Matt

Not exactly going out on a limb here...but he will do whatever he wants. Pressure without relying on the blitz will be important. There's nothing like game planning a year out.

I agree. Idaho is a good get, and Tech is fantastic. I mean, what's left to hope for in that conference? Texas? Oklahoma? I just hope their receiver is playing on Sundays by next year.

If that's true Dave, those quotes are easy to find. Post a link.

This affiliation will serve its purpose in the short term, but my rose colored glasses are still looking for the red Big Sky conference phone to ring at some point.

This says it all. It doesn't matter who is on the schedule for the move up. YOU SELL IT!!!! Period. That's what the marketing people are paid to do. It didn't matter that Valpo sucked in football because they sold it. But, I think it is too early to start the big push for football. If we are still wondering what the ad campaign will look like in August, there will be a big reason to gripe.

It's no accident that UND holds a commanding edge in the series. I think the program has been more consistent over the life of the series. I wish that consistency vs NDSU had been rewarded with more national championships. However, I can't pretend 1980-1990 didn't happen at NDSU either. Having spent time at both campuses, maybe that allows me to gravy train both programs when they are doing well.

Context?

Yet, you can still remember the '70s.

Give credit where it's due. NDSU dominated the 80's on a national scale. Why are you ignoring 1990?

I don't necessarily disagree with your overall point, but it is interesting you dismiss NDSU's national titles: yet you are happy to go back in time to support your own case:

FYI-HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It covers health info-not grades-but I know what you meant.

Lets see....ooohhh, My Name is Earl!!

I don't expect the Sioux to compete any better or worse next year than I expected the Bison to compete in their transition. If the Sioux compete well in their transition, it will be as surprising as the Bison competing well in theirs. Well, maybe that is over stated since I went back to the 60's in an effort to find more than 3 Bison conf titles in 40 years. I failed. Also note, since you are more partial to current stats-one conf title since 1990-not exactly a precursor of success at DI. In that light, the success of the Bison transition is even more surprising. But again, maybe surprises only happen to the NDSU basketball program?

If I'm I senior I say something like "Are you out of your effing mind freshman??!!! Get your effing butt outta here and change that costume before we all get kicked off campus!!! And pick up another 12 pack while your out."

Why was there no mention of an outdoor facility in the report?

Interesting...just so I'm straight...it may be possible that the subjects of the photos may be part of the anti-nickname crowd...and the photos were used by other anti-nickname people for their agenda. Very interesting thought...is this an opportunity to reignite the passions of this issue which have been relatively dormant since the settlement? It's certainly plausible, but if the photos are four months old, why the lag? If those dressing up were trying to cause trouble, you'd think they would be eager for those photos to get out and be made public sooner. Very interesting theory, Chief.

Did you think NDSU was going to compete real well in DI before the move up? If you combine NDSUs very ordinary conference title accomplishments (won 0 conference titles in the 60's, 1 in the 70's, 1 in the 80's, 1 in the 90's, and so far 0 in the 00's) with the average win percentage of .585, a reasonable person would have to say the recent success and buzz surrounding the program is a big surprise. No way that could happen at UND.

I don't believe these students went to the party with the intent to insult anybody. Unfortunately with this issue, as we have experienced all to well, intent doesn't matter. Those students who dressed up like that....it boggles the mind that they could have such a limited awareness of their environment. Do they do realize they attend UND? Do they know the significance of the nickname issue? If they could answer yes to those questions (and they dang well should), and still put on that costume, it makes one wonder how they were clever enough to gain acceptance to UND in the first place, given their utter lack of awareness of the world beyond the end of their nose...or head dress as it were.

It seems you are correct about GF and the 'B'. There's no mention of GF even being in the conversation for a 'B' rotation in this article.

Thanks for the update. I guess it's not hard to tell how closely I've been following ND high school BB.

Does the Alerus have a configuration for basketball? The class B is in Fargo this weekend, and it occurred to me that I don't recall either the class A or B having a rotation in GF.

As a practical matter, what does that mean? Isn't there always an option for a return game at a later date? Is there any binding language that would make a return game necessary for UNI if/when UND moved up, at a specific date?

I like your argument about the Friday and Saturday time slots, but I'm not sure about the small schools/small population argument. Small school basketball teams travel extraordinarily well for tournaments for the very reason that they are a small school and the whole town turns out. This isn't a phenomenon unique to BB either because we also see it when teams from section 7A and 8A in hockey travel the whole town. Maybe the smaller schools in the metro area just don't have the broader sense of community pride that comes with being a representative of a small town in outstate MN. I don't think there's just one answer to this question.

We are evaluating Sioux opponents(potential). We will have to agree to disagree about it's place on this board.

That point hasn't even been seriously challenged in a long time. A small argument perhaps for Warroad when the split first occurred, but no A team has given people much of a reason to debate that for a while. This year is no different.