UND/NDSU Football Rivalry

[bisonguy]

tuggnutt,

How does the GLIAC make it to lure a quality non-conf. opponent? Most GLIAC teams only schedule ONE non-conf. game, some don't schedule ANY. The MIAA made it easier to schedule a quality non-conf. opponent, with teams like NWMSU, Pitt. St., MoWest, Truman State, or Emporia State. Most of the teams in the MIAA scheduled two non-conf. games. The only thing the GLIAC and the western indies add are increased travel costs.

[tony]

GLIAC is a 12-team conference with only one open date each (first game of the year). Not many games to be found there.

However, the in-region thing is being WAY overstated. There are seven equally-weighted criteria for playoff selection. Only one of them is based on the point system. In-region games are only part of one of the W-L criteria - the new region's playoff committee gets to decide how much weight to give. Greg Drahuschak (DII Guru) tried to explain it once: Here's the link. Basically, the DII playoff selection criteria are the same as they've always been except that they've given the Winona State's a really good reason to avoid playing teams from good conferences. That's good news because UND has more options for scheduling than some people have been saying.

[tuggnutt]

tuggnutt,

How does the GLIAC make it to lure a quality non-conf. opponent? Most GLIAC teams only schedule ONE non-conf. game, some don't schedule ANY. The MIAA made it easier to schedule a quality non-conf. opponent, with teams like NWMSU, Pitt. St., MoWest, Truman State, or Emporia State. Most of the teams in the MIAA scheduled two non-conf. games. The only thing the GLIAC and the western indies add are increased travel costs.

Not many GLIAC coaches would schedule an NCC opponent in previous years. For good reason. Scheduling with such a big conference, yes. But, it didn't make sense to travel too far for an out of region game. With an in-region game, some may be willing to make the trek. Do you think UND is a good draw? Do you think GLIAC schools would like that gate? Just food for thought. I should've realized that making a blanket statement regarding GLIAC and NCC schools would be misread, my bad. I was simply saying that it is more enticing for a GLIAC-NCC game now than before. As far as them only scheduling conference opponents, that is because there are so many GLIAC schools. As long as there are 12 GLIAC football schools, this will be the case. As we have seen in the NCC, that isn't etched in stone. There have been rumblings of Mercyhurst and Gannon (non-football) leaving the conference as well as Indianapolis finding a permanent home. It will be a different landscape in both conferences in five years.

[UND92,96]

I wonder if maybe yesterday's NDSU game may have been the best thing that could have happened for those who really want the Sioux-Bison series to continue? Had NDSU gone to Missoula and laid an egg, it would have supported the theory that there's no way a 36-scholarship team can beat a 63-scholarship team, at least unless the I-AA program is really a mess. I think the odds are a lot better now than one week ago that we will see UND and NDSU play in 2004.