I was referring more to the public perception risk taken by Minot by adding men's and women's hockey during a budget crunch, especially when their current sports aren't competitively funded.
Yep, MNSCU institutions have always come second to the University of Minnesota system (UM, Duluth, Crookston, Rochester, Morris) when it comes to state funding.
It appears the B1G isn't interested in UND. If they are, it's likely because UND is college hockey royalty. Mankato and Bemidji are far from hockey royalty deserving of a pass for their academic and financial shortcomings.
They said it's 10-20 years out, so I'd hold off on the back-pats for a bit.
On another note, could this be retribution from Shirley, trying to take a bite out of UND's market? (I'm sure it's not, but the timing is interesting to me)