IrishSiouxFan

I would think being independent would be a worst case scenario, especially for a school just starting out. Scheduling would be a nightmare, not to mention the inability of selling recruits on the potential for playing for a conference championship for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. I think if they do make the jump it will be with the assurance that either the NCHC or WCHA have a spot for them. I would be fine with WMU and Bowling Green taking off from their conferences to start something new. But I just don't see Miami following suit. I think they and their fans like the competition level in the NCHC and are selling enough tickets to justify the expense, leaving for a watered down CCHA would hurt their program. And even though they arent a powerhouse I wouldn't mind if the NCHC made another play for Air Force. They may not have as nice of facilities as the other members of the conference but their fan base could mean increased revenue for NCHC TV.

I haven't hard anything about the possibility of a new CCHA, link? I think Miami would stay but I wouldn't at all be sad to watch Western Mich. depart. I'm honestly not sure what they bring to the table.

Slightly off the topic, but does anyone have an idea of what the NCHC TV subscription figures are looking like this season?

I'm not entirely sure that the NCHC hasn't already reached out to ASU. The Commish was pretty tight lipped about it last night, but he also didn't deny it. ASU fans would also bring lots of new subscribers to the NCHC TV, that would be extremely profitable. I think it's very plausible that a school the size of ASU could muster up the money to build a program. I would think they would score the majority of the better players out of California.

I was surprised to hear during the second period intermission last night that ASU is considering starting a D1 hockey program. Their AD thinks they'll need bout $40 million to start one up and rumor is that they may have some big donors interested in getting it started. What do you guys think about this? Is it good for college hockey? What conference would they join if they did make the jump? http://www.houseofsparky.com/2014/7/14/5900007/asu-hockey-ncaa-ray-anderson-title-ix

The ribs at Space Alien were pretty good before it closed. I get sick every time I eat the ribs at Speedway.

I wonder if it's a Nuelion issue?

Same here.

I thought that might be the case, but wasn't sure if that was possible or not. Thanks for clearing that up.

Wow! That might be a deal breaker for me. I was wanting to stream it from my touch to my apple tv.

There are currently 8 teams in college athletics associated with that name. I think we should pick a name that no one else is using. That was one of the greatest things about being the Sioux, we were the only ones.

Anybody wanna play the guessing game as to how many subscribers NCHCtv will have? Im going to be an optimist and say 250,000. Will the schools split the profit equally, or will it be broken down by which schools had the most subscribers? Also, anybody know anything about what's up with DU? I realize they have some type of contract restricting home games being broadcasted, but any idea when that BS expires? I don't know about you guys, but Im stoked that Im getting twice as much Sioux hockey to watch this year!

It's hard to admit that I'm not jealous. Just another reminder of what an utter embarrassment and disappointment our football program is. Im just hoping our hockey team is in beast mode this season to help take the sting out of NDSU's second consecutive Game Day.

Of course this guy is being satirical in his editorial. But you have to admit that part of his references to the FCS being inferior were probably not part of the act nor the thinking of many of audience. Check out his response to the aftermath of the Bison win over the Cyclones if you hadn't already. http://whotv.com/2014/08/31/whats-bugging-andy-bison-beat-iowa-state/

Has anybody else seen this clown yet??? What a D_Bag. I'm as far from a Bison fan as one can get but I'm tempted to root for NDSU against Iowa State after what this guy said. http://965thefox.com/iowa-sports-reporter-slams-north-dakota-and-ndsu-in-every-possible-way-video/

Their stadium capacity (12,000) is pretty embarrassing, even when they sell out.

On the bright side, maybe Sweeney can get a job covering the UND hockey games for Midco!

Awesome. I guess we can expect a Bison heavy sportscast every day This really sucks!

Could be he's studying for finals and is enjoying some time off after a busy season. To be honest I'm not sure what the advantage to him leaving is? If he stays back another year he'll have more opportunity to not only develop into a key leadership role that will be very beneficial to him as a pro player later on. Not to mention putting on some much needed muscle. If we don't hear anything by the end of May I would start becoming concerned about it. But until then I wouldn't sweat it, were going to have a very good team next year regardless!

Hmm..... those are impressive stats. But we have a very young and promising team that's going to develop nicely over the off season. Plus we shouldn't have any players leaving for the professional ranks. I think this year's NCAA tournament was just what the younger guys needed to really believe in what they are capable of. I predict next year we will be hanging a few banners up in the Ralph!

Wow! If they riot like this over little ole UND just imagine all of the chaos that ensues whenever they play the mighty Bison

But who would we get if he did? Phil Jackson? Wishful thinking I know

Unfortunately NDSU doesn't have a respectable media market, and a conference like the MAC who's schools run on a very tight budget is definitely going to take into consideration the additional travel expenses. The MWC is most likely looking to add schools in Texas or possibly getting BYU back before looking at NDSU. Again, what NDSU accomplished this year was admirable, but I'm not sure it's enough to entice the MAC or MWC to roll out the red carpet. If you really want to go FBS, best bet is to find teams in your region who want the same thing and can afford to facilitate it.

My hat goes off to NDSU, they had a huge year in terms of national media attention and athletic achievement. But it just doesn't make since for struggling FBS conferences to take on that kind of additional travel expenses in all sports to add NDSU. Not that the Bison wouldn't be competitive in either the MAC, MWC, or CUSA, it just wouldn't make sense from a financial standpoint. What we should really be doing is trying to formulate a new FBS conference with the state flagship institutions in our region. UND, NDSU, USD, SDSU, MT, MT state, UI, ISU, and throw in Denver and Omaha basketball. A conference like that has a lot more potential to grow than the current state of the MAC, MWC, or CUSA.

Oh no! I hope it's serious