jdub27

Easier to run through part of it through the operating budget when they are school owned and used for things that can be considered academic. Other parts aren't allocated directly to sports, they are in the general athletics budget. Not sure what you're trying to get at but the whole basis of this thread is off and has went further off the rails with people not having a clue how athletic budgets work but still trying to compare apples to baseball bats.

That capital portion was covered and they were amazing gifts and great assets for the benefit of UND. However that doesn't cover operations, maintenance and upgrades that need to be funded. It is also why I think it would be a bad idea for the REA/Betty to be turned over to UND (assuming they can come to terms on a more favorable operating agreement).

In the time or two I've heard the new coach speak about his expectations, he's made it clear he is looking for area kids that can compete. I doubt he's just saying that because it sounds good. He seems to know how to build a winner. Guessing it might take a while to build the local profile back up and also build some Midwest connections, but there is probably a good opportunity to play early at UND which could be helpful. Would still expect to see players from outside the area. Looks like FDU had a few players from Italy on their roster last year. Don't know what that area of the country is like for volleyball but guessing there is a lot of competition with the amount of schools out east.

What did he lie about? Read the usage agreement, UND isn't paying "nearly zero" for the athletic complexes. And they shouldn't, things don't magically run on no money. Again, it is all selective and creative accounting with no hard and fast guidelines, which is why it is tough to make a true comparison on things. Thanks for providing the info, I was guessing you had it. I haven't dug into numbers for a while but as you stated, there is a huge deviation in how different schools report different things. I like the work that Matt Brown does but he's also very clear on that point that the numbers are nowhere near perfect, but it is also the closest you can get to actually seeing anything (which is still a long ways from actually understanding what is going on since there is a lot of latitude in how things are counted and assigned). For the record, that one adjustment does put UND slightly behind NDSU and at the bottom. There would be a ton of adjustments to make in order to get a true comparison between the Dakota 4 schools. This was just a simple and obvious one with UND have an outlier expense the other 3 likely don't show as I would guess the other 3 assign their operating costs for the facilities they own to the general athletic budget instead of splitting it out by sport since they are multi-sport facilities. UND has a usage agreement with a 3rd party operator and a little bit more clear way to assign those expenses to specific sports (assuming they adjusted from how I think they did it a decade or so ago).

UND doesn't own the venue it plays in, unlike the other 3 Dakota schools. I don't have the most recent numbers, but guessing just removing that and UND falls to the bottom of the 4 or very near it once you look at Facilities Expenses. Also, these numbers are shaky at best for comparison's sake as each school can report as they see fit. Some schools break more stuff out and tie it to individual sport, some just bunch a lot of that stuff together.

Even if he doesn't fill up the stat sheet, he's a big body and gives Guga some rest, who seems to struggle when he has to play extended minutes. I think his return makes a difference though tough to say if it will be enough.

Prices were pretty much the same last weekend between the two. Not always the case but I was surprised. Not that long ago, GF was regularly cheaper than Fargo for a few months. One of the stations in Harwood pretty much drove down the whole areas prices for a few weeks earlier this winter. Not sure where they are sitting this week in comparison.

Can't imagine ISU would be in a hurry to trade the MVC for MAC basketball.

Illinois State is going to struggle to come up with $5 million for an NCAA, let alone whatever the MAC charges (though I could see them getting a healthy discount on what is being floated for Sac St.).

I think it is a possibility. I think that the top Big Sky/Summit(MVFC) teams are already in conversations on future landscape (see the new scheduling alliance for MBB that just came out). I don't know that what you're proposing would be well received under the current landscape (though I think it makes sense). The P4 needs everyone else to finish paying the share of the $2.8 billion NCAA lawsuit payments that they stuck them with before they are going to make their next move. However, once that happens, I think that is when you finally see the seismic shift that has been tossed around for quite a while and the P4 (or what's left of it) finally separate themselves. Can't remember exactly how that timeline would fit with the Grant of Rights for the MWC that would allow for the changes you mentioned. At that point, I could realistically see a separate second division and the top portion of the FCS combining with the G6. But that window is probably 6-8 years out. The P4 isn't dumb, they stuck all the lower level schools with a huge chunk of the settlement bill and are going to keep them around at least long enough to get that paid off.

