IowaBison

Not to change the subject (at least not too much), but saying that NDSU did things unilaterally is ridiculous, anyone familiar with the situation knows that. More responsible than UND? sure, solely responsible? no way.

How about 1) refering to him as a joker 2) "but his spin is decidedly pro-NDSU" (you know you just posted that don't you?) 3) most importantly bringing up the fact that he is an NDSU alumni at all.

Please quote the spin in the above article. I've always felt that Kent's I-AA.org articles are relatively fair.

Nothing personal guys, but the ad hominem attacks on here are pretty ridiculous. Why don't you counter what Kent has to say instead of saying-NDSU graduate==biased prick?

NDSU will be hiring an architect in the next few months. Football is NDSUs bread and butter and most Bison fans are (or at least were before the success of our basketball team) football fans. We are covering our bases by giving our football program every advantage possible to be a regular playoff contender which hopefully will raise enough funds to pay for the rest of our DI department.

NDSU has raised nearly all the money needed for the BSA project. Now UND might have a surprise donor or it might begin construction without money in hand but given those two exceptions I think you're off by a couple of months, if not years.

I think you're right.

And in the years Yale-Harvard isn't in New Haven, Yale averages about twenty percent of capacity, the next year the rivalry game sells out and their numbers jump.

I always thought it was a hunting/hockey thing.

Of course, the counterpoint to your argument is that UND should then build a stadium of infinite size as it will be 75% full.

The size of the Alerus, and more importantly historical attendance, are more than enough to spur the interest of any DI-AA conference. Besides Montana and NDSU, I don't know who the sure sellouts would be for at least in the first five years (hint to Bunning: schedule good games early in the season as most Sioux fans are casual and don't attend November games against good teams). And don't forget the importance of atmosphere and jacking up the price due to short supply of seats. Adding 4,000 seats that will be empty for all but one game a year is pretty silly considering the cost.

Looks like UND better do a $35 million capital campaign to expand the alerus! i kid, i kid.

A couple of thoughts: The Dome might be able to hold 18,000, but the Bison going 2-9 against DIA competition isn't going to fill it up. (it's not the number of seats in the stadium). Of course, the NCAA would probably allow the attendence at a NDSU/Minnesota football game at the Metrodome be counted as home numbers as they do for Idaho (Wazzu). IMO, the only reason NDSU should EVER think about going DI-A is if they continue to have problems finding a conference. Though there are always murmurs, I don't think the Big Sky has any inclination of going DI-A (right now). The only school that one might expect to see moderate success if Montana, maybe Montana State. Other schools may dream about it, but are currently in no position to do so. Ten years from now- maybe, today- no way. Good luck on the capital campaign (if/when it starts).

It is the New York Times!

I hope Grand Forks would get some love in an article by a guy who wrote a book called, "Slouching Towards Fargo". Congrats on the PR, it is a very good article. Can't beat the info on the Hot Pockets.

I agree , those are some nice, readily available, figures.

Good luck!

++++ I've never been in greater agreement with a post by a Sioux fan in my life.

Why? (other than the market thing with for Oakland doesn't matter. It would make a nice partner (if the Mid-Con ever went to partners) and fits within the conference footprint. Wayne is also easy to reach via DTW.

My bad, it looks like the Southland (where UTPA would have like to have landed) added TAMU-CC, which would have been on my list.

There are also quite a few other schools in the southern plains (independents) that would be interested in the Mid-Con. OCU would make a nice partner for Oral Roberts.

Furman is in Greenville, SC. TAMU-CC is obviously in Texas. Furman is in the Southern Conference. TAMU-CC is independent. I'd venture to say that just as many folks know where these schools are than know about Mankato, Augustana, Mary and Mayville. Just because one is ignorant of a fact, doesn't make it unimportant.

It's entirely dependent on the President's desire to expand eastward. UND's athletic program speaks for itself.

The key isn't Montana/Montana St., the key is Montana/[insert Big Sky Conference Member other than Montana Here]. Montana is the biggest name in DIAA, I don't see a case where folks would like to stop having the Griz visit them every other year.

I doubt it. It might hurt SDSU.