updm002

In the omaha paper our star columnist discussed how UND is studying going D1 and he predicted that UND is probably gone and may be followed by usd. That will force uno to do something. Tom Shatel is too big time to come to much UNO stuff but he knows everybody around here who has inside info. So the odds are that he is getting this from good sources. It will be interesting to see what happens but I tend to think UNO's short term future is in the Miaa and longer term we may go d1 when we get more funding in place.

About 10 years ago I called Behrns radio show and asked him if playing UND provided more motivation to him since I assume he was terminated from position there. The normal jovial Behrns got defensive and basically wouldn't really acknowledge that he got fired. I didn't know if he got fired but just figured he did bc of the progressively worse record he had there over five years. Even today you will never hear our anouncer ever pose that question to him about whether being fired from UND adds extra motivation to his preparation. Did behrns actually get fired or was he allowed to resign under pressure. Either way he lost his job and apparently it still must be painful to the guy almost 20 years later. Prediction - Mavs will make the playoffs and win one home game before being bounced. Too many defensive breakdowns to go very far.

I was wondering which of the four choices are in the best shape after a couple of years of change. I would say that UNC is in the best shape since they found a good league and seem to be in a desireable location to at least be fairly successful at a low level of d1. NOt sure about the level of support they have but at least they have a league. As for the other 3 choices thus far I would put NDSU in 2nd place bc while they don't have a league they seem to have more funding and better facilities in place to be successful and have nice support. No league though and really don't look like they are that close to league membership either. I would put sdsu and the ncc as tied with both having lots of issues to work thru. Sdsu has to find a league and improve facilites and while their fanatics think the mid continent is on the horizon I am not sure of that at all. They don't really fit the mid cont profile and that league could just as easily decide to expand (if they expand at all) southward instead of north. If the ncc can get an 8th school (which isn't assured) and get the 2 washington schools then I would move them ahead of sdsu. For now a tie and maybe the ncc a little behind sdsu in terms of outlook but I will call it a tie. 1. UNC 2. NDSU 3. sdsu and ncc

I am thrilled that the 2 washington schools are coming aboard. It is a nice short term solution to the numbers issue. Hopefully it will buy the ncc some time before a couple of midwest schools step up. One school that is really upgrading a lot and may be a candidate in the future is sioux falls university. Theyare an naia power, they are really upgrading their facilities and they are committed to winning. They would be great rivals for augie. I lived in Seattle for a time and went to a lot of Seattle pacific basketball games and know something about their league which is pretty good for everything but fb. If I were the univ president of the 4 schools that have fb I think I would look to go down to naia in fb alone or just disband fb altogether. The rewards for those schools just don't seem worth the costs. I do know Kentucky Wesleyan plays naia fb and competes in their other sports at d2 so it can be done. I am glad the washington schools are coming aboard but just don't see what the rewards are for them versus the heavy financial cost. I will be very interested to see what humbolt and western oregon do after the 2 washington schools leave. If people think we have troubles just imagine what those two schools are going thru.

I know it is costly for the ncc schools but imagine what it is going to cost the two washington schools. Does anyone know where they get the money to do that kind of travel?

I have been to the scsu new stadium which is really nice. Couldn't they add a few thousand seats in the 2 endzones if they decided to expand. My one suggestion to scsu is to turn the sound from the PA guy down. My ears were ringing after that game.

I plan to come up to Grand Forks for the UNO-UND fb game in October. Since I am going to be there on Oct28th I would like to go the hockey game against Denver that night. I have no idea about how to get tickets but I suspect it is like going to a Husker fb game when they are good. Tix are avail. but you pay way over face value. How much more over face value am I going to have to pay and what is the best way to get tickets - at the door from scalpers or on the internet? Thanks for the info.

I too miss my d2fb.com but am still am awe of bill steinke. The last time I checked that dude posts on avg 9 times a DAY on d2fb.comand many of those posts are highly detailed and researched. Either that guy has the best job in America or else his wife and kids are virtually ignored all week or more likely he is some lonely guy who sits in his house all day looking forward to his only enjoyment of the year when he goes out and sees his beloved Mules play the likes of Rolla and Adams St. Steinke is the Man!!!

There was an article recently in your paper about the above 2 schools becoming affiliate fb members. What do people up there think about it. I think it is probably the best solution for our scheduling problems we currently have but in no way would this be an ideal solution.

I have been a huge uno fan in fb,basketball, softball and soccer the last 15 years and yesterday was the first time I had heard UND had won 23 (yes - 23!!) straight ncc swimming championships before yesterday. That is incredible. I really am not that interested in swimming and don't know much about it but why is UND so good in swimming and does anybody care about it up there. Incredible streak. I don't normally associate ND with great swimmers

I hear RT is going to work out of GF. If the league main office is in a converted motel room in SF,SD where will he be working out of in GF? His garage?

The other candidate is currently a STUDENT getting his PHD in something. Can't believe that a guy like that is a finalist for the ncc commish job when he is currently unemployed. ON the other hand they anounced the 2 finalists at least a month ago and have never hired anyone. That tells me they aren't too impressed with either candidate if they are waiting that long. If RT gets the job is he going to move the league office from its current hotel room to one up in ND?

I was at the uno game and you have to hand it to the sioux. Part of our loss was our own doing of missing too many ft's and letting you have too many offensive rebounds. But you played with a lot of poise and handled a lot of defensive pressure that other schools earlier this year were not able to. I think we will come up there and get some revenge (at least I hope so) this coming weekend but you have a really nice team.

congrats to UND for a great victory over michigan tech. You have shown over the past five years you can win the big ones. I am convinced that UNO Mavs are more talented yet we are at home where we deserve to be and you are playing. I am absolutely convinced if we traded coaches we would be still playing and you would be at home. Pat Behrns has done a good job in Omaha but we have never been able to get over the top with the guy even though we often have the most talent in the league and we usually have more team speed than you do. I hope the NCC wins another title.

Anybody who goes to scsu for the game saturday be sure to bring some ear plugs. I went to scsu earlier this year and their PA system is jacked up to a level that is incredible. I couldn't talk to my neighbor when that guy was screaming into the microphone. It was incredible. Great venue albeit small. Also, anyone who hasn't been to scsu before has to go see their old field (selke) which is about 3/4 mile from the new one. It is an interesting piece of americana and it is unlike any stadium I have ever seen. Looks like it belongs in Leavenworth Federal Prison.

One has to wonder if USD's competition is really that much worse than winona's. Sure winona plays teams with better records but they get that better record by having one crappy team play another. That league is a joke. I would bet my money on usd to beat winona and for sure i would bet on UND against winona even if it is at winona. As a uno fan it just irritates me that winona is higher than we are bc I am sure we would beat them anywhere anytime. I would love the standings to end like they are now and have 3 ncc teams in and have UND wack winona.

I am a huge uno fan. Bottom line is if uno has 2 or fewer turnovers we will probably win. IF we have more than that we will probably lose. Other scenario that could get us beat is if we have to depend on our fg kicker. He has lost his confidence. Make no mistake about it though jamar day is clearly a level above matt birkel of scsu. I went to the game at scsu and birkel has neither the speed, power or the cutback ability of day. If day doesn't get between 100-150 yards I would be amazed. Prediction less than 2 turnovers uno wins -20-13.

UND9296- You are absolutely right about everything you say about sdsu. But if you go say that on their site you will be shouted down as the "village idiot" bc you dare disagree with their viewpoint. By the way according to the top 15 posters on that site they are going to be a huge success in d1. Heck you people might as well go d1 bc it sounds so easy according to the folks in SD. By the way we at UNO are looking forward to your visit to Omaha. We have arguably the best back we have ever had at UNO in Jamar Day who is a 25 year old juco transfer. Moving him into the starting lineup a month ago has changed our team tremendously. We have real shot at the title now. I don't know if we can beat scsu in MN but I feel pretty good about our chances at home against UND.

Best looking around is on uno vb - jenny rankin and julia mcconahay. Both are just great looking. They are both on my 1st team all ncc best looking team.

I agree 100 percent about the sdsu band - they are incredible. But I stand by my comments that sdsu is really going to struggle even in basketball. Sure Frost ARena is a great arena when compared with d2 programs but lots of d1 programs have better arenas or at least as good. Besides that where are their d1 players going to come from. They sure as heck aren't coming from the dakotas and there aren't many down here in Ne. either that they can cherry pick. And if they are any good they are going to lincoln and not brookings. Roger Thomas and your univ president are right i.m.h.o. the way d1 is configured now. Now if we had a 1aa for all sports I would love UNO to go d1aa - it would be great. The example I always hold up is UMKC's move to d1 which hasn't been very successful over the past 20 years. I know they are an urban school and not a land grant univ but my point is that most schools in the past 20 years who have moved struggle mightily. The fanatics on the sdsu board think somehow their situation will be different. IN the first month they are learning a few realities of d1 play and they will learn a lot more in the next 5 years. I may be totally wrong and I will admit it five years from now if sdsu is successful but d1 is filled with unsuccessful schools who didn't make the transition successfully.

