Hammerhead

I have several co-workers in the DFW area since we used to have an office in Plano and most of them would ask me if I was making the trip to Frisco. We did get to 5 of the championship games -- 2 when we lived in Oregon and then three after moving back to Fargo. Plenty of football fans are not NDSU alums like our neighbors who didn't go to any college.

I'm one of those people thinking there will eventually be three levels of D-1 football with three championships and didn't want to get stuck with the I-AAA teams which is basically the FCS.

NDSU is playing for home field advantage in the playoffs and to get the first goal of the season which is a conference title.

The NCAA doesn't allow rematches in the first round so they could not send Drake to UND and regionalization in the first round left NDSU as the only possible opponent for Drake.

Which conference is going to invite NDSU?

My prediction. EWU 53, UND 24.

The Bison faithful (along with MSUM, Concordia, UND, etc.) will be downtown making ESPN look good.

Last year's Sagarin rating had the Bison rated similar to a middle of the pack in the SEC as the #35 team in the country and ahead of every team in some FBS conferences. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2012/conference/

I'm a Bison fan and give Jimmy his props. The only Bison player with a similar career I've seen play is Tryone Braxton who also played 13 seasons and was in 5 Superbowls. Steve Nelson was a little before my time.

Was Roger Maris a good basketball player? He returned 4 kickoffs for touchdowns in one game at Shanley and obviously was a good baseball player. From what I've read, he decided college wasn't for him although he did have interest from Oklahoma.

Attendance should go up with quality opponents. OOC games against NDSU would be a guaranteed sellout with TV revenue. SDSU would probably draw good crowds as well.

I'd like to see the team play every year just because there is still a natural rivalry since FCS teams are few and far apart in the western 2/3 of the country. As for who would be favored this year, it's got to be NDSU. They did make it to the semi-finals last year.

Stanford's nickname is cardinal -- their primary color, not the bird as in the St. Louis Cardninals.

I'm a Bison fan who thinks this whole nickname controversy is lame. Why not call yourselves the Pioneers? It would honor the settlers from the east and Europe who replaced the native populations. I just hope it's some made up name like river dragons.

During the transition years, I would get excited about playing any Division I non-conference game since scheduling is a big headache.