Coyote Fan

I wouldn't worry too much about where you play the Coyotes this year. The USD program in now firmly on the downslide after a few lucky years of marginal success. If the two teams play twice all the better for the Sioux since that would be two relatively easy wins. UND will transition much better than USD in football because UND can actually win on the road and USD cannot win a big game on the road to save their life, plus UND's success against D1's is already much better than what USD has done which is to get annihilated in those games. The Coyotes might actually go winless on the road considering the competition will be quite a ways over their heads for at least a few years. Most USD fans don't know it right now but they will soon find out that their current coaching staff is probably not the right staff to go to D1 with. No defense, bad road play, no discipline and a quarterback that can't hit the broad side of a barn. Not a good formula for success. It might be a few years before USD gets a GWA win. USD's schedule is not looking very good this year at all. They were dubbed to play all of their Great West Alliance games on the road and depending on the commissioner they still might do that which really wouldn't be all that bad. Might as well get those road games over with in the first year. Last I heard USD was going to play Culver Stockton, Missouri-Rolla and even possibly Dakota Wesleyen at home in 2008. The schedule still hasn't been released yet but it's not looking good. All the tough games are on the road. It actually won't be a schedule that will do much to improve the team. They will win easily at home and get blown out much of the time on the road. It sure won't make for good practice in tight games that go down to the wire. I wish UND good luck in their transition. Since USD won't be doing much under the current regime I hope at least UND can do themselves proud.

You are probably right, I guess USD doesn't have much of a chance in the game on Thursday Night. UND's inside game and rebounding will be too much for the Coyotes to handle. Aside from shooting from outside I can't really think of much else that USD does real well when compared to a team like UND. I would say USD has the advantage with outside shooting and UND has the advantage with every other aspect of the game. I would probably have to predict a 20-30 point win for the Sioux as there is no way that USD can play close to the Sioux for two games in the same year. I would put the odds of a Sioux win somewhere between 95-98%. UND fans probably know more than anyone about Women's basketball as the tradition is second to none so I will definately hold the opinion of a Sioux fan in high regard when analysing what is likely to happen. I am guessing that USD was probably very lucky to be within 20 points of the Sioux in Grand Forks as they are usually blown out up there. The Yotes must have gotten most of the officials calls and probably a very high amount of good bounces off the rim and deflections that ended up going their way. That and a Sioux team that probably took them for granted for most of the game. I can't really say because I didn't see the game. The UND fans will have to comment on how USD pulled the miracle up there. USD is due for a really poor effort on Thursday because I don't think the shooting can hold up against the kind of defense that will be applied in that game. I would expect the Sioux to really come out strong and motivated to avenge the loss from last month. The physical nature, height, basketball savy, speed, power etc will be on full display from the team in Green. USD fans really don't care much about their Women's team compared to their men. I would expect that USD already has their ticket punched and reservations made at a hotel in Grand Forks for the conference tourney and regional tourney to be up in North Dakota this year like it usually is. The Sioux are always tough at this time of year. They had their one annual bad game and shouldn't have much of a problem running out the string for the rest of the season. I think UND is probably due for another National Title this year. I wish USD could make a run but their program is just not quite good enough to compete on a national level. They are usually good for a regional appearance every now and then but that is about it. Never really much success come post season. So please tell those players up there to take it easy on the Yotes on Thursday. I don't want to see the game get too far out of hand. Maybe allow USD to stay in it for a half to give our fans some hope before putting on the invasion in the second half. I foresee something like 86-58 North Dakota in a romp after only leading 41-30 at half.

Considering USD has won something like 20 games in a row now doesn't make it quite as surprising. USD probably has the easiest schedule left with the only road game against UMD. The best the Sioux can reasonably hope for is to get into a tie and a coin flip if they win. I was impressed with the Sioux last year when they beat USD in Vermillion. This year UND has lost some of those good players and USD is definately better overall. It should be a classic on Thursday. You've won so many NCC titles over the years, maybe this year is the Yotes year for a change. The Yotes have their destiny in their own hands on their home floor. If they keep winning at home they will be there for quite awhile.

Now it's not even a matter of "if" UND wins but "when" UND wins, counting those chickens a bit too early are we. The West Texas game is really par for the course for this USD team. On the road vs a spread passing team has meant nothing but disaster for USD under Meierkort. I don't know why they scheduled a spread passing team knowing it was going to be their toughest type of opponent.

Last I heard from Joel Nielson himself was that USD had no immediate plans to build a new arena for basketball/volleyball/possible hockey (but I doubt it for some time). He did say something like that would be in the mid to long term plans. I wouldn't expect anything in the next 3 years at least. I hope I am wrong though.

