updm002

Why would RT want to be commissioner of the NCC with all the headaches the current situation brings? I would much rather be in Grand Forks doing whatever AD's do as opposed to keeping a fledgling conference alive. I can't imagine the commissioner of the conference is any better paid than he is in GF.

I am a UNO season ticket holder for both men's bb and fb. I hear the talk on d2.fb.com that we are looking at the miaa. Actually I wish we would bc it is easier for me to get to away games to places like mo western, washburn, cmsu, nmmo than a lot of the ncc schools that are very far away. For the past several years I have asked our AD (Danenhauer) if we are consideriing the miaa and he always says NO. I wish he would consider the league but as far as I can see we are a committed member of the ncc. What many uno people seem to think that if ndsu is successful in d1 (which I don't believe they will be) then UND will look to jump in five years. If UND goes D1 then the NCC is as good as dead. What we need now is an 8th school. My ultimate wish is to get U of Mary, Winona and NOrthern STate into the NCC and let the Northern Sun pick up a couple of naia weak sisters who want to move to d2. Don't think it will happen but would be neat if it did.

The fanatics on the jacks board think this criminality will be an uncommon occurence. But the fact remains that the jacks will have to really step up recruiting if they are going to compete successfully on a reasonable level at d1. Since SD doesn't produce many d1 caliber players they will have to take some chances on questionable guys from juco's,etc. The 12 fanatics on the jacks board don't want to hear that but coach scott nagy has to know that is true. When you have to take chances on questionable character guys you are going to lose some of the time and get bad apples. As a UNO fan we don't have to take guys like that too often. But our brethren down in LIncoln did during the national title days and some of those guys were nightmares for tom osborne. Get used to it ndsu and sdsu.

doc, Apparently you knew what you are talking about. Rabbit79 - the truth hurts dude!! Get used to it as you have to take more chances on questionable characters in order to compete in the big time. There will be a lot more of these characters coming to brookings in the future. Enjoy.

On the one hand I admire the Bison's optimism about their move to D1. The Fargo Forum stated earlier this week how the latest programs to move to d1 have struggled mightily. Somehow they think things will be different in Fargo and Brookings according to the gene taylor. That may be true - only will time will tell but I am highly skeptical. Whenever people tell me that things will be different this time I think back to what many people were saying when the NASDAQ hit 5000 a few years back. The economy and the internet age is going to make things different this time - there will be no crash this time is what many people were saying. Now 3000 pts later on the Nasdaq things aren't so different after all. But somehow things are going to be different in Brookings and Fargo. I tend to doubt it. Also, I would bet the house that we will see the nasdaq at 10000 before we see either sdsu or ndsu in the big dance. They have been waiting 20 years at UMKC for that day and they have access to much better players than the dakotas do. But somehow things will be different this time. There are a lot of financially ruined people who thought that five years ago.

Look for the Jacks to be in the Big Dance within 10 years. Scott Nagy is going to take them to the "promised land" while all of us losers will be salivating over their success. First it will be sdsu as an independent then in the Mid Continent and then in the WAC and eventually to the Pac 10. Fred Oien is going to take SDSU to the Rose Bowl eventually also while the rest of us D2 losers compete for lowly NCC titles. Eventually they will be a travel partner with the Washington Huskies. Actually the only people who truly believe that rant are the half dozen losers who populate the sdsu fan board. That fan board has been up for less than one year and some of those losers have over 1000 posts each. That is loser behavior. They need to get either a job or girlfriend to keep them busy.

I find it hard to believe that the good folk of UMD would join the NCC if they believed it was in a "scary" position. The NCC needs an 8th team and it seems like with the 7 schools that we currently have that some schools would find this an attractive situation. Making the step up to the ncc is a whole lot less daunting than the step ndsu/sdsu has to make in d1. I hope the ncc doesn't go out of the area to get an 8th school but still believe that ultimately it will be no state, winona, or maybe wayne state. Living here in Omaha I hear some at UND want to go D1 like their fargo brethren. Gosh, having to fund women's hockey is going to take a lot of money and then to go d1 with all the extra associated expenses without a whole lot more revenue doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But then sdsu's financial numbers I have read about don't make much sense to me either and they are going to give it the old college try.

