Anyone Remember the Old NCC?

[CaBisonFan]

There's been some discussion in another thread that's led me to this.

Who remembers when the NCC was considered to be the best D2 conference for football?

And to go a step further...who remembers the Northern Iowa days...which made the NCC even saltier?

There's some legitimate fear, by some, about getting beat up by so many good teams in the Gateway in the future.

My point is this:

It could be possible that the Bison are heading into something that will feel like the old NCC. For me, when I saw St. Cloud & Mankato coming into the NCC, it spelled the beginning of the end. And I got no particular thrill out of watching Morningside and Augustana either.

Isn't the challenge of a dominant conference what we've been searching for? For me...having an extremely high-caliber home & away conference schedule would be the goal.

The SEC was brought up. Look at Florida with one loss last year...making the championship game instead of mighty Michigan. It appeared that after getting through the SEC, playing Ohio State was like slow motion.

And does there appear to be a lack of fan interest in the SEC? Hell no. Those stadiums rock like a reincarnation reunion of the Beatles...for every game. SEC crowds are the wildest in the country. Could this be because every game is a monster challenge?

As much as I like the Great West, the stability wasn't going to be there. UC Davis will be gone within the next 3-5 years...and Cal Poly would like to be if they could find the money & fan base.

I really struggled with the idea of leaving the Great West, but maybe this whole thing should be about having a consistently great schedule rather than worrying about who will get the bid for the playoffs. In other words, play like real Bison teams, and let the chips fall.

I think that they'll fall rather nicely.

[56BISON73]

When I played UNI and Mankato were in the conference. Both teams were pretty good at the time. Even though we beat them.:D PL

[CaBisonFan]

When I played UNI and Mankato were in the conference. Both teams were pretty good at the time. Even though we beat them.:D PL

What years? And do you know when UNI got out?

[56BISON73]

What years? And do you know when UNI got out?
72-73. I dont know when UNI left and went D1. PL

[CaBisonFan]

72-73. I dont know when UNI left and went D1. PL

Did you play in a game up in GF when the Bison were down by 2 or 3 touchdowns at the half, half of the UND crowd went to party, and Siversen (QB) limped into the end zone untouched to win the game? That's one of my favorite Bison games...ever. I was right by the goal line screaming my guts out.

Also remember a rather painful game when a South Dakota receiver caught a deflected pass (lying on his back in the end zone) in Fargo. Think it was a night game. Not sure.

Sorry to bring it up. Were you in either of those games? Both were great. Just didn't like the end of the SD game.

[Notorious]

There's been some discussion in another thread that's led me to this.

Who remembers when the NCC was considered to be the best D2 conference for football?

And to go a step further...who remembers the Northern Iowa days...which made the NCC even saltier?

There's some legitimate fear, by some, about getting beat up by so many good teams in the Gateway in the future.

My point is this:

It could be possible that the Bison are heading into something that will feel like the old NCC. For me, when I saw St. Cloud & Mankato coming into the NCC, it spelled the beginning of the end. And I got no particular thrill out of watching Morningside and Augustana either.

Isn't the challenge of a dominant conference what we've been searching for? For me...having an extremely high-caliber home & away conference schedule would be the goal.

The SEC was brought up. Look at Florida with one loss last year...making the championship game instead of mighty Michigan. It appeared that after getting through the SEC, playing Ohio State was like slow motion.

And does there appear to be a lack of fan interest in the SEC? Hell no. Those stadiums rock like a reincarnation reunion of the Beatles...for every game. SEC crowds are the wildest in the country. Could this be because every game is a monster challenge?

As much as I like the Great West, the stability wasn't going to be there. UC Davis will be gone within the next 3-5 years...and Cal Poly would like to be if they could find the money & fan base.

I really struggled with the idea of leaving the Great West, but maybe this whole thing should be about having a consistently great schedule rather than worrying about who will get the bid for the playoffs. In other words, play like real Bison teams, and let the chips fall.

I think that they'll fall rather nicely.



In the 80's and early 90's, Mankato and St. Cloud were very good, as was Auggie for some reason. Morningside was even good in 1990, when their new coach from down south somewhere, brought in a ton of illegal players and made a run at the NCC championship. As we all know, it obviously did not get there!! And don't forget Northern Co., SDSU, Omaha, USD and und, who all had stretches of being decent. During those decades, the top 5 from the NCC could've done well in the playoffs.

