Stack Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Even though I hate to hear Bison fans say "I told you so" I'm guessing that UND will be Division I in all sports in the next 3-4 years. So we will also be playing the Minnesotas in college football. Do you think UND fpootball will be more popular than UND hockey at that point? I'd have to say an emphatic NO! The reality is that NDSU is a football college and UND is a hockey college. As far as the state of North Dakota is concerned, who knows? I'd have to say that because UND hockey is being broadcast throughout the state now, that the fan base for hockey is much larger than for NDSU football. So sorry Craig but NDSU football will not surpass UND hockey for a fan base in North Dakota in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Who's Craig Bowl? It's the bowl game Mason and the Gophers are gunning for this year! I guess you can add one more powerhouse to the UM non-conference schedule. If the UM football team ever made it to a major bowl game again, it would absolutely blow away any of the accomplishments of the hockey team over the past few years. That program, and it's fans, are dying for a winner. The local media clings to any drop of optimism that can be found pre-season. Then, their hopes are dashed as soon as the Big-10 schedule rolls around. It's crazy how bad they want this team to be a winner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 It's the bowl game Mason and the Gophers are gunning for this year! I guess you can add one more powerhouse to the UM non-conference schedule. If the UM football team ever made it to a major bowl game again, it would absolutely blow away any of the accomplishments of the hockey team over the past few years. That program, and it's fans, are dying for a winner. The local media clings to any drop of optimism that can be found pre-season. Then, their hopes are dashed as soon as the Big-10 schedule rolls around. It's crazy how bad they want this team to be a winner! It's not exactly crazy how they want this team to be a winner, but, let's face it: The Gophers are going nowhere as long as they're playing in the Metrodome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCGopherFan19 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 It's not exactly crazy how they want this team to be a winner, but, let's face it: The Gophers are going nowhere as long as they're playing in the Metrodome. I second that. If the Gophers get a new outdoor stadium, football will take off. I'm surprised they are even an average team in the Metrodome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCGopherFan19 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 There is no question that in Minnesota UM football and basketball have a much larger following than hockey. The majority of schools in Minnesota do not even have a hockey team. While I really like hockey, I feel that the "hardcore" hocky fan lives in somewhat of a box and does not see the large picture. They live and die hockey. Just look at TV ratings and the fact that the UM did not even sell all of their tickets for the Frozen Four when they played out in Albany, NY. Well, if you ask the UM students, hockey players are much more popular on campus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaggles Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 They are so wet in their pants down in fargo that they got the gophers on there schedule. Well it's old news to UND fans in hockey and football. UND played the gophers in football in the 70's and lost one game by the score of 42-30. We also played Wisconson if FB in the 70's. Now were those games bigger than what we were doing in hockey? Of course not. UND hockey has and always will be the king in N.D. My GOD, just look at the history and the names of all the UND greats. Look at how many played pro hockey. Coach Bohl has this ego that he got when he was in Nebraska. Let's not all forgot that the coaching staff that Bohl was on in Nebraska had some problems and they were all fired. MINNESOTA and MICHIGAN are coming to THE RALPH this weekend to play games. Now does that sound pretty good or what? aa football is a small step up from DII ball, and a big leap from A ball. Who won the aa title in FB last year? That's right nobody knows or cares. Well it was apple st. I don't even know what state apple state is in. I look at the traditions between the two schools and UND does just fine in everything. Ya, the bison had a good run if FB in the Eighties. UND football had some great teams before that. UND was beating Montana St. and Montana in FB in the early 70's, but that's old news for us. Our BB program has had much better tradition that the bison. Just look at the names at UND. Phil Jackson and Jimmy Rodgers who both coached in the NBA. And now toilet BOHL wants to start something about HOCKEY, are you kidding. The jealousy in fargo is running rampant. Coach Bohl better stick to what he does best. And you know what I'm talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Woah there... If this thread has gotten so ugly that people are comparing Bud Light favorably to Miller Lite, it has