UND-FB-FAN

It all comes down to UND's season at that point. If UND underperforms in prior games, the EWU game will have an inappropriately poor crowd due to deer season opener.

Of course. Needs to be done.

!@#$ All the games got tougher now. !@#$ Redshirt left yet for Harris fortunately. Next man up; team needs to rally around Deion and still strive for Frisco. Crazier things have happened. Go Hawks

Frisco or bust. NOTHING wrong with confidence and high expectations. That should be/now is the standard for UND football. Bubba, his staff, and the student-athletes have done a tremendous job over the past three plus years. Make 2017 a special, special year. Work hard and get it done. The respect for UND football observed today from the Big Sky Conference was earned the right way, as we all remember the Conference thinking the exact opposite of UND only a year or two ago. UND now needs to earn national respect, and Bubba and his program need to go about that the same way. I have confidence that UND football under Bubba will reach the pinnacle sooner rather than later. Go UND Fighting Hawks

Winning brings forth accolades. UND is the reigning Big Sky Conference champion and that is worth something. On to bigger and better things this season. Go Fighting Hawks!

Alerus Center definitely half-assed it for a long time ... the gameday atmosphere committee and new Alerus Center management seems to be making a difference so far, though (consider new sound system).

I provided a few posts on this within this thread a while back. I strongly agree this should be looked into.

Big thing that UND marketing/gameday staff needs to be aware of too is that these highlights should not be limited to only the opening intro video. Its perfectly okay and actually beneficial to play highlights at halftime or during quarter breaks to get the fans into the game. Many universities do this around the country. Biggest example would be previous game highlights so average fans are familiar with what the team has been doing/accomplishing in recent weeks ...

I completely agree. Need all those big moments from over the years to make up 50% of video with the other 50% coming from all the great 2016 highlights. The most recent 2016 team was very close and there's no use to remove fans too far from where Bubba has currently got this team! Tradition and direction both need to be included! Plenty of pick 6s and long runs from last year.

Montana will definitely present a challenge based on their homefield advantage. With that said, UND needs to be able to run the ball and get solid QB play from their senior QB; if they get that, UND should be able to pull out a hard fought game in Missoula. Always tough to win there.

UND can pull the upset vs Utah if they protect the football and ultimately win the turnover battle. UND will have more experience than Utah at some key positions. With all that said, it comes down to whether or not UND's players can play composed under the pressure of a PAC-12 venue. If so, UND has the talent to pull the upset. One game at a time and UND needs to focus on Utah for now.

Spectacular - good work Alerus Center. Fighting Hawks football will be quite the event this fall Go Hawks

Good. They best brainstorm and improve gameday. There is a lot of hype building around Grand Forks for 2017 UND football (evidenced by ticket sales), so UND best put on a show (including tailgating and pre-game).

He's talented so that's reason enough if there's even slight mutual interest.

Man, I strongly dislike NDSU. Thank President Kennedy for advocating and getting UND into the MVFC; only way UND can fix this run of dominance by NDSU (both on-the-field and off-the-field with recruiting) is by beating them head-to-head. UND will now have that opportunity (albeit in a couple years) to consistently best the Ag school head-to-head. Until people, including local recruits, see UND cares about football and can outduel NDSU on the field, the scale will continue to tip in the Ag school's favor. Go Hawks

Yes, it is strange. I hope Mr. Jones and his staff and players can continue to perform at the level (top of the conference) now expected of them.

Everyone acts like UND should be held to a special standard relative to other Big Sky Conference and Summit Conference basketball programs. Would those other programs delay a men's basketball coach resigning like this? Very rarely, if ever. Unless more information comes out, UND has handled this resigning of a DI basketball coach in a relatively embarrassing fashion. The athletic department could use a rehaul and a new (younger) mind at the top would be a nice place to start.

This is most certainly the truth. Unless an INDOOR football stadium gets built in Grand Forks, UND football is best situated where they currently are within the Alerus Center.

Lack of a specific deal with Adidas that includes complete merchandise availability. That is, UND football has only a program-specific deal in place with Adidas, not a department-wide deal; therefore, the options - including the retail options for fans - are limited. A department-wide apparel deal (as mentioned here: http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/4285706-und-focusing-athletic-department-wide-apparel-deal) would most certainly change the current limitations by allowing all UND apparel to be better available for UND fans. How would this be accomplished? Through athletic department consistency with a single athletic apparel corporation, such as Adidas, Nike, or Under Armour. This is one of the reasons the pending deal is significant and must get done.

Nice to see. Good choice, Mr. Slater. Hope to see many more commitments real soon. Go Hawks

UND has already hosted and crushed Valparaiso (2013), so your attempt at criticism is a bit tardy being this article existed then. Nice try, though.

I wish the best for Bolinske, but I could see before he even stepped foot on campus that he wasn't going to make it as a DI quarterback for UND (see my comments in the recruiting thread on here - which I got plenty of flak for via the "experts"). The two transfer QBs that UND has now brought in allows for improvement at the QB position, but UND definitely needs to better emphasize high school DI-caliber QBs in the recruiting process. This needs to start with the 2018 recruiting class.

From an athletics quality standpoint, Nike and Under Armour are far and away the top two brands. That includes consideration for the clothing/gear that the fans can purchase, so it would be wise for the fans to hope for one of those two brands, also. This is evidenced by the fact that Adidas has lost quite a few university deals lately as universities have signed new deals with Nike and Under Armour instead (e.g., Wisconsin, Michigan, Norte Dame, UCLA). With all this said, Adidas is likely to be the highest bidder and, with that, they'll get the nod. I'm ultimately fine with any of the three as UND athletics and their supporters just deserve a consistent identity. Final comment: Hennessy needs to get his eyes checked.

Department over individual programs. UND MIH and their Reebok agreement may be in jeorpary, although doubtful. Adidas is most likely going to be the highest bidder, but who knows what exactly will happen with the request for proprosol.

This pending deal, whenever its finalized, will be good for the athletic department. In fact, it should've been done years ago. Look around the DI collegiate athletics landscape and you'll quickly realize a department-wide athletic deal is hands-down the best option moving forward. I commend President Kennedy and AD Brian Faison on getting this going - nice work! As referenced in Miller's article, the way UND currently operates with athletic apparel (and that includes what the fans can purchase and wear!) is outdated and DII in format.