bisonboone11

UND didn't get into the top 25 because they finished 8-3. I believe they got into the top 25 when they were 1-2, and got in due to people confusing them with NDSU. They stayed in the top 25 because they went 8-3 and won their conference. Like I said before, I could care less where UND was ranked. I just wanted to correct your mistake. I do appreciate the fact that at least one UND fan can admit there was a mistake in the polls though. Again, it's really irrelevant, but it's nice to see a little bit of common sense being used.

This whole issue started when NDSU moved down in the rankings and UND moved up in the rankings due to an obvious mix up between the 2 teams from North Dakota. That is why USD isn't being brought up. No one voted for USD because they confused them with NDSU. For me, it wasn't an issue of what UND was ranked. It was an issue of NDSU moving down. UND's moving up at the same time just showed the reason that NDSU dropped, so obviously UND will get brought up. In the end it didn't matter, but if we would've still been ranked 6 at the end of the season, the playoffs could've been completely different. I believe the reason that NDSU fans are talking about it now is because last year, UND fans claimed that there was no way voters could've confused the 2 schools, and that UND deserved to move up in the rankings after a loss to an FBS team and NDSU deserved to move down after a bye. Obviously if people within the NCAA can confuse the two schools and send the banner to the wrong location, the voters could too. Honestly, I could care less where UND was ranked. I think NDSU fans are just trying to get UND fans to admit there was a mix up in the polls in the beginning of last season, and that's not necessarily because it's UND. I believe it's simply because it's nice to prove people wrong, which is what this banner issue has done. Again, I could care less where UND was ranked. NDSU won the national championship and that's all that matters. Whether the UND fans want to admit they were wrong or not is up to them, but I believe this banner situation has given plenty of proof to back the theories of the NDSU fans at the beginning of last season.

I thought this thread was supposed to be about which states are better. What is up with all this football talk?

Mr. Hajdu, I have a question for you. According to your story, Mr. Faison called Mr. Taylor as soon as the package was opened. It wasn't until after that, when a staff member tweeted a picture of it (and others showed it on their facebook pages), that the media became aware of the situation and came down to take pictures. However, a businessweek artcle (link provided below) indicates that Faison said the error probably wouldn't have "seen the light of day" if a beat writer hadn't been in the athletic department at the time the package was opened. So I'm curious, which is the true story? Is it the one that you provided or the one that Faison apparently provided to businessweek?

What's the difference between North Dakota and North Dakota State? F*** if the NCAA knows.

First of all, by saying "NDSU will only schedule winnable games at home", you are either implying that 1) UND offered to play a single game in Fargo like the "cupcakes" (Robert Morris, Prairie View A&M, Western Carolina, etc.) and NDSU turned it down; or 2) UND is better than the Montana's and USD because NDSU did schedule a home and home against them. I think we can all agree that option 1 never occurred; therefore, you must be implying that UND is better than the Montana's and USD. Interesting. Second, this thread is going to go nowhere. In general, it appears that the UND fans want a home and home, and the NDSU fans don't (or don't care one way or the other). No matter what either side says, no one is going to convince the other side of anything different. If the game gets scheduled in the regular season, fine. If not, it will happen sooner or later in the playoffs. Although I don't believe UND is the caliber of team that the Montana's are yet (NDSU even has some work to do to show they aren't just another team to win a NC and drop off the map), UND will make the playoffs sooner or later, and the two teams will eventually meet. I think we can all agree that when that time comes, it will be a great game.

So where do all of the UND fans in here think they deserve to be ranked in the BSC? It sounds like you think you deserve to be treated like Montana and Montana State. Does that mean you feel it's a toss up between you three on who wins the BSC this year?