Lets count our blessings as fans of the Sioux and Coyotes that we made it through the Division 1 door just in the knick of time. It would have been torturous to have to wait that long to reclassify and by then it might be even tougher to make the transition. Now USD and UND have truley seperately from the NCC because even if those schools had a change of heart they would be well behind the UXD's in their transition. As far as conference affiliation I really don't know what to expect but it does make it alot more desirable to get into the Summit League as fast as possible to avoid being left in the cold. There won't be any more D2's to move up to create a possible conference alternative in the next four years.

oh my gosh as a Sioux Fan you should know to never mistake North Dakota with NDSU, South Dakota is the U not SDSU.

Just to add a bit. When talking about which programs will succeed and which ones will not is not exactly an easy thing to predict. When comparing the XDSU's to the UXD's traditionally the power in football has been north of the border and the power in basketball has been south. NDSU traditionally has probably been the weakest of the four in basketball and either USD or SDSU in football depending how far back in the past you want to go. Look at NDSU in mens basketball. They have their program currently in much better shape than SDSU but who would have ever guessed that 5 years ago. Look at SDSU in womens basketball and who would have thought 10 years ago they would be heads and shoulders better than NDSU. In football NDSU has remained on top of SDSU for much of the last several decades. UND withouth a doubt has a better football tradition than SDSU but you couldn't hardly convince a handfull of Jacks fans that SDSU isn't a better program than UND. I still believe the Sioux are the better program but sometimes the D1 title goes to peoples heads. If you asked NDSU fans right now about comparing their basketball team to USD's they would probably laugh eventhough USD has been better for the most part of the last 20 years. The programs are probably very similar right now. USD football was one of the biggest laughing stocks of the NCC for much of the 90's and lost to SDSU the majority of the last 15 meetings. Those SDSU fans that think USD isn't competitive might be right but they also forget that USD had the upper hand big time in the 80's and 70's and went deep into the playoff twice whereas SDSU has never done that at least for 40 or 50 years. Now USD is just an eyelash behind UND right now, not traditionally but currently. The point is you can't just assume that one program or the another will remain over another just because of past history or even recent history for that matter. Just over a span of 3-5 years one program may go from being heads and shoulders below to being heads and shoulder above. One just can never know. Just because it was or is doesn't mean it will be.

Ramping up to 57 and 63 as quickly as USD is, hasn't proven that USD is 100% committed to D1 but it sure points that direction. I really wonder whether or not some kind of a revenue stream is being held under wraps. Anything from a sugar daddy donor or two to a committment from the University to fund raising and using their recent fund raising success to help supliment the athletic department. If not the potential for USD to raise money has now proven to be true with the recent success of the last fund raising efforts. I hope a basketball arena is in the near future because it is really needed.

Hello Sioux Fans, Get ready for Thursday as USD and UND get ready to battle. The Coyotes have the conference lead coming in but UND has a very talented team and if you put it all together could play spoiler to the Coyotes conference championship aspirations. The Coyotes just got done putting the hammer down against the Huskies and now have a long bus ride up to Grand Forks. What do the Sioux Fans think of this game. The USD women seem to be overrated and just aren't playing that great. I think the Sioux women will dismantle the Coyotes in the game, especially coming off that loss to Augie. I'll go with UND 79-54 in the womens game and I'll take the Coyotes 81-68 in the mens game.

"The Only North Dakota South Dakota Football Rivalry That Matters" Trophy "The Silver Dome" Trophy played for every year since both teams play indoors "The Christmas Tree" They can play for a Christmas tree since the primary colors of each team are Green and Red. The game winner can kick off the holiday season by placing this tree somewhere within or outside their football stadium. "The Tumbleweed". Signifying the battle on the praries of the Dakota's. "The Dakota U" trophy. A big U with Green on one side and Red on the other similar to the little brown jug being the school colors of Michigan and Minnesota. This could be proudly displayed by the winner of the rivalry and would show each year that each team won the trophy. On the Green side the years of all Sioux wins would appear and on the Red side all the years of all Coyotes wins would appear. I think I like this one the best so far.

On the Mueller shot I think the bigger controversy was that he was awarded a three pointer. It appeared that he was a good foot in front of the arc when he shot the ball. By rule anytime there is .3 seconds or more a catch and shoot is allowed. Mueller did just that he caught and shot. Most of the time a player will be allowed a little more than .3 to get the shot off as long as it isn't ridiculous. I felt Mueller got the shot off within a second but he probably didn't get it off by .3 seconds. That is very much debatable. When didn't appear to be debatable was that he wasn't behind the three point line. I guess that ruling makes up for the NCAA committees decision in 1993 to award the Mens North Central Regional Tournament to North Dakota when USD was much more deserving to host that year. Luckily the Yotes got through it anyway. BTW, congradulations on your womens teams victory over USD. The Sioux women were easily the deserving team in that game. The UND women wanted the game worse than the Coyotes did. Your hustle, rebounding, talent and coaching were all better than USD's that night. The Coyotes were lucky to be in OT that night. What is the deal with your fans though. To come all the way down from Grand Forks you would think they would want to stay for both games but half left after the womens game.