Also, remember that we always saw a good opponent....the Bison game was generally treated as our opponents "Super Bowl", so we had to be ready week in, week out.

[Trim]

72-73. I dont know when UNI left and went D1. PL


I think they left in 1980.

[Trim]

Those stadiums rock like a reincarnation reunion of the Beatles.

Nice... That would get me fired up.

[NDSU1980]

I think they left in 1980.


Actually, I think UNI left earlier then that, something like 1977 or 78. What I remember the most about their departure was a sports writer, and I think it was for the Jamestown Sun, had a column that saw the future in an almost un-nerving way.

The guy said UNI's departure would lead to a downward spiral in the NCC. The other schools such as Morningside and Augustana would start to push for lower scholarship numbers and it was time for NDSU to consider D1. Of course, he also pointed out that a conference would be tough to find and to fund.

Anyone remember the name of the conference that UNI initially got into when the went D1?

[WYOBISONMAN]

I know UNI left prior to the Fall of 1979.....that was when I started at NDSU and UNI was not a part of the NCC for that season....

[roadwarrior]

Anyone remember the name of the conference that UNI initially got into when the went D1?

Mid-Con conference?

[tony]

Actually, I think UNI left earlier then that, something like 1977 or 78. What I remember the most about their departure was a sports writer, and I think it was for the Jamestown Sun, had a column that saw the future in an almost un-nerving way.

The guy said UNI's departure would lead to a downward spiral in the NCC. The other schools such as Morningside and Augustana would start to push for lower scholarship numbers and it was time for NDSU to consider D1. Of course, he also pointed out that a conference would be tough to find and to fund.

Anyone remember the name of the conference that UNI initially got into when the went D1?

I think UNI left the NCC in 1977 and went to the Mid-Continent in 1978 (yeah, they had football back then). I don't actually remember it from the time, I remember it from putting together historical records for DI-AA when NDSU starting making the move to DI-AA, now the FCS.

I think the day that the NSIC moved to D2 pretty much made it a foregone conclusion that NDSU was going DI, but it still took somebody coming in from the outside of our little world (Chapman) to point it out to us.

[tcbison]

I find this to be a good resource of who NDSU has played in the past. Looks like we played UNI until 1979 but there is no way to tell if they were in the NCC or not that year.

http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/greatwest/north_dakota_state/yearly_results.php?year=1975

[onbison09]

The old NCC was great. Wasn't around to see UNI but I remember my dad telling me about games when we ran the veer. Watched a game were we played the Trucks and just destroyed them. I think it was like the last year or one of the last years of Dacotha Field. I think the Gateway will only help as far as playoffs are concerned.

[Hammersmith]

Actually, I think UNI left earlier then that, something like 1977 or 78. What I remember the most about their departure was a sports writer, and I think it was for the Jamestown Sun, had a column that saw the future in an almost un-nerving way.

The guy said UNI's departure would lead to a downward spiral in the NCC. The other schools such as Morningside and Augustana would start to push for lower scholarship numbers and it was time for NDSU to consider D1. Of course, he also pointed out that a conference would be tough to find and to fund.

Anyone remember the name of the conference that UNI initially got into when the went D1?

That would be the Mid-Continent Conference.

UNI's final season with the NCC was 1977-78.

[onbison09]

GREAT article in the Forum http://www.in-forum.com/Sports/articles/175956.

[56BISON73]

Did you play in a game up in GF when the Bison were down by 2 or 3 touchdowns at the half, half of the UND crowd went to party, and Siversen (QB) limped into the end zone untouched to win the game? That's one of my favorite Bison games...ever. I was right by the goal line screaming my guts out.

Also remember a rather painful game when a South Dakota receiver caught a deflected pass (lying on his back in the end zone) in Fargo. Think it was a night game. Not sure.

Sorry to bring it up. Were you in either of those games? Both were great. Just didn't like the end of the SD game.

You have a great memory.
The UND game was 1972 in GF and Siverson scored on a bootleg to the left. I was in the stands as I was red shirted that year.
The USD was a night game in 1973 and we did lose that game just as you said. We really never should have lost that game. The fluke pass play just gave them more points than us. PL

[heymch86]

last time we played Northern Iowa was in 1982 and we won 12-7