Wow, you UND fans really like taking something that an NDSU fan says and twisting it to mean something completely different. I also said "We still have a lot to prove in order to get the respect that those teams have earned over the years", but you chose to completely disregard that in order to keep your opinion that all NDSU fans have no respect for other schools. "Right now" means that right now UND doesn't have the reputation that those other schools have, and in my opinion, have not earned enough respect for me to want to schedule a home and home. Yes, you are right that UND got into the Big Sky Conference and NDSU didn't, but do you really think that has anything to do with the perceived level of talent at the two schools? You are also right that UND could have 3 national championships by 2015, but they could also go 0-11 (like Northern Colorado did last year) and lose to SD School of Mines this year. If UND has a national championship (or 3) in the next few years, then I think they should be treated more like Montana or Montana State. Right now, UND is not being looked at like Montana, Montana State, or even Portland State. The general perception outside of UND is that UND will be towards the bottom of the Big Sky, and I would not want NDSU to schedule a team at the bottom of any conference, even the Big Sky, to a home and home.

I didn't say cancel every game with teams that are weaker than you, and I certainly didn't say to cancel conference games. You are completely taking that out of context. I'm saying, you have to choose your battles and determine the games that help your team the most on their way to their ultimate goal. We have 8 conference games and typically 3 OOC games. Ideally, we would like one of those to be an FBS game, and the other 2 as home games. If we have to give up a home game, I would prefer it be to a team with a repuation in the FCS, such as Montana, Montana State, Georgia Southern, App State, etc, rather than a team like UND right now. The teams like Prairie View, Lafayette, St. Francis are agreeing to come and play in Fargo. If UND wants to play a single game in Fargo, great. I say go ahead and schedule one game in Fargo, and figure it out from there. Also, Siouxperfan, you are taking things out of context by assuming that I meant our games against Montana, Montana State, etc. will mean more to them than to us simply because we won a single FCS national championship. We still have a lot to prove in order to get the respect that those teams have earned over the years, but if they happen to lose to the former national champions, it doesn't look nearly as bad as a loss to a team that just made the transition to FCS (like UND). That means they have a lot less to lose by playing this game now that we have won a national championship than they would've if we had done nothing at the FCS level (like UND). Again, I'm not saying we have more to lose than them. I'm saying they have less to lose now than they would've a year or two ago. I have a lot of respect for those schools, and I hope NDSU can earn the reputation that those schools have, and I think we are doing well in our effort to earn that respect. Let's face it, as of right now, the perception of most people outside of UND is that UND is closer to the level of Lafayette and St. Francis than they are to Montana, Montana State, Georgia Southern, App State, etc. I think UND can get their level of play much closer to Montana and Montana State, but that is something that has yet to be proven. Since you have yet to prove that, you haven't earned that respect at the FCS level. Therefore, playing UND is much more comparable to playing Lafayette and St. Francis (right now) than it is to playing Montana and Montana State, and I think this is why a lot of NDSU fans would prefer to schedule a home and home with Montana or Montana State than UND.

I completely agree that a game for NDSU against those schools (prior to us winning a national championship) definitely would've meant more for us than for them, and they had more to lose. Why do you think Georgia Southern bought out the game in Fargo? Doesn't seem ridiculous at all to me. Just like NDSU playing Minnesota. Minnesota has way more to lose by playing that game than NDSU does. Also just like NDSU has more to lose by playing UND. Also, it's "benefit", and "ridiculous"

That's awesome. You just referred to UND as a poor DII team.

UND showed what their priority was when they ended the rivalry. You should've been having this same argument with UND fans 10 years ago. They ended the rivalry because it could've potentially hurt their playoff hopes. Why should NDSU be expected to get it going again when losing a home game could potentially hurt our playoff/national championship hopes? Edit: Just to clarify, I didn't mean we would lose the game at home. I meant we would have one less home game.

So you're saying you do think more people would watch the rivalry game than the FCS title game? You're delusional.

Exactly. NDSU is considered the better team nationally. Using your own logic, this game is more important to UND. Thanks.

