Scheduling priorities

[LITTLEGUYSINGREEN]

For those of you waiting for NDSU to announce a big game with a D-1A opponent for this coming season, don't hold your breath. Gene Taylor made it clear in his halftime interview of the Sam Houston game that he had no interest in playing a D-1A opponent in the near future. His reasoning was that he didn't want to risk losing more than 3 games in the first year we are playoff eligible. He also mentioned the downside risk of suffering too many injuries which could also result in a more than 3 loss season. He gave reference to App. state and how many injuries they suffered from the Mich. win. It doesn't look like that game has hurt them too much.

Am I the only one here who thinks this sounds like chickenshit? Lets check with Montana and see how well padding their schedule worked for them. He is totally missing the big picture to the upside to playing a big D1-A school.

The resurgence in the popularity of NDSU football isn't so much our great record the past two years, as it is who we beat to achieve that 20-2 record. Ball State, CMU, Minnesota. These are the games that have the casual fan talking about NDSU football again. These are the games that put you an the radar screen, both regionally and nationally. No one would be impressed with a 20-2 record over cupcakes.

What better recruiting tool than to be able to tell a kid who may be on the bubble with a larger D1-A school, "you can play at NDSU, make a big impact right away, play for a national title, and we will guarentee you at least one shot a year at a D 1-A school." How can you go wrong?

When I went to NDSU in the early 80's there was a huge mural on the wall in the weight room that had two large Bison locked in a head to head battle. The caption under that picture read "Bring on the competition!" Has that heading now changed to "Run from the competition"?????

[Mr. Burgundy]

That was just dumb. We have, and will continue to play bigtime games. If you know anything about 1AA football, and look at our future schedule, it is impressive. If SDSU hadn't just signed Nebraska and Illinois (Because they are broke and are in Brookings) then you wouldn't post something like this. If you are season ticket holder next year, you will see some great games in the Fargodome. No doubt about it. Saying the Bison are ducking the competition is just stupid. Is isn't like we haven't been successful playing 1A schools.......

[sambini]

Gene will get this done. I have the complete faith in him. I want a home playoff game in the FARGODOME. That is what we need++++

[BisBison]

Gene will get this done. I have the complete faith in him. I want a home playoff game in the FARGODOME. That is what we need++++

What the great sambini speaks makes sense. Patience my little grasshopper. Good things are on the horizon.

[SDbison]

That was just dumb. We have, and will continue to play bigtime games. If you know anything about 1AA football, and look at our future schedule, it is impressive. If SDSU hadn't just signed Nebraska and Illinois (Because they are broke and are in Brookings) then you wouldn't post something like this. If you are season ticket holder next year, you will see some great games in the Fargodome. No doubt about it. Saying the Bison are ducking the competition is just stupid. Is isn't like we haven't been successful playing 1A schools.......
So what if some posters here are unhappy that there are no big time games to go to next year. I think we are entitled as fans to wish there would be an FBS game in 2008. Outside of this message board I would bet there are more people in favor of a 2008 FBS game than not. Notice how many fans showed up to the Metrodome the past couple years. I think some at Bisonville are still stuck back in DII. A game against Iowa, Wisconsin or Nebraska would be well traveled to by Bison fans and would be a much bigger atmosphere than the FCS national championship game. Apparently Gene, and maybe Craig, think there are are better odds of making the FCS playoffs without an FBS game. I disagree. Without even looking I know 3 playoff teams that played FBS competition. U Mass (played Boston College), Northern Iowa (played Iowa State) and Appy State (played Michigan). And now SDSU might even have a recruiting edge over NDSU to claim their recruits will be playing Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Illinois. Is padding the schedule worth the loss of publicity an FBS game brings. I don't appreciate NDSU trying to be like Montana and get a bunch of home games against patsies. As for the injury theory, how many of NDSU's season ending injuries came against Central Michigan or Minnesota (None against Minnesota and don't recall anything major at Cent. Michigan). I too am amazed how quickly "bring on the competition" has taken a back seat.

