Jump to content
SiouxSports.com Forum

The number 1 team in North Dakota


sultan

Recommended Posts

I saw on sports tonight on KBRR that their sports guy officially said that NDSU football is now the number 1 sports team in North Dakota over UND Hockey. He said the hockey team only gets a state wide following a week or two in March. It took 50 years to get the following that Sioux hockey has. I don't think a win over one of the worst college football teams in DI is enough to replace UND Hockey as the number 1 team. Apparently Heinle hasn't been to the Frozen Four the last 3 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 63
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

He must be hanging out with Steve Hallstrom too much. Halstrom had the exact same comment tonight on WDAY's 10 o'clock news. But Hallstrom constantly walks around wearing a green and yellow cheerleader outfit so I try to watch his sportscasts as little as possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That game was on the Big Ten Network (the whole ten people that get it) and against one of the worst programs in Divison 1-A football. Counting the final five, our hockey team gets six games a year on FSN North, the regionals get two games a year on ESPNU, and if we get to the Frozen Four we get on ESPN2. Although I supported both schools moving division 1, UND hockey will always be the top sport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When was the last time you heard Gopher fans in hockey say they were embarrassed to lose to the Sioux. That's all I heard last weekend when the Bison beat an incredibly bad Gopher team, that really could be winless and the worst BCS team. When a team that poor is embarrassed to lose to someone, that is saying something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was out west hunting last week and every radio station I listened to was talking at one point about the Bison/Gopher game. Lots of talk all over the state before the game. Compare that with having the National Champions playing UND in hockey the week before. Outside of GF not much state wide interest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was out west hunting last week and every radio station I listened to was talking at one point about the Bison/Gopher game. Lots of talk all over the state before the game. Compare that with having the National Champions playing UND in hockey the week before. Outside of GF not much state wide interest.

sorry dan, i grew up out west and we never heard about bison football. sioux hockey is and always will be our number one team. like all the previous posts, a div. Iaa (sorry fsc) team beating a BAD (really bad) BCS team does not compare to all of the WCHA championships, Frozen Fours and national championships the sioux hockey team has. i'm not a bison fan, but was pulling for them to beat minnesota. posts like yours and all the short sighted people who are talking all this nonsense that the bison football team is now our top team is the main reason i was so tentative to root for them. oh well, i guess time will tell the real story. this is a once in a lifetime win for bison football, the fighting sioux hockey team gets these wins (multiple) every season. GO SIOUX!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Compare that with having the National Champions playing UND in hockey the week before. Outside of GF not much state wide interest.

The Gopher-Bison game got lots of attention because it doesn't happen often and it may not happen again for a long, long time. In contrast, UND plays several big-name schools in hockey every single year. People expect it with the Sioux. They don't expect it with the Bison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a Bison fan so I'll try to be as objective as possible. It's tough to say.

UND Hockey is huge and I think it's still a tad bit bigger than NDSU Football. Especially on a national level. The problem is, hockey is not in the same league as football for overall popularity and I think UND hockey has peaked. NDSU football can get way bigger in time and it's already in the same league as UND Hockey. NDSU Football has been on the rise for the last 3 years so I don't think it's fair to give the Gophers credit for the fact that we will probably sell out every game this year with most of them on TV.

I think I'm being objective. Anyone disagree?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a Bison fan so I'll try to be as objective as possible. It's tough to say.

UND Hockey is huge and I think it's still a tad bit bigger than NDSU Football. Especially on a national level. The problem is, hockey is not in the same league as football for overall popularity and I think UND hockey has peaked. NDSU football can get way bigger in time and it's already in the same league as UND Hockey. NDSU Football has been on the rise for the last 3 years so I don't think it's fair to give the Gophers credit for the fact that we will probably sell out every game this year with most of them on TV.

I think I'm being objective. Anyone disagree?

In the same league? If you say NDSu's football program is in the same league as a 7 time NCAA Division 1 Champion and stepping stone to professional hockey for dozens and dozens of athletes, you need some help. Objective or not, your facts just don't add up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the same league? If you say NDSu's football program is in the same league as a 7 time NCAA Division 1 Champion and stepping stone to professional hockey for dozens and dozens of athletes, you need some help. Objective or not, your facts just don't add up.

couldn't have said it better myself... they are not even close to in the same league. NDSU doesn't even play in the top division of college sports, and as triouxper stated, und is in the hunt for the national championship each year, and continue to send players on to the next level to be superstars. also, und hockey has peaked??? i don't even know where to begin there, so i won't :crazy: .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I'm being objective. Anyone disagree?

