UND 2008 schedule

[Riverman]

I posted the link because it was a good link with the other leagues and who plays

who in the FCS.

[KEH]

According to the FCS site it looks like SIU has some openings...do you think Lennon might try to schedule a game against UND in his first year as head coach at SIU?

[Displaced Nodak]

Road trip. Hammond LA is a short 3 hour drive from here and less than half an hour from the in-laws house. Please let it be so.

Geaux Sioux---

If they end up playing at SELA you and I will have to head up the tailgating committee for that game....I live near Biloxi and the drive over there can't be more than an hour or so.

[GeauxSioux]

Geaux Sioux---

If they end up playing at SELA you and I will have to head up the tailgating committee for that game....I live near Biloxi and the drive over there can't be more than an hour or so.

Count me in for that. Star2City lives along the coast as well, so we should be able to get some nice numbers there. My wife has some friends who graduated from Southeastern to round things out.

[slulionsfan]

Geaux Sioux---

If they end up playing at SELA you and I will have to head up the tailgating committee for that game....I live near Biloxi and the drive over there can't be more than an hour or so.

Barring a change over the last couple of weeks, the game is definitely in Hammond from everything I was told. We have both UND and USD coming to our place.

[SiouxMD]

Barring a change over the last couple of weeks, the game is definitely in Hammond from everything I was told. We have both UND and USD coming to our place.

slulionsfan

Thanks for the update and have a Happy New Year!

GO SIOUX

[GeauxSioux]

See you in Hammond slulionsfan and as SiouxMD said, Happy New Years.

[SloStang]

Sounds like UND and Cal Poly will have to wait until 2009 to play.

Link: http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/?cat=41

Quote: UND is expected to play a 12 game schedule in 2008, three of them expected against Great West opponents UC Davis, Southern Utah and South Dakota.

I was looking forward to playing UND next season. I hope they can get it worked out.

[bincitysioux]

Sounds like UND and Cal Poly will have to wait until 2009 to play.

Link: http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/?cat=41

Quote: UND is expected to play a 12 game schedule in 2008, three of them expected against Great West opponents UC Davis, Southern Utah and South Dakota.

I was looking forward to playing UND next season. I hope they can get it worked out.

That article was in the GF Herald about a week ago. I wondered why it didn't include Poly. I hope it was just an omission by the writer. About a week before that article came out, Coach Lennon was on the radio and said that "contracts are in place with all of the GWFC teams". I sure hope we get Cal Poly this year.

[Big10Sioux]

What kind of bs is that. What real benefit is there to being in this "conference" if you don't even play everyone. Clearly, this isn't really a long term deal as we (and really every team in this conference) will be looking for better options in the near future. So we probably should just have looked at trying to schedule these teams as independents for a couple of years rather than be tied down for 5 years in a quasi conference. Does anyone know what the stipulations of leaving early would be (ie. penalties). I do look forward to competitive games with these teams but am trying to look for benefits of being affliated with them if we don't even play.

[bincitysioux]

What kind of bs is that. What real benefit is there to being in this "conference" if you don't even play everyone. Clearly, this isn't really a long term deal as we (and really every team in this conference) will be looking for better options in the near future. So we probably should just have looked at trying to schedule these teams as independents for a couple of years rather than be tied down for 5 years in a quasi conference. Does anyone know what the stipulations of leaving early would be (ie. penalties). I do look forward to competitive games with these teams but am trying to look for benefits of being affliated with them if we don't even play.

There are playoff implications for the current GWFC members to consider. We will still be a DII team to them next year. A win against us does nothing to help there playoff chances next season, and a loss to us would probably be devastating seeing as how they are vying for an at-large berth rather than a n auto-bid. That is why we will potentially not play a full schedule until 2009, when we count to them.

The benefits are only (ha, only ) having to negotiate 7 or 8 games to put on a schedule each year rather than 11 or 12. The ability for our players to play for a conference championship and weekly/season individual honors is going to be an extremely important recruiting and motivational tool for the student-athletes and the fans, especially in the first 5 years of DI.

As far as it not being a long term deal, who knows. Honestly, we all probably hope not, but unless the Big Sky conference changes its mind about having a Dakota school as a member, UND could be in the GWFC for a long, long time. The Big Sky and the GWFC are really the only realistic potential homes for UND football, and the Big Sky probably isn't very realistic at that. If UND ends up in the Summit, some other non-football playing conference, or as a perpetual independent, the Great West will probably end up being a very long term deal for UND.

[Shawn-O]

It's more of a scheduling alliance than a conference. I really hope Poly is on the 2008 schedule.

[SloStang]

It's more of a scheduling alliance than a conference. I really hope Poly is on the 2008 schedule.

In 2008 it looks more like a scheduling allliance seeing that UND may not play Cal Poly and USD will not play UC Davis. In 2009 it will be a conference when all teams will play each other. The players get to play for a championship, All-Conference teams, player of the week ect.... This is important for both UND and USD because they can not make the playoffs for a few years.