[Jdubs21]

I agree....we've already proved we can play with the teams at the next level, so i dont think its mandatory to load our schedule full of 1-A oppenents

[Swaghook]

We have a 12 game schedule and will be playing in one of the strongest FCS conferences in the country. I think one year without an FBS game is OK. Let's get a good home game schedule all D-I OOC without any non-schollys and NDSU's season will be a good one.

[SDbison]

I agree....we've already proved we can play with the teams at the next level, so i dont think its mandatory to load our schedule full of 1-A oppenents
How is scheduling one DI-A (FBS) game per season loading the "schedule full of I-A opponents? 2 years is a long time between FBS games.

[No_Skill]

I'm all for playing at least one FBS team per year. It's an all win situation for NDSU. Big time money and big time exposure. Losing to the likes of BC sure didn't hurt Umass this year. Did they drop in the polls after that loss? No, in fact I think people were making a case for them at #1 after that close loss.

The ONE AND ONLY reason we are not scheduling an FBS team for the upcoming season is to get one extra game at the Fargodome.

Anyone know what kind of profit a home sellout brings to the program?

[Bison_Pride]

Anybody catch the FCS playoff game this weekend on ESPN2? It would be sweet to host a game like that in the Fargodome next year. An 8-3 record, or probably even 9-2 won't get us one, regardless of who we played.

[LITTLEGUYSINGREEN]

Anybody catch the FCS playoff games this weekend on ESPN? It would be sweet to host a game like that in the Fargodome next year. An 8-3 record, or probably even 9-2 won't get us one, regardless of who we played.

Padding the schedule in "hopes" of homefield advantage for the playoffs is bad strategy. Look how well it worked for Mont. On any given year there is no guarentee we will make the playoffs, let alone advance in them. I believe we should schedule the best competition we can and let the chips fall where they may. Again, "BRING ON THE COMPETITION" anywhere, anytime. If we're as good as we say we are, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about.

[X-Factor]

I'm all for playing at least one FBS team per year. It's an all win situation for NDSU. Big time money and big time exposure. Losing to the likes of BC sure didn't hurt Umass this year. Did they drop in the polls after that loss? No, in fact I think people were making a case for them at #1 after that close loss.

The ONE AND ONLY reason we are not scheduling an FBS team for the upcoming season is to get one extra game at the Fargodome.

Anyone know what kind of profit a home sellout brings to the program?

UMASS schedule this year will be nothing like NDSU's SOS next year. UMASS got REALLY lucky how they split up the games with the two divisions. Next year they have a very tough draw.

There is no reason for NDSU to play an FBS game next season the way I see it. We have one in '09 against Iowa State, lets leave it at that and enjoy a possible seed in the NCAA FCS playoffs for '08 and focus our attention on that instead of some FBS game.

The Gateway/Missouri Valley is TOUGH! Anyone who doesn't believe that it will get the Bison ready for the playoffs is in for a rude awakening. There is no saying we will go undefeated next year with the likes of UNI/SIU/WIU/SDSU on the schedule.

[LITTLEGUYSINGREEN]

UMASS schedule this year will be nothing like NDSU's SOS next year. UMASS got REALLY lucky how they split up the games with the two divisions. Next year they have a very tough draw.

There is no reason for NDSU to play an FBS game next season the way I see it. We have one in '09 against Iowa State, lets leave it at that and enjoy a possible seed in the NCAA FCS playoffs for '08 and focus our attention on that instead of some FBS game.

The Gateway/Missouri Valley is TOUGH! Anyone who doesn't believe that it will get the Bison ready for the playoffs is in for a rude awakening. There is no saying we will go undefeated next year with the likes of UNI/SIU/WIU/SDSU on the schedule.

Your right, our conference schedule will be tough. But, I would at least like to see us play some tough 1-AA oppents. A team from the CAA would be great. All indications from Taylor are that he wants guarteed wins in order to make the playoffs. Sounds like Mont. to me.

