zonadub

I'l take a stab at it: (and yes, I know this can never happen) Northern Division North Dakota North Dakota State Montana Montana State Idaho Idaho State Southern Division South Dakota South Dakota State Minnesota Wisconsin Iowa Wyoming You could go east/west and substitute Utah or Utah State for Iowa, but then UND would be in NCC2 plus Minny & Sconny. all state flagship schools. 6 teams per division with a conference championship game. torn on FBS vs FCS, because I like the idea of playing for a national championship. included Minnesota and Wisconsin because of the hockey rivalries (would have included Denver instead of Iowa if they had football). A nod to geographic alignment. (my original thought was the 9 teams from the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho & Wyoming but why stop there? at the present time, conferences are getting bigger and 9 is not enough) NDSU trolls will rip this, but why not 'play' during the summer while we wait for Boise to make up their minds so Idaho knows where they are headed?

Its summer and college sports news is mostly about conference realignment. So, in the words of WOPR, Shall we play a game?... If you were the next Jim Delaney, Larry Scott, Doug Fullerton and were a college football conference commissioner, who would you invite to UND's conference? Would it be FBS or FCS or even D-II? How many schools would you want? enough to have a league championship game? Would you want to recreate the old NCC? Would you want a Big Sky footprint? Would you be more eastern, like the MVFC? A blend? Would you want Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, or other BCS level schools? Put on your commissioner's hat and build.

could the WAC pull a Big East in reverse? The WAC, an Eastern FBS Conference?

I know we are past the point where we are fighting to save the name and the PC zealots have had their way with us. But while looking for the ad referred to in this thread, I ran across this Williams & Ree bit on youtube: Fighting Sioux "...apparently some sensitive white people are that way."

Actually, not very surprising when you really think about it. The conferences would love to exclude everyone else. It will also give the B1G or the ACC (or the Big 12 if they are one of the survivors) leverage to force Notre Dame to join a conference. If this happened, the Big Sky, MVFC and CAA could end up on the same level as the Mountain West and the Big East.

But what does ballet have to do with any of this?

The UND schedule in the inagural Big Sky season is brutal. Conference games against Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Montana & Montana State and non-conference against Portland. That is every team that finished in the top half of the Big Sky last year (with a nod to Poly for their GWFC co-championship). I applaud the enthusiasm from some of you, but the Sioux schedule is probably the toughest in the conference next year.

While we may debate the ups and downs of FBS football, UND does not come up often in other (outside) board conversations as a possibility for moving up. This was on the Idaho Vandals board yesterday:

A few observations and questions: The Big Sky has definitely turned into a blessing for the UND athletic department. When the dust settles, the Summit will still be a transitional conference and UND would still be looking for a permanent home if the Big Sky had not stepped up and offered UND a conference home last year. With Oral Roberts gone and Oakland and/or IUPUI looking like they may be on the way out it is reassuring that the Big Sky is not losing members. It is sad to see the demise of such a storied conference as the WAC. Looks like the Mountain West is going to keep Idaho and New Mexico State hanging until Boise and San Diego see the light that joining the Big East will not help their programs in the long run. When Boise & San Diego decide not to leave the MWC, Idaho and New Mexico State will really be stuck. Will they be willing to join the Big Sky? Will NMSU be interested or will the Sun Belt invite them? Idaho would make it a nice even number at 12/14 but NMSU would again tip the numbers into an uneven count. If that happens, will the Fighting Sioux nickname problem come back to haunt UND? The Big Sky could also add Denver and Seattle as Olympic sports members and make it 14 teams in all sports. Sixteen teams is a bit unwieldy, but if both Idaho and New Mexico State joined the Big Sky, would someone else step in as a travel partner for UND? Yeah, talking about NDSU; they seem happy with their Summit/MVFC arrangement, but the Summit is having issues and the Missouri Valley (non-football) Conference appears to be as stable as the Big Sky and does not seem predisposed to adding any of the Dakota schools at the present time. The South Dakota schools are definitely closer geographically, but NDSU's national recognition would probably be more highly desired as a full MVC member. I do not claim to have any knowledge of the inner workings of the inner circle of Missouri Valley Conference presidents circle, but in the face of what is happening, maybe NDSU would be interested in joining the Big Sky... Which gets to these questions: With the present situation in the WAC, if Idaho ends up being the last remaining football member, could they add several FCS teams, such as UND, NDSU, Montana, MSU, Idaho State, etc and get a short term waiver of the FBS attendance rules and give the schools a few years to build up to FBS levels of scholarships, Title 9, etc? Would the NCAA continue to work with a 50 year old conference to give it a lifeline? I understand that the WAC is not on anyone's list of preferred conferences at the moment, but with the right vision and NCAA waivers, could it be saved as a football conference?

