Stromer

Thats unfortunate that you had a bad experience there. I was down there with some of my friends and we had a blast. I actually enjoy people coming up and yelling F the Sioux. Normally after you respond back you actually end up in a decent convo with them. But it sounds like you had a real tool in the bar with you. Madison is a strange town. They really don't know hockey at all, but once they know the score of the game half of them hate you and half love for some reason. All in all I've always found it to be a pretty cool place to visit and I can't wait to go back next year.

Its only a selct few who are pushing for him. Some of us feel that awards should be based on merit. And he has done nothing so far in his career to warrant discussion for coach of the year. I know some are only doing it because they see it as a possible recruiting tool (which I find laughable) but how about we dont cheapen it so if Muss does win it some day, it will actaully be deserved.

Flexibility will be key if the BTHC ever comes to fruition. There was already a very limited number of non conference games in a WCHA of 10 teams. Going back to that and trying to still play UW and UM each year will make it very hard to play some quality East Coast programs. While it ideally would be nice to drop down to 8, who would leave? UAF and UAA will never be in the same conference. Tech might be willing to leave but we still would need to cut someone else adrift. Thats why its not such a crazy idea to start a seperate conference with Miami and Notre Dame. It would leave us with the openings to schedule East Coast progams, UW and UM, as well the other Minnesota schools. The same openings would apply to the new Minnesota based conference. I'm sure we would still play many of the Minnesota teams every year. It wouldn't be like we are abandoning them as some would suggest. And they would also have the flexibility to schedule teams they may have not gotten an opportunity to play in the past. Combined with the increased spots in conferences for new schools who want to start hockey, the BTHC wouldnt be the worst thing to happen, but only if UND and other teams don't settle for being a part of a second tier league.

If he heard it unofficially, I seriously doubt it would already be changed on either of those two sites.

And its a lot easier to coordinate when you arent up against the level of size, speed, skills, etc. as the previous opponents. Granted I do agree that they look better today. But alot of that is likely attributed to the opponent. My biggest hope is they take the confidence and reps from this game and use that to improve against FCS competition.

I would think some of it would have to do with the quality of opposition they are facing.

Maybe not seriously hurt but hurt enough not to return today.

Um there already is a spot for them in the CCHA. Why would UAF go to the WCHA and make 13 teams? That wouldn't solve the issue of Minnesota and UW still playing in the WCHA.

I for one am not mad about it. It's a business decision for the Big Ten schools. And if they decide to leave, UND should not feel the need to stay in the WCHA as well. It has to be about business for us as well.

Yeah Hellevang was a decent kicker and showed he had a leg at times (ex Texas Tech) but for some reason he never really was great on kickoffs.

Agreed!!

I guess its possible but I think its much more likely that they didn't want to host both events on the same day. Any other hockey opponent (with maybe the exception of Denver), they probably go ahead and host on the same day. But the Minnesota series probably needs the full attention of the staff. Not to mention that the USD games should be some of the most highly attended basketball games. Putting them on the same day as the Gophers could take a sizeable chunk of people away from the games.

If it is a Nickelback song they are coming out to, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Burn it To the Ground. Although the lyrics aren't the greatest for a family atmosphere, it is one of their more uptempo songs. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

So this is a break from all of the FBS talk but how many teams are needed for a conference to maintain its autobid status? Will the Big Sky be in trouble if the Montana schools bolt to the WAC? Or will a simple addition of Southern Utah be sufficient?

Couldn't have said it better myself. The masses are so willing to throw Kelley under the bus but yet turn a blind eye to Kupchella, who put on a pretty good show but in the end it was his hesitation and inaction that allowed us to be backed into the corner we currently find ourselves in.

Its not apathy. I'd do almost anything to keep the name, be it traveling to Indy to stage a protest or contributing to the tribes in exchange for letting us use the name. The one thing I won't do, however, is allow this great university to be weakened waiting around for a pipe dream to come true. As much as we want it to, Standing Rock is not going to help us out. The tribes have been given a chance to change the status quo. Standing Rock has choosen not to. Whether thats the true will of the people is up for debate. But as we have seen with our current United States government, the true will of the people is not always the will that wins out. Its an unfortunate reality of life and the sooner we can get past this, the stronger this university will become.

Right on. At some point in time it becomes a numbers game. And thats why its a good thing they turned to someone with no previous connection to the university. As Goon and others show, its hard for some poeple to play the numbers game when they have an emotional attachment.

And he's talking about a scenario that I don't believe can happen, at least under current rules.

Then why wouldn't they have banned them to start with? I don't remember the details but the NCAA is definitely limited as to what they can do under current rules. Now yes, I suppose your right that they could make new rules. However, I believe that they would have to go through the general assembly and not a committee as the nickname issue went through. And what reason does the general assembly have to vote in favor of a nickname ban or postseason sanctions against UND?

I really don't think they do. Otherwise they would have came out and banned UND from postseaosn play until the name was retired. However, they can't do that. All they had the authority to do was to not allow UND to host and not allow them to wear uniforms with the logo or name in postseason play. They couldn't tell UND what to do during the season nor will they be able to ban them if they continue to play in the REA.

UND will never challenge REA on the issue of the logos. All UND cares about is making sure their programs are not adversely affected by the NCAA ruling. By changing the name and dropping the logo, they will meet the criteria for that. They could care less that the hockey team will still play in an arena full of the old logo because the NCAA can't do a thing to UND over that. Now if down the road the NCAA changes things (such as hockey tourney 1st round games play on campus sites), then UND might take issue as that would affect the hockey program. But until then, UND will embrace REA's decision because it keeps the logo semi alive without any visible support from the university.

They also pick sites that will get the largest attendance. Its already been proven that in GF, basketball does not generate the excitement that other sports do. Couple that with the fact that the first round is always on the same weekend as the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, do you honestly think anyone would give two cents about hosting the bball tourney? If the town and university don't embrace it, it would never work. And btw, we hear from non conference teams how hard travel is to get to GF, with most flying into Minneapolis and some even to Winnipeg. But if you call that acceptable, I guess we will have to go with it. I just think the NCAA might have other ideas...

Not sure about that. I know universities can host first and 2nd round games on their home courts (ex. Boise St.) but in the event of that team actually making the tourney as well, I'm sure they would get sent to a different site.

And what leads you to believe UND would ever be in position to be a host in the first round of the NCAA basketball tourney? Pigs have a better chance of flying than that does of occuring. So the logos won't be a problem after all.

Probably won't get to a lot of games this year so the Madison trip is a must for me. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't made it before. Went there when the Sioux clinched the cup a couple of years ago and that was a blast. Plus the badger fans are good ones to drink with after a game. A good time all around.