research and can not compete for research grants.
-
So if the IPF begins construction, what's the next athletic facility need?
There's been talk about an addition to the UND Wellness Center for swimming (Olympic pool, diving pool, smaller lap pool).
Tennis should be set with the Grand Forks Wellness Center.
Baseball has needs, but barring a domed stadium for baseball, Hyslop would basically be theirs to share with the golf and softball teams.
A retractable stadium can be talked about, but wouldn't be a reality without a donation well in excess of the Engelstad's.
A new outdoor track/soccer field and parking ramp north of Memorial wouldn't be needed unless a new campus stadium becomes a reality.
IMHO, the real need is a basketball arena that has video capability, club seating, suites, and possibly with ice so it can be used for smaller and more intimate crowds that women's hockey bring. Club seating, suites, video capability (think advertising), and concourses with decent concessions - not general tickets sold - are the bread and butter of basketball revenue for mid-major schools. The Betty offers none of that - it's a very nice gym but it's definitely not an entertainment destination. To sustain basketball programs, a 5-6000 seat arena, with amenities that bring in the bigger bucks, is needed. A size about like the Scheels Arena that is designed primarily for basketball but can be converted to hockey. As stated before, the Ralph offers almost no weekend dates between men's and women's hockey, and moreover, is needed for practice for almost every day. The Ralph's lower bowl simply isn't available for many times. The Alerus offers suites, but those suites have no value for basketball.
The Betty was designed to be a basketball practice facility and is a very nice facility for that purpose and for volleyball - but there is no way a Betty can support basketball programs that will soon need $200,000 coaches salaries just to keep somebody semi-capable around.
The flexibility of a true secondary arena would make the REA even grander (and a much larger money generator for UND athletics). ND HS school tournaments, World Jr championships, a Chicago-showcase type event, multiple-event weekends with alternating times could all be hosted with ease. Just need a $30 million donor for this one.
What you say makes sense, but at the same time you are going to have a very hard go of it trying to convince most people that UND/Grand Forks needs both the Ralph and a new 6k arena with the same amenities as the Ralph.
It just isn't going to look good, no matter how well you explain the need. Not when several arenas host NBA, NHL and more - seems like there should be a way to host both college hockey (full arena) and college basketball (lower arena only) in the same arena.
Sans a new bball arena - I think UND next big money item is a bball practice facility. Maybe the "Phil Jackson Center?"
-
Those are great points, lets dream small like St. Cloud State, it worked out so well for them. Let's stay at the Alerus forever and play FCS football, once everyone else has moved up maybe we can start a new conference with SIoux Falls and South Dakota School of Mines. Maybe if the Alerus was to consult JLG again and figure out a way of doing some major renovation to turn it into a bowl shape with additional seating, but I can't see Grand Forks dropping that kind of money on a renovation for a facility that's not generating any revenue. I have lived in Grand Forks for 5 years now and the train tracks are that busy here, not a day goes bye that I don't get stopped waiting on it to pass, plus I hear the damn thing several times a night as my apartment is right by the train station. They are talking about building an over pass and that would help things greatly, but if that happens it will be after I'm gone.
Regardless, you will have to admit that the Alerus site has ample parking and tailgating right at the stadium.
No such opportunity exists for the Memorial site.
Petitions
in UND Nickname
Posted
I believe the plan was to require a 30 year agreement.