[SloStang]

The Gateway/Missouri Valley is TOUGH! Anyone who doesn't believe that it will get the Bison ready for the playoffs is in for a rude awakening. There is no saying we will go undefeated next year with the likes of UNI/SIU/WIU/SDSU on the schedule.

Don't forget Cal Poly will be on the schedule next year. Poly should be tough next year with 10 returning starters on offense and 8 starters on defense.

[99Bison]

Anybody catch the FCS playoff game this weekend on ESPN2? It would be sweet to host a game like that in the Fargodome next year. An 8-3 record, or probably even 9-2 won't get us one, regardless of who we played.

I believe in FCS it's a bid system instead of seeding based...

[BisBison]

I believe in FCS it's a bid system instead of seeding based...

I think you are right to a point, however I think they do seed the top 4 teams.

[roadwarrior]

Since the schedule isnt complete, at least as much as we know, aren't we jumping the gun saying that there will be NO fbs games in the fall of 2008? Most of the big schools have their schedules complete much farther out than we do, and after beating Ball State, Central Michigan and Minnesota some of the FBS schools are reluctant to schedule a game against NDSU.

[LITTLEGUYSINGREEN]

Don't forget Cal Poly will be on the schedule next year. Poly should be tough next year with 10 returning starters on offense and 8 starters on defense.

I that for sure? It doesn't show on our schedule yet. Poly would be a good one.

[missingnumber7]

Anyone who wants an FBS game needs to look at what has happened the last two years after the Goofer game. We were missing players on both sides of the ball because of the punishment they took. Yes they were both precautionary and we were playing SUU this year, but the point is we need to keep players healthy the whole year long. When we were a strong DII team did anyone object to playing Moorhead? What about the Angelo States and the other long line of early season games. I'm not against an FBS game against a non BCS team, but how about a game against a CAA team or a team from another conference. How about calling Maine and seeing if they wanna play now? They were the forgotten post 9/11 game that disappeared. FBS games are sweet, but lets shut some of these FCS idiots up.

[lakesbison]

NEVADA!!! NEW MEXICO!! WYOMING.

there you go. pick one, play one next year!

[tjbison]

Your right, our conference schedule will be tough. But, I would at least like to see us play some tough 1-AA oppents. A team from the CAA would be great. All indications from Taylor are that he wants guarteed wins in order to make the playoffs. Sounds like Mont. to me.



Not counting Indiana State, the Gateway schedule alone will provide this!

[56BISON73]

The Gateway is a real conference. Its going to be a tough row to hoe. But we should be up to the challenge. PL

ps slick the above mentioned "hoe" is a garden tool.:D

[BisBison]

NEVADA!!! NEW MEXICO!! WYOMING.

there you go. pick one, play one next year!

How about Hawaii?? I'm so there.:nod: :nod:

[sambini]

Road trip to Aloha Stadium.+++++++++++

[fargocyclone]

The Gateway is a real conference. Its going to be a tough row to hoe. But we should be up to the challenge. PL

ps slick the above mentioned "hoe" is a garden tool.:D

Very funny! :D Good thing you specified! That could have been an interesting reply back!

[CaBisonFan]

For those of you waiting for NDSU to announce a big game with a D-1A opponent for this coming season, don't hold your breath. Gene Taylor made it clear in his halftime interview of the Sam Houston game that he had no interest in playing a D-1A opponent in the near future. His reasoning was that he didn't want to risk losing more than 3 games in the first year we are playoff eligible. He also mentioned the downside risk of suffering too many injuries which could also result in a more than 3 loss season. He gave reference to App. state and how many injuries they suffered from the Mich. win. It doesn't look like that game has hurt them too much.

Am I the only one here who thinks this sounds like chickenshit? Lets check with Montana and see how well padding their schedule worked for them. He is totally missing the big picture to the upside to playing a big D1-A school.

