Future Schedules

[nodakvindy]

Bad blood and sending messages is just childish. It's in UND's best interest to continue playing USD, so just buck up and make it happen. We are still in the BIg Sky. Yes, it would have been great if USD was too, but they aren't. South Dakota Mines won't sell any tickets, doesn't help toward making the playoffs and reeks of desperation. What better way to start our first playoff eligible season that with what is our only true active rivalry game.

[fightingsioux4life]

Bad blood and sending messages is just childish. It's in UND's best interest to continue playing USD, so just buck up and make it happen. We are still in the BIg Sky. Yes, it would have been great if USD was too, but they aren't. South Dakota Mines won't sell any tickets, doesn't help toward making the playoffs and reeks of desperation. What better way to start our first playoff eligible season that with what is our only true active rivalry game.

Amen. It is amazing how many excuses and rationalizations people in our fan base come up with to explain why it just isn't possible to bring our program to the next level in FCS. We don't have the money for this, we don't have the money for that, we don't get along with certain people in other athletic departments, we have hockey so nothing else matters, blah, blah, blah. We have to start thinking big and then act on those ideas. Here are a few of mine:

1) No more games against schools like South Dakota School of Mines, University of Sioux Falls and Black Hills State. I couldn't care less about how much of the freaking gate we get to keep from those games. Just how much "gate" will this team bring in if we keep scheduling like this? People aren't going to pay good money to watch us play teams like this. And once playoff time rolls around, these games will cost us a playoff spot. I can almost guarrantee it. Do what it takes to bring in legitimate DI FCS teams and quit giving us excuses why it just can't be done.

2) Better marketing before and during the season. Starting your advertising the week before the first game is bush-league at best, negligent at worst. This might have worked in D-II, but it won't work in FCS. We have to make it clear to the public that UND Football matters and is going places. That will help sell tickets. The best advertising for a program is getting fans to buy a ticket and watch a game.

3) Better TV and Media Coverage. Getting more games on TV will give the program more exposure and improve everything from attendance to recruiting. If this means picking up more feeds from opponent broadcasts, then we should work hard on making those deals happen. This has gotten better over the years, but it can and needs to get better as we move forward as an FCS program.

Those are the three biggest things I came up with. They will cost money and will require a commitment from all of us, but they are necessary to win championships at this level. And, as I have said before, if we aren't willing to do these things, we shouldn't have moved up in the first place.

End Rant.

[Cratter]

Or will UND continue to cut the football budget. And let NDSU prosper.

Essentially becoming a second 80's football in UND history?

Both Bunning and Faison have cut the football budget.

Until you actually grow the football budget the rest is wishful thinking.

[dmksioux]

3) Better TV and Media Coverage. Getting more games on TV will give the program more exposure and improve everything from attendance to recruiting. If this means picking up more feeds from opponent broadcasts, then we should work hard on making those deals happen. This has gotten better over the years, but it can and needs to get better as we move forward as an FCS program.

Those are the three biggest things I came up with. They will cost money and will require a commitment from all of us, but they are necessary to win championships at this level. And, as I have said before, if we aren't willing to do these things, we shouldn't have moved up in the first place.

End Rant.

This should be better next year due to Big Sky TV where I believe all conference games and some non-conference games are avaible online. Also, the Big Sky is supposed to be announcing some kind of tv deal with Versus or Root, I don't remember which. It would be nice to see some of the games get picked up on local cable similar to NDSU's deal with NBC North Dakota

[Smoggy]

According to a SFI blog post it's looking like Central Arkansas is trying to buy out the return game at the Alerus next year.

[The Sicatoka]

According to a SFI blog post it's looking like Central Arkansas is trying to buy out the return game at the Alerus next year.

Not try. Did. I heard it from Mussman and Sean Johnson.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Not try. Did. I heard it from Mussman and Sean Johnson.

Any idea how much the buyout amount was?

