Herd

The fact that Montana struggles in the FCS doesn't bode well. They have 24,000 fans per game, even when they play DII's. If Montana would get into the Mountain West (or WAC) they will be able to share more revenue and they might be able to add 10,000 seats, but they will also need to spend 3-4 million more on scholarships and recruiting too. There is also the success risk. Montana might be a 300-500 team at the next level in the MWC or 500 in the WAC. Moving FBS does not mean that you will automatically make money. If ND or ND state would go FBS without 25,000+ fans in the seats for every game, that would spell fanancial trouble fast. Today, neither has the overall facilities to even think about it at this point.

A continuing series, however, most likely will be every other year, or 3 out of 4. NDSU has 3 non-conference games each year, 1 will be FBS, and that doesn't leave much room for trying to get 6 home games when possible. Every year in a 12 game FBS schedule like Iowa/Iowa St. is easier than an every game in a 11 game schedule. I doubt that every year will happen, regardless of what Faison would prefer. If UND insists on every year, there will probably be more NDSU/USD games.

We could also speculate about the sun not coming up tomorrow morning. That would be about as productive as the discussion about 64 teams leaving the NCAA. Not going to happen.

The Summit League sponsors multiple national sports and its teams compete throughout the country. The WCHA has hockey only with over half of its members from DIII & DII schools that no one has heard of. I would argue that the Summit League is more recognizable nationally than the WCHA. And I'm not talking about hockey rubes in ND, MN and WI . . . nationally. Yes the WCHA has great fan support regionally, but that wasn't the question. It's not a questions that can really be answered anyway, so I won't comment further. The Big Ten Network could acutally be helping the WCHA, but they are usually referring to . . . Big Ten Hockey when they refer to games between their regular B10 teams.

Every time there is an NCAA DI selection show in baseball, basketball, softball, volleyball, soccer, etc . . . the Summit name comes up. The WCHA has one regional sport with DI/DII/DIII schools, so your arguement is debatable at best.

Ya, it's probably about as widely known throughout the US as the WCHA. Agreed.

Bison BB is 5th in the Summit; Sioux hockey is 6th in the WCHA . . . so is that oblivion too, or is it a #11 national ranking and free pass to the national tournament. Hockey is unique, I'll give you that.

What is the point then? Is the point that 'It's fun to talk about what's happening in the B12 and has nothing to do with UND'? I thought this was supposed to have something to do with UND's next conference. Certainly the movement in the top conferences will be helpful and create some trickle down movement, I agree with that.

Any conference that und/ndsu would be asked to join at the present time is not going to be at the 85 scholarship level for football. It just won't happen, maybe down the road, but not now for a new DI school. What conferenece that sponsors FBS football is going to come calling to ND? Sunbelt, USA, MAC, WAC, MWC . . . no, no, no, no & no . . . sorry. When you are struggling to sponsor the needed scholarships for the rest of your sports IMO like our schools are, why would you even want to be at the 85 scholarship level for football? It would hurt your overall program, and shouldn't be a serious consideration for the next 5-10 years. It makes no sense to assume the call is coming from a conference that sponsors FBS football.

If you want to believe that your school doesn't matter, good for you! The top 25 in FBS that have 50-100k in the stands for every game are going to have money, just a fact. The rest of the FBS is just like the FCS that you are trying to run down. Don't stop with running down DI FCS, make sure you include most of the DI FBS too, it's the same comparision when you are talking about Alabama. Just another poster on this board who would be happier to be insignificant at the DII level I guess.

The college landscape is the least of your indepent school's issues. UND isn't going to get a NSIC bid, let alone a B12 bid with nickname problems. If you ever do make it into the Summit, you will be thankful and and appreciative, trust me. If not, hopefully you will find a home.

The 6 phase Montana State stadium plan . . . now that was cool. SDSU should check that out and study up. The Bobcat's stadium will be transformed into a complete bowl. If you want to see a cool plan, that's the one.

The Summit League's stance with UND is no different than the stance you would get from any other established conference. Do you think that the Big Sky, Horizon, WAC, (filling in the blank) would come out and offer membership under the current circumstances? You have a timetable for resolution, but no resolution. You would get a wait and see across the board from any established conference. This notion of the the Summit making unrealistic demands is kind of crazy. Heck the NSIC would be taking a wait and see.

You guys had Kuchella, the only person I can possibly think of that was more arrogant than Chapman. We can talk all day about the wisdom of Chapman vs. Kuppy, but I don't think you want to go close to that one. One guy's arrogance drove his school to new levels, and the other drove his school into the tank. Chapman could have killed a couple of people along the way and I'd take him that that in matchup any day of the week. You guys have some short memories.