The resurgence in the popularity of NDSU football isn't so much our great record the past two years, as it is who we beat to achieve that 20-2 record. Ball State, CMU, Minnesota. These are the games that have the casual fan talking about NDSU football again. These are the games that put you an the radar screen, both regionally and nationally. No one would be impressed with a 20-2 record over cupcakes.

What better recruiting tool than to be able to tell a kid who may be on the bubble with a larger D1-A school, "you can play at NDSU, make a big impact right away, play for a national title, and we will guarentee you at least one shot a year at a D 1-A school." How can you go wrong?

When I went to NDSU in the early 80's there was a huge mural on the wall in the weight room that had two large Bison locked in a head to head battle. The caption under that picture read "Bring on the competition!" Has that heading now changed to "Run from the competition"?????

I see your point. Wish we could play someone like BYU, Arizona State, Washington, or some team with a high profile. The Bison at Sun Devil Stadium would be a real kick for me. I went to grad. school there.

[HerdBot]

Your not giving the Gateway enough credit because next years schedule will be harder and I can see us losing 3 games and missing the playoffs. Making the playoffs is going to be TOUGH! How tough? Montana would have a hard time making the playoffs in the Gateway and on any given year, they are arguably the 5th best team behind NDSU, UNI, SIU, and Youngstown. 4 Gateway teams could win the MAC. The problem is, the average Joe is more facinated with the Gophers even though 4 Gateway teams would beat them. We better have good marketing.

We will play other BFS schools but I don't care about next year. I want to make a playoff run because we've been waiting YEARS! We have nothing to prove and everyone knows we can play and beat BFS schools.

We play Iowa State in 2009 but no other BFS schools have been scheduled. I suggest playing a BFS game every other year. And only in area's where we plan on recruiting.

WHY? WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS ON RECRUITING?

How do these D1 BFS games effect recruiting? It depends who we play. Unless it's on NATIONAL TV, a game against Nebraska wouldn't do much because we don't recruit those area's and I doubt we plan on it.

However, a game against Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois, or Indiana would be great because we recruit those area's and play Gateway teams in those states. My dream game would be against Wisconsin!! HUGE!! Exposure on the Big Ten Network too!

It's cool to tell a recruit your going to play at Nebraska and it may help sway a few wide eyed recruits from small towns but does it guarantee big recruits? HELL NO! Nobody in our '03 or '04 class knew we'd be playing Minnesota but they still came here. That worked out all right for us. Ball State plays Nebraska, Michigan, and big time schools year after year and they can't beat us.

The biggest way to improve recruiting is by taking advantage of the Gateway Conference. We're going to be a COMMONLY KNOWN TEAM throughout Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, and Indiana because the games are going to become rivalries and we're going to be on TV. This year, every Gateway team got a Gateway produced football game that was played on Fox Sports Midwest. More games were done independantly. Exposure, media, and visibility bring recruits!


WILL THE LACK OF A D1A TEAM HURT TICKET SALES?

The Bison have to be careful here and it is a delicate balance. In reality, we should sell out every game this year no matter who we play. THey could take advantage of it and book crappy teams, but they run the risk of boring fans and killing excitement. If they make the schedule too hard, they run the risk of losing too much and not making the playoffs. That's bad too.

No D1A games? The key is good marketing! Casual fans may not be as excited about Northern Iowa as Minnesota but they should be. REAL fans know that Northern Iowa could beat Minnesota on any given year and we're excited about it. Casual fans do not. Minnesota will never come to Fargo and Northern Iowa will play here every other year. That's going to be huge.

I love the schedule! HOME GAMES: Warm up game vs Central Conneticuit State. Revenge game against SDSU. Southern Illinois who almost went to the Championship game. Gateway teams Western Illinois and Indiana State. Apparently we got Cal Poly who should have beat us. That's 6 home games and 3 of them are REALLY TOUGH! Last year we were only challenged ONCE.

ROAD GAMES against Youngstown, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, and Missouri State.

