College Hockey Vs FCS Football

[UNDBIZ]

20 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

Did you take into account Blais being mad about the size of the playing field?

Fair question, and he'll probably try to steal a lot of our fookey (fhawkball?) recruits.

[North Dakota]

24 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

Actually, above is the opening post for this discussion.  I've gotta give hockey players the edge since it's being played on ice....

 

The whole premise seems slanted in favor of hockey. Maybe that was the idea. Is it going to be full contact no holds barred? Are they using skates or football cleats?? Just 3 linesmen or 5 referees??? How many players aside 6, 11, some combo????

Details, details, details.....

[UNDBIZ]

10 minutes ago, North Dakota said:

The whole premise seems slanted in favor of hockey. Maybe that was the idea. Is it going to be full contact no holds barred? Are they using skates or football cleats?? Just 3 linesmen or 5 referees??? How many players aside 6, 11, some combo????

Details, details, details.....

No facemask/visor on the helmets.  Full contact, although we're going to get ahead of the concussion thing and penalize contact to the head.  No holding/tackling players without the ball.  Baseball cleats (I think the metal cleats will make it more interesting).  2 linesmen and 2 referees.  8 plus a goalie each.

[The Sicatoka]

Yo, "North Dakota" ... why are you using the logo of a middle school in New Hampshire as your avatar?

http://cawley.sau15.net/

Someone may think you're merely a poseur doing something like that. 

[North Dakota]

3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

Yo, "North Dakota" ... why are you using the logo of a middle school in New Hampshire as your avatar?

http://cawley.sau15.net/

Someone may think you're merely a poseur doing something like that. 

Cause I like it. It's a green hawk. It looks cool and mean. Until we get a logo I'm going with it.

[dakotadan]

16 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

Yo, "North Dakota" ... why are you using the logo of a middle school in New Hampshire?

Yo, University of North Dakota... why are you using a middle school nickname? 

[ArchyAlum11]

This is actually a pretty weird argument, in theory you can have a good and poplar FCS football program and D1 hockey, the two do have some overlap in their season but not a ton. I think a better question is why is UND football not as popular as hockey and why doesn't NDSU have D1 hockey program (and yes I realize funding is an issue). Here are some of my Personal opinions on why UND Football isn't as big and why NDSU doesn't have D1 hockey.

UND Football -

Reasons its not as popular

1. Still fairly new the the FCS Division One.

2. Off Campus location, more Utilitarian stadium.

3. Team hasn't been winning until recently.

4. Unfamiliar opponets.

Good moves to increase popularity

1. If they can keep capitalizing on the success of this season, UND had a great season and Should have been in the post season. Its hard to expect fans to keep coming out to support a losing team, good recruiting and smart training in the off season will help ensure the fans will be coming back in the fall for more football.

2. Remodel or replace the Alerus Center - its difficult to be realistic for what to expect when UND has the best arena in college hockey and arguably one of the best arenas period. However the Alerus center is a bit to much of a utilitarian building and dosen't have t amazing sight-lines, additionally seating capacity is a bit on the smaller side for football, if renovations could be made to add more concession options, seating and possible a jumbotron as well as cosmetic upgrades to the actually stadium and concourse. Personally I would prefer is they moved football back to campus and built a stadium with higher capacity where memorial stadium is currently, Bringing it back to campus would help to increase student attendence and would provide a better pregame atmosphere, with univeristy park ,the parking lot across from swanson hall and the fraternities being in walking distance, plus the homecoming parade could lead down university ave.

3. Lets look at moving to MVFC, I am aware that Big Sky is seen as a more prestigious league by some, but as last years National Championship and this years championship should show, the MVFC is definitely a power in FCS. This year Big sky and MVFC both sent the same number of teams to the Playoffs, additionally MVFC has the traditional rival schools SDU, SDSU and NDSU. Currently a move by just UND would be difficult because it would put MVFC at an odd number of teams. However their has been a some rumblings the Minnesota State University (Formerly Minnesota State Mankato) may be looking to take the plunge into division one fcs, in many ways the school is in a position that is reminiscent of UND's just before it made the jump to D1, with two major exceptions/dampers, one is that Mankato's football stadium would need to be replaced as its too small, has outdated press facilities and needs other upgrades. The second major hurdle to overcome is the Maroon and Gold evil empire, the U of M has hushed but long history of lobbying for laws, funding and regulations the disadvantage the State universities, its likely any attempt to take Mankato or Saint Cloud into D1 would be meet significant lobbying challenges from the U's small army of lobbyists. 

 

Hockey? Why not NDSU

1. the old party line "Fargo isn't a hockey town".

2. Hockey is an expensive sport to start.

3. The mens club program is not an AZ state.

4. Minnesota State University Moorhead

How to get hockey to NDSU.

1. Show me the money - NDSU would need a significant gift to to add hockey to the list of sports, though NDSU does have a major advantage over schools like arizona state, Scheels Arena while not an ideal long term home for Bison hockey would be more than up to the task of hosting NDSU mens ,and possibly womens, hockey until a new  arena could be built.

2. I knew a lot of people from High school who went to NDSU, all of them have great things to say about NDSU and Fargo as a whole. The Wild are quite popular and to some extent so are the jets, HS hockey is big in both fargo and moorhead. But when you ask some people about NDSU and hockey many  seem to repeat the party line about fargo not being a hockey town. I think in part this comes out of what was bitter feud about NDSU moving up to D1 and UND staying D2 (for awhile at least), however the Fargo-Moorhead area is most definitely an area that loves hockey, if you want proof simply go to a Fargo force game and see how many people are willing to go watch player who are between the HS and College level. 

