Dagger

Taylor said the earliest they will schedule UND is 2014. Both UND and NDSU have a common open date in 2013. Taylor said they have already scheduled 11 games for that year but that they might schedule 12 games. If they did schedule 12 games in 2013 they wouldn't play UND though. Let's face it. NDSU administration just doesn't want to play UND. Taylor continually makes up excuses why they won't play UND. UND doesn't need the game so it is just fine if NDSU doesn't want to play.

To think that not long ago I was feeling desperate that we we were not going to find a conference for our sports teams and not only did we find a conference but we were able to get in the best conference possible. This is to good to be true. I would asume that the athletic department is absolutely thrilled. Season ticket holders might want to start planning for the future to secure there spots for when we enter the Big Sky. I can't wait.

This whole arguement is ridiculous. Having home field in any sport at any time is extremely important in helping your chances to advance. When and if it happens in football or women's hockey we don't know but I for one am going into the end of transition with the attitude that it is going to happen right away. The negative people posting on here need to understand that no one is buying your bull. If you are a true fan of UND we all need to look at what is best for all the programs at UND. Believe it or not there are a lot of men's hockey fans who are also big fans of football and maybe even women's hockey too. We do not want to dismiss what a successful football program can do for the University. Giving the football program the best chance to win is critical.

When I see posters on here say it is no big deal to the sports that will be affected by the NCAA ban it sort of makes my blood boil. There are a lot of people who would disagree with you.

Very valid point. I think we are just going to have to suck it up on who we play at home for that last nonconference game until we put more people in the stands and make the financial situation for football better. Let's just get out to the Alerus and support them and scheduling will get better in the future.

Is the arguement here should UND spend more money and bring in a doormat FCS program or spend a lot less and bring in a D2 program? I do see the attiudes every one has. To be honest I don't think either game is going to draw great crowds anyway. The crappy FCS game just seems to look better. Financially UND probably comes out ahead on the D2 game. I can see both sides though.

Any chance at all for television on this game?

It is rather ironic how NDSU and its fans talked down everything about the D2 and the NCC and how they were moving up to separate themselves from it. . Now NDSU is back in a glorified NCC again. The Big Sky is looking better and better all the time.

Kind of strange. In recent years they have been more of a football and wrestling school and now they are making those drops. Basketball has very little history or fan interest in recent years. This really has to kill what fan base they had. Their administration must of really felt like they didn't know what to do and felt like they were being put in a corner.

The problem with the Summit league is the same teams have the home court every year. The Big Sky is much better because at least your rewarding a team who earned it during the year.

There are quite a few teams in the Summit that don't believe Sioux Falls is a neutral site. According to some reports in South Dakota there were some teams grumbling all ready. (Indiana schools) I am sure there are teams that like the idea of the site being close to some schools locations to help bring a crowd for atmosphere. I am assuming what they are mad about is that the location is a home court to the same teams every year.

What is the scoop on the Osseo lady who committed to the Sioux. She plays on a terrific team but as the Herald says she only averages 6 points. Does anyone know anything about her?

Most players probably want to find a different school when they realize they aren't going to be getting any minutes or very few. It usually works it self out. Sometimes coaches hint or plant the seed that realistically the player isn't going to be part of the picture. It can be done tactfully. If a coach didn't make some decisions sometimes he would be out a job and you would have some very unplayers. It is usually best for everyone involved.

The Big Sky has been ranked similar or better than the MVFC most years, and then just added Cal Poly, Davis , Southern Utah and UND to make them even deeper. I would take the Big Sky over the MVFC most years. Both are very good football conferences though. The Big Sky did just add a national title to their resume this year too.

Webb, Huff, Schuler, Brekke, and Anderson are all Freshman. Hopefully Wilmar can come back healthy. Spencer Godman too. Allard and Mitchell too. Throw in a couple of possible new additions and I can't wait for next year. The men's program is definitely going in the right direction.

I am sure the rankings of those two conferences probably change from year to year. Does it really matter since neither one is going to get more than one in the tournament?

There would be some real uncomfortable people south of here if UND went ahead of NDSU in the men's RPI rankings.

We seem to be almost a totally different team then we were back when we played the Bison. Next years game against the Bison will still be tough to win but it might be a little closer than most people think.

A lot of things worked against the Alerus. There past management was suspect. The economy generally has not been good. And one of the main reasons was that the Ralph and the new Winnipeg arena were built after the Alerus was built. Those 2 venues have taken a lot of potentially nice money makers away from them. I think they will get it turned around with prudent management.

As I become reinspired for men's basketball could somebody inform me as to we have coming in next year, would they likely be redshirted and what can we expect from those players? Are we done recruiting for next year?

Now if we could shoot free throws we would really be good. I am going to write that off to a freshman team.

I am one of those Sioux men's basketball fans who had lost almost all energy for our men's program. I have to admit that the team we are putting on the floor now is a lot better team than we have put on the floor in years. I almost can't believe it. We are dramatically bettter than 6 weeks ago. When you look at the number of freshmen that are playing I am actually really excited about the future. I didn't think I would ever say that. The last couple of years I haven't always gone to every game but I think I will be going to them now. I love our 3 guard lineup.

Isn't this just a non- story right now. What difference does it make anyway. We are in the Big Sky and very happy. The Summit isn't even a topic right now to UND. Why are Bison fans on here debating about it anyway.

I just watches the press conference Faison held today. He gives a rather complete scenerio and timeline. After watching the conference and listening to what Faison answered to the questions it makes me wonder about the character of Tom Douple. He must be a very vengeful person. It is rather sad.

I listened to the interview and I thought he handled himself very professionally. I have no problem with Brian Faison and the way he has handled the issue.