SooToo

Love your schtick. Keep it up!

A number of reasons; 1) Aside from the Twin Cities, UND alumni tend to be located more in the west than the traditional Midwest; 2) Big Sky locations are more attractive than those in the Summit/MVFC; 3) Member schools, including the Montanas and Idahos, tend to look more like UND, academically, than Summit schools; 4) The Big Sky provides a home for most UND sports, a positive as we're already spread across multiple conferences, when hockey is factored in. This should allow fans to become accustomed to the competition; 5) Much more confidence in the leadership and the stability of the Big Sky. When Faison discussed the decision to cancel the Summit visit, he termed it a "no-brainer" once a Big Sky offer came through. The Sky also was the "Promised Land" at the AC, too, until they were turned down a couple of times. Their boosters in the Fargo media -- and that's the media for the entire RRV and the eastern half of the state -- have worked hard to pump the AC and SumValley, and denegrate the Big Sky, ever since. Unfortunately, lots of UND fans have swallowed the bait. UND needs to do more to promote it participation in a very good conference. First step is putting competitive teams on the court and field. That might generate more sustainable interest from the fan base. I also wish the school was doing a whole lot more to sell the Big Sky, both formally through advertising and informally through interviews and other direct promotion. (Bohl and the AC coaches never missed an opportunity to pimp for the Summit/MVFC in their early years in D1.) I don't comprehend what conference affiliation has to do with your chosen style of play in football; you better have a solid defense and not be one-dimensional on offense no matter where you play. Cal Poly seems to do just fine in the Big Sky. On-the-road attendance also seems to be a red herring as even in the best scenario, only a small minority of fans are likely to travel to most road games. I guess the Summit BB tourney in SD is good if you like giving the same 1-2 teams home court advantage every year. There's also no reason UND can't play the other Dakota schools, UNI and Omaha with some regularity in non-conference play

... and Taj Rich, and Brian Labat, and Sean Meehan, and Javen Butler and Kam Kuksa, and ...

I wonder if the burden of funding FCOA could be pushing this back into consideration. Ugh. Travel costs aside, much prefer the Big Sky for all sports, and dissapointed more of our fanbase doesn't fully embrace it.

This long ago became a moot issue, but as you repeatedly post praising the scheduling of this game, I've gotta ask again: What did it accomplish exactly? Interested in making the playoffs? By scheduling this game, UND effectively locked itself into a 5-game home schedule for 2014-15 and put the team on the road in a hostile environment against a very tough opponent. Not exactly the recipe to help a marginal, rebuilding team claw its way back into post-season play. Want to "get the rivalry going again?" You might feel this game pressures the AC by making it look "petty and selfish," but more likely the administration there saw an easy way to fill its home schedule on the cheap and at the same time satisfy the pressure from some quarters to see UND and NDSU on the same field again. Never have I heard any enthusiasm expressed by the AC braintrust to renew the rivalry in football, and Faison was quoted in print last week as saying there's been no discussion at all about further games. This contract -- 2 games spread out over 5-6 years -- effectively defers any renewal of a regularly scheduled rivalry for at least another decade. Does the team need "a measuring stick to put the fire in the belly of the players?" Based on the play I saw Saturday and in the second half v Drake, I'm afraid this team may get plenty of motivation from the likes of Portland State, Montana State and Montana as the season progresses. Unfortunately, it appears a large segment of this fanbase -- and maybe its head coach -- remain unable to define this football program in any way other than a comparison to the school 75 miles down the road, and UND football suffers because of it.

No offense, but your statement is pretty obvious. The question is will he do it. Most everyone posting here is hoping for the best, and I'll be as pleased as anybody if he gets under center next week, makes sound decisions and directs a solid passing game. But game time ain't practice, and the 58 efficiency rating and the 2 TD passes vs 6 interceptions jut leave me a little uneasy. I think both Molberg's and Bartel's game stats eclipsed Studrud's last year, and if no one clearly separated from the pack in fall camp, I'm a little puzzled by this decision.

Hope that's what we see when it counts -- on the field on the 5th.

Haven't seen a minute of fall camp and the young man undoubtedly has improved since he was thrown into the fire last year as a true freshman, but a starting QB who has connected on about a third of his pass attempts in game situations and finished last year with an efficiency rating of 58 leaves me feeling a little anxious.

What the hell did you do that for? This discussion was progressing so nicely with smoke, mirrors and invective.

Still holding out hope for an 11th-hour comeback.

Best suggestion yet.

Pimping the AC has been a cottage industry for the Kolpack family for 40+ years now. As everyone knows, NDSU's in-state recruits are automatically the best players in the state by virtue of signing with the AC. Players who leave da Bizon do so solely because they were bypassed by other recruits for playing time. Jeff's a nice guy but simply cannot pass on any opportunity to take a shot at UND. I heard part of his Saturday show a few weeks ago. Hockey came up, and 50% of the conversation was Kolpack chirping about being stiffed by Hackstol on a request for an interview. He simply can't help himself. I think it's genetic. As to radio coverage, it's hard to get along without the local, regional and statewide coverage that can be provided by either KFGO or WDAY.

Are you sure about this? Personally, I don't sense any great untapped fan interest in lacrosse, unless you assume UND fans just can't get enough of sports with a goalie and sticks. Personally, I'd hate to see baseball go, and I think those who say it can never be competitive need to take a look at results so far this season. There's an old cliche in campaign politics: "If you want to gather roses, look where roses grow." I think the StarTrib article posted by 92,96 says all you need to know about where to look for athletic department savings. How many other women's programs could be strengthened by redirecting womens' hockey scholarships to other areas? And how much money would UND actually save by axing swimming and diving, or baseball? (IIRC, doesn't much of baseball's funding come through donations of former players?)