Why will ndsu ever make the big dance? What elite athlete wants to play bb in fargo in sub zero temps. In four or five years when the bison are coming off 3-24 years gene taylor will be an asst ad for some d1 program like missouri, chancellor chapman will be doing some professorial s&!t down in La. and they will leave an incredible mess to clean up for the next administration. But hey, they did beat Montana in fb in 2003. I predict that craig bohl will grow a full head of hair before ndsu make the big dance.

Tim Miles walks into some low d1 level type kid from minneapolis or chicago who is being recruited by other low level d1 schools like umkc, butler and evansville. Now the kid has to ask himself do I want to spend the next four years of my life in indy, kc, evansville or fargo? I have to believe that fargo is at best going to be only ahead of evansville and that is only bc of too many peckerwoods down there. I just can't see how ndsu can ever get kids from urban areas who are good enough to get you to a top 64 team to come to fargo. It is an ok enough place but why would any kid want to go there when places like kc or indy or omaha offer far more opportunities for kids to grow and have a good time. Maybe I will be shown to be wrong and that fargo will the ucla of the great plains but I would bet there will a lot of 4-25 years waiting for them.

Down in KC we are still waiting after 20 years for UMKC's first trip to the BIG Dance and they have all kinds of recruiting advantages over fargo. NDSU could be tourney eligible right now and it still isn't going to make a big difference. They just are going to have a heck of a hard time ever recruiting the elite type athlete necessary to make the big dance. If the elite athlete doesn't much want to come to KC - they surely aren't coming to the tundra of ND. Unlikely to happen. If the ncaa ever reclassifies all sports to d1aa (not just fb) then I would be all for a bunch of the ncc schools to jump in. As it is now I am against it. FB will probably work out for a lot of those schools but a lot of the other d1 sports will be "sacrificial lambs" in the quest for d1 greatness.

As a UNO fan one of the things that bothers me about the new NCC are some of the weaker non league teams the NCC has to play to get to 11 games. For instance UNO is playing Tiffin, Crookston, and I don't think Western Washington is that great either. I would rather play one NCC team home and home and get rid of at least one of these crappy non league games. What do UND people think of the possibility of at least playing one home and home fb game series for each schools. Yes, it might hurt our playoff chances but it would be more interesting than seeing UMC other teams that are basically NAIA teams disguised as D2. I hope we get an 8th team SOON so we only have to search for 4 non league games. It might create an imbalanced schedule but it would be fun if one likes to see better fb.

I am a big NCC fan and am sorry to see ndsu leave. Actually I think their schedule while crappy is better than I thought it would be. They have a few d1aa schools on their schedule. I thought they would end up with even more naia teams. Still don't think it is worth all the extra expense but the jury is out on their ultimate success. I wish D2 would change the playoff system to at least not punish d2 teams for playing d1aa teams. It would be neat to still play some 1aa teams. It seems like a win-win situation for UNO or UND to continue to play ndsu/sdsu once in awhile. Oh yeah one other thing - when you SIoux fans are looking at your 2004 fb schedule and you are trying to figure out your record for next year you can put a big "L" beside the UNO game in Omaha. You haven't won down there since we reinstated our budget cutbacks in 96 and you won't be winning this year either.

