Gothmog

There a lot of "ifs" in there. I'd say you're missing the most likely "if": What if UND joins the Summit/MVFC and finds that it works out well for them? What difference does it really make if NDSU was there first? UND pretty much guaranteed that it would find itself in the position of following NDSU at some point when it decided not to move up with NDSU. That ship has sailed.

Got a hundred years?

Of course it takes time for rivalries to develop, nevertheless it seems clear to me that the teams in the MVFC have far more potential to generate interesting football games for UND fans to watch than do the teams in the Big Sky. It's hard to fight geography and history.

Really? What about former NCC mate UNI? I'd say that, not SDSU or USD, is the most anticipated regular season game in Fargo. Or maybe, four-time national champion Youngstown State? Wouldn't Bubba and Dale Lennon's former employer Southern Illinois generate some interest? Don't worry about it, you won't have many uninteresting games in the MVFC.

No chance of this happening. The best you'll get is a waiver of exit fees if any "key school" leaves.

Did GFHockey know about these texts? The Herald did.

So a Sioux Sports message board source (which you were asking for) is better than a Herald source? OK.

I would call this text from Faison the smoking gun that this is going to happen unless something extraordinary happens very shortly: On Oct. 17, Faison texted Douple "Please call me and fill me in on your conversations with Andrea and Patti (sic) in Chicago as you have the time. If there is no wiggle room from Big Sky and Missouri Valley then we are ready to go for 18-19, if we have football protected in 2018 and 2019. For 2017-18, we would still be in Big Sky for our sports programs (including football) unless things change dramatically."

"That Nov. 1 deadline has since changed, according to a Herald source."

This also wouldn't have reached this point unless Patti V already knows what the likely result of a vote of the presidents will be. Do you remember her comment about "the presidents" not allowing her to discuss membership? It's likely that this has already been discussed with all the presidents in the conference, and that all of them at least approved the negotiations.

You have to understand how much things have changed in the MVFC in the last few years. The rise of NDSU and, to a lesser extent. SDSU has completely shifted the power structure of the conference. Those dreaded trips to the Dakotas don't seem so bad now.

Exactly! There's no way it reaches this point without proper approval from the president of the university. Conference officials simply wouldn't discuss exit and entrance terms without it. That doesn't necessarily mean the deal is done, but it's gotta be damn close.

OK, it works both ways.

At least 3 problems with what you're saying: 1) It's paranoid. No one is out to get UND, 2) There is, of course, no evidence that an FBS WAC is a realistic possibility, 3) Your concern about "checkmating" NDSU is silly (and IMO, the whole reason for your obsession with this topic). Hatred doesn't work. NDSU and UND need more cooperation with each other not less.

Hmmm, given that your post assumes that NDSU will eventually move up to the MVC, why would UND be "stuck" in the Summit? Could UND not also move to the MVC with NDSU? And, again assuming that a move to the MVC for NDSU is possible, isn't now the perfect time for UND to make a move to the Summit with an eye to an eventual move to the MVC? Aligning with relatively nearby traditional rivals in the Summit seems like a better choice than sitting on an island 800 - 2000 miles away from your conference mates. A good chess player thinks more than one move ahead.

Actually it's no better than 50/50 that UND will end up playing NDSU even if you do make the playoffs. If you're not seeded, you'll have to win your first round game, probably on the road, for this game to happen. If you are seeded, both teams will, at least, have to win their 2nd round games. It is, of course, possible that they could be paired in the first round in the unlikely event that neither team is seeded. At this point I'd give an NDSU/UND matchup a 1 in 4 chance of actually happening. Simply because, even if they are both in the playoffs, one of the teams is likely to lose before that match up actually happens. For instance, NDSU and SDSU have both qualified for the playoffs in the same year four times, yet they have only played each other in the playoffs twice. and the Rabbits had to win their first game to get to the Bison both times.

Things that happened before I was born don't bother me much.

Hmm, then wouldn't it be in UND's best interest to stop reminding NDSU of the (now distant) past?

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

You need to re-energize your basketball fan base. An NCAA hoops tournament appearance would do wonders.

I don't know if they'll be able to pull it off, but given no exit fees and a home for football it's a no-brainer, UND will be in the Summit.

With or without Weber State, do you really think that the average UND fan would rather play those schools than the ones I listed? Be honest.

Please elaborate.

Oh, c'mon. Don't you think that games against USD, SDSU, NDSU, Denver, and perhaps UNO would be more interesting to the average UND fan than any of the Big Sky schools?

Unlike you, I don't make predictions without sufficient facts. But, as jdub27 has already said, it's many times more likely that UND ends up in the Summit than the WAC.