but will Detroit accept Oakland?

prefer it would be Flickertails in a great conference like the Big Sky than Fighting Sioux in independent quicksand. go Prairie Dawgs!

how about a countdown clock? to the first Big Sky conference games? first conference game in any sport? first conference football game? ... etc maybe even a countdown to the first NCHC game?

Really do not think that the NCAA would expand the sanctions to all NCAA institutions in the state, like NORTH DAKOTA STATE University, but... when we think about the doors of all the NORTH DAKOTA STATE Highway Patrol cars and the NORTH DAKOTA STATE Highway signs and then, to top it all off, we refuse to change the name of the state and continue to insist that we live in a state named after the DAKOTA indians... these depictions of an indian profile logo are certainly more widely sanctioned around the state of North DAKOTA by the state government than a single flag in a state veteran's cemetery. Oh, and one more thing, remember that people (football poll voters, for example) keep getting the two schools confused with each other.

Everyone knew it was an uphill battle to win again this weekend at the X. UND has been on the road and played 5 games in 10 days with a shorthanded squad. The gophers have been home every night for about a month and only played 3 games in the last 2 weeks. The Sioux put up a valiant fight and played their hearts out this season, but it was a long road and no easy games. This team was given up for dead 3 weeks into the conference schedule, and look where they ended up! Kudos to Coach Hakstol, Captain Lammy and the rest of the team and coaches for a very entertaining hockey season.

Look for UND to even the season series 3-3

Wow! Denver, Michigan State, Miami & Michigan all lose in the first round! Tough day for the big(ger) name teams.

yep, Cornell keeps this up... 0 for the night

Can't imagine that a well thought-out and well written first post like yours would upset many here. Your sentiments are reflected in many, many posts. We want to keep the name, but the NCAA is making it impossible to keep it without huge risks. Life will go on. Many of us will always think of UND's athletic teams as the Sioux, no matter what the new name ends up being. We also still have hope that the Spirit Lake lawsuit will have the right outcome (against insurmountable odds). Welcome, Tex.

Probably what they want. Nondescript. Not controversial.

Weren't they already playing in the NFL by the time the sanctions were imposed? Who of that level has Alcorn State recruited since they were placed on sanctions?

Thank you, 82SiouxGuy. to you, Fetch, I was not good enough to play collegiately in D-II, but I tried. so I sure could not compete on a D-I level. I am pretty confident these young men and women have spent many years training to get an opportunity to earn a national championship ring. I am in no position to ask them to throw it away for a nickname. You are still avoiding the question, Fetch. what is your investment into the skills it takes to compete collegiately in athletics that you would be so willing to give up an opportunity to win a national championship? With that... back to our regular programming.

No, the question is: what is your investment into the skills it takes to compete at a DI collegiate athletic level. Not: are you willing to not fly a flag with a logo for a weekend or two (which we all know you are, and by the way, since you are a fan, you can still display the logo). Have you put the blood sweat and tears it takes to get to a national stage with your athletic ability to say that it is worth giving up what may be your only chance to win a national championship?

Bison or not, he speaks the truth. don't trust the NCAA not to use the transition to DI as leverage.

easy for you to say. what is your investment into skating, being tackled, shooting a ball thru a hoop that you are so willing to give up?

... or Barak?