In depth look at UND/USD to Summit

[NDSUguy]

This article was published in the Fargo Forum today. It examines the possibility that NDSU/SDSU could someday renew its rivalry with UND/USD if those schools would be admitted into the Summit League

http://www.in-forum.com/Sports/articles/209550

There are however a few inaccuracies in Kolpack's story. These are listed below:

First, Kevin didn't realize that IPFW was already transitioning when the core member rules were established. Because of that, IPFW falls under an exception clause and is already a core member. That fact changes some of Kevin's points in his article.

Second, Kevin misunderstood the eight-year core member clock. He seems to think it started when the schools began their transitions; it doesn't. It only begins after the transition is complete and the school becomes an active member. NDSU's clock just started ticking a month ago, and both NDSU & SDSU won't become core members until 2016. That also affects Kevin's comment on Great West AQs. In the article, he states that the GWC will be eligible for its first AQs in 2015. The actual date is 2022(HBU's transition is seven years since they're coming from NAIA). I'm not counting football here. They could get an autobid in 2014 if they can find a sixth team because the rules are different for that sport.

With this information, Kevin might have written the story differently. He would have probably written about Chicago St. and UTPA as potential members. Since they are already core members, the Summit would likely turn to those schools if forced due the risk of losing the automatic qualifier.

All in all, it's a pretty good article and I thought that it would be interesting to UND followers. This is not intended as smack but as a decent update to the landscape of D1 conferences.

Thanks to poster Hammersmith on the Bison media blog for this info.