If we're not careful and market this poorly, the Gateway novelty could wear off quckly and the annoying fans will start calling for a UND game. In the future years that we don't schedule a BFS team, we need to schedule someone interesting like Montana State or Georgia Southern. How about getting an interesting team such as Georgetown, Villanova, Grambling, or an Ivy league team.

We're in better shape financially than other schools like SDSU so we don't need the money as badly. But if we want to keep a coach for more than 5 years we need to show them the money. Playing a Big Ten school will help out.
Aug 30 OPEN
Sept 6 Central Connecticut State
Sept 13 OPEN
Sept 20 @Y-Town
Sept 27 OPEN (GSU is now playing Samford which will postpone our home game with them)
Oct. 4 SIU
Oct 11 WIU
Oct 18 @ UNI
Oct. 25 @ Illinois State
Nov. 1 Indiana State
Nov. 8 OPEN
Nov. 15 @ Missouri State
Nov. 22 SDSU

?? CAL POLY AT HOME??

[X-Factor]

Don't forget Cal Poly will be on the schedule next year. Poly should be tough next year with 10 returning starters on offense and 8 starters on defense.

exactly. I heard this over on the AGS board as well. Any idea what date we might be looking at for when the stangs visit Fargo?

I don't think we need to add anymore playoff caliber FCS teams to the 2008 Bison schedule. Add a middle of the pack FCS team like maybe a Montana State at home or a low level FCS guarantee game like Drake. Yeah, we are going to have the kind of team that can take care of business no matter how the schedule turns out but wow I can not even relate to the posters comparing it to Montana's schedule. Look: Cal Poly, SIU, UNI, WIU, SDSU, YSU, Illinois State. Those are some wicked tough games. The Big Fluff just doesn't have this many quality teams on a yearly basis.

[Bison_Pride]

Why keep bringing up the comparisons with Montana? Did they play teams the caliber of Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, South Dakota State, and Youngstown State during the year? No matter who NDSU schedules for nonconference, they won't have it as easy as Montana did this year.

[NDSUguy]

I don't see how we're not "bringing on the competition" when it is very likely that 4 Gateway schools could very likely make the playoffs next year. Since we are in the hardest conference in the FCS, I think that taking a year away from an FBS game isn't that big of a deal.

From a fan perspective, it is very fun to be a part of the buzz of travelling to a big name school to play. So far NDSU has been successful but that isn't guaranteed to continue.

I honestly believe that a playoff game in the Fargodome would have MUCH bigger buzz than any game against the UofM, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc.....

After all, a playoff game in the FFD has NEVER happened. Wins as Minnesota and Wisconsin are not firsts for our school.

[Bison"FANatic"]

Gabe you summed it up very well!!!!:nod: :nod: :nod:

[HerdBot]

I don't see how we're not "bringing on the competition" when it is very likely that 4 Gateway schools could very likely make the playoffs next year. Since we are in the hardest conference in the FCS, I think that taking a year away from an FBS game isn't that big of a deal.

From a fan perspective, it is very fun to be a part of the buzz of travelling to a big name school to play. So far NDSU has been successful but that isn't guaranteed to continue.

I honestly believe that a playoff game in the Fargodome would have MUCH bigger buzz than any game against the UofM, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc.....

After all, a playoff game in the FFD has NEVER happened. Wins as Minnesota and Wisconsin are not firsts for our school.

Absolutely! A playoff game at the dome would be rockin like no other game and will create more buzz. Traveling is huge and I'm planning a road trip to Northern Iowa next yaer and Iowa State in '09. May try to go to one trip to Illinois. Youngstown has the best stadium but it's a long trip.

[HerdBot]

Gabe you summed it up very well!!!!:nod: :nod: :nod:

Thanks. The key marketing the Gateway teams. I'm bummed out by the lame baskeball "step up to the summit" advertising so I hope we don't see crap like that next year for football.

These games are going to rock, especially in 2009 when we travel to Iowa State and SDSU. Plus we get UNI and Youngstown at home.

