UND-FB-FAN

That was a fun game to be at.

As has NDSU and its fans; several NDSU faithful that I know personally have wanted this game for sometime now. You just need to stop lying to yourself because it doesn't prove anything. The T-shirt represents a student interest in the game/rivalry; that is, an interest from the same students that NDSU fans like yourself said would grow away from the rivalry and not be interested in it. It's looks like that is - obviously - false. NDSU fans are interested; this is the highlight regular season game for both UND and NDSU in 2015.

http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=210111998 Graduated UND CB Alex Tilman - who transferred from the University of Houston - has signed a deal with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League. Congrats to Alex, as another ex-UND football player joins the CFL ranks! In regards to transfers, Alex Tillman is the perfect example as to why its OK for Bubba and his staff to go after FBS transfers. If done in careful and thorough fashion, FBS transfers can drastically affect an FCS football team for the better.

It's gonna be a huge game because of the tailgating and atmosphere. NDSU fans can bull$%!# all they want about how the dome won't fit anymore than last year, yada yada yada.... But the bottom line is that the atmosphere during the week leading up to the game and the tailgating outside the dome will be crazy. Its going to be WAY bigger than anything UNI or SDSU could produce, that's for sure. Then, all that is left is for Bubba and the boys to pull the upset.

It is a major factor, which is why I started this thread. UND needs to have more support for football and basketball, one way or another. UND's coaching salaries are mediocre at best when you look at the Big Sky Conference counterparts. In terms of football, UND thankfully got a really good coach at a home state discount, which is why the football program is moving forward. Still need to up salary for assistant coaches and potential contract extensions. Basketball, on the other hand, is nowhere where it needs to be. Low-end salaries just within the Big Sky Conference; need improved salaries which should then be given to a new coach.

Bubba's perennial expectation - which I agree with - is to win the Big Sky Conference. In doing so, UND may not win the conference, but they should at least finish second or third, which would result in a playoff bid. Basically, UND football should be a top 24 team every year and be in the playoffs every season. It's more than doable and it should be the expectation; thankfully, it is.

So then, if we want to not focus on the relatively insufficient finances for football and basketball, what is the reason why UND football does not have a top 3 salary pool in the Big Sky Conference (it's No. 4 I believe) and why is UND baketball stuck with a mediocre coach at best in Jones and not made important upgrades to the Betty? UND football is on the right path, I honestly believe it, but there's still no reason to now become complacent. Let's look at the facts: UND has yet to have a winning record as a member of the Big Sky Conference. There's no end to the potential coming up, but the winning still needs to be done. Finances need to be raised, and when hockey sucks up over $5.6 million per year, there's definitey some budget there that could be used on football uniform costs, HPC Phase II costs, and/or Betty Upgrades.

A lot of prospects have been offered lately. It's a part of the staff's plan to get these kids to the summer camps. The camps are very crucial to recruiting, as the staff gets to see the kids go through drills in person. 2016 has the potential to be a special class, and Bubba just keeps compiling what appear to be top BSC classes. Continual improvement is likely, so expect 2015 season to be a winning campaign.

okay.... So you basically just stated that UND basketball needs more support. Yes, this is true, but there's no use doing so until the coach for the program is a capable one. Jones is not. Now, finances for Betty upgrades should be raised immediately.

Two ways to realistically look at raising UND football's budget: 1) Lower the budget/expenses of UND hockey and allocate the savings to UND football and/or 2) Shutdown some programs (women's hockey, softball, etc.) and then allocate the savings to UND football. One of these things should happen. UND football needs more financial support.

If I add to this, it would be - as some posters pointed out - that the UND hockey operations revenue is under-reported. That is, the REA likely appropriates funds to the athletic department; however, with that said, I think that would still be listed under contributions. Bottom-line: even UND hockey is a losing money operation; however, student fees cover that up real quickly. It's a matter of "how much" do the programs lose relatively speaking. Currently,football loses the most, but winning and upping attendance would have an effect on that.

Per the quote from the article I included: "As a result, most colleges and universities rely on what the NCAA calls “allocated revenue.” This includes direct and indirect support from general funds, student fees, and government appropriations. In other words, most colleges subsidize their athletics programs, sometimes to startling degrees." What the REA offers would be known as "allocated revenue", and it wouldn't have to be reported as operations revenue.

This is where it gets tricky; athletic programs lose money, its just the way it is. Hockey loses money and so does football. Yes, football loses more than hockey, which is part of the reason the "revenue-generation" arguments from hockey-only supporters comes into play. But, the difference in coaching salaries/equipment/uniforms/recruiting dollars for UND football vs. UND hockey is $2 million; that's too much. If hockey lowered their expenditures down to just $5 million, they would theoretically give UND football an extra $600,000 which would be phenomenal for the football program. Lastly, the football team will bring in much more when winning. Tickets sales will go up if UND wins consistently, which will minimize the revenue-expense margin. You have to spend money to make money, and I think UND athletics could do a better job investing in UND football.