It amazes me how so many of the Jack fans think they are going to D1 and after just a couple of transition years they are going to "kick some ass" in bb. They have not won a national title in my lifetime and I can't remember the last time they made the Elite 8. They ought to look to the west at UNC to see how their first year in D1 will look. UNC didn't beat ONE D1 school in bb - in fact they didn't even come close. In theory the Jack fans say they are ready for the struggles but in practice after you sit thru a bunch of those 5-24 years you realize losing is worse than you thought. They might "kick some ass" but I say the odds are greatly against that. I know many of their fans are so excited to go D1 but when was their last NCC fb championship - I think President Kennedy was still alive for that thing. And I think their last national championship in bb was NEVER. I guess by some magical karma they will all of sudden be great in D1. I am looking forward to my trips to Duluth now instead of that rat infested crap hole of Brookings, SD.

the schools that are the most likely to join the ncc making it an 8 team league in the next 2 or 3 years are 1. Northern State 2. Winona St 3. Wayne ST 4. SW STate 5. Univ of Mary 6. St Thomas of Mn MIke Marcil said it takes some time to get an 8th school but those schools seem like the most logical choices. This is an educated guess but I ranked them in order of the most to least probable. Being a NE-Omaha I really hope it is Wayne STate but any of those schools will be fine. I know the people of fargo and brookings think those schools will be a step down but once they increase their funding up to ncc levels any of those schools will compete well in the ncc. The one thing I hope the league doesn't do is go out of the region for an 8th school like they did with UNC.

I have always wondered why UNO has been so penalized. Really though I can't remember too many players that were like Stovall. He was out of control - the game against PSU in the playoffs was an absolute embarrassment. He was a dirty player. Behrns and our former D coordinator DJ Volkelek Sp? teach our guys to be aggressive which creates some stupid penalties but also forces a lot of turnovers. I think sometimes people around the league see our team with more minorities and automatically stereotype us as being more athletic and less disciplined than other teams in the league. Don't think that is fair but it seems tohappen. I have been to uno games for 15 years and lived thru years when UND/NDSU, etc gained 700 yards on our defense. People are very happy with behrns here. I think we are too predictable on offense which hurts us in the playoffs against superior teams. But he is a good coach - Our AD (bob danenauer) played in the NFL for 4 or 5 years and knows a lot about fb. FB is his "baby" at UNO and if he didn't think behrns was doing a good job he would fire him. The negative I have heard about berhns (i don't know him) is that he works his asst coaches like slaves (that is why they always leave) and until this year had an aversion to the forward pass. But make no mistake about it - anybody up there who automatically chalks the UNO game up as a win better think twice. It is going to a monumental struggle for both teams. Oh yeah, I forgot all about that blocked punt of 2 years ago. One could say though if they wanted to look at the game the other way is that UNO got a huge lead on UND and then let down in a game that could have been a rout. But you have to give UND credit. They don't quit. The thing I like about UND fans is that they really care about their teams. We have people who care in Omaha but not nearly as many.

The was an article awhile back in Omaha World Herald talking about how UNK at this time just doesn't have the resources to jump up to the NCC. Times are tough down there. I have been there a bunch and while they have a nice arena parts of that campus look really run down. I hope that it is wayne state but I guess it will be a couple of years before we know. I just hope they don't have to go out of the region and get another UNC. I like regional rivalries.

There is a ton of anticipation around UNO about next year's fb team. We do well - very well in fact - at home and we will probably defeat UND at home. Heck we should have beaten you in GF last year if our kicker didn't "choke on a horse" at the end of the game. We lose Kamrad but we always have good replacements. RB's want to play in Omaha bc we run the ball so well and so often. We have a couple of real athletes coming in at that position. He will be replaced. I doubt seriously that we will have a decent replacement for Krause but we have done quite well before without a passing game and I suspect we will in the future. Pat Behrn's seems to think we have a juco player or two who is going to step into the 2ndary and help right away. So anybody in GF's who thinks UND is going to breeze to a conference title better think again. UNO has won 3 conference titles in the last 8 seasons and WILL be in the hunt for a 4th this year. I go to all of UNO's games at home and some of their away games and UND has lost some close ones down here. But it is not like we needed any kind of miraculous endings to beat you. We just beat you in close games. By the way I have always wondered why pat behrns got "blown out" at UND? That guy has done a great job in Omaha and he took a program that was just awful and made it pretty darn good.

