Jump to content
SiouxSports.com Forum

Jackrabbits aren't leaving just yet


star2city

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 157
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I've been enjoying D1 status for over 20 years, with benefit of schools that don't include "Middle", "Central", "Agricultural"," Northeastern", "Southern", etc. Enjoy the Greyhound rides to the inner rings of hell ... well, that might be an improvement over Brookings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your assuming the rest of the world considers College Hockey a sport of any significance.i

Unlike SDSU's impressive D-II college track & field championships :) There are two college sports people care about in large numbers: football and D-I men's basketball. Honestly, I can understand why Bison fans are always crowing about their storied (though ancient) history, at least they've won over half a dozen D-II football championships. Please tell me you're not trying to crow because SDSU finally won its 1st D-II women's basketball championship (a much less popular sport than D-I college hockey), particularly since UND has won that 3 of the last 7 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your assuming the rest of the world considers College Hockey a sport of any significance.i

I presume the NC$$ does, as the Men's D1 hockey tourney is their second biggest moneymaking event, right behind March Madness. Then again, most of the D1 hockey teams actually come from places with airports, running water, paved roads, etc.

As far as your ASSumptions about hockey go ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your assuming the rest of the world considers College Hockey a sport of any significance.i

Do you mean unlike the major national hoopla surrounding I-AA football or Mid-Continent Conference basketball? Let's face it, unless you're talking about BCS football or major conference basketball, 90-something percent of the country knows little and cares less. But that doesn't mean that those of us who do follow division I hockey, division II or I-AA football, or division II or non-major conference college basketball are any less interested in our respective sports.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've seen a few people mention UM - Crookston as a new member. Wouldn't Northern State be a FAR better choice? They'd at closer to be a decent team. Crookston finished 9th in about ever sport, just ahead of the now departed UM - Morris. I can't expect they'd be a great replacement, unless the NCC is will to give up on the "one of the best conferences" tag, just for a doormat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've seen a few people mention UM - Crookston as a new member.  Wouldn't Northern State be a FAR better choice?  They'd at closer to be a decent team.  Crookston finished 9th in about ever sport, just ahead of the now departed UM - Morris.  I can't expect they'd be a great replacement, unless the NCC is will to give up on the "one of the best conferences" tag, just for a doormat.

I've never heard UMC mentioned as a potential NCC member. God help us all if they were to be added. Out of current NSIC members, Northern St., Winona St. or possibly Concordia-St. Paul may be possibilities somewhere down the line of they could at least come close to fully funding football scholarships at the dII maximum. Otherwise, I don't see the NCC adding further NSIC members anytime soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Otherwise, I don't see the NCC adding further NSIC members anytime soon.

If that's the case, they what's the NCC gonna do about a 8th member? I read somewhere that UN-Kearney wasn't interested. So with not much else as an option in the region, what would happen. I do know that D-III Upper Iowa who is moving up to D-II, and they have been in talks with 3 different conference (more than likely NCC, NSIC and :)).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If that's the case, they what's the NCC gonna do about a 8th member? I read somewhere that UN-Kearney wasn't interested. So with not much else as an option in the region, what would happen. I do know that D-III Upper Iowa who is moving up to D-II, and they have been in talks with 3 different conference (more than likely NCC, NSIC and :)).

I don't mean to say that there's no way that another NSIC school be added to the NCC, but I do think that for it to happen, the incoming school would have to give some sort of assurance that they would make every effort to reach 36 scholarships for football. Since the NCC is pretty much in agreement in its view that football scholarships shouldn't be further cut, it would be disingenuous to add a school who didn't share this sentiment.

Other possibilities would be schools from the MIAA or Great Lakes Conferences (admittedly a longshot), or the Rocky Mountain Conference (other than Kearney if they're not interested). If the choice were remaining at seven schools or adding a school like UMC, I am quite confident that the NCC would remain at seven until a more suitable member could be found.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jim, just to clear something up from a couple days ago. UN-O's AD said that NDSU wouldn't be on the schedule but that doesn't mean that NDSU ever contacted him looking for a game.

From what I've heard and seen, NDSU is looking for top DI-AA teams and UND to fill the schedule. If NDSU were to schedule more DII teams, they might as well schedule an NSIC team because they can get both a win and a home game. It's not like having a weak DII team on the schedule will hurt NDSU's playoff chances next year :)

The rest of the schedule is likely to be very tough indeed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WSU Warrior-----from my standpoint, Winona State appears to be the most likely future member of the NCC, assuming they are willing to increase their FB scholarships. Have you heard anything from officials there to indicate this might be a possibility? If not Winona, I would guess that Northern State would be next.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bison Kent--any idea of the U of Mary's enrollment? Is it Augustana size, or larger? I have heard rumors for years that they may move their sports up. It would take quite a commitment to move from NAIA to the NCC, but they do have a fair-sized city to support a higher-level program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mary's enrollment is approximately 1,800, I believe. They do have a pretty nice NAIA athletic program.