http://www.undsports.com/fls/13500/Athletic%20Dept/BusOps/FY%202014%20NCAA%20AUP.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=13500 NCAA Report Reporting Year (FY): 2014 Total Operating Revenues: Football ---> $571,570 Men's Basketball ----> $402,211 Men's Hockey------> $4,140,720 Total Operating Expenses: Football -----> $3,129,340 Men's Basketball -----> $ 1,085,943 Men's Hockey ----> $5,633,741 Excess of Revenue over Expenses: Football----> - $2,557,700 Men's Basketball ----> - $683,732 Men's Hockey -----> - $1,493,021 To summarize, look at expenses, which covers vital program quality indicators such as coaching salaries, recruiting costs, and equipment/uniform costs. UND hockey uses $2 million more than UND football. That is where the change needs to happen; too large of a discrepancy. Hockey can still be king at a $1 million difference. And if the annual loss of money surprises you, then read this: http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Myth-College-Sports-Are-a-Cash-Cow2.aspx Winning athletic programs may ultimately affect total university revenue by increasing enrollment numbers; thus, collegiate athletics are very much so thriving. Of course, it is limited to fan favorite sports; football and basketball. Grand Forks is the exception as it is a hockey town.

Yep. Football will get there, but still could use improvements; can't get complacent. If you're a football and basketball fan, as I am, UND has been embarrassed by NDSU recently. That needs to change with - as you said - better coaches in the area of basketball and better budget for equipment/facility improvements in the area of football. The HPC will be great for football, but the new coaching offices and meeting/film rooms of phase II are also a huge deal. UND needs to get that funded and built sooner rather than later, because then UND and Bubba will be in great position.

I agree with you. It's the reality of UND being a hockey school, in that they are limited in the amount of recognition they can receive. The hockey program is already maxed out, so the only way to improve UND athletics' support - which is needed, by the way - is to improve football and basketball.

UND dropped the ball on that one back then and I'm not going to defend their actions, other than hindsight is 20/20. Even NDSU and SDSU weren't entirely sure how successful they would be when making the jump up, regardless of how much you want to gloat now. UND's timing is not so much the issue as is the fact UND's administration with Fasion was/has been hesitant in giving enough funding to football and basketball and limiting hockey. NDSU didn't have the "hockey problem" to worry about when moving up, and by that I mean they didn't have to heavily fund a sport that wasn't football or basketball. UND still needs to work on improving the budget for football and basketball. Football had a bit of a budget bump when Bubba was hired, putting them at fourth in the Big Sky Conference, but basketball is still way behind. To say hockey doesn't factor into that is negligent; hockey absorbs a huge portion of the athletic department budget, but we know that isn't going away so UND just needs to raise more funds.

A plan that never seems to fail for ol' Jonsey...

It matches the jersey color and the color won't change as much as the old ones did with the reflections of the Alerus Center lighting. Nothing wrong with it.

No, it will likely be the main helmet, as the matte finish is a change to all helmets, I believe. Also, the new Adidas jerseys won't be like the green Nike jerseys they are replacing. In other words, the green Adidas jerseys won't drastically change color with sweat like the Nike jerseys did. Both the helmet and Adidas uniform change are an upgrade!

Yes, we understand UND is a hockey school, but that is not where this argument is based. Also, this is not an argument about revenue generation, because, again, we all know UND men's hockey will forever be the king in that category. Rather, when I created this thread, I was concerned about the support and attention given to non-hockey programs at UND. I am concerned about the dedication and ingenuity that the athletic department as a whole allocates towards UND football and basketball. Basically, I believe a large portion of the department is meant to focus on only hockey, per the direction of Brian Faison. Support of multiple programs, particularly the two most popular collegiate sports in the country, football and basketball, should be conducted by any athletic administration. Examples of regional FCS programs that are above average to good in more than one sport include NDSU, UNI, Montana, and South Dakota State. UND should be in that category too; that is, having at least two men's programs that are annually above average to good. Fortunately, It does appear that UND football will be that second program to UND hockey.

There's no question about it; UND should have made the move up with NDSU. Bit that's in the past, whereas the Faison/administration support issue is yet contemporary.

Exactly! You prove my point! If Faison was committed to UND football and basketball, he would make the necessary changes rather than sit on losing seasons. The argument can be made that Mussman should have been fired a year or two earlier; that is, if Faison had not extended Mussman for no established, confident reason at all. Also, why does Brian Jones still have his job then, if he is the core reason for UND MBB's mediocrity? All of this is because Faison values the hockey program, and all the other, lesser revenue-generating programs are on cruise control with very little thought or ingenuity involved from the top. Bubba is the best thing to happen to UND football in quite some time, mainly because he will lead the program with solid expectations and hard work, which ultimately will get UND football to where it should be (like I mentioned earlier; a team that consistently wins at the FCS level, like Montana State or Northern Iowa). Faison just seems indifferent on the whole football/basketball thing, which is discouraging.

My comments were not bitter towards the hockey program; not quite sure how you came to that conclusion. My issue, although minor, is with UND's administration, which emphasizes hockey to the point where they forget about football and basketball. Have you looked at the BSC rankings and records for UND? Have you looked at the attendance of UND football and basketball recently? They are not acceptable. I couldn't agree more that Bubba is the perfect head coach for UND and that the High Performance Center will help things in recruiting and preparation; however, that does not preclude the fact that Faison tends to overlook football and that is what bothers me. Here's to a great 2015 football season! Go UND!

Oregon is an extreme example; UND won't be doing that, that's for sure. However, we can't get too caught up in OUR opinions. The players and prospective recruits are the most important factor in the uniform debate. If they want sparkles and ribbons, give them sparkles and ribbons, especially if it results in top prospects committing and UND racking up wins.