Looks like league champion Eastern Washington gets it done with just three assistants. Elsewhere, well ... The other teams with a lesser number of assistants appear to be fellow cellar-dwellers Montana State, and Idaho State. Southern Utah, one step up the ladder this year, does also. U of Montana? 3 assistants plus director of basketball ops. Weber also carries three assistants plus director of basketball ops, as does Sacramento State. Northern Arizona appears to get by with 3 assistants, a director of basketball ops, a grad assistant, a recruiting coordinator and a "technology assistant." For those fixated on Fargo and the Summit, the AC has 3 assistants, a director of basketball ops and a director of athletic performance. SDSU also has 3 assistants and a director of basketball ops. USD just three assistants. Obviously, the 2014-15 season developed into an abysmal one, but I'm not clear how reducing resources translates into future success. Or are we transitioning into planning-to-fail mode?

Yup, we're "Ofer" v UNO ... with an "N" of 2.

Certainly not a black-and-white picture for Jones or his team, and I agree the losses to Omaha, including the two-point loss this year, were particularly aggravating. I'm not sure if its quality coaching, early entry into the Summit, the discontinuation of football or their location in a metro area, but UNO seems to be on the right track with basketball. IIRC, they just finished their 4th year of transition. They've had a losing record in the last three years but have posted wins against Marquette, Denver, Northern Illinois, Seattle, SDSU and USD, among others.

What should the standard be in the D1 era? An important question, I think, that's obviously be the subject of some of the discussion here. Interesting to note that only one of the Dakota schools posted greater than a .500 record in its first three years out of transition -- and the AC did that largely on the strength of a transitional recruiting class -- pulled together by a guy now coaching in the Big Ten -- that had no other D1 offers. The records at the South Dakota schools were a few percentage points on either side of UND's 41-54 record. Yet to my knowledge there was no great outcry about diminishing expectations or calls for the dismissal of Dave Boots or Scott Nagy. Is it reasonable to routinely expect 20-win seasons like the D2 days when, presumably, much of the OOC schedule may be on the road "playing up" against stronger teams/leagues? Was it fair, over the past three years, to expect UND to be consistently winning against teams from the AC or SDSU, who have had the benefit of an additional five years of D1 recruiting and development? Again, no dog in this fight as I think the course at UND is pretty evident; either Jones' teams show significant improvement over the next year or two or he won't continue in his current position. But sometimes the comments here make me wonder if the clamoring for Jones' head isn't less about reasonable, rational post-transition expectations and more to do with how he "pouts" on the sidelines or how he fixes his hair.

4 seats in Sec 114 (northeast corner) for sale for Saturday, 3/14/15. $30 per seat. Text 701 866-3872 if interested.

Understandable, as they certainly don't have the national profile of, say, IUPUI or IPFW ...

Agree with your post, and your view of the negativity. No matter how you feel about Jones, it seems pretty clear by now that he'll be the HC again next year, and how this team does or does not progress in 2015-16 will determine his future. "Good job" to everyone who has conveyed their opinions to Faison via e-mail, but there's not been much new information or useful insight in many of the posts here; mostly a rehash of the same snarky, negative comments from the same posters, leaving this and most threads in the basketball forum practically unreadable.

Couldn't agree more -- about the Sky, I mean. Too many people here stuck on interpreting the world through Fargo media's green and yellow glasses, where it's all AC all the time. Most Bison fans were ready to give up part of their anatomy to get into the Big Sky before they were twice refused. Now, of course, it's nothing but criticism in Fargo for what's been the premier FCS conference in the west. The Big Sky and Summit historically have been pretty interchangeable in terms of RPI, with its emphsis on the strength of your opponent, not on game results. In recent years, the Summit seems to have made it a priority to schedule to enhance RPI; the Big Sky, not so much. Despite all the chest-puffing by Bison fans and media, it's interesting to remember -- and admittedly cherry-picking some facts here -- that Montana beat the AC in men's BB earlier this season, and lowly UND fell by just 2 on the road at SDSU, the Summit co-champion. Sure, the basketball tourney would be closer if UND was in the Summit. Sure, their tourney attendance looked good on TV. And that's great -- if you like a tournament arrangement that essentially gives home-court advantage to the same two teams every year. UND has always struggled to get more than token attention from the F-M media. I remember when Sioux hockey games versus the gophs or badgers warranted only a 3-paragraph story on page C6 in Ed Kolpack's eyes. Back in the NCC, football and basketball got a little more attention -- if they were playing NDSU. The Sioux were always considered as the underdog by Fargo media, even in the midst of their 10-year domination of the AC. UND will grudgingly get more attention from FM media when it does one thing: Win. In the mean time, I think there's a lot more that the university and coaches could be doing to promote the Big Sky, either through advertising or simply "talking up" the league at every opportunity. Rant over.

I think you need only to check who is eagerly posting the info to have your answer.

No dog in this fight but honestly, sometimes it's better to just quit when you're behind. Yesterday, it was junior high-level name-calling regarding a coach you admittedly don't know personally. This AM, it appeared you might hurt yourself in silly verbal contortions rationalizing your out-burst. (For the life of me I haven't been able to identify the "objective contents" that support calling someone a "prick and an idiot.") This afternoon, it's personal attacks on posters who called you out on your comments. As the old cliche goes, the first thing to do when you're in a hole ...

Tickets are sold.