Although UMary is in a fairly populous area (especially by North Dakota standards), they may very well run into the same problem as Augie--the fan support is generally not there for a private school like it would be for a public school. Although Sioux Falls is one of the largest metro areas in the NCC, Augie doesn't draw particularly well, and perhaps never will. If USD or SDSU or Northern State were located in Sioux Falls, it would likely be a whole different story. There are a lot of UND and/or NDSU fans in Bismarck, and UMary may struggle with that if they all of a sudden were to be trying to compete head-to-head instead of having their own niche as they do now.

However, at least among schools not currently in division II potentially joining the NCC, I would agree that UMary is probably the most likely candidate. If very many established dII programs indicate they are not interested in a move to the NCC, it could happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your assuming the rest of the world considers College Hockey a sport of any significance.

I can't speak for all of the world, but more than a quarter million people went to Sioux hockey home games last year (and more than 1.3 million went to WCHA home games).

Compare those numbers to some other teams and leagues.

For example, you'll find that more people went to Sioux mens hockey games last year than went to all SDSU home games (all sports, all home games, totaled).

Somebody cares.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Sicatoka Posted: Aug 21 2003, 08:57 AM 

I can't speak for all of the world, but more than a quarter million people went to Sioux hockey home games last year (and more than 1.3 million went to WCHA home games).

Compare those numbers to some other teams and leagues.

I like hockey, but the comparision is not fair. That is like comparing apples to oranges. In this case you could compare UND Hockey to Michigan football, over 100,000 per game. I am sure the Michigan Football team outdraws the Michigan Hockey team also. So football must be more popular.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am sure the Michigan Football team outdraws the Michigan Hockey team also.    So football must be more popular.

I think Michigan football is much more popular than Michigan hockey. Though a lot of students follow the hockey team rabidly, the school doesn't see enough demand to expand Yost beyond its current 6k or so. The football stadium, on the other hand, seems to expand every few years and still can't accomodate the 100k+ of locals, alums, and students interested in each game. That football has fewer games than hockey probably skews per game numbers toward football (because if you want to hit a game, you have fewer opportunities), but not by THAT much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

UND92,96 Posted: Aug 21 2003, 11:05 AM 

I think you may have misinterpreted Sicatoka's post. But I will defer to him to elaborate.

On a somewhat related matter, Sicatoka was correct regarding UND hockey tickets sold relative to SDSU's total athletic department tickets sold. 

I don't disagree with UND hockey attendance being larger than SDSU's total sports attendance. Comparing SDSU and UND, would it be better to compare the sports that they have in common. Basketball vs Basketball, Football vs Football etc. UND and SDSU are small in the total picture of college sports. SDSU currently does not have a big-time sport such and UND Hockey. That is why I took the Michigan example, they have big-time hockey and football.

How many states have college hockey, 20? How many have Football, Basketball, etc, 50.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My issue is with the insinuation that college hockey is insignificant.

It's far from accurate to cast 256,591 (and 1,372,229 for WCHA mens hockey) as insignificant in the scope of collegiate athletics. This is especially true when you consider that the great majority of NCAA members don't have that many home game patrons in all sports combined in a season. Then you have to add in the factor that mens ice hockey is "revenue black" for the NCAA where only mens basketball can make the same claim. It may not be as commonly popular, but college hockey is significant where it matters (paying patrons, revenues).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BisonMav:

To be fair, agreeably, average per game should be looked at instead.

Pac-10 MBB teams home games: 7667 (150 games, 1150071 patrons)

WCHA mens hockey teams home games: 6759 (203 games, 1372229 patrons)

Missouri Valley MBB teams home games: 6414 (143 games, 917166 patrons)

All are very comparable. The MVC is the most "high profile" potential conference put forth by either NDSU or SDSU. I don't think you or I would want to call the Missouri Valley (or the Pac-10) insignificant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Sicatoka Posted on Aug 21 2003, 12:49 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BisonMav:

To be fair, agreeably, average per game should be looked at instead.

Pac-10 MBB teams home games: 7667 (150 games, 1150071 patrons)

WCHA mens hockey teams home games: 6759 (203 games, 1372229 patrons)

Missouri Valley MBB teams home games: 6414 (143 games, 917166 patrons)

All are very comparable. The MVC is the most "high profile" potential conference put forth by either NDSU or SDSU. I don't think you or I would want to call the Missouri Valley (or the Pac-10) insignificant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...