[darell1976]

Any idea how much the buyout amount was?

http://siouxfb.areavoices.com/

After the Idaho State buyout debacle, we have to believe that the buyout is in the $125,000 – $175,000 range. Based on the amounts we have heard lately, we think it would cost at least that much to bring in another FCS opponent from a long distance away. Hopefully, the buyout is in that range. This is a huge chunk of change for an athletic department with a budget the size of UCA’s, which leads us to believe they will be getting a large payday to go play Arkansas or another SEC school in the geographical neighborhood. It’s interesting to note that UCA already is scheduled to open the 2012 season in Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels in week 1.

[darell1976]

Accoding to UCABears75 on AGS..UCA is adding Murray State instead of UND. Shouldn't there be a ban on backing out of games.

[goyotes]

It certainly appears that teams from the south like to agree to home & home contracts with them hosting the first game and then buyout the 2nd game. The Yotes played at Lamar in 2010 & they were supposed to give us a return game this year, but instead wrote us a check for a rumored $200,000 to $250,000. I hope the Sioux had the same dollar range on the Central Arkansas buyout. The buyout money is nice, but it is difficult to find a good replacement game - I think we ended up replacing Lamar with Missouri S&T this year. Would have been nice to get them Lamar in the dome this year (especially after the egg we layed down there last year)

Moral of the story - if setting up a home and home with a team from the south, try to get the first game at home & if not, push for a $250,000 plus buyout.

[darell1976]

Maybe UND should look at the MVFC for opponents. NDSU is out (Colorado State has that date) but UNI, SIU or USD. If I was Faison I would be on that phone all day long.

[Siouxperfan7]

I don't care who they schedule, as long as they are an FCS team. There are plenty of low quality FCS teams that we could schedule here if we are looking for a cupcake win. (St. Francis, Morgan St., etc) Get your cupcake D1 wins in at leat one of you OAC home game so you don't get screwed when the playoff selection commitee makes their decision for whether or not you make the playoffs. NAIA and D2 schools cannont be scheduled anymore now that we are out of transition an playoff eligible.

[UND92,96]

What's the best site to check for open dates for FCS schools? I checked the American Football Coaches Association site, but there wasn't anything there for 2012.

[Hambone]

What's the best site to check for open dates for FCS schools? I checked the American Football Coaches Association site, but there wasn't anything there for 2012.

Not sure when it was last updated. Scroll down and you can pick by conference.

http://www.collegesp...rence-Schedules

EDIT: Just by looking through it a little, it doesn't look like it's been updated for a while. I posted a note on AGS to see if the creator has updated recently......

[darell1976]

I don't care who they schedule, as long as they are an FCS team. There are plenty of low quality FCS teams that we could schedule here if we are looking for a cupcake win. (St. Francis, Morgan St., etc) Get your cupcake D1 wins in at leat one of you OAC home game so you don't get screwed when the playoff selection commitee makes their decision for whether or not you make the playoffs. NAIA and D2 schools cannont be scheduled anymore now that we are out of transition an playoff eligible.

You mean schedule like NDSU does.

[fightingsioux4life]

Maybe UND should look at the MVFC for opponents. NDSU is out (Colorado State has that date) but UNI, SIU or USD. If I was Faison I would be on that phone all day long.

I agree with you, but we aren't Faison. Since it is Faison and not us, I am sure he will settle for a lower-level team so we can keep more of the gate and balance the budget.

Faison should also do whatever he can to get South Dakota School of Mines off the schedule for next year, even if it means settling for an established D-2 team. But I suppose that won't happen either.

Faison should be on the phone as much as possible to fix these things. It's time we act like a DI FCS team that is serious about getting into the playoffs and winning once we get there.

[darell1976]

The 3 teams in the Big Sky that UND could schedule as an OOC game would be Weber State, Portland St, and our buddies UC Davis, also USD is off the table as they play Colgate on Sept. 8th, and SIU plays Missouri...South Alabama (Independant) is open on Sept. 8th.

[darell1976]

I agree with you, but we aren't Faison. Since it is Faison and not us, I am sure he will settle for a lower-level team so we can keep more of the gate and balance the budget.

Faison should also do whatever he can to get South Dakota School of Mines off the schedule for next year, even if it means settling for an established D-2 team. But I suppose that won't happen either.