Congradulations on the win. The Sioux were the better team today. Thanks for the nice comments about the Coyotes, that is much appreciated and a gesture of good sportsmanship. You guys are deserving of the #2 seed. I just hope the Coyotes can just make post season for once. I would love a chance to play Northwood to see how they stack up. Of course it would be nice to get them in Vermillion but I am not gonna be too picky. I just want to make the dance.

This is getting interesting. It's all but a done deal that USD is going D1 the way it looks. You might want to keep an eye on this thread as there is some interesting chatter about the Gateway and how USD and UND might have a shot to go in. http://coyotesports.proboards100.com/index...read=1161873006

It looks like the USD-UND game in Grand Forks this year will be the last D2 game between the two clubs in the Alerus Center but it's looking like the rivalry might take on a brand new look instead of ending all together. Since NDSU claims to be SDSU's biggest rival and visa versa it looks like we are going to have to be considered biggest rivals until the fans and alumni of each school realize once again that USD and SDSU and UND and NDSU will always be biggest rivals to each other. UND being as far north as they are and USD being as far South as they are despite being in ajoining states don't have alot of mingling between fans. The rivalry would have been alot bigger had Grand Forks and Vermillion just happened to be an hour apart and right across the border from each other. I wonder if UND and USD if they move up together will necessarily be a part of the same conference. I would think but they are quite aways away from each other to be travel partners. USD eventhough from a very small town is geographically the best fit for both the MidCon and the Gateway. This is getting very interesting all around.

It sure is looking more and more that USD and maybe even Augie will move up to D1. I am starting to get a gut feeling (and this isn't based on any particular info) that maybe Minnesota State and St. Cloud State will seriously consider moving up as well. With the way SDSU and NDSU have banded together and basically told the rest of the old NCC to f**k off I will now be rooting for all of the rest of the NCC to beat those teams everytime that play them in the future whether they are D1 or not. The arrogance with the State U's is unreal right now. I am sure a Big Ten inviation is just around the corner for them according to their fans. It's like now that they have moved on the D2 that they were formally in is nothing. I will make a deal with as many of you that want to take it. I will cheer for UND anytime they play the Bison and Jacks if you will cheer for USD anytime they play the same two teams. Good luck once again on your transition to D1, we are probably not far behind.

Things have a tendancy to even out. It took a miracle tipped shot for the womens team to win their national title. They should have not won so it's even.

The thing is NDSU has been behind both USD and SDSU in basketball for years, just as the opposite is true for football. If NDSU can do what they have in basketball by beating Wisconsin the SD schools could do the same. It does make sense that UND and NDSU might fit in better with the Big Sky and USD and SDSU with the midcon. I don't know if it will work out that way but it makes sense. Either way if USD goes D1 all four schools will likely play every year.

I am a first timer on this board and come in peace. I am sure many of you know me from the d2football.com board or the USD board. I have been known to be opinionated. I am very objective and will tell it like it is whether good or bad for USD. If my University screws up I am not gonna eat Coyote sugar but will instead give them an alumni butt whipping. Anyway congradulations on your move to D1. Your University did what it needed to do by moving up because the NCC and D2 is rapidly deteriorating. The Sioux will be every bit as competitive as the other State U's. I sure hope USD has the vision to move forward and to move up into Divison 1 as UND has now done. I would much rather see that then to see my University slowly go down the drain. Right now UND has alot of good facilities and probably alot more money than USD but I believe South Dakota can make the move if they are dedicated to the cause 100%. There seems to be alot of untapped sources of money that might be able to be utilized if need be. At least I hope so. With your departure from D2 I would imagine that USD will come under some extreme pressure from their alum to also move up. As Sioux fans what is your opinion of USD moving up and if so do you think it would be possible for us to get into a new conference together? I would suppose realigning with SDSU and NDSU would be another possiblity. I also wonder whether any other NCC schools would consider moving up as well. I think sometimes these schools sell themselves short because most of the NCC fits in with D1AA anyway. USD and UND have alot in common academically. We certainly both have the common intestest of not liking our State University rivals. But lets not forget that we are the flagship institutions from our states and that is something that SDSU and NDSU will never be able to claim. Hopefully down the road we will play each other in athletics in D1. The Coyotes were just starting to build up their football program and it would be nice to be able to continue to play the Sioux. Good luck with your move P.S. I am not looking forward to having the Coyotes travel up to the Alerus Center in football this year as I am sure you will really be looking for revenge.