lost all touch with reality and is nearing a lockdown What you not a beer fan Jim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxinminny Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 If NDSU thinks that by playing the U of Minnesota, the Bison are somehow a 'big-time' program, they have another thing coming. The only home games each year sold out at the Metrodome are the Wisconsin and Iowa games...and that's because 2/3 of the crowd is wearing either crimson and white or black and yellow. Put Notre Dame, USC, Texas, Michigan, Miami, LSU, or Georgia on the schedule, NDSU, and maybe I'll reconsider my assessment. I think NDSU football will have to catch up to NDSU basketball before it can catch up to UND Hockey. Beating the Badgers in Madison this year was something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engelbunny Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 To make an argument about the popularity of D-1 Hockey vs D-1AA football as a whole based upon attendance statistics is tough becuase there is such a wide range among institutions. For example, in 2003-04 hockey (attendance figures used in an above post) the team with the highest average attendance (UW) had 269,123 fans with a per game average of 11,701. The lowest team was American International with a total attendance of 2,267 and a per game average of 161. But the statement made by Bohl was not about the sports as a whole, but specifically Bison football vis-a-vis Sioux Hockey. Current year stats: Bison Football: Total Attendance 84,962 - 6 Home Games - Avg per Game 14,160 FargoDome Capacity 18,500 Percent of Capacity on Average 76.54% Ticket Price $16.00 Sioux Hockey: Total Attendance 239,230 - 22 Home Games - Avg per Game 10,874 REA Capacity 11,406 - Percent of Capacity on Average 95.33% Ticket price $16.00 Bison football resides in a much bigger local market area than Sioux Hockey, has only just over 25% of the games, a similar ticket price, and yet can only get the building 3/4 full on average. Which is more popular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I think NDSU football will have to catch up to NDSU basketball before it can catch up to UND Hockey. Beating the Badgers in Madison this year was something else. But everyone knows this if they are close to UND and NDSU because UND fans have listened to this crap for years. Most Rabbid Sioux fans know that NDSU has an inferority complex when it comes to being a second teir school in college sports. And most UND fans know that they probably never be as popular as UND as far as sports go, I think we can thank Ralph for that, because it probably wont change. When UND and NDSU were both Division two we still had Division one hockey they had a club team that has since folded, sure they kicked our @$$ in football for a time of about 13 years but after that they couldn't beat us. Most of us know that NDSU might very well be Division one in Sports but they can't even get into a conference and no one wants them. I also find it funny that UND probably is more of an attractive Division one school than NDSU based on our facilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bincitysioux Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I think NDSU football will have to catch up to NDSU basketball before it can catch up to UND Hockey. Beating the Badgers in Madison this year was something else. NDSU has a much better basketball coach than they do football coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedkills Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I am curious the last time NDSU played Boston College in football for a national championship. Or better yet, the last time the University of Michigan came to Fargo for an athletic event as slight underdogs. I think we get the picture. The comparison is absolutley absurd! Come on people, lets be honest. We all know where the bear $hits in the woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bincitysioux Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Current year stats: Bison Football: Total Attendance 84,962 - 6 Home Games - Avg per Game 14,160 FargoDome Capacity 18,500 Percent of Capacity on Average 76.40% Ticket Price $16.00 Sioux Hockey: Total Attendance 239,230 - 22 Home Games - Avg per Game 10,874 REA Capacity 11,406 - Percent of Capacity on Average 95.33% Ticket price $16.00 Where do you buy $16 tickets?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Phil Jackson and Jimmy Rodgers who both coached in the NBA. Phil played for, Jimmy was the assistant to, Bill Fitch, another NBA coach. Minor oversight in an otherwise nice overall rant. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Where do you buy $16 tickets?! I was going to ask that too. It seems "Andy Jackson" goes away entirely, and then some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engelbunny Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Where do you buy $16 tickets?! $16 is the actual face value of the tickets. ($355 per ticket package / 22 games = $16.13) Obviously that does not take into account the FSC donation, but I don't know if NDSU has a similar arrangement for their tickets, so I did not factor this extra cost in. In any event, the actual cost of the Sioux Hockey ticket is of course much higher, and therefore leads even more credence to my argument. People are more willing to shell out the bucks for Sioux Hockey as opposed to Bison Football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I have to think that whenever anyone in the national sports media thinks of either UND or NDSU atheletics, Fighting Sioux hockey is the first thing that comes to mind. A couple of nice wins vs. Big Ten schools in football or basketball might change that for the short term. But I just don't see how anything short of a couple of Gonzaga type NCAA hoops runs would garner NDSU sports anywhere near the national recognition as Sioux hockey. I do hope NDSU succeeds though, anything that would continue to shed light on the incompetence of the Gophers hoops and football programs would be a good thing in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SportsDoc Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 IAA football=NCAA Hockey. Total Attendance IAA football- 5,436,122, average per game 8,521(2005) NCAA hockey-3,617,107, average per game 3,655(03-04) As for TV coverage IAA football had 126 games on tv networks(Fox Sports, ESPNU, CSTV, ESPN2, NBC). I have no clue how many hockey games were on tv but I doubt it would be much more if not less. I don't know which is team bigger in the state but I would say it is pretty close. I don't think I would say NDSU football is going to pass UND hockey but the two will pretty much always be equal unless NDSU goes IA then all bets are off. Some of your stats are certainly skewed. My info on D-I AA attendance avg. is 7,699. Compared to I-A attendance of 45,628. Also, D-I basketball attendance is 5,095 per contest. All those from last year. There is no way D-I buckets is less popular than D-I football, but purely by stats football is 9 times more popular ... NOT. What with TV revenue for March Madness it could easily be argued that basketball is more popular than football on a national basis. CBS pays Billions for NCAA buckets! Somebody's watching! You can manipulate numbers however you want. There's lies, damn lies and statistics. Bottom line is until NDSU can compete on a regular basis with D-I programs in the country in ANY major sport, you will still be second class to UND's hockey program. In that case I-AA just doesn't cut it! It might be your favorite, and that's fine. Enjoy your 3rd place finish in a six team conference of wanna-be's. Just don't bring your crap here that Bison football is bigger than Sioux hockey. No one's buying. Have a nice fantasy, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sultan Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Let's see. Michigan, Michigan State, Boston College, Boston University, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver, Ohio State,....... The National DIAA National Champion is Appalachian State. Which would carry more prestige. I think I would choose the Frozen Four. Coach Bohl should think before he makes such idiotic statements. What do we have another Rocky in Fargo. When you get a coaching job at NDSU it must be a requirement that eventually you make totally ridiculous statements. When a person makes statements like that you tend to loose all your credibility. Fargo will never get over the envy they have for our Hockey program. It took a long time to build the prestigious history we have in hockey. They have a very long way to go in there DI sports. Frankly, in their DI sports they might never have any extended post season history. They might never even have a post season. They certainly will never win any national championships in their DI sports. They might win a title in their DIAA sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choyt3 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I have to think that whenever anyone in the national sports media thinks of either UND or NDSU atheletics, Fighting Sioux hockey is the first thing that comes to mind. A couple of nice wins vs. Big Ten schools in football or basketball might change that for the short term. But I just don't see how anything short of a couple of Gonzaga type NCAA hoops runs would garner NDSU sports anywhere near the national recognition as Sioux hockey. I do hope NDSU succeeds though, anything that would continue to shed light on the incompetence of the Gophers hoops and football programs would be a good thing in my book. You're just looking at it through your green & white tinted glasses. Oh, wait.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertrex Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 When I made my original comment regarding Gopher Hockey v. Gopher Football, I was not thinking about attendance, I was talking about "buzz". Most years, the minute the puck drops at Mariucci, the city stops talking about football and focuses on a positive team. As to Bison attendance, game for game, it isn't close to UND Hockey, especially when you factor in that they basically give away the tickets, even for the big games. Heck, I remember them selling tickets for something like 5 for $1.00 so they could fill the Fargodome for the first D1-AA game... Anyway, UND is playing teams this weekend that the Bison can only dream about playing consistently, year in, year out. That's good enough for me. Go Sioux... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I second that. If the Gophers get a new outdoor stadium, football will take off. I'm surprised they are even an average team in the Metrodome. Not to hijack this thread in honor of Minnesota football, but I really don't think facilities have anything to do with winning football games. Sure, they will help in certain respects, but if the coaches don't know a football player from a fat guy wearing a jersey and spandex, it doesn't matter where you play. The problem with Minnesota's football team isn't just the Metrodome. It is a sty, that much is true. I do know that a good facility affects recruiting, and I'll give you that. But when is Minnesota going to invest in coaching? Mason is an idiot and the Minnesota AD is even more so for not seeing it. Sure, the Minnesota AD is nowhere near as idiotic as the Timberwolves or Wild ownership (I mean, McHale's a GREAT GM. In fact, if he did any more for the Timberwolves, he'd probably have something to add to his resume other than "sat in the front office desk for X years playing God with a worthless basketball franchise." Risebrough's system had him turn away scoring talent (Modano) because he doesn't "fit the system." No, with the Wild's dedication, it's plain to see winning isn't part of the system either.) because even Mason has made it to a Bowl game the last few years (heh, but then again, bowl games are like DIA basketball. With the NCAA and the NIT to choose from, you damn near have to go winless in order to NOT make the postseason) and he does get an occasionally good recruit. Sorry, but if the Gophers get a new stadium, the Gophers football team isn't going to turn into the Wolverines or the Fighting Irish overnight. They're going to have to make some serious adjustments, and the first adjustment will be to pack Mason's bags. It's amazing to read that Minnesota's football program is the most popular hands down (which I'm not disputing) but you'll have to go to the third most popular program at the U in order to find a program that actually is successful (Men's hockey). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BisonFanofSiouxHockey Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 All some of you want to talk about is NDSU vs. UND...... This doesn't make sense to me......who cares if Coach Bohl (a good guy) projects that his team will be more popular than Sioux Hockey......it is just his opinion and that is how he should feel....to me that is a compliment to Sioux Hockey that another coach would even reference their popularity.... I would hope he feels that way......otherwise I would rather go find a coach that does. Maybe I should leave my 7 year old at home on Friday and invite Craig to join me at the Ralph.....would you all boo him or respect him for checking out what Sioux Hockey is all about? Lets not distract from SIOUX HOCKEY this week.......if you want to debate Bison vs. Sioux wait till football season...... GO SIOUX HOCKEY!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 IAA football=NCAA Hockey. Total Attendance IAA football- 5,436,122, average per game 8,521(2005) NCAA hockey-3,617,107, average per game 3,655(03-04) As for TV coverage IAA football had 126 games on tv networks(Fox Sports, ESPNU, CSTV, ESPN2, NBC). I have no clue how many hockey games were on tv but I doubt it would be much more if not less. I don't know which is team bigger in the state but I would say it is pretty close. I don't think I would say NDSU football is going to pass UND hockey but the two will pretty much always be equal unless NDSU goes IA then all bets are off. Not only is Bysin D1aa football more popular than D1 hockey, it's also more popular than Big Ten basketball. Why do I say this? Well, I read here that Bysin D1aa football attracts 14,160/game. The Big Ten average for basketball is 12,603. Bysin D1aa football is more popular than University of Michigan basketall (11,023), UConn basketball (13,543), Gopher basketball (11K+).....AND YES, BYSIN D1AA FOOTBALL IS MORE POPULAR THAN DUKE BASKETBALL (9,314/game). So take that you Blue Devils. You can't argue with the facts. It's only a matter of time before Sioux fans realize this. I've heard that ESPN is nogotiating a huge contract with the Bysin similar to the one that Notre Dame gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bincitysioux Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Heck, I remember them selling tickets for something like 5 for $1.00 so they could fill the Fargodome for the first D1-AA game... One of NDSU's motives for going DI was to offer more football schollies and play opponents that offered more scholarships, which in theory is supposed to offer a higher quality of play on the field. Ironically, that first DI-AA game was against Valparaiso, which offers zero scholarships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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