That is the problem with your logic. You are focusing on getting the attention of people within the region, but the comparisons you are making - using Coke and Budweiser, the Super Bowl - have NATIONAL coverage. Do you honestly think there would be more "eyeballs" on NDSU and UND for the rivalry game than the FCS title game? I don't know the actual television viewership for this year's FCS title game, but 6 of the past 7 years, the ESPN broadcasts of the game had more than 1 million viewers nationally. Even if every single person in North Dakota watched the rivalry game, it wouldn't have the viewership that the FCS title game has. Also, the FCS playoffs are getting more and more coverage. This year set records for attendance, so I wouldn't doubt that the viewership was greater this year. Yes, it may get more coverage locally, but not nationally. As I have said before, NDSU's focus is national championships and national recognition. If winning a national championship includes beating up on UND along the way, great. If not, that's fine.

Yeah, and winning a national championship isn't a good PR tool. Wow, your logic is flawless. Do you really think having a true rival attracts more students/players than national championships? Yes, the game would be fun for historical reasons, but UND needs this WAY more than NDSU so they can attempt to prove their relevance.

How much national coverage does Montana vs Montana State get? Obviously the rivalry games on Saturday afternoons get more national coverage, but that is because people that aren't associated with the schools or states at all are fans of those teams. How many people outside of North Dakota and not associated with NDSU or UND are fans of UND or NDSU football? Very few. We would get very little national coverage from that game. In response to another post, NDSU fans are not chomping at the bit to beat UND. We are chomping at the bit to win more national championships. Also, we don't need to beat UND to prove we can succeed in D1. We have already done that by winning a national championship, and playing UND would not prove anything more than playing St. Francis would. It's almost comical how upset UND fans get when they realize NDSU has moved on from them. It seems like you're attempting to get our approval and get us to acknowledge that you're relevant. Yes, UND has had a good football program in the past. The rivalry was one of the greatest rivalries in all of college sports. I'm sure you will have a decent football program again, and you have a good chance to prove it by playing in the Big Sky Conference, but as of right now, NDSU doesn't care about this game nearly as much as UND does. We have already proven our relevance in the FCS. Playing UND would not prove anything for NDSU. Even losing a close game with the national champions, however, would give an indication that UND is relevant in the FCS. That alone makes this game much more important to UND than NDSU.

Because winning national championships is the focus of NDSU. The focus isn't on playing UND. The point of bringing it up is that playing UND is nowhere close to winning national championships on the priority list. If we happen to beat up on UND along the way to a national championship, so be it. If not, that's fine too.

Did you read my post? I specifically said "I'm not saying playing UND would've kept NDSU from winning the national championship". Take some time to read the entire post before you attempt to make an intelligent comment.

If this game was so important, why did UND refuse to play NDSU when we were making the transition to D1, thereby ending the 100+ year rivalry and "punishing the very people who support their program"? I sure hope you were saying similar things to your fellow UND fans 10 years ago. I realize that back in the glory days, the rivalry game was the biggest event in the state, but that is the main problem in my opinion. NDSU is more focused right now on getting national recognition. Do you really think many people outside of the state of North Dakota and the surrounding areas (and alums) care at all about NDSU and UND playing? Another problem is that the players 10+ years ago grew up knowing the rivalry. They understood how big it could be. However, very few of the players on either team right now, if any, were even teenagers the last time this game was played. This may have been the biggest event in the state 10+ years ago, but I highly doubt any of the players on last year's FCS national championship team are thinking to themselves, "If only we could've played UND last year. That would've really made my college football career. I would give up this national championship ring and that experience for the chance to play UND." I'm not saying playing UND would've kept NDSU from winning the national championship, but that's not the focus right now for NDSU. The focus has changed since "the glory days". If winning a national championship includes beating up on UND along the way, so be it. If not, that's fine too. Also, please don't attempt to downplay the significance of winning a national championship and how much that does for a university. You may be correct that the rivalry game may be seen as a larger event to some people in the state and surrounding areas, but winning the national championship gets national recognition. The people in the state already know who NDSU and UND are. Winning national championships lets people outside of the Red River Valley know who we are.