WYOBISONMAN

As usual Siousxrock shows such intelligence once again. Geez......he is as high schoolish here as on the Bison board.

In the end, given the cold shoulder from the BSC, I am still hoping for a new D1AA conference that has the stronger NCC institutions as the core. This would obviously include UND. Again, I am fairly sure that within the next couple of years UND will make the jump. That would give 4 schools (counting UNC) to start a conference. I think we could pick up a couple more looking Southern Utah and maybe even Davis if they don't find a home. Also there would be a chance that some other NCC schools would want to move up. That was my thought when I started this thread, and it really has not changed. I was hoping for the Big Sky, but I knew it was a long shot.

...And that is such a good picture of him too.....LOL

"YAWN............."

Even if in the end NDSU and UND do not wind up in the same conference i would like to see UND go D1AA just to keep the rivalry intense between us. Once we get a few years down the road, if UND stays D2, NDSU really gains nothing from beating the Sioux and looses a lot if we get beat. I like it when we are on equal footing and have a lot to be gained by winning or loosing the game. When we are in the same conference and have that title on the line it just adds a lot more to the intensity.

If NDSU and SDSU were to not get accepted to the Big Sky Conference and in light of the news on auto-bids for the hocky tournament....What are the odds of a D1 NCC? It is an interesting thought. I think if NDSU and SDSU get into the Big Sky the chances are ZERO. However, this new news on the auto-bids probably has a lot of folks in the UND administration scratching thier heads. February 20th will tell us a lot when the BSC take a vote on whether or not to expand. My first choice is to get into the Big Sky, second choice would be be to have a D1 NCC wit the stronger schools going D1.

I looked at the NAIA web site and ouldn't find anything on a NAIA date. I wonder if they even have a signing date....

That's a shame he is going to Mary. From what I have heard the kid is a lot better than that. Guess sometimes women keep you from thinking clearly.

We are still recruiting with the same number of scholarships as UND....

I think UND is feeling a whole lot of heat from the Bison moving up and not UND. I am sure UND will be pushed along into D1, just not sure when.

The problem with Babich really seemed to center around the rentention of the players he recruited. He seemed to be good a recruiting (this year seems to be his best) but keeping the guys on the roster playing for him was another story. In the end it translated to no depth on the roster and the meltdown we saw this past year after a few injuries. As to the ultimate success of a particular class of recruits, it probably takes five years (assuming you red shirt) to get the total picture, but I think in three we should have a real good idea just how good they are. On paper this is a tremendous class of recruits for NDSU and my hat is off to Babich for such a great year recruiting. It is amazing to me that he was able to get these top quality players despite the showing last year and the fact that all new the coaching situation was "unsettled" to say the least. My guess is these guys wanted to play for NDSU and the fact that the program is going D1AA probably also helped a great deal. I hope that NDSU gets a coach who is able to recruit as well as retain players and bring back the winning tradition. There certaintly seems to be the raw material in this class to rebuild.

hmmmm......maybe the Forum has joined the conspiracy. I see the makings of a good movie.....and I know that somehow Ralph Englestad money is wrapped up in this some how.....

It looks like UND did well in ND and MN. NDSU really seems to have the best class I have ever seen coming in. Now that the recruits seem to be coming in the new coaching staff will have to do somthing with them and make sure that retention improves. I am very up beat about what happened today.

When are the results coming out.....?

I agree that this will be an interesting year watching how a "Lennon" team does. Maybe us Bison fans are gun shy after seeing how the coach has fouled up some strong potential by a lack of development and a lack of depth on the roster. It is a hole that will take some digging before we are out.

Yeah, Lennon was a real powerhouse this year......I just think he is a mediocre coach. Say what you want about Rocky, but UND has never ever had a football coach that was even close to as good as Rocky. I am sure that upsets you guys a little bit, but it is reality.

Thank god he is gone. I have seen on another board that Lennon may be under consideration at NDSU........I hope that is not true. I don't think he is that great of a coach.

I am upset about that. We have to have UND conspiring against us. It just makes life much more entertaining......

There is starting to be a pretty good thread on the expansion of the Big Sky conference on egriz.com (a web site created by a University of Montana fan). Here is a link to their board: http://www.egriz.com/GrizBoard/index.php Most of the discussion is taking place under the Football heading. There is a lot of bashing of the entire state of North Dakota going on. I figured some of you UND guys might want to give the people from Missoula a little hell. (There is also a joke thread under "Other s&%t" and that seems to be a good place for some Montana Jokes).

I actually think that Coach Giaccoletti will have positive input on NDSU and SDSU entering the conference. He has an inside look at the programs and can attest to thier quality. Obviously the BSC is interested in having high quality members. I think that a problem with the growth in the NCC in the recent past was schools that were not up to the levels of NDSU and UND have been admitted to the conference. I am sure the BSC wants schools that will enhance the conference rather that pull it down.

This were some thoughts I posted on another board, but it is pretty applicable to the discussion here: Here is the way I see the BSC expansion vote Stacking up: Voting to expand: Montana State Montana Weber State Idaho Voting against Expansion: Sac State Northern Arizona Portland State (maybe) Unknown how they will vote: Eastern Washington That is my guess based on what I have read and a couple things that I have seen on the Salt Lake City TV news. Where I am at in Wyoming we get the SLC stations as out local stations on cable. I hope I am wrong about Portland State and that Eastern Washington votes our way as well. If it were just NAU and Sac State against us, our chances of admission would be much better. If we don't get into the BSC I am very worried about the quality of any other conference choices. The BSC is really the prize.

The following is in today's Fargo Forum. All Bison Fans are rejoicing. This is much needed so we can move to D1 with a "Clean Slate". Babich was sooooo bad. I am amazed he landed this position. Friend: Babich to Rams done deal By Jeff Kolpack The Forum - 01/26/2003 North Dakota State head football coach Bob Babich won

Trust me, Wyoming is not even thinkning of moving down. People here would go crazy if they were to leave the Mountain West. And also, Ogden is no much of a drive from the SLC airport as it is a suburb. Maybe a 20 to 25 minute drive.

Southern Utah is in Cedar City.

As to the question of why the meeting for the BSC Presidents is in SLC.....Salt Lake is a central location for all conference members to fly to. Most have either Delta or Skywest serving their respective cities and those airlines fly direct to Salt Lake. Also, remember that Ogden (the home of Weber State) is a northern suburb of Salt Lake City. I hate to disagree with my fellow partisan JBB, but if NDSU and SDSU get into the Big Sky I do think that Sac State and Portland State may very well exit because it would be clear that the geography of the conference is not looking to the west coast any longer. I do think that may open the door to UND and I think UND probably would look to jump to D1aa and the Big Sky if the opportunity was there. Remember too that Southern Utah may be a few more mile closer to other BSC schools, but there is no decent airline service and all BSC schools except for Weber would need to fly there. Also, UNC involves flying to Denver and then a bus trip to Greeley. The bottom line is when you have to fly to your conference games the geographic fit issue changes a bit. Fargo has great air service and the logistics of getting a football team to and from Fargo are not at all complicated. As for the timezone issue....I think it is insignificant. We had it with UNC in the NCC and who really even thought about it???