star2city Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 It seems Valdosta State is taking the same view on a DI reclassification as UND: upgrade your facilities to DI+ level and "lay the groundwork". Having recently been in Valdosta, the city's growth and the university's appearance, especially its athletic venues, were more impressive than I expected. Valdosta Daily Times: Assembling All The Pieces VALDOSTA –– The Blazers are past the point of wondering if they’re going to be a Division I team. The reality is some day soon, Valdosta State will be playing athletics at the NCAA’s highest level. “We’ve just finished the baseball stadium,” VSU President Ronald Zaccari said. “We’re going to have to move the tennis courts (for the proposed multi-purpose stadium) and when we do we’re going to build a real first-class tennis facility so we can have national championships here. “Every piece of the puzzle is moving to Division I. People can’t see that because they’re not looking every day, but I see the plan starting to weave itself tighter and tighter. It’s going to happen.”“We’re very happy to being a Division II institution and we’re going to be a Division II institution for the foreseeable future,” VSU athletic director Herb Reinhard said. “But the thing that we will do is continue to lay the ground work so if the growth of the university dictates, whether it be five years or 10 years in the future, that we should become a Division I institution, we will have done many of the things that we need to do to get ourselves ready to make that transition.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisonguy Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Facilities, add five more sports, add a lot more financial aid, at least double the athletic budget, and get more fan support than the local high school. Sounds like a lot of pieces to put in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star2city Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 Facilities, add five more sports, add a lot more financial aid, at least double the athletic budget, and get more fan support than the local high school. Sounds like a lot of pieces to put in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 For NDSU, the two sports outside football that NDSU can most reasonably expect to be highly competitive (in top 20% of DI) are wrestling and women's basketball. But yet no facility improvement have been made for those sports with DI in mind. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The McCormick Wrestling Complex was completely renovated in 2000 with funding from longtime NDSU booster John L. McCormick. One of the premier wrestling practice facilities in the country, it offers 6,300 square feet of space including a cardiovascular training room and a team lounge with video equipment. The cardio room is equipped with cross trainers, a treadmill, exercise bikes, weights and television. The video room features state-of-the-art equipment, computers, stereo, television and meeting room capabilities. I have been in Iowa State's wrestling room (perennial top 5 team), and NDSU's is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star2city Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 I have been in Iowa State's wrestling room (perennial top 5 team), and NDSU's is better. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> O.K., I retract the wrestling part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 O.K., I retract the wrestling part. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> 4X400 relay results I also may argue that track will be competitive. (with a pretty nice, relatively new outdoor track, and decent indoor facility) the 4X4 relay did pretty good last weekend at the Iowa St Classic- the only teams that beat them ran DI qualifying times. 1 Florida 'A' 3:03.95@ 1 2 Auburn 'A' 3:06.51* 1 3 Illinois 'A' 3:08.19* 1 4 Northern Iowa 'A' 3:09.19* 1 5 Oregon 'A' 3:09.35* 1 6 Nebraska 'A' 3:09.45* 1 7 Southeast Missouri 'A' 3:09.92* 2 8 North Dakota State 'A' 3:11.80 2 9 Missouri 'A' 3:11.88 2 10 Minnesota 'A' 3:12.64 2 11 Ohio State 'A' 3:12.65 2 12 Oral Roberts 'A' 3:12.93 3 13 Ia. St. Unattached 'A' 3:13.03 2 14 Northern Iowa 'B' 3:13.78 2 15 Ole Miss 'B' 3:14.27 4 16 Kansas State 'A' 3:14.51 3 17 Kansas 'A' 3:14.79 3 18 Wichita State 'A' 3:15.22 4 19 Arkansas State 'A' 3:15.30 4 20 Adidas 'A' 3:15.89 1 21 North Dakota State 'B' 3:16.92 5 22 Wyoming 'A' 3:17.13 4 23 Indiana State 'A' 3:17.38 4 24 U - W Parkside 'A' 3:17.63 5 25 Loyola 'A' 3:18.77 5 And by comparing the performances (times/distances etc) NDSU had at the NCC meet to other conference meets, NDSU team LAST YEAR- would have won the Big Sky, Mid-Con, and Missouri Valley conferences. Softball also has a nice, new facility, and should compete quite well in DI (they have wins over Iowa St, Nebraska etc already) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotadan Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 VALDOSTA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Wrestling? Softball? The words of many an NDSU fan, namely "Nobody cares about ....", are ringing here also, but even more loudly. That's a nice wrestling room. And it would fit in here almost twice: The Fighting Sioux weight room is one of the largest single-sport weight facilities outside of football in the world. The 10,000 square-foot world-class facility has 10 platforms with 10 power stations, 24 weight machines, 30 circuit machines and 30 aerobic pieces, along with 20,000 pounds of weights. Also included in the room is an 1,800 square-foot spring-mounted pylo floor and eight TV monitors to take athletes step-by-step through their workout programs. http://www.visitgrandforks.com/main/ralph A 30,000 seat stadium at Valdosta? Would anyone in the south not be in a football stadium on a Saturday afternoon? Valdosta appears to be getting the capital expenditures for facilities taken care of before having to raise the annual capital of an expanded annual budget. I believe I'm seeing that same theme at UND as star2city does as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxMeNow Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Wrestling? Softball? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What are two NCAA championships with higher TV ratings than Hockey Alex. S2C was talking about NDSU's facilities in sports in which they could be competitive-not the relative popularity of the sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star2city Posted February 19, 2005 Author Share Posted February 19, 2005 I also may argue that track will be competitive. (with a pretty nice, relatively new outdoor track, and decent indoor facility) the 4X4 relay did pretty good last weekend at the Iowa St Classic- the only teams that beat them ran DI qualifying times. ... Softball also has a nice, new facility, and should compete quite well in DI (they have wins over Iowa St, Nebraska etc already) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> There is no question Bison T&F was a premiere program at the DII level, but there is a big gap between mid-DI and upper DI levels. The Missouri Valley and Big Sky are far from the power conferences in T&F. And isn't the "decent indoor facility" the BSA? It is a shame that with a facility like Newman Field, baseball will have difficulty fielding a competitive team. If the season was extended into June and an indoor practice facility was available (or is there one already?), that might change things. Even in the South, the higher level baseball teams have indoor facilities. The one sport you haven't mentioned is Women's volleyball. More than softball, it would create fan interest. But isn't the Bunker Fieldhouse somewhat of a anchor holding down that program's DI competitiveness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Higher TV ratings. Revenue positive championship for the NCAA. Each has its merits. What you chose not to address is this: ... getting the capital expenditures for facilities taken care of before having to raise the annual capital of an expanded annual budget. Sure wrestling is taken care of, but why not deal with items that could be revenue positive for the budget (like star2city mentions)? For example, the BESC for volleyball is a facility many DI programs would envy and volleyball has that potential for fan interest. PS - How'd Bison softball do against BU, UCF, and Longwood this season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 Higher TV ratings. Revenue positive championship for the NCAA. Each has its merits. What you chose not to address is this: Sure wrestling is taken care of, but why not deal with items that could be revenue positive for the budget (like star2city mentions)? For example, the BESC for volleyball is a facility many DI programs would envy and volleyball has that potential for fan interest. PS - How'd Bison softball do against BU, UCF, and Longwood this season? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why how nice of you to ask North Dakota State Defeats Boston University 6-1 to Claim UCF Softball Tournament Title ORLANDO, Fla.--Allison Bakke fired a one-hitter and Heather Hyatt went 3-for-4 to lead North Dakota State University to a 6-1 victory over Boston University on Sunday, Feb. 20, to claim the UCF Softball Tournament championship during its first weekend of NCAA Division I competition. I think we all know NDSU needs a new BB/VB arena. However despite having to toil in the BBF, NDSU was normally at or near the top of VB attendance and very competitive. UNI (a mid-major VB power) plays in a "hole" as well and they draw 1500 a game. As much as facilities help- they are not the panacea some would make them out to be. UND has wonderful facilities- yet continues to generate 400k budget deficits at the D2 level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 UND has wonderful facilities- yet continues to generate 400k budget deficits at the D2 level <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You think the facilities are causing the budget deficit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 UND has wonderful facilities- yet continues to generate 400k budget deficits at the D2 level. I had one come back at me. NDSU's numbers for this year aren't in yet. You'd hate to have that come back at you. PS - How do you go "L, L, L, W, W" at a tournament and win it? What format is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmrg74 Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 PS - How do you go "L, L, L, W, W" at a tournament and win it? What format is that? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Winning the Losers' bracket?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 YOU KNOW what i am a big bison fan but have really noticed on this site that the sicatoka is really down on NDSU more than anyone else and i just would like to know why. It seems others on here are big sioux fans but have decent thinga to say about ndsu or dont say a lot at all and i know that on our site there is one guy the same way and to be honest he is a moron in his thinking. I am proud of ndsu and the way they have gone about things and wish UND would have gone to but it just did not happen, can UND and Grand forks support a full out d1 programs i dont know and thatis not a shot at UND its just ndsu has a bigger local base to draw from thats just as fact nor fluff there or bias just facts and if UND soes go i hope theya succeed and we can get that nickel back in play. have a nice day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxMeNow Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I BEG TO DIFFER Timbonator!!! (with all due respect to Sicatoka!) I'm the biggest anti-bison jerk here and I'm proud of it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxMeNow Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 ps...NDSUcks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 YOU KNOW what i am a big bison fan but have really noticed on this site that the sicatoka is really down on NDSU more than anyone else and i just would like to know why. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I heard a rumor that that it's because his thong is too tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bison Dan Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 ps...NDSUcks! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hey why don't you give us some more inside info (bull$%!#) like you did on fb recruiting. Lets face it suemenow your not the sharpest tack in the box! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 1. I had one come back at me. NDSU's numbers for this year aren't in yet. You'd hate to have that come back at you. 2. PS - How do you go "L, L, L, W, W" at a tournament and win it? What format is that? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> 1. I doubt any deficit will be larger than 400k. Even IF it were- we would know where the money is going (scholies/travel etc). The question I have is where is all the money pouring into the Ralph going (10k fans 20X a year-plus mucho liquor sales). It would appear not to be the UND AD. 2. Pool play followed by bracket play- you gotta win when it counts I was actually prety shocked the SB team lost their first few games, probably had something do with it it being their first DI games and also the other teams had already played a handful of games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND92,96 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 1. I doubt any deficit will be larger than 400k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 To quote a great line, "show me the money," and you'll convince me. I reference my statement to Montana and their recent $1,000,000 athletic budget deficits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts