jdub27

Are you sure about that? UND's financials show conference distributions for men's hockey. Until a dollar amount is put on that revenue share, I'm skeptical. B1G hockey is a time-slot filler for the B1G Network, not a money maker. How much money are the other schools (especially those that don't have hockey) willing to give up to add an affiliate member that doesn't do anything to move the needle for the conference as a whole, thus adding value to the TV contract? Like I've stated from the beginning, the guarantee of a revenue share and guaranteed future affiliation regardless of other circumstances are the two things that have to make sense for UND to consider the deal. If those two things are in place, then it makes sense from UND's point of view. Without both of them, I don't see it making sense.

So you are stating that if UND is offered a spot in the B1G with no financial incentives (which is what Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins get) and no guarantee of continued affiliation down the road (say if another B1G starts hockey), they still wouldn't turn it down? Seems like it would be an absolute train wreck of an idea to me. In that kind of scenario, UND is paying a bunch of money to give up all their leverage just to say they get to sit at the cool kids table without a permanent spot.

Financial sense as in what kind of cut does UND get of B1G revenues along with the obvious exit fee. You think Fox Sports is going to start bidding on UND's contracts? Are they going to offer the sports wide coverage along with all the extras that Midco does? How exactly is losing UMD or Omaha (in the odd chance the B1G is actually truly considering them) some sort of huge financial risk when they would be replaced by Mankato in a heartbeat or ASU if they ever get their arena figured out? The REA is at or near sellout regardless of the opponent and neither of the schools bring a huge contingent to the Final Five, which is dependent on UND making it every year or that they don't miss it multiple years in a row and eat up their contingency fund. UND doesn't need to accept an offer on the B1G's terms. UND and the NCHC will be just fine even if they were to lose UMD or Omaha.

That's a pretty blanket statement. UND won't accept it "just because", the offer would have to make financial sense and come with protective guarantees for UND, both of which would require B1G presidents to give ground to a University they see as at least a step below them.

My understanding is that there was supposed to be a secondary logo designed with the primary one. Whatever it was SME came up with got completely shelved because no one liked it. I don't know where they are in the process of coming up with something new but if I had to guess, they probably decided to let the primary one settle in and they will release some sort of secondary one after the interlocking ND is retired. I can't imagine being anything even close to the Stengl design, it will be something that compliments the primary logo, not something that is completely different.

So you're saying UND's defense is already set up to do well in the MVFC? UND's defensive backfield managed just fine last year being tied for second in the nation in interceptions despite their All-American safety missing a couple games.

Like the B1G, the NCHC doesn't want to be at an odd number. Mankato needed ASU to get added for them to have a chance. ASU still remains the key, they just need to get their arena situation straightened out. The B1G was looking just as hard at ASU as the NCHC was and both delayed making any decision for the same reason.

He did. And the article is behind a paywall. Very professional. But since he did: The like-minded institution thing is huge, much bigger than the guy give credence to, though he does admit that it is an uphill battle. I'm also having a hard time buying UNO and UMD as back-ups. I'll agree with the B1G not wanting to stay at 7. I still say ASU (the second they get their arena figured out) is more likely. UND was not "taken aback" when the NCHC looked at ASU. That whole paragraph is full of inaccuracies. They were fully aware of the plusses and minuses of ASU, as is everyone else.

This would be my top choice out of places they haven't been if it was possible. The Smoothie King Center was equipped to make ice 15 years ago when an ECHL team played there, but I can't find anything on whether the equipment is still installed or not, particularly after Hurricane Katrina. It doesn't look like its hosted any events with ice any time recently so I'm guessing it probably isn't anymore. University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena might have ice making capabilities since it has hosted some Disney on Ice events. Seating capacity is right around 9,000.

You're assuming that the B1G hockey makes money, which I find hard to believe at this point. The revenue they would want/need to share in would be the conference revenue and that would require the rest of the B1G members to OK it, including those that don't play hockey. Plausible? Sure, but again, would have to be worthwhile and come with some protections. UND already has a TV deal with Midco, I don't see that changing. That song and dance has been used forever and hasn't led to a single OOC game against Miami, Western Michigan, Denver or Omaha in any sports. At best, UND would get offered a chance to play at some B1G locations in those sports, which they already do (with the exception of Iowa traveling here in WBB this season). And you're saying that UMD or Omaha would be invited if UND turns it down? I don't see the other B1G schools excited to share the "B1G prestige" with those schools (and I include UND in that). Arizona State has a better chance than anything mentioned here but they can't get their arena situation figured out. I don't doubt the B1G is exploring options and I'll have no issue being the first to admit I was wrong if it happens but I guess I'm not buying what you're selling.

The financial incentives and guarantees would have to make it more than worthwhile, especially considering the buyout from the NCHC is something like $1.1 million. The only exceptions the B1G has made for affiliate members are Johns Hopkins lacrosse and Notre Dame hockey. As much as I like UND, they are nowhere in the same class as either of those schools.

It is basically semantics at this point. The issue most are taking here is with the comment that the hire is a "grand slam". If the original comment would have been something along the lines of "it was a good hire of a guy that has a lot of experience", I don't think there would have been much issue with it. I'll stand by my original comment, he was on Klieman's radar because of their past relationship, not because he has had a ton of success.

McFeely changes his stances depending on which way the wind blows and which view will get him more clicks. He's been pretty solidly behind NDSU since moving back to the Forum. Case in point, his response to SFI that he doesn't necessarily think that athletics should take on the same cuts as academics with the current budget cuts.

Venues might be a little smaller but in terms of attendance, UND falls squarely in the middle in both leagues. Side note - Looks like with 2 home games to go, basketball attendance is over 200/game (about 11%) higher than compared to last year. Guessing it will push slightly higher, I'd expect a decent turnout for Sac St and a big one for senior day against PSU.

Pretty sure Polasek was OC for 3 years in Fargo, giving him 3 years at the FCS level. Regardless, I'm not sure how excited I'd be about trading Polasek's WI ties for a guy who didn't bring in a single recruit from his main recruiting area the last two classes. Glad you can be excited about it and I'm not saying his resume is bad, I'm saying calling it a grand slam is a huge stretch. I'm sure their will be people calling for his head after the second game of the season, because lets be honest, they could pick someone out of the tailgating lot to come up with the offensive game plan against MVSU.

If you are talking about comparing Polasek vs. Messingham when they were each hired at NDSU, that is a different argument than replacing Polasek as he is right now with Messingham. Again, nothing in the results from his previous teams screams grand slam. His tie to Klieman was the main reason behind the hire, not his past success. He may very well turn out just fine but calling it a grand slam is really stretching it. Related to recruiting, Montana State signed a total of zero recruits from Texas the last two classes (Messingham joined the staff in December 2015). Based on that, I'm not sure how you think NDSU will start pulling players out of there, though I for one really hope they start focusing resources on Texas. Polasek leaving also weakens NDSU's presence in Wisconsin, which is a bonus for UND.

Based on what? I don't see anything in his resume that screams that.

If they are so far along in planning, why the big secret? Obviously things aren't set in stone until the final budget numbers are presented (and even then there is a lot of room for changes) but I think it is more than fair for people to be curious about what the "priorities" in Fargo are, especially after Bresciani stated that cuts won't be across the board, especially considering the amount of cuts coming. Because of how they handled the last round, they will actually have to make some real cuts this time around and all we know so far is that they've offered some early retirements and that it will have a minimal effect on athletics.

I didn't say they didn't have some sort of plan, I said I don't think they are further along than people think (which was your claim). The comments from the article that ran sure make it seem like nothing is very concrete at this point and the fact that nothing outside of some buyouts and early retirement having been made public is telling, especially since some areas are apparently going to take a much bigger haircut than others. Weird how that comes out right after an article about how the athletic department likely won't see much in terms of negative effects from budget cuts.

Here's the difference: I or most here won't argue they screwed that up (even though two sports had previously been chopped along with numerous other real cuts). Not a chance FargoU fanboys would dare be critical of the hard pass NDSU took on anything resembling a meaningful cut. I mean that article today sure reinforced the narrative that they were further along than people think.

I'd rather have cuts made than kicking the can down the road. You eventually have to pay the piper.

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and move on. I'd also say that 11/10/5 is a good game by most standards.

Do you have anything that verifies the rights are the only cut the HoF gets? The FAQ for the game states it is used to generate revenues but didn't expand on anything beyond that.

Are you sure that UND would have been the one to get all those profits? The REA purchased the rights for the game and the game itself is used to generate revenue for the US Hockey Hall of Fame. I think you are overestimating how much extra revenue would have been generated for UND directly. And a counterpoint to your last comment, what if the game flopped? There were people outside of UND who actually work in the industry who worked with them on this. The decision was made to go for a packed house and know what they were getting vs. rolling the dice and hoping for the best. Working with the people and info they had, they made what they thought was the best call. Hindsight is obviously 20/20 and I would love to have more tickets but that ship has sailed at this point.

I'm not as worried about the talent as I am the leadership Q brings to the table. That will be the toughest thing to replace.