[Bisonguy]

Thanks. The key marketing the Gateway teams. I'm bummed out by the lame baskeball "step up to the summit" advertising so I hope we don't see crap like that next year for football.

These games are going to rock, especially in 2009 when we travel to Iowa State and SDSU. Plus we get UNI and Youngstown at home.

I doubt the football ad will resemble this year's BB ad, which was a bunch of 40 year olds trying to give the ad an 'urban' feel. :banghead:

[HerdBot]

I doubt the football ad will resemble this year's BB ad, which was a bunch of 40 year olds trying to give the ad an 'urban' feel. :banghead:

2 words: Bush League. It's even more annoying since we're playing the likes of Minot State at home. It's going to be difficult to top the "Will you be there?" campaign. It was the greatest marketing campaign ever. SUre beats the days of Scream Yellow! You can do crap marketing for basketball but football is a different level. :)

[Tatanka]

I think next year's slogan should be simply:

THE MARCH IS ON.

[fargocyclone]

I think next year's slogan should be simply:

THE MARCH IS ON.

I like it!

Continuing our tradition into the FCS.

+++++

[NDSUstudent]

Was driving home and caught some of Gene Taylor's interview on PTS and most of it covered scheduling. For next year, Gene said he was going to get at least 6 home games and it sounded like he wants 7 and a FBS game. The FBS game would be of the mid to low tier variety, Bohl doesn't want to play an Iowa or Missouri. Taylor said he had talks with Buffalo but after we beat the crap out of Central Michigan they no longer had interest. Sounded like we might play the Gophers again in 2011 or 2012. He also added that NDSU does not schedule FBS games like SDSU does.

[HerdBot]

Was driving home and caught some of Gene Taylor's interview on PTS and most of it covered scheduling. For next year, Gene said he was going to get at least 6 home games and it sounded like he wants 7 and a FBS game. The FBS game would be of the mid to low tier variety, Bohl doesn't want to play an Iowa or Missouri. Taylor said he had talks with Buffalo but after we beat the crap out of Central Michigan they no longer had interest. Sounded like we might play the Gophers again in 2011 or 2012. He also added that NDSU does not schedule FBS games like SDSU does.

What did he mean by "not scheduling FBS games like SDSU does?" Is it the process or the number of games he's talking about?

[NDSUstudent]

What did he mean by "not scheduling FBS games like SDSU does?" Is it the process or the number of games he's talking about?

It sounded like he meant that he didn't want to line them up for years in advance like SDSU is doing(He said he could do that if he wanted to). It also sounded like he wants a better mix, SDSU is playing all major conference teams and that isn't something Gene or Bohl wants to do. I was glad to here that, what SDSU is doing makes little sense for NDSU. I'm not sold that it makes total sense for them but I'm sure that guarantee money looks way more attractive to them.

[Gully]

It sounded like he meant that he didn't want to line them up for years in advance like SDSU is doing(He said he could do that if he wanted to). It also sounded like he wants a better mix, SDSU is playing all major conference teams and that isn't something Gene or Bohl wants to do. I was glad to here that, what SDSU is doing makes little sense for NDSU. I'm not sold that it makes total sense for them but I'm sure that guarantee money looks way more attractive to them.

I'm not so sure about that, I think SDSU will have a lot of excitement coming from those games. Remember a lot of firetruck fans saying that the Gophers were going to blow the Bison out? Everyone might find out they're better than we think.

[HerdBot]

I just posted this on the Bison Nation blog... http://areavoices.com/bisonnation

How good is the gateway?

If your thinking the Bison will roll through conference play since they dominated Western Illinois and Illinois State...think again! The Bison haven't played the "Big 3" out of the Gateway.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE - Youngstown State is a power house and has won 4 National Championships (1991-1993-1994-1997) and finished runner up twice (1992 and 1999). Facilities? They play in a 21,000 seat outdoor stadium called "The Ice Castle" and ranked #6 in overall attendance. They have sent 20 players to the NFL. Oh, and these guys finished the season ranked #15 in the Sports Network top 25 poll, finished 3rd in the Gateway, and missed the Playoffs!