Chapman was held accountable in Fargo and lost his job. What more do you want? Do you want a trial? What happened with the spending over-runs in Grand Forks? Who was held accountable and lost their job over that? Maybe this discussion should focus on that issue where there was no accountability.

You must have been the lead negotiator on this whole thing. Hard to believe that everything turned to $#@% with your great attitude and skill.

Conventional Wisdom would have been to drop the word "Fighting" and tried harder to make nice with the two main tribes, using the official name "Sioux". If that move had been made 10 years ago the nickname might have had a better chance of being more widely accepted by tribes, ncaa, opponents, etc. If I was a Sioux tribe descentant, I would not like the word fighting associated with me heritage. Just an opinion of how things might have been different in this situation.

With a predominantly mid/low/lower-major schedule (like the Summit teams), the move to DI in basketball does not equate to a DII to FBS (BCS conf) move in football (which would be financially impossible by the way). It's not even close in my opinion. Ya, it's a tough move, but not the level you are saying. The hard thing is bringing in talent during the transition when there is no chance of post season play. Most kids would rather get a chance at a championship at some level, either DII or DI. The recent moves to DI FBS (BCS conf/football obviously) have been schools like UConn who are already DI and had won FCS titles and are well funded compared to other DI FBS counterparts. DII to DI FBS (any conf) would never happen, but would be a sure 0-12 if it did. You would make the move to 85 scholarship in steps, stopping first at the FCS level.

Who cares? On this Sioux board . . . When the bison are down 1 to DSU - Everyone When the bison are up 1 on DSU - No one When the bison beat DSU - No one You asked!

The transition itself is not the factor as SDSU proved having really good success playing good competition during their transition. It's really about conference affiliation that makes the difference in stability and recruiting. Lots of teams finish their transiton and nothing changes as they continue to struggle. Conference affiliation starts to bring stability and allow a team to recruit at a better level. But don't assume that ending the 5 year transition will majically turn things around if there are not NCAA tournament chances available at the end. Getting into a conference is huge, and I'm sure UND will be there soon.

Mussman and his team better have more faith and confidence in their ability to compete than those on this board. True, TT is more daunting that our matchup in Ames, but you have to expect to compete and win. Anything less, is not acceptable. There are a lot of years you could not run on und. Dont' seel your team short. Hopefully your LB's and OL will match up physically.

If the Valley is wise, they will protect themselves by bringing in a couple of their football members for all sports, thereby protecting the football conference. I believe there is a much better chance of that happening than the Valley adding more football only members from other conferences. The Valley does not want more Summit teams as football only members. That would be risky and a bad move by the Valley. NDSU should focus on getting their BB arena in place and ready, that should be a priority.

Why would you want to join WAC football and not join the WAC for all sports. Easily the biggest hurdle (sport wise) is football due to the significant cost. Why would you make that investment to leave your other sports in the Summit or GW? If you were going to join the WAC in football, you would insist on doing it for all sports or you wouldn't do it in the first place. From the WAC's standpoint, if they wanted to take a football member, they would want them for all sports or they probably wouldn't want them in the first place. I could see where a Cal Poly might join the WAC as a football affiliate for 1-2 years, but they would do it with a WAC all sports guarantee after that time if they were smart. For a school like UND where you are looking for an all sport conference with outbids, joining the WAC for football only would be a death sentence to you other sports if they didn't also move the WAC as the football cost would suck you dry in all other areas. Trying to understand your logic. Don't get me wrong, a move to the WAC with a partner like Montana would be awesome, but I wouldn't do it and leave my other sports in the GW or even the Summit. Montana wouldn't do it, why would UND.

Montana is no longer under a major budget crisis, so you should be in good shape for the return game. However, If Montana had truly turned over a new leaf, they would be traveling on the front end for a change. Until they do, the media will continue to talk about buyouts. They played in Poly and are traveling to Davis, so your 2013 game looks pretty solid I'd say. Should be a coulple of great games.

It would seem like North Dakota and Notre Dame should get together and work a few things out legally. If Notre Dame would be awarded use of the interlocking ND, then North Dakota should be given exclusive rigtht to using UND and associated logos with UND, and barring Nortre Dame from using UND. Some agreements should be reached to allow both school schools to market themselves. (If its true that North Dakota had the Interlocking ND before Notre Dame, then that should be some leverage to negotiate. If North Dakota is going to be DI, then it's time to separate yourselves from Nortre Dame . . . a better job of separation than the new lightly modified interlocking ND. That's not going to create any separation and exclusivity. It's time to step out of the marketing shadows, for the sake of North Dakota, the university and the State.