NOrth Dakota has a great program but they were lucky to beat NE-Omaha last year at home. UNO has a ton of players returning - look for the Mavs to win the NCC next year. We usually beat UND at home. I think we will run the table if we can win at St Cloud and we avoid key injuries. But we are also pretty deep.

According to Mike Marcil the NCC is looking for one other school. The probable ones are winona, northern state, wayne state, and I keep hearing the names of Univ of Mary and St Thomas Univ. The NCC wants to get back to 8 schools. There are not enough d2 schools around here that can fund 36 fb scholarships for the ncc to get back to 10 schools for awhile. Also, the NCC doesn't want to weaken the Northern Sun by taking 3 schools from bc it is in our advantage to have another decent conference near us. If I was betting I would bet on Wayne State bc I know awhile back they did unsuccessfully apply to the league and they give out the most fb scholarships of all the above schools (22). But make no mistake about it the ncc is after an 8th team and will get one in the next year or 2.

I have heard from various sources that Mo Rolla and Truman State both want out of the MIAA bc they don't compete well. I know that Rolla and TSU recently applied to the GLVC (which is bb only) and I am not sure what they are going to do with fb. Maybe be a D2 independent? Then I read elsewhere that Rolla is considering the NAIA. Also, have heard Central Mo St Univ is considering going D1. That would leave the MIAA in the same precarious position that the NCC is in with only 7 schools. What about a merger of some sort between those 2 leagues with 14 teams most of which are pretty darn goo?. Or at least work out some sort of scheduling arrangement the way that the NCC is working out one with those Pacific NW schools. Only doing it with the MIAA makes a lot more sense geographically.

Last week on the radio the UNO A.D. specifically stated that UNK was not interested in the NCC at this time. I have been to many games down there in the past and it is obvious that they struggle financially. Couldn't possibly raise the money. He didn't mention who was interested in joining the league but was definitive in saying that there was interest among several schools. I have know our AD for several years and take him at face value. Wayne is close to having the money and their facilities are plenty good enough. Apparently Wayne did apply for admission awhile back when the NCC wasn't looking for members. Don't know if Wayne is one of the interested parties but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. They would be a great addition to the league as would Winona or No. State. Quite frankly if UNO continues to do as good a job as they have done for 2004 scheduling fb games I can live with the NCC 7 for a long time. UNO has an attractive 2004 schedule with the exception of one NAIA patsy. I can live with that

I am a UNO fan and it appears from OMaha that the NCC is going to survive. I heard this on a recent radio broadcast where the UNO A.D. was talking about how several schools are in the discussion mode right now of joining the NCC. From a UNO perspective I hope it is Wayne State. They are currently at 22 full rides for fb so they would have to get to 30. Then they would have to match women's scholarships making a total of 16 scholarships. That is about 150k a year to raise which seems doable. I will predict that within 3 years one of the following 3 schools will join the NCC - Wayne St, WSU, or Northern St. It will take them a couple of years to catch up to NCC quality but they will do it. Between a good 8th member and collaboration with the Pacific NW league it should be an interesting time in the NCC. Finally, I moved to Omaha from KC 12 years ago and lived thru UMKC's transition (season ticket holder) from NAIA to D1. It is hard as hell to live thru with few bright points over the years. By the way all you Bison fans who think you are going into the MId Cont conference you better think again. Everything I hear from my UMKC buddies there seems to indicate the Mid Cont wants to expand southward. NOt good news for the Dakotas.

I am a UNO fan in Omaha. Don't know about the Sioux schedule for 2004 but I have heard that the NCC has a tentative agreement with Western and Central Wa. Universities to play them home and home between 2006-10. They will play all 7 NCC teams on a home and home basis those 4 years. They only have 4 teams in their conference so this is a way to end their scheduling problems. Will add to their travel expenses but it put some pretty respectable teams on NCC schedules. It is good for the league. I hope the Mavs don't play either NDSU or SDSU in the future in fb or bb. It generally hurts our playoff chances and why should we help the above schools out of their scheduling problems when it was NDSU/SDSU who created this mess. I hope the rest of the NCC boycotts our wayward brethren.