tjamz

I completely missed what you were saying before. I get it now. Point well made.

So that makes them a non-cupcake, non-counter somehow? As for the second part of the statement.... what are you getting at? ISU is far from a cupcake. They were unrated when they played us for sure, but a cupcake they were not. They flat out beat us with their defense. Their offense not so much. There is/was no moral victory for NDSU that week. It was a game that we could have and should have won and we didn't.

In the FCS days we still have that! NDSU, SDSU, USD... those teams should sound familiar. Other teams aren't located all that far away either.... UNI, ISUr, WIU, SIU, etc... Looks like you picked the wrong conference to play in. Not our fault.

Easy jab at the school to the north perhaps? What I'm saying is that I don't think they would look at it as the same opportunity UND would. In MY opinion, I feel if the game were next Saturday UND would be pumping this game up as an opportunity to knock off the defending national champions, NDSU MIGHT overlook UND as a lower tier cupcake from the BSC that SHOULD be a win. Point being, I (not speaking for ANYONE else) that the game would mean more to UND than NDSU and that UND would put some points on the board against our defense.

Says the school that scheduled Mines.... (Sorry that was too easy not to take a jab at). Next year our "cup cake" FBS team is #4 Kansas State.

Could NDSU? Sure. Would I guarantee it? No. I don't guarantee any games. The thing is (and this is just me giving my honest OPINION) no one can ever say with any certainty that any game in another conference is a win until they've played the game. Sometimes you do get the big game hangover affect and lose to a team that you should have beat (see ISU vs NDSU this year or YSU vs NDSU last year). Heck, I'm willing to bet that IF UND and NDSU played this year the game would be a good one and not a blowout only because of the rivalry/tradition between the two schools. UND would come to play I believe because it would be the "big game" on the schedule, I'm not sure if NDSU would view it as the same (call it snobbish, I'm calling it how I see it). The beauty (as others have pointed out) is that at the end of the regular season, we get to see the big hitters from each conference square off against each other week after week until there are only 2 left. Last year we were fortunate to have a dominating defense and a good group of kids playing their hearts out against a division of football teams that said we had no right being on the field with them just a few short years ago. For the record, I'm ok w/ UND winning the rest of their games and destroying Montana State next week.

I can't speak for all of NDSU fans, only myself. I grew up in ND, I watched a lot of NDSU football and UND Hockey (my cousin's husband played for the Sioux). I have no severe "hatred" for UND, though I do enjoy a little ribbing back and forth from time to time.... and sometimes admittedly it's fun to watch a train wreck (or NASCAR.... same thing). Early in the season I predicted a mid-pack finish for UND in the BSC and a number of the UND fans said I (and other NDSU fans) were just wrong and that UND had crazy speed and a great team. That got my attention and made me pay more attention to UND this year than I have in a number of years. I don't read/post here regularly but when I do I try and be respectful, though I do admittedly throw out a few jabs from time to time and expect some back in return. 3 of my closest neighbors are UND fans as well, and oddly they somehow look to me for info on what's going on w/ UND football (who is starting, who's hurt, etc, etc, etc...) so at times I just take in info and pass it along.

When did they (UND) win their first FCS championship banner?

They sent the banner to Fargo by mistake (I kid... I kid...)

Congrats on the win. Not trying to sound like a troll, but you gave up almost 500 yards against another un-ranked team, Granted there were some other surprising losses among the top 25 so anything can happen in the polls. I wouldn't be surprised to see UND at 21 to 25 on the polls in all honesty.

You quoted the wrong district (or wrote the wrong one in the body of your message)

I am, can't speak for the others. I'm a member of every opposing teams forum that we played last year. Made some good friends on a few of them actually, especially with SHSU.

Probably because we have a bunch of UND guys on our board just like you have NDSU guys on here. Unless I'm just ignoring the UND threads (which is possible) I see way more jabs at UNI than UND over there.