Yes, because you seem to have no idea how big UND hockey is in the region. Do you think sports fans in South Dakota follow NDSU football more closely than they follow USD and SDSU football? The vast majority don't.

In contrast, there are many UND hockey fans in South Dakota who watch the Sioux play over Midcontinent cable simply because it's the only big-time Division I sport in either state. And hockey is growing in popularity in South Dakota. The long-standing hockey rivalry between the Gophers and the Sioux and the competition for players between the programs means that UND hockey has high visibility in Minnesota, a hockey crazy state.

Does Bison football have as much visibility in Minnesota year in and year out? I sincerely doubt it.

While I agree that hockey is not as great in overall popularity as football, that's actually a disadvantage for football because football fans have so many choices and there's so much competition for their attention. The same is not true of UND hockey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last week when I was in Jersey people knew about the UND Hockey team, and where it was, the success' it has had and blah,blah,blah...

Then I brought up the "NDSU" name and there were head scratches, they had no idea who NDSU was, Northern Deleware State University and blah, blah, blah...

On a nation picture more people can tell you what UND is about because of the hockey success', bring up NDSU and good luck with the responces...

BTW if DH calls him PHIL, I'm gonna call him PHIL!!!

I LIKE IT...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That game was on the Big Ten Network (the whole ten people that get it) and against one of the worst programs in Divison 1-A football. Counting the final five, our hockey team gets six games a year on FSN North, the regionals get two games a year on ESPNU, and if we get to the Frozen Four we get on ESPN2. Although I supported both schools moving division 1, UND hockey will always be the top sport.

For the most part this is true, but in the mid to late 70's, and again in the late 80's to very early 90's, I would say basketball was on a par with hockey, if not a little bigger. BTW, whoever gets to the Big Dance first in basketball, it will trump both NDSU football and UND hockey in national exposure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Young hockey players dream of playing for UND because it will give them the best opportunity to play in the NHL some day.

The same can not be said about NDSU football. How many former NDSU'ers are in the NFL right now? I don't know the numbers but hasn't UND football historically sent more people to the NFL than NDSU?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of the responses like the one above mine are all very true and show that UND Hockey is a better level and more successful team than NDSU Football. However, it doesn't prove that UND Hockey is more popular than NDSU Football in the state of North Dakota.

Hell, if people LOOOOOOVED volleyball, Mayville State volleyball could be the most popular team in North Dakota if that's what people thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was out west hunting last week and every radio station I listened to was talking at one point about the Bison/Gopher game. Lots of talk all over the state before the game. Compare that with having the National Champions playing UND in hockey the week before. Outside of GF not much state wide interest.

With Bison-Gopher football, the game is a big talker in the Twin Cities media. With Sioux-Gopher hockey, the Twin Cities radio personalities come up to Grand Forks to do a live broadcast, so yes, plenty of interest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of the responses like the one above mine are all very true and show that UND Hockey is a better level and more successful team than NDSU Football. However, it doesn't prove that UND Hockey is more popular than NDSU Football in the state of North Dakota.

Hell, if people LOOOOOOVED volleyball, Mayville State volleyball could be the most popular team in North Dakota if that's what people thought.

How do you suggest we prove UND hockey is more popular in this state than NDSU football? Sold tickets per year?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to admit I was happy the bison beat the goophs, and I was cheering for them. However to say they are the premier program in the state is a tidy bit of fiction at best. It's simply laughable to even say it.

On a national scale, I would put D-I hockey on par with D-IAA football, so I don't think it's laughable. Statewide, I think UND hockey is bigger, without a doubt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of the responses like the one above mine are all very true and show that UND Hockey is a better level and more successful team than NDSU Football. However, it doesn't prove that UND Hockey is more popular than NDSU Football in the state of North Dakota.

Hell, if people LOOOOOOVED volleyball, Mayville State volleyball could be the most popular team in North Dakota if that's what people thought.

I'm from the western part of ND, and there are as many Sioux hockey fans out there as there are bison football fans. Not to mention that many of those people who are bison football fans also follow the Sioux hockey team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a national scale, I would put D-I hockey on par with D-IAA football, so I don't think it's laughable. Statewide, I think UND hockey is bigger, without a doubt.

That may be true (for D1AA football,) but not specifically for the bison though. I mean, the bison are just another team in D1AA (who have had some succes against bottom feeder single A programs like minny.) However, the Sioux hockey team is an ELITE program within D1 hockey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...