Bison06

Nothing has been officially announced yet, but there have been many discussions about where the season tickets would be capped. What is a reasonable guess? 12,000?

Love how you added the last part just to be an a-hole. There is nothing confusing about it, I only asked where does the "premium" tag begin and end? Put the premium price on the UND game and now UND, SDSU, UNI, USD, SIU and homecoming all have the possibility of being "premium" games. No need to price gouge just to get an extra buck.

I would agree that DL football is traditionally the better program, but that isn't at all what I was saying. The opponents are what matters, and in that sense DL and GFC don't play a significantly different level of talent and speed on a weekly basis. Point is, Mollberg will be good, but will be better after a year of sitting and learning.

Ok, but he redshirted. I doubt that he would have been as good his true freshman year as he was his redshirt freshman year. I am not saying it can't be done, only that players who come from programs who have played against stiffer competition and faster defenses have less of a learning curve than those who have seen that speed already.

Yes, coming from where he came from. I am not talking about winning games here, I am talking about style and speed of play. It wasn't meant as an insult, QB is the hardest position to transition from HS to college. Like it or not Minnesota is not a hotbed of football talent. There are some great players that come out of Minnesota no doubt, but you just aren't going to go up against the speed that you will see in college on a consistent basis. One of the better high school programs in the upper midwest? Only if you define upper midwest as Minnesota and North Dakota and even that is a stretch. Nobody outside of Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota has heard of Detroit Lakes. And Detroit Lakes doesn't even play at the highest level in Minnesota Football. They aren't even playing the best programs in their own state. This isn't the point I wanted to discuss. I have seen the film on Mollberg and he appears to have the skills to become a great college QB, I just feel he will greatly benefit from sitting for a year to allow his eyes and arm to catch up to the speed of the game.

I am not sure the QB situation could turn out any better for you guys if he turns out to be a good servicable guy for this fall. Mollberg gets a chance to sit and learn for a year and you still have a guy who can sit back and make the passes needed to win games in the big sky. That year sitting is essential for a QB IMO, especially coming from where Mollberg came from. The speed of the game will be too much for him to deal with as a freshman and that year sitting will give him a lot of confidence.

Remind me the kid's name who is coming in from North Carolina. And is it pretty much a done deal that he will be the starter game one or will he have some pretty stiff competition?

Not sure if or when that will happen, but for the size of Fargo and the ever growing fan base 19k will not be enough in the coming years IMO.

That, of course, goes without saying. But what I am saying is that the FargoDome is so small compared to what demand is expected to be, that I see even in down years a sell out will be very likely. Even when we were 3-8 I believe attendance averaged over 15k.

I think we are all discounting the good will that goes along with a championship and the momentum that NDSU has built with season ticket holders. IMO, NDSU will be in a similar situation to Montana in the next 10 years. Montana stadium capacity is a little over 25k IIRC, but if the capacity was 30k they would still sell out because demand is so high. The FargoDome will be seen as a liability to attendance within a decade and a game with UND at home will be inconsequential.

Correct, we have trouble getting teams to Fargo because they have similar mentalities when it comes to scheduling. Everybody wants home games. That doesn't change the way we try to schedule. GT continues to try and get high quality OOC opponents to the FargoDome.

Wofford and JMU are not the same as St. Francis. JMU was the national champ in 2004 and Wofford is perennially in the top 3 in the Southern Conference. In this part of the country we know UND is good, but nationally we are much better off playing those teams if we need a quality win to get into the playoffs.

When you have more bargaining power you get to dictate the terms, I thought everyone who went to UND was a lawyer you should have known that. Why do you think Montana was happy to schedule that with UND, but wouldn't with NDSU?

Don't ask the question and then change the parameters once I answer. You asked about Wofford and James Madison, not St. Francis. Of course there would be more interest in a UND game from casual fans. But, for my part, I would rather see Wofford at home. Like I said earlier, it gives us more of an idea of where we stand nationally to play teams from the east coast. I get sick of hearing all the CAA teams say that the MVFC is no good, so playing a team from the CAA or the Southern Conference would bring with it some credibility in their eyes. Also, many NDSU fans camped out for all of the playoff games this year. I don't mean this as an insult, but to those of you who haven't been following NDSU over the years, it doesn't take UND on our schedule to get people crazy about Bison football the way it does for UND fans in Grand Forks.

Pros to a yearly game- Scheduling Stability Having a long time rival on the schedule Cons to a yearly game- Lack of flexibility in OOC scheduling One more loss on schedule for one of us each year Feel free to add as you see fit.

Also, a good point. Obviously, UM-MSU game has the benefit of also being a conference game so all the arguments we have made are void in that situation. I think it is a game that will eventually happen and should happen now that UND is through the transition, but I completely understand why NDSU is reluctant to play the game every year. And to be honest, I think it is likely that UND's AD would regret getting into a yearly contract with NDSU once he realizes how scheduling in FCS is done.

I agree with all of that and just re-read what you just wrote and you will see why this game is not likely to be played again for the next 5 years at least. Both programs have gotten along just fine without the game, I don't understand the constant push for this game to happen.

Even though no matter what I say you won't believe me, the answer for me is yes. I will go on record as saying that I would rather see either of those teams on our home schedule than UND. Understand that I am most likely younger than you and the rivalry has been cold for almost a third of my life. NDSU aspires to national prominence and playing those teams any given year moves NDSU closer to their mission than playing UND.

If you feel it makes so much sense for NDSU and is in NDSU's best interest, what is you opinion on why the game has yet to be scheduled? Spare me the GT is afraid rhetoric that is far too common on this forum.

Valid point I suppose, but this is what NDSU fans want and I think the AD wants to continue to work toward. When I say high quality, it doesn't have to be Montana or Montana State. I would be pleased to see any team from the Southern or CAA. Gives us an early idea of how we might match up with teams from out east.

Of course there is interest, if this game were to be scheduled I would be first in line to get tickets. Once you have a few season in FCS where you are playoff eligible, UND fans will see why scheduling is done this way. Heck we learned it from Montana. When you have a tough conference, like MVFC or the Big Sky. Chances are you aren't going to get the autobid every year. Because of that, you want nonconference games that are DI counters and are more easily won games. So, you have 8 conference games, a "warm-up game", a money game, and another game that NDSU fans have shown interest in being a high quality OOC opponent. Does UND fit that bill? Yes. But if we agree to play the game every year, we take away the flexibility to bring in a high quality FCS team every so often. Be realistic guys, that is the blueprint for success and we are following it. You'll be doing the exact same thing within 2 years. Watch and see.

Seems to me you should apply for the AD position at NDSU with that sort of insight.

NDSU beat UND 3 times from 1993 to 2003. When you say since 1993 it sounds much more impressive, I can see how you would try to manipulate it like that.

It's an emotional game, the better team doesn't always win. Any sports fan realizes this. If we use this little discussion we're having about the game as a microcosm for the two teams, isn't it pretty clear which side "needs" this game more?