Exactly. My parents are lifelong ND residents and casual football fans. Growing up I know for a fact that they never watched/cared about the NDSU/UND games.... sure they may have caught a few minutes of them when I was watching them in the living room, but they never went out of their way to watch a game. They did watch the DII championship games however and this year they were glued to the FCS Championship game at a local bar with dozens of other people who I know are not die-hard Bison/Football fans. The title game garnered HUGE statewide attention from people who normally didn't even care about college football. UND vs NDSU would bring in a few more casual fans to watch on TV than a non-conference unknown team would but I just don't see it being the "OMG OMG OMG OMG!!! The Bison and Sioux are playing!!!!!!!!!!!" event that UND is hyping it as, though it will be bigger than NDSU is downplaying it as.

I do like UND Hockey. Always have. And I hate that you guys have to give up the Sioux nick name.

In that case it still makes my point about not being a money making proposition... especially on the years that the Bison would travel north when we could either schedule a cupcake home game and make revenue OR travel to another non conference game that is not a home and home and get paid to do so.

NDSU started transitioning in 2004, therefore the above years didn't matter as they (NDSU) was not eligible for post season play anyway.... and therefore it didn't matter if they played UND as a D2 team. After that UND started their transition, making them a D1 team so that wouldn't have hurt NDSU either as I understand it. Had UND moved up OR not dropped us (and I understand why they did, I really do) from their schedule we would still be continuing the rivalry.

But would it have really ended? NDSU has been playoff eligible for 4 years IIRC, UND has been transitioning for 5 years. There wouldn't have been a period where NDSU would have had any negative affect by playing UND by my calculations (and I may be wrong) so I don't see them cancelling the game at that time. For those saying that UND costs less to schedule, I'm pretty sure that UND will want more than a tank full of gas for the trip to Fargo.... in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want what other schools get for coming here (I've seen $200k thrown around quite a bit) or even more since it is a premium game that NDSU should be able to charge more for thereby negating the positives. The other advantage of scheduling softer D1 teams early in the season is that many times they are just a full contact extension of fall training. Yes, we can get beat, but the odds are lower by scheduling a non-rival (or former rival). We also get a chance to field test some of our 2nd string guys in this situation. This is not likely to be something we would be able to enjoy playing against UND.... too much pride on the line on both sides. Sorry, my post is all over the place... kinda got carried away.

I'm 37, grew up in central ND and LOVED the rivalry. But that time has passed. I think we should play in the play offs WHEN (not if for either team) we both get there. At this point I still contend that we should go our separate ways.

Disclaimer: I am a Bison fan and am not attempting to troll (at least not this thread) I am serious when I say that I don't see an upside for NDSU playing UND. Yes, it is/was a great rivalry, one of the best in college sports but it hasn't been one in quite a few years now if we are ALL being honest with each other. From NDSU's perspective we typically sell out almost every game at home as is. Bringing in UND is not going to bring more fans (especially NDSU fans) to the table as there just isn't enough empty seats in the dome for this to happen. If anything it will mean LESS Bison fans and more UND fans. In a home field that is NOT the situation you want to put your team in. Second, it will absolutely help attendance at the Alerus Center though, it will draw MANY more fans than has been typical as of late. Great for UND, not a plus for NDSU. It means another series of games that we have to squeeze into an already tight schedule and may cost us a chance (some years) to play FBS teams. Hypothetically, let's say the game was played this year (2012) as the first game of the year. NDSU would be (as reigning champions) expected to win this game. They would be the favorites in the eyes of any outside observer. If NDSU does win, it's a meaningless win... we were supposed to, but if NDSU loses (which happens in rivalry games.... the best teams don't always win) it could be a devastating loss to the program that they may not recover from that year. Again... Lose-Lose if you are NDSU. From UND's perspective, it is all "Win-Win" however. 1. More local fans at an away game 2. Sell-out crowd at home 3. As long as you can make it a game, it will look good once selection time for playoffs roll around.