Yote 53

When it comes to SDSU making moves there is always talk, discussion, more talk, speculation. USD just does it. Look at how the facilities and the campus at USD have changed. The CSC, workout facilities, track complex, softball complex, expanded DakotaDome, now building an indoor aquatics center. If there is a move to FBS, none of the Dak4 are going to be left out of it, every one of us is positioning ourselves to make that move if the opportunity comes. Too many politics to allow that to happen again and there will not be a repeat of what happened 20 years. A lot of lessons learned from all that.

Having just gone through this with my oldest son, this is absolutely correct.

If Washington, Oregon, Stanford, etc. brought increased value to the Big 10 they would be in the conference already. The numbers have been run and the BIG Commish has publicly said they are standing pat with USC/UCLA. USC has publicly said it doesn't want another West Coast school in the BIG (Oregon). The BIG will now wait until the ACC starts to crumble so they and the SEC can pick over that carcass for the best pieces, and ND has nowhere to park its other sports and joins the BIG. There's a reason Oregon and Washington are in talks with the Big 12, because they have nowhere else to go.

This is going back years and years, but the MWC is basically the old WAC. The old WAC expanded outside of its traditional footprint to form the first superconference, it didn't work. The footprint was too large and unwieldy. The original WAC broke off and formed the MWC, back to the original footprint. Lessons learned there. I don't see the MWC venturing into the central time zone and the Great Plains. Just look at the map... Map of NCAA D1 Schools

Not sure how you read that quote, my intent was to say that decoupling the Dakota schools will be extremely difficult. There will be a ton of political pressure resisting decoupling. Years ago USD had that BSC invite in hand and it was political pressure in-state that kept that from happening. USD leaving the Summit at that time would have severely hurt the conference and SDSU in the process. You think SDSU will now be allowed to do the same to USD? No, they won't. I am going to guess it would play out very similarly politically in North Dakota. The Dakota 4 sticking together is the key. We either continue to strengthen the Summit from within or we ally with the Montana and Idaho schools.

I like this comment at the bottom of the DU article. "funny how everyone in this conference seems to think they are too good for this conference." Yet nobody in this conference is getting offers from "better" conferences. There will be a ton of political pressure applied to the XDSU's to decouple from the UXD's. I just don't see it happening. I honestly don't get the same vibes from Jacks fans that Bison fans have. They seem very content with their spot in the FCS and there isn't much talk of FBS at all. Bison fans think FCS is beneath them. The irony is that NDSU's program is fading. SDSU is on top now, but who knows if that can be sustained now that Stig is gone. Both USD and UND aren't sitting idly by either, both improving and adding resources, not just content to sit and watch the SU's success. I don't know what will happen but do know the MWC has a lot of different options out west before they get to NDSU/SDSU. Location of the Dakotas is an issue.

I don't see the BIG doing partial shares. I can see them doing reduced payouts as a buy-in to becoming a full equal partner. I believe that is how Maryland/Rutgers was done, plus the BIG floated Maryland's exit fee, so there was a lot going on with the finances. If conference members aren't equals that creates problems, look at the Big 12 and Texas/OU. How many years before Washington and a few other schools look around the room and wonder why they aren't getting the same share that Purdue gets?

Big Ten Commish just came out and said they are not looking at further expansion. The impending PAC implosion probably puts an end to any talk about a PAC Hockey Conference.

Good question. I have heard they are coming back this year. I do not know if they will come back at the same competitive level or how their structure has changed. I know a few ISU hockey alumni that may know something about the program. I'll have to inquire next time we talk.

I don't really have an answer. In theory, D1 means more funding, more support, more practice time, etc. when you research the differences on the web. In reality, I'm not sure about that. One thing I read online is that the difference between the two is that D1 has more full-time coaches and recruits more heavily than D2. I am not sure about that anymore as the D2 schools had dedicated coaches and recruited just as hard and the programs were run very similarly. You only need to look inside the state of North Dakota to see how confusing it is. Jamestown (D1) and UMary (D2) are top 15 programs in their respective decisions. UMary has played and beaten Jamestown as well as other D1 schools. D1 schools play D2 schools. D2 schools beat D1 schools. My takeaway is that if you're looking at Top 15 D1 or D2, either way, they are going to be strong, comparable programs. Full disclosure, my oldest went through the AAA/Juniors route and was recruited by ACHA D1 and D2 programs, Top 15 programs in each division. He ended up choosing a D2 school because after a visit and the Spring Skates (discussed in the article) he just liked it the best. Comparing the different programs, they were all really similar, costs about the same, dedicated locker rooms, number of practices per week, full time coaching staffs, quality of players on the roster (all had players with junior/AAA experience), some had better fan support than others. In the end it really came down to the school and cost of that school and personal connections. I will say that there was a private school in the Midwest that came through with an impressive financial package but he ultimately decided not to go there, not a good fit, just didn't see himself there sort of thing. Also true from the article is that a lot of recruiting is done by current players on the team, word of mouth. The hockey world is small and these kids talk. He knows players on the team that he played Juniors with and they were in his ear about coming there before his last season of Juniors even started. The school he is going to practices 3 times a week, travels plenty, 35 games per season, and is one of the most popular teams on campus pulling in about 1,500 per game. Cost for the season is $2,000. That is CHEAP compared to what I have spent on hockey over the years. I'll spend that much travelling to 3 Mite tournaments with my youngest this season (yes, you heard that right and if you can do math...).

This is a really good article. I would add one thing to the writer's conclusions. When looking/comparing different ACHA programs you need to throw out the D1/D2 labels. There are D2 programs that are much better, better run, better coached, and get much better fan/student support than many D1 programs. The D1/D2 label can be deceiving, D1 doesn't always mean better.