I have been saying this for the last 6 months on the sdsu site and been shouted down continually. SDSU can not compete and doesn't have the resources to be successful. Ex-look at their fb stadium, look at their scholarship situation,etc. They have started their d1 experience exactly as I thought they would. I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility that the big sky will choose unc and ndsu and bypass sdsu bc of their finances and overall ineptitude this year. SDSU will then be out there as an independent with nowhere to go and will try to come back to the ncc. Remember this is supposed to be a "try it on" year for them so it could happen. I think the powers to be at sdsu won't let that happen bc of ego but it is a possibility - slim but still possible. Signed, UPDM002 aka - big jake on sdsu board

Thus far in sdsu's quest for d1 glory they have yet to score a goal in women's soccer in 3 games, their volleyball team lost to d2 unk and is doing poorly, and their fb team got absolutely blasted by another provisional d1 team cal-davis. I will bet the Big Sky conference won't be very impressed with their athletics when at the end of this year they decide to choose some new schools. While NDSU will do well in fb in all probability they too will get their clock cleaned in d1 basketball (especially mens). I will predict their men not win one d1 game this year just like UNC last year. Maybe the BIG Sky is desperate for teams and will take teams/schools based on some kind of long long term potential but if I were the president of one of those schools I wouldn't be too anxious to go 1000 miles to play schools that are very substandard on the athletic field. You would have to show me something before I would even consider you. Good luck to UND if they decide to follow their brethren down in fargo and brookings.

It is easy from the stands to speculate on sdsu/ndsu winning the bsc in football or basketball when in fact they aren't even in the conference and haven't even played a game yet. I hope they get in bc I can go to some games occasionally in brookings but travel is an issue and will probably be a bigger issue in the future with the rising cost of fuel. It is hard to not think that about 1000 miles from your nearest competitor isn't going to be a big issue with that conference. The first year for no colorado was no big success in their non fb sports but maybe the dakotas will do better. Actually they can't do much worse. I know basketball coaches don't have a vote but if I were a bb coach in the bsc I would vote a big NO for going to the dakotas every january or february for the rest of my life. Maybe there aren't any other schools that are interested in going to the bsc but if there are and they were closer and had a less brutal winter climate I would want to go there instead if i were in the current bsc. But having said that I hope the dakotas get in so I can see some games in a neat conference.

I always assumed that the key component in UND's decision to move would be if ndsu/sdsu are successful in their move to d1. It will take at least five years to determine that and probably longer. Also, most (not all) schools that do make the move aren't all that terribly successful. So if ndsu/sdsu aren't terribly successful why make the move to join in their misery. Now in the unlikely event that they are successful then I can understand a move ...... Success to me is defined as finding an established league and competing well in it. Not necessarily winning it but being in the middle somewhere. Also, making your own league of far flung independents doesn't qualify either as a success. I know there are other criteria for success but from a fan's perspective those are the 2 most important to me. Academic considerations are for the professorial types to ponder. The thing I have always wondered is why they don't have 1aa for all sports and not just fb. It would seem that the bottom feeding 100-150 in d1 really belong in a 1aa bb division if they would ever bother to create one. Being a UNO fan I would love to be in an all 1aa division but the way it is now to go d1 in all sports but fb would be problematic in a lot of sports. FB would be fine but we would get killed in a lot of other sports like wrestling, basketball,baseball, etc

To Sioux Me Now - Being a NE-Omaha fan - we have never had a natural rival in the league and we have done just fine. I think UNO gets most up for UN-Kearney and your club. We get fired up for UND bc 1. you are always good 2. I think pat behrns probably feels like he got fired unfairly. Who knows for sure but I suspect he feels that way. Don't know if it is true or not but I am glad he is in Omaha. Done a great job down here. I hope Winona joins this conf. sometime but don't think they will. If they joined the ncc they wouldn't have an easy path to the playoffs most years but instead would probably only make them about once a decade in this league. I suspect they will choose the path of least resistance and stay put in that cupcake league they are in.