Don't forget the PPP with the steam plant! Was a pretty big deal modernizing energy efficiency on campus. Not to mention Aerospace growth...

Love the grit this team has. Could do without falling behind and having a giant hole to have to dig out of....

Oil prices coming back up a bit helps out a little bit. Continental Resources saying they are stopping drilling (still TBD what that actually means) is a bad sign. As it relates to the funding model, I fully trust Armacost and his team have a good handle on having input in any changes to ensure UND remains in a strong spot.

And somehow UND can manage their budget and NDSU has to ask for 8 figure line-item relief from the state legislature. The next budget cycle is going to be interesting to watch...

The UND students voted to increase their fees to support it and have continued to support that decision. NDSU has tried to do the same thing twice and the athletic department fell on their face and showed up unprepared for their presentation to the Student Government because they thought they were going to get a rubber stamp. So don't frame it beyond what it is.

And the first head to head recruiting battle victory post Ndsu announcement goes to:

The language means nothing. They would be invited to apply for full membership with no promises of being accepted. UC-Davis has the exact same language when they joined for all sports outside of football. Their contract said if the league expanded football membership, they would be the first time invited to apply but had no guarantees. So either they weren't ready, the MWC didn't want them for football or they weren't willing to pay the ransom that NDST was. This doesn't mean that they wouldn't be accepted, however the language in the contract guarantees nothing.

Pretty sure UM and MSU are tied together unless they change something at the state legislative level to allow them to separate. More likely, Hauck got a big raise and a smaller headache (more coaching, less roster management/NIL).

UND is choosing to invest in the entire University instead of put all of it's eggs in one basket (non-P4 football). If you look at the continuing transformation on campus with facilities and buildings, student experience and what that has done with enrollment trends, UND is continuing to position itself correctly. Ndsu has went the route of showing that they are serious about non-P4 football and they can raise money for that. Obviously it got them to FBS faster but their academic side is still trending negatively, their budget has never totally been fixed and that's before likely upcoming budget cuts again this cycle. Their enrollment trended negatively during an unprecedented football run. Is joining a shell of the MWC really going to be the thing that fixes all that?

I don't, but my point was that he was absolutely dragging Sac St for what they were willing to do to get into a conference and then Ndsu turns around and pays an even higher price.

I'm not saying it won't pay off for them in the long run, but this is just an example of how big of a gamble this is when one of the biggest Ndsu homers out there ridicules Sac St's offer as being crazy and is still less than what Ndsu agreed to pay:

Seems like a whole lot of concern on what UND fans think about this. Makes it tough to buy the whole "we've moved on" charade... Half the comments are just trolling NDSU fans at this point and fishing is good. Some of the other ones sound like the outlandish things that have been tossed around by NDSU fans the last decade. But carry on and you do you.

Accurate. Difference is NDSU currently has the donors who are willing to funnel fistfuls of money directly into FBS football/athletics. Not sure the appetite quite there for UND for that right now. And honestly, if things break right, they may not need to be. NDSU did what they felt was necessary, which is outbidding the biggest loudmouth in the room (Sac St). Don't blame them for doing it given the position they were in, but again, the facts are that they will shortly have a new president, the previous president made their financial situation better but it is nowhere near fixed and the state is eyeing around 10% budget reductions next year. Not a lot of room for error. There is likely a scenario in the future where the landscape changes drastically and UND (plus other peer schools) end up where they need to be without paying 8 figures.

Seems like the exact message everyone except Sac St has been putting out for the last few years. The President and AD are having the correct conversations and they don't happen in public. I would expect nothing is imminent until it is, that's why you have the conversations. UND has an absolute top notch President. They also have no reason to get into an unnecessary bidding war in public. They are in a fine spot where they are for the immediate future. Focus on continued improvements, building up the University as a whole, building enrollment and making sure the financial house is in order for when the right opportunity arises. No need to completely get get taken to the cleaners and have the people who robbed you saying you've always been their top mark choice.

Not discounting what you're saying but some additional clarity is that over 7 figures of that is coming from their gaming, not donors. Still room to make up on UND's part though.