I am hoping that a few more teams will join the GWFC in the next few years. The other USD, the University of San Diego, is a leading canidate to join and there has been two other teams that have inquired. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[MplsBison]

The Big Sky and the GWFC are really the only realistic potential homes for UND football

The Gateway is also a realistic possibility.

[dlsiouxfan]

In 2008 it looks more like a scheduling allliance seeing that UND may not play Cal Poly and USD will not play UC Davis. In 2009 it will be a conference when all teams will play each other. The players get to play for a championship, All-Conference teams, player of the week ect.... This is important for both UND and USD because they can not make the playoffs for a few years.

I am hoping that a few more teams will join the GWFC in the next few years. The other USD, the University of San Diego, is a leading canidate to join and there has been two other teams that have inquired. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Who are the other two teams that have inquired as to membership? Are they both West Coast schools? Just curious because you probably have some better sources of info out in California than we have here.

[stpaulsioux]

Who are the other two teams that have inquired as to membership? Are they both West Coast schools? Just curious because you probably have some better sources of info out in California than we have here.

Interesting topic: would love to see two or more teams join the GWFC, pls keep us posted on potential new GWFC membership.

[SloStang]

Who are the other two teams that have inquired as to membership? Are they both West Coast schools? Just curious because you probably have some better sources of info out in California than we have here.

I am not sure. The GWFC said they could not say because they did not want to hurt the teams relationships with their current conferences.

Some have speculated that Sac State could join the GWFC and the Big West, but I think that Sac State is shooting for a move to the WAC somewhere down the road. They could save a ton on travel for their non revenue sports in the Big West (all California conference and all trips are bus trips) and they would be in the same conference as to of their rivals, UC Davis and Cal Poly.

I have also heard rumors that the University of the Pacific (Big West member located in Stockton) was considering bringing back football at the FCS level. They had a I-A program and dropped football. They have a 30,000 seat on campus stadium so start up cost would not be too bad.

There is also a push at Cal State Fullerton (also a Big West member who had dropped football) to bring back football. They also have a nice on campus stadium and would be a natural fit in the GWFC.

The last rumor that I have heard is that Eastern Washington wants to join the West Coast Conference (it the conference that Gonzaga is in and a natural rival for EWU). The West Coast Conference is a better basketball conference than the Big Sky and also sponsors baseball and softball. The West Coast Conference does not sponsor football so they would be a canidate for the GWFC. The thing with the West Coast Conference is it is made up of all private schools and they may not want a state school to join.

The University of San Diego would be my first choice. They have a good program and would just need to add scholarships. San Diego is a great city and I would love to travel there every other year to watch a game.

[MplsBison]

I'm almost positive that the WCC is all Jesuit schools.

I doubt that they'd consider a public school.

[SloStang]

UOP's stadium Link:http: http://pacifictigers.cstv.com/facilities/paci-stagg.html

Fullerton's stadium Link: http://fullertontitans.cstv.com/facilities...facilities.html

[UND92,96]

There is also a push at Cal State Fullerton (also a Big West member who had dropped football) to bring back football. They also have a nice on campus stadium and would be a natural fit in the GWFC.

There is a UND connection to Cal State Fullerton. UND grad Gene Murphy coached here and then at Fullerton.

[Shawn-O]

There is a UND connection to Cal State Fullerton. UND grad Gene Murphy coached here and then at Fullerton.

Same with UOP, with Dr. Carl Miller leaving the UND athletic director position after nine years to become Pacific's AD, back in 1985 I think it was.

[star2city]

I'm almost positive that the WCC is all Jesuit schools.

I doubt that they'd consider a public school.

Gonzaga, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Loyola are all Jesuit schools, which made the WCC's initital rejection of Seattle U (also Jesuit) somewhat (to me anyway) surprising. San Diego, Portland, and St. Mary's are all Catholic affiliated. Pepperdine is Church of Christ-affiliated. Agree that is highly doubtful that a public school would be admitted, even it was a good geographical match.

[bincitysioux]

Gonzaga, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Loyola are all Jesuit schools, which made the WCC's initital rejection of Seattle U (also Jesuit) somewhat (to me anyway) surprising. San Diego, Portland, and St. Mary's are all Catholic affiliated. Pepperdine is Church of Christ-affiliated. Agree that is highly doubtful that a public school would be admitted, even it was a good geographical match.

I was also surprised that Seattle was not admitted to the WCC from the get go. That is probably a good thing initially for UND, as both schools will probably be regular opponents over the next several transition years. As Seattle nears the end of their transition, I'd think that the WCC will give them another look.

[MplsBison]

I'm sure Gonzaga had something to do with Seattle being kept out for now.

[Hammersmith]

Also, the last membership change for the WCC was in 1980. Ironically, that change was Seattle U leaving for DII. Only the Pac-10(1978) and the Ivy League(1954) have had the current group of members for a longer time.