Faison should be on the phone as much as possible to fix these things. It's time we act like a DI FCS team that is serious about getting into the playoffs and winning once we get there.

Now is the time to get rid of this game. You have 8 conference games and 1 FBS game so that 7 DI win area is very much in jeopardy. Get rid of Mines and schedule 2 cupcake FCS games I don't care if its schollie or non-schollie just no NON DI teams.

[fightingsioux4life]

Now is the time to get rid of this game. You have 8 conference games and 1 FBS game so that 7 DI win area is very much in jeopardy. Get rid of Mines and schedule 2 cupcake FCS games I don't care if its schollie or non-schollie just no NON DI teams.

I am totally 100% with you on this. However, if we absolutely cannot find an FCS team to replace SD Mines, then get one of our old D-II rivals to fill it. That would attract some fans and would look much better than SD Mines. My biggest fear is that Faison won't even make a solid effort to accomplish this.

[Siouxperfan7]

You mean schedule like NDSU does.

Yes. 4 home conference games, 4 away conference games, 2 OOC games against FCS teams (preferably at home), and an away game at an FBS school that we will get big revenue from. That should be our formula for scheduling every year.

[Ole in MSP]

Yes. 4 home conference games, 4 away conference games, 2 OOC games against FCS teams (preferably at home), and an away game at an FBS school that we will get big revenue from. That should be our formula for scheduling every year.

Faison should call Maturi and convince him to replace New Hampshire next Sept 8 with UND. Not sure how that would work financially for UND or the Gophers, but it would be fun. NH is not a natural rival at all for UM. This is spot UND probably could have had had we gotten rid of the nickname sooner.

[the green team]

I am totally 100% with you on this. However, if we absolutely cannot find an FCS team to replace SD Mines, then get one of our old D-II rivals to fill it. That would attract some fans and would look much better than SD Mines. My biggest fear is that Faison won't even make a solid effort to accomplish this.

Yes I'm sure it will be lack of effort when it comes to scheduling. If I know our athletics department,they want as many home quality oppenents as they can get. I'm curious as to why you feel differently? When did Faison pee in your cereal?

[fightingsioux4life]

Yes I'm sure it will be lack of effort when it comes to scheduling. If I know our athletics department,they want as many home quality oppenents as they can get. I'm curious as to why you feel differently? When did Faison pee in your cereal?

My friend, Faison peed in all of our cereal when he scheduled South Dakota School of Mines for next year. If you are okay with that, that is your opinion. But I am not. USD has been better at transition scheduling with a fraction of the resources that we have to work with. And next year is our first year of eligibility for the FCS playoffs. Having SD Mines on the schedule will NOT help us in that regard. You cannot win scheduling games like this (scheduling USF should have taught us that). You have to spend money to make money, which means we better start getting quality opponents to come to Grand Forks. And if it's not "feasible" to do that, we shouldn't have moved up in the first place.

[The Sicatoka]

Scheduling for 10 months from now is not a easy thing. UND has games set for 2018. Yes, half a decade plus away. Most teams have their 2012 schedules set already.

And, folks, it takes two parties to schedule a game. Lots of things go into it: travel, money, open dates, reasonable matchups, money, both sides being willing to play the opponent {cough-moniker-cough}, money, post-season ramifications, money, ...

[RD17]

Scheduling for 10 months from now is not a easy thing. UND has games set for 2018. Yes, half a decade plus away. Most teams have their 2012 schedules set already.

And, folks, it takes two parties to schedule a game. Lots of things go into it: travel, money, open dates, reasonable matchups, money, both sides being willing to play the opponent {cough-moniker-cough}, money, post-season ramifications, money, ...

Yes. If people would pay more attention, we are doing the right thing as far as future schedules with Valparaiso scheduled in 2013 and Robert Morris in 2014.

Scheduling SD Mines was probably a case of being unable to find a D-I team to pay a guarantee to come to GF next year. And obviously the only smart approach to scheduling non-conference home and homes with FCS teams is if they come to your place first.