So they could save $17 million??? It actually makes no sense because that letter is going to end up costing them more than $17 million either in increased costs and lost revenue if they end up without a conference or low-ball offers from the PAC and B12. They tried to get cheap trying to avoid the extra exit fee thinking they should have a place at the big boy table and the MWC told them to get fricked. I love it.

See our thread at GoYotes.net saying the exact same thing. We should have gone to the Big Sky with you guys and never looked back. By now the XDSU's would have joined us and we'd have our long dreamed alliance with the Montana and Idaho schools. Instead we are stuck.

It wasn't just the app, BSN on Midco here cut to Timberwolves pregame. I flipped over to ESPN/TNT (can't remember) for the end of the game but that was a serious WTF? moment on Bally's part.

Interesting. I had heard that Wartburg in Waverly, IA was looking at absorbing the program but they don't have an on campus arena and would have to play in Waterloo.

Dumba is one of my least liked players on the Wild but his hit on Pavelski was clean. Shoulder on shoulder, finishing his check. Will also note he didn't run him as Dumba was skating backwards and had two skates firmly planted on the ice. Maybe Joe should get his head up and realize this is the NHL playoffs and not open skate. What I see from the crying about this hit is the clashing of old hockey fans that like the tough, physical style of play and the new hockey fans who are fans of soccer on ice that enjoy the skill, speed, and dazzle but don't dare touch little Johnny. It's like freaking hockey mom's screaming when a perfectly legal check happens because it made too much noise. Call something ref, the game is getting out of control! STFU. The difference between Dumba and Suter is Dumba's hit was part of the flow of the game. Pavelski had the puck and had just moved it and got finished. Kaprizov did not have the puck and Suter was just pounding on him outside of the play. You could say Kirill was fair game because he was in front of the net, ok, I'll listen to that argument. Reaves or Foligno will take care of Suter.

That's not just another NCAA v ACHA game, that's in-state rivals facing off. i think the only way this happens is if Arizona has its eyes on elevating their program and ASU is giving them a helping hand.

USHL would have to change how they are doing things if the NCAA rules regarding MJ did change. Not sure USHL franchises could afford to keep up with the budgets MJ teams have though. An NCAA decision like that would have an interesting ripple effect across junior hockey.

I'd argue UMary could compete with and beat most of the teams in D1 this year. ACHA Is a weird animal where the D1 and D2 labels are not the same as the NCAA label. When it comes to D1 vs D2 there are D2 programs that are better than D1 programs, better funded, better coached, more serious, etc. My oldest is in his final year of Juniors this year. He's talked with his share of D3 and ACHA D1 and D2 programs. Hoping for NCAA D3 but, when you know you're not playing hockey to go pro, going to a larger school that offers ACHA D1 or D2 and takes it seriously is a good option that I never thought about in the past. We're finding out that some of these schools take it seriously and get great school and fan support. D1 or D2, the label doesn't matter because there are schools at each level that give the program great support and schools at each level that just kind of field a team. Forget the labels and find the right program. He's played with and against some UMary players so have an idea the caliber of that program. It's pretty solid.

I see things like this and then I see the NCAA getting taken to the woodshed in the courtroom over student-athletes being "employees" and the conclusion I draw is that someday soon all college sports will be club based sports. ACHA hockey is providing a blueprint for all sports to follow.

Had this move pulled off in a tournament our association hosted this weekend by a local kid. Pee Wee B. I remember coaching a Squirt A game in 2013 where one of our players tried it when he could have made simple a pass to open teammate for a point blank SOG. I wasn't very happy, but looking back on it you have to balance allowing these kids to be creative with being an unselfish player and making the right play. It's all in the eye of the beholder though. Is a kid that has a shoot first mentality a selfish puck hog or a confident offensive minded player? I suppose that depends on if he scores or not, right? Yeah, kids are trying the move everywhere. Maybe too much sometimes.

Is NCAA hockey on the verge of an explosion in teams starting programs? Seems with the massive amount of TV money these ADs are pulling in they need somewhere to park it. Plus NCAA hockey is actually revenue positive for many programs, so maybe some are looking to build another profit center for their athletic departments. The volume of players is out there for expansion. There is some good hockey being played all the way down to the ACHA D2 ranks. That clip earlier from Adrian, that kid isn't even on the Adrian NCAA D3 team. The Adrian D3 team is filled with D1 transfers and NAHL players. There are a lot of good Junior players that are stacked up in cue looking for places to land for next season. My oldest being one of them! But an explosion of NCAA teams would be great news for my Mite aged youngest!

True, but the ACC schools being locked into that poor contract is going to kill them. Year over year the deficit keeps accumulating. I think they vote to break the conference up on their own in order to break the GOR before 2036.

My guess is if ND doesn't join the Big Ten the 4 additions would be 2 from the PAC (Oregon, Washington, Cal, Stanford are candidates) and 2 from the ACC. Big Ten has long looked at Virginia and North Carolina due to their location and academic research standing. Some sold recruiting grounds in that region and two programs that could be a lot more than what they have shown. Lots of growth potential there.

"Finishing work also is being wrapped up on the new Baseball Stadium Complex. Funded through a $60 million anonymous donation, this facility positively sparkles and is drawing rave reviews from athletes and visitors alike." Seriously, a small northern college dropped $60 million on a baseball stadium? That's just dumb. Something tells me when they do their study to add a hockey program they will conclude they don't have enough money...yet they dropped $60 million on baseball in Central New York State.