NORTHERN IOWA - The Panthers finished the season ranked #1 in all of the polls while going undefeated in the Gateway and beat D1-A Iowa State in front of 56,000 fans. Historically, the Panthers are one of the best teams in D1-AA, making the playoffs 14 times and winning the Gateway 14 times since 1985. UNI finished runner up in 2005 falling in the Championship game. UNI has generated numerous NFL players and and are best known for former Rams QB Kurt Warner. 10 players are active in the NFL including Lions WR Mike Furrey, who led the NFC in receptions last year. Facilities? The Panthers play in the UNI Dome and finished 2nd behind Youngstown in attendance.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - The Sakuki's finished the season ranked #4 and made the playoffs. They fell 1 game short of the Championship game this year falling to Deleware. In 2006, they beat Indiana out of the Big Ten and have been ranked in the top 20 for a ridiculous 54 consecutive weeks! SIU beat the Bison 9-0 in 2005 so we know they are good. They also won the D1-AA National Championship in 1983. Facilities? SIU avearaged around 12,000 fans per game. Off topic... they are best known in basketball making the NCAA Tournament 6 consecutive years including 2 trips to the Sweet 16!

Throw in a game against South Dakota State and we've got ourselves 4 tough games EVERY YEAR! Consider this, every Gateway team but 1 avearge close to 10,000 fan per game so there are no easy games!

As mentioned yesterday, check out the new website, Bison Nation and be sure to vote on the webpoll.

[Bison bison]

Pretty sure we played SIU in 2005......

[Go_Herd]

Pretty sure we played SIU in 2005......

Yep, suffered a 9-0 loss at Carbondale, IL to finish out the season

[d3boys]

I just posted this on the Bison Nation blog... http://areavoices.com/bisonnation

How good is the gateway?

If your thinking the Bison will roll through conference play since they dominated Western Illinois and Illinois State...think again! The Bison haven't played the "Big 3" out of the Gateway.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE - Youngstown State is a power house and has won 4 National Championships (1991-1993-1994-1997) and finished runner up twice (1992 and 1999). Facilities? They play in a 21,000 seat outdoor stadium called "The Ice Castle" and ranked #6 in overall attendance. They have sent 20 players to the NFL. Oh, and these guys finished the season ranked #15 in the Sports Network top 25 poll, finished 3rd in the Gateway, and missed the Playoffs!

NORTHERN IOWA - The Panthers finished the season ranked #1 in all of the polls while going undefeated in the Gateway and beat D1-A Iowa State in front of 56,000 fans. Historically, the Panthers are one of the best teams in D1-AA, making the playoffs 14 times and winning the Gateway 14 times since 1985. UNI finished runner up in 2005 falling in the Championship game. UNI has generated numerous NFL players and and are best known for former Rams QB Kurt Warner. 10 players are active in the NFL including Lions WR Mike Furrey, who led the NFC in receptions last year. Facilities? The Panthers play in the UNI Dome and finished 2nd behind Youngstown in attendance.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - The Sakuki's finished the season ranked #4 and made the playoffs. They fell 1 game short of the Championship game this year falling to Deleware. In 2006, they beat Indiana out of the Big Ten and have been ranked in the top 20 for a ridiculous 54 consecutive weeks! SIU beat the Bison 9-0 in 2005 so we know they are good. They also won the D1-AA National Championship in 1983. Facilities? SIU avearaged around 12,000 fans per game. Off topic... they are best known in basketball making the NCAA Tournament 6 consecutive years including 2 trips to the Sweet 16!

Throw in a game against South Dakota State and we've got ourselves 4 tough games EVERY YEAR! Consider this, every Gateway team but 1 avearge close to 10,000 fan per game so there are no easy games!

As mentioned yesterday, check out the new website, Bison Nation and be sure to vote on the webpoll.

ever since uni lost to und I have no respect for them