New Sioux Rivalry?!?!

[dakotadan]

Who do you want to see as the new big Sioux rival in the coming years? Will it be the same in basketball as it is in football?

[UND Fan]

I would think that UMD will become a major rival quite quickly - already a rival in hockey, the two northernmost schools in the NCC, they are already quite good in FB and both M & W BB, we often go head-to-head with them in recruiting, etc.

[The Sicatoka]

Considering they keep stealing top assistants from UND to become their head coaches, Minnesota - Duluth is the obvious choice: Scott Sandelin, Kyle "Bubba" Schweigert.

[Fighting Sioux Fan]

Minnesota Duluth for the reasons that were mentioned above! We should play them for the Nickel Trophy!

[bigmrg74]

But you'll still dislike GVSU when you guys start looking at who UND will have to be playing right???

[SiouxMeNow]

FFRRANNKK!!! Nice link!!! You Laker Shill you!!!

okay...from a TOTALLY unbiased source - they do have a great board!! (skip the intro though...it's just PAINFUL!) I recommend the high thinking of the DII Football forum...they have a BRILLIANT guy named SiouxYou there (plus he has a great avatar!!) Check it out....

(oh sorry Frank...now who's the shill?:-)

[bigmrg74]

Brilliant?? I think that SiouxYou guy is full of *shibby!*. It seems all he talks about is Moose Drool and Brats I think. About the only thing cool about him is when that penguin slaps the other one and puts that penguin, On Ice.

[SiouxMeNow]

uh huhhhh...that is cool!!! i'm going to play my x-box now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHO'S THE SHIBBY???;);-/

[bigmrg74]

Well, better you play with that than with yourself!!

Jeeze, what does it take to get you guys off of the hockey for a minute and excited about football?? A visit by the office Linebacker, Terry Tate???

[dakotadan]

What about Nebraska-Omaha? We have been going head to head with them for years. And they look like they are going to be our biggest competition in most sports. I know they aren't exactly next door, but I think we could get a pretty heated rivalry going. We will have to see how things go for Duluth this year.

[jimdahl]

What about Nebraska-Omaha? We have been going head to head with them for years. And they look like they are going to be our biggest competition in most sports. I know they aren't exactly next door, but I think we could get a pretty heated rivalry going. We will have to see how things go for Duluth this year.

I agree that a big part of what makes a a rivalry is a fair chance of either team winning. That was the problem with the NDSU "rivalry", it was just too easy for the Sioux to win Seriously, though, part of what made the rivalry with NDSU so huge was that it had not only the geographic connection (which simply cannot be replaced by any other school), but also in that the h2h was often a battle for the top of the NCC and a playoff berth. That's what makes people start to really care about a particular opponent and circle the game against them on the calendar.

UNO is the remaining NCC team that has shown the most promise of battling us year-after-year for the NCC championship and to deny each other playoff spots. UMD has a lot of potential because they're a big hockey rival and closest in geography, but we'll have to see how they succeed in the NCC.

[Bisonfan1234]

and closest in geography

GF-Saint Cloud, 255 mi.

GF-Duluth, 263 mi.

[choyt3]

GF-Saint Cloud, 255 mi.

GF-Duluth, 263 mi.

So, what's your point? You seem to at least have the competency to use Map Quest. Why can't you add any substance to any conversations?

Whether the Sioux ever play the Bison again, and we know it will happen one day, the Bison can't be replaced as our main rival. Sure, there will be teams the Sioux compete with for conference and national titles that Sioux fans will learn to 'hate' almost as much as NDSU.

It's probably safe to say that Sioux fans will still watch the late sports on Saturday nights in the fall, or read the sports section of the paper first thing Sunday morning, checking to see that the Bison lost. That won't change with the teams not actually playing each other for a couple years. I would expect Bison fans to do the same thing.

The decision by NDSU to switch divisions has ended the competition, for now, between the schools but I don't think it has done anything to end the rivalry.

Regarding UMD, I suppose the Sioux and Bulldog coaches could meet in Bemidji and have a press conference to announce the playing for a US 2 highway sign or something. That sure would be interesting to the alumni and fans of each school.

[jimdahl]

GF-Saint Cloud, 255 mi.

GF-Duluth, 263 mi.

Couldn't find any spelling or grammatical nuances to nitpick? No biggie, I know you were just upset about my "NDSU was too easy to beat" crack, but couldn't really come up with much of a comeback for that. On the topic of rivalries, it is nice to see at least one NDSU fan hasn't lost his obsession with the Fighting Sioux.

SCSU actually did cross my mind, but they just haven't been as consistently competitive over the last decade as UNO. Of course, the NCC membership is pretty shaken up, so who knows how the next decade will look.

I agree with Clayton, and that's exactly what I was trying to say about how NDSU is a natural geographic/political rival, unique factors which make it impossible to replace (besides which, you can't just will a new rivalry into existence, no matter how much you want to pretend not to care about your "former" rival). However, a big part of what made the UND-NDSU game superhuge was that it was also often a competition for the NCC championship and a playoff berth. Whatever team steps into that role is going to be the team UND fans keep their eye on, and UND's biggest rival. For that position, I've made my guesses.