3.In recent years Moorhead State tried to raise the funds needed to start a D1 hockey program, while they came close unfortunately it wasn't quite enough however interest still exists in starting the a D1 program and another effort to raise the needed funds is likely to happen in the coming years. So the is would one school gaining a program effect the other schools opportunity to get a program? I think that it would be harder for Moorhead to start a program if NDSU were to start one before it could, but it would not be as hard for NDSU to start a program if Moorhead already had D1 hockey. Though In my opinion the Fargo Moorhead area is large enough to support two hockey teams, moorhead alone has a population of about 40,000 people, Mankato is the same size and is able to support a d1 hockey team. The Fargo-Moorhead area is around a 250,000 people, more than enough to support two D-1 hockey programs.

4. Support the club - the best thing NDSU hockey hopefuls can do rightnow is support their club team and help raise its profile. If NDSU can attract the better club level players and become more competitive it will hopefully be able to do what ASU is doing now, and what UNLV is hoping to do soon.

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

25 minutes ago, ArchyAlum11 said:

if renovations could be made to add more concession options, seating and possible a jumbotron as well as cosmetic upgrades to the actually stadium and concourse.

Alerus has two brand new HQ video/scoreboards.  What the heck passes for a "jumbotron" these days?

[Siouxperfan7]

8 minutes ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

Alerus has two brand new HQ video/scoreboards.  What the heck passes for a "jumbotron" these days?

 

[ArchyAlum11]

2 hours ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

Alerus has two brand new HQ video/scoreboards.  What the heck passes for a "jumbotron" these days?

True, but these make more sense in an outdoor stadium where you don't have a roof to hang a video screen from, assuming that you have enough clearance to do so and not interfere with play. Personally I would love to see them move football back to campus but I am well aware that it would be a major expense.

[SiouxVolley]

On 12/30/2015 at 2:59 PM, ArchyAlum11 said:

 

Hockey? Why not NDSU

1. the old party line "Fargo isn't a hockey town".

2. Hockey is an expensive sport to start.

3. The mens club program is not an AZ state.

4. Minnesota State University Moorhead

How to get hockey to NDSU.

1. Show me the money - NDSU would need a significant gift to to add hockey to the list of sports, though NDSU does have a major advantage over schools like arizona state, Scheels Arena while not an ideal long term home for Bison hockey would be more than up to the task of hosting NDSU mens ,and possibly womens, hockey until a new  arena could be built.

2. I knew a lot of people from High school who went to NDSU, all of them have great things to say about NDSU and Fargo as a whole. The Wild are quite popular and to some extent so are the jets, HS hockey is big in both fargo and moorhead. But when you ask some people about NDSU and hockey many  seem to repeat the party line about fargo not being a hockey town. I think in part this comes out of what was bitter feud about NDSU moving up to D1 and UND staying D2 (for awhile at least), however the Fargo-Moorhead area is most definitely an area that loves hockey, if you want proof simply go to a Fargo force game and see how many people are willing to go watch player who are between the HS and College level. 

3.In recent years Moorhead State tried to raise the funds needed to start a D1 hockey program, while they came close unfortunately it wasn't quite enough however interest still exists in starting the a D1 program and another effort to raise the needed funds is likely to happen in the coming years. So the is would one school gaining a program effect the other schools opportunity to get a program? I think that it would be harder for Moorhead to start a program if NDSU were to start one before it could, but it would not be as hard for NDSU to start a program if Moorhead already had D1 hockey. Though In my opinion the Fargo Moorhead area is large enough to support two hockey teams, moorhead alone has a population of about 40,000 people, Mankato is the same size and is able to support a d1 hockey team. The Fargo-Moorhead area is around a 250,000 people, more than enough to support two D-1 hockey programs.

4. Support the club - the best thing NDSU hockey hopefuls can do rightnow is support their club team and help raise its profile. If NDSU can attract the better club level players and become more competitive it will hopefully be able to do what ASU is doing now, and what UNLV is hoping to do soon.

Teammakers would be absolutely against NDSU hockey unless they are on par with UND.  Scheels would never do, so they have to invest in a major new arena that Fargo taxpayers won't fit the bill.  NDSU would have to settle for the WCHA, because the NCHC would not take them.  NDSU boosters would rather die.  

[GDPritch]

On ‎12‎/‎8‎/‎2015 at 1:25 PM, skateshattrick said:

That's your opinion, and it is probably in the distinct minority outside of NDSU. I would take a D1 hockey title over an FCS football title any day. It is a much bigger deal and the athletes are certainly at the top of the sport. There has never been a Bison football player who was an NFL superstar and probably never will. On the other hand, the NHL is littered with college stars (roughly 1/3 of all NHL players, 1/3 Europeans and 1/3 Canadians from Major Juniors) that we see regularly at the REA, including many former UND players who are more famous than any former Bison football player--Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise, Matt Greene, Travis Zajac, TJ Oshie, Troy Murray, Jon Casey, Drew Stafford, etc. etc. Please don't try and compare a JV title to a D1 hockey title.

Great pont.  Here's another point:  Craig Bohl (?) wins 3 straight div 1-AA natties (that's impressive) and leaves for "bigger and better" things to coach at..... lower ladder FBS Wyoming.  Hakstol leaves one of the top 3 or 4 hockey programs nationally to coach at.....NHL's Philadelphia Flyers at the professional level.