WeAreNorthDakota

Last year's Thursday night opener had just over 8800. I imagine there will be a slight bump so 9000 is probably a good guess.

Not sure how much to read into this but Schleusner tweeted that it looks like the schedule's done through 2020. If that's the case and not just an exaggeration we may be in for a few more announcements in the coming weeks.

I'd keep an eye on UNDSports.com for announcements on when they'll be for sale. Pretty sure there was something on the main page last time they were available.

Really excited for that first weekend of UND sports. Football season kicks off Thursday then SDSU, A&M, and Iowa State all come to town for volleyball. Can't Wait.

This. I was already in Fargo and could barely make it over to the game. Almost no out of town travel was possible that day. Just some bad luck.

Highly unlikely.

Buy. That'll be the first time we crack 10,000 in quite some time. The Potato Bowl is always a well attended game and having a familiar opponent should help. Plus, season ticket sales are trending up from last year. Hopefully the boys show us some fireworks against Valpo and we can build some buzz in the week leading up to the game. Buy or sell: Someone who doesn't play wide receiver makes 1st team All-Big Sky

For the big schools, the revenue from ticket sales at a home game far outweighs what they pay us to come. They also pay us significantly less than they would have to pay even the lower level FBS teams. Just look at how much App is getting from Michigan for round 2. Far more than the first time now that they're FBS. Plus, a win over an FCS counts towards bowl eligibility.

I don't think that's necessarily the case. Bohl went 6-5 without a bad loss but then followed it up with a pretty awful 3-8 season that included a non-competitive FBS game, giving up 48 to a sub-.500 Sam Houston team, and 2-touchdown losses to your biggest rivals in back to back weeks. I know Bohl had a good amount of equity built up from the Great West days but those are two pretty bad seasons in NDSU's first two years in the Valley. But then he followed that up with a deep playoff run with a freshman quarterback. Show me a Bison fan who saw that coming and I'll show you a liar. I'm not yet 100% sold on Muss but I've seen enough good things to at least give him another year in the Big Sky. If we don't see an improvement this year I'll start hearing arguments for a coaching change but I'm not ready to do that just yet. Plus, I think Kotelnicki will be a big improvement as DC. I don't think Mannasau was a great defensive mind and lacked aggressiveness and fire. I think Kotelnicki changes that and we see a big step forward for the defense this year.

Direct flight to Salt Lake City from Fargo for the Utah game then a nice train trip out to Seattle. Props to everyone in the athletic department involved in getting these games set up. Absolutely love the FBS teams on the schedule for the next 5 years!

That being said, Izzo tweeted Air Force as his prediction. I'd be just fine with that as I have some family in Colorado Springs and they, like Utah have an outdoor stadium with a kick ass view. I'd have no problem with WMU or Miami though and if by some miracle its Minnesota, Nebraska, or Wisconsin I'd be super excited.

Have there been any hockey-connection scheduling in any sport? Seems like we always bring that up but we haven't seen a basketball game with Denver or football with any hockey opponents. I feel like the hockey connection is just something we as fans make up in our heads.

Hell yeah! I love that addition to the schedule! Can it be 2017 right now?

I agree. He's a talented kid and hopefully the move gives him a chance to make an impact as opposed to being buried on the WR depth chart.

First time season ticket holder here. Can't wait for the season to start!

Yup, my bad. Meant Ivery.

McGill's been moved to DB.

Can't have that mentality no matter how good or deep a position group is. We'll lose Hardin and Townsend after next year and who knows if we lose someone due to unforeseen circumstances. Ignoring a position group is an easy way to go from a position of strength to a weakness in a hurry. I'd be worried if there isn't at least one receiver in the next class.

If you asked me to put money on our record I'd say 6-5 but the optimistic homer in me sees 7-4 or 8-3 as possibilities. I'd like our chances against SDSU better if we were still their season opener because, like Geaux said, they'll be a little inexperienced on defense right off the bat but our defense will have to be night and day better than last year for us to have any chance of containing Zenner. As far as the Big Sky standings go, I think we'll be 5th or 6th. I base that mostly on the fact that we'll get Montana as a non-con. If that were a conference game it would be a big swing game as far as our position in the standings go but I think we'll go 5-3 in our conference games and if we can knock of either SDSU or Montana we'll be right in the middle of that playoff hunt.

I don't think that's the case at all. Sure we've got 7 home games but we have to play the consensus top 4 teams in the conference along with a very good team in SDSU. To go 7-4 we'd have to knock off 2 of them assuming we have a letdown on the road somewhere along the way. With no QB experience and two new coordinators we'll probably take our lumps early and have a dogfight to get to playoff contention.

I might be wrong but I believe they're still eligible for the playoffs but only as an at large, similar to ODU last year.

Way too early to pick out realistic possibilities. At this level there's too much reliance on whether or not the big boys come calling. Hopefully we're in touch early and often with a lot of guys so we're top of mind if the big offers don't come.

Why jump on it? To get beat by 70? I'd rather play the types of FBS games we have been playing and will be playing over the next few years. Still get a nice paycheck and we'll eventually get over the hump and knock one of these teams off. A lot of posters here like to rip on the bison posters about their cupcake FBS scheduling but I'd be very happy to copy their scheduling formula when it comes to FBS games.

The Thursday games have been some of the highest attended by students actually. It's the first two weeks of school so there's not much of a homework load yet.

I honestly didn't know myspace still existed.