Dagger

It does seem hard to believe that we had that much control over Douple. To carry out the charade he even told member schools to not schedule UND. Douple was even willing to harm other schools ability to make schedules just to cater to UND. Something about all of this just doesn't fit together. My gut tells me that Douple might not be telling the truth.

Between the CAA and the Big Sky , they are definitely the top 2 conferences in FCS. It is really EXCITING to think that we are joining the Big Sky. I can't wait.

The majority of road games don't have a huge following of fans at anyway. From what I've seen of parents of kids who play seem to make it to a lot of road games no matter where the school is playing. The most important reasons for picking a conference are locations of where the games are at, the profile of the conference, the tradition of the conference, and the strength of the conference. I think most players and parents would take the Big Sky over the MVFC. It just simply sounds and looks more attractive. I think your wrong it you think televised games and internet broadcasts aren't important. They are extremely important to parents and friends of players. It has made the world a much smaller place.

I personally disgusted to see some of the posts by so called Sioux fans on here. Does anyone have a clue how tough it has been to schedule games as a transition team. True Sioux fans just need to hang in there one more year till we are done with transition. Everything is going to be fine. It sounds like a lot of these posters don't even go to games very often anyway. Frankly, the posters who are writing in and saying that they are done supporting Sioux football are embarrassing to our fan base. We really don't need them anyway. I really don't think they are trully Sioux fans anyway. I think they should find a different team to support because their kind of support isn't needed.

UND is thrilled to be in the Big Sky. Bison fans in recent years have wet themselves about playing games at Montana and Montana State. They raved about going to Cal Poly and Davis in beautiful California. They talked about Southern Utah and what a beautiful setting it was for football. Even last week they were babblng about playing on the Red Turf. Guess what. UND is going to be doing it every year. If I am not mistaken I sense a little envy from Fargo. Remember the Big Sky is the conference NDSU would of sold the farm to get into (and NDSU knows farmland). Well NDSU had a chance to get into the Big Sky and was rejected, You don't have to worry about UND anymore.

Let's face it. At most NDSU road games there usually just a small pocket of fans at the games. Indiana State, Western Illinois, Youngstown St., Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Illinois State.... Definitely won't be many people at any of those games. No. Iowa and SDSU are the only games that many people might drive to and course there might be years where they might not be appealing either. We will have Montana and Montana State. Let's face it neither program has many games where droves of people are going to go to.. That whole issue is way over blown. Having games on television to your alumni and fans is probably the biggest positive. Between Mid Con (FSSN) amd the Big Sky network UND comes out way ahead on that issue.

If you are a Bison fan you would think you would be mad it is not on TV. NDSU is heavily favored and it would seem you are missing out on a wonderful marketing opportunity for your program. It is fine with me but seems like it is a mistake for NDSU. I guess they don't want to hurt attendance.

You can be sure Bison fans won't use the word Sioux in any kind of negative reference. After all they have been really criticizing UND fans the past few years the way we supposedly have disrespected the word Sioux. I am sure Bison fans will live up to the standards they have been trying to set for UND. Bison fans won't stoop to that level.

This topic has been hashed and rehashed a million times. Let's face it there were mistakes made on both sides. Enough already. Let's put it to bed. It is the same stuff said over and over. The schools need do something about it productively or quit talking about it.. It is definitely time to move on. Both schools have their conferences and the game is of equal importance to both schools.

So we were one dropped pass at the end of the game from beating a top 25 BCS team. Impressive no matter what happened the rest of the season.

Everybody needs to keep in mind that we are in the middle of transition. The main goal is to come out of transition a decent team. Time will tell. We do not want to come out of transition as bad as NDSU was when they completed their transition. NDSU was terrible when they became playoff elgible.

By the way, I think a Valley City vs. Robbie Morris game would be very competitive.

They will definitely have 16 to 18,000 at the game. When you have to wait 20 years between playoff games they could be playing Valley City and people will show up.

If the term "backing into the playoffs" were a word in the dictionary there would be a picture of the bison football team right behind it. Very fortunate.

I was just thinking about people passing thru turnstiles. I forgot about all the local, regional and national (many) television broadcasts we have. In the big picture it is quite impressive.

Is it safe to say that UND Hockey is the #1 sports team in the state? I don't think any other team in the state has more people attend their games in a year than Sioux Hockey . I don't think it is even close.

That post is funny but true. UND is truly in a great conference. Things worked out perfectly for UND. The Sky is the limit. Being separate from the NCC teams is going to be great in the long run.

Just possibly do you think Jack and bison fans might of just made it up that the Big Sky didn't really want UND? It sure sounds like they think UND is more than welcome and actually might of helped sway Montana into staying in the Big Sky. This news has to be shocking and disappointing to the fans and administrations of SDSU and NDSU. Big Sky here we come.

Sorry about the mistake. I mean to say we need to hang in there.

Next years schedule isn't going to be very good. Going to have to habg in their for one more year. It will be worth the wait.

Your not telling any Sioux fans something we don't know. We have work to do. Hopefully today will be the start we need to get going in the right direction. You might think that is smack but it really doesn't tell something we don't know. We will be back though.

If I had made a wish list on finding a conference the list would of had a variety of wishes in it. Have USD go with us, go to a part of the country that we are really putting more emphasis on in football recruiting, go to a part of the country where we have a lot of alumni, go to a part of the country that would excite recruits to go to away games, to renew rivalries with the Montana Schools, and go to a conference with strong traditions and is respected by others. This is absolutely the best of all worlds. I definitely prefer this conference because most of our sports can all be in the same conference, We can continue to develop rivalries with the same schools year round. The Big Sky is going to be a much stabler conference than the Summit ( which could end up scrambling a bit down the road). I would also take the new Big Sky in a heartbeat over the Missouri Valley. Although the Missouri Valley is still a very good conference.There are going to be a lot of good football teams in the Big Sky, We keep rivalries with USD, Davis, Cal Poly, Southern Utah, Montana, Montana State and Northern Colorado. . Eastern Washington and Nothern Arizona are emerging football teams. Frankly I am not exactly sure what Portland State, Weber State, Idaho State and Sacremento State are like. The Big Sky is going to be a dynamic conference and one of the best in FCS. The only regret is that SDSU and NDSU aren't in the same conference. Overall it is going to be very exciting times for UND. I can't wait.

I hate to say this but I think we could be walking into a buzz saw this wekend. We are going to be up against it for a few different reasons beside the fact that Cal Poly is better than us. I hope I am wrong.

Your volleyball facility is very nice. NDSU has a great volleyball program but the Sioux aren't far behind. Considering where UND is in their transition it is going to make for some fantastic games in the future. If UND had the match in Grand Forks the results could of been different. Nonetheless it was a great match and congratulations to NDSU for a well deserved victory. See you next year.

Not a bad day for the Great West. UND almost knocks off a FBS program. Cal Poly knocks off Montana. USD beats the Gophers. Pretty good day.