Question about I-AA

[spider]

Hey guys,

I am a huge MSU Bobcat fan and am looking forward to the game. You guys are probably my second favorite I-AA team. Hopefully it will be a good game.

I have a few questions for you guys. Are you happy that NDSU made the jump to I-AA? Does it seem like a different level than d2? Are the players bigger, faster, and stronger? Has interest among fans increased or decreased?

Good luck this year, and the Bison will beat Ball State next year.

[roadwarrior]

Most of us are very happy about the move up to D-IAA. The level of competition we saw last season at the games at the Fargodome was much better than we were used to seeing over the years. I think that we will just start to see how the added scholarships affect the Bison starting this season.

[Bisonguy]

I'm happy NDSU made the move to I-AA,. Yes, it seems like a different level than DII. Don't know about bigger or stronger, but it seems that the D line is much faster. Beyond that, it seems like depth is increased and there are fewer "weak links" in the two-deep. Guess we'll see, but it seems like fan interest is increasing. It should be progressively increasing as new rivalries and familiar opponents are established to the casual fans.

[kchats]

I am definitely all for the move to I-AA. I believe the Bison have much more talent top to bottom on their roster. We have yet to see Coach Bohl's recruits but I believe they are more talented than years past. How they play as a team we don't know yet but I think they will be a more athletically talented team this year. I like the more national exposure and games. We would have liked to be invited into the Big Sky so we could settle into more rivalries.

Looking forward to a great game against MSU Bobcats.

[sambini]

I am glad with the move to 1aa. The level of play has stepped up. It will be fun to see the BOBCATS again.

[SDbison]

The vast majority of NDSU football fans are happy to be DI-AA and many believe it should have happened 10 years earlier. As for talent, DI-AA seems to have players in all positions that are quicker or faster. Size doesn't seem that much different, but maybe a slight edge in strength as compared to DII. My opinion is teams in the top twenty of DII, year in and year out, would fit into the middle of DI-AA quite well as long as they were able to quickly ramp up on scholarships.
Look forward to playing MSU. Expect to see upwards of 1000 Bison fans there, myself included!

[gwendel]

Football fans couldn't be happier. There are some who think the other sports were the sacrificial lamb. But I think some other sports: wrestling, WBB, soccer, volleyball, have all shown they can compete. And the MBB coach is excited about the upcoming season. I think it's significant that AD Taylor was able to go on record as saying NO coaches are interested in renewing the UND rivalry now that UNDII's new AD sees that dropping NDSU was a huge mistake and wants to renew the rivalry in his probable bid to bring UNDII to DI. Kupchella has been surprisingly silent on this issue. It's looking more and more like Thomas was the whole problem after all.

The Bison have simply moved on. But the UND rivalry *will* be renewed. In our small state there's too much at stake not to. But it will take time after the way UND tried to humiliate NDSU.

I can second everything everyone else has said to this point on this topic.

[SDbison]

NWND will you be going to the MSU game since the drive should be much shorter for you compared to driving from the Eastern Dakotas? That is if you still live in NW North Dakota. The more there the bigger the celebration afterward. Need to up road attendance to DI-AA levels. ;D

[WYOBISONMAN]

Words cannot express how glad I am about this move.

[JBB]

Im glad we moved. Competition is better than DII. We had a top 20 DII team in here last year and beat them by 3 or 4 TDs. The only negative is the distance for road games. I used to see almost every BISON football game. Now its down to the home games. I have yet to travel to any of our DI-AA away games.

BB has the toughest road but this season is really the first of the new era. Our transition schedule was brutal and cut attendance by half but both the mens and womens schedules are really looking good.

[Gamehunter]

I am very happy NDSU went D1. I think it will help bring a lot of good things to NDSU as a whole. I-AA definately has its defining characteristics. Not quite Big 10 caliber, but definately more than D2. The additional scholarships seems like it has already helped not only with increasing depth and reducing questionable areas due to graduation/injury, but also to attract higher caliber athletes in general. This past year surprised me at what schools were actually competing against NDSU for recruits.
At this point, it is hard to tell how the move has affected fan interest, but appears to be positive up to this point. Our attendance in football increase by about 1000 on average compared to '03, and I expect that to continue as more of the well known teams come to the Dome. For the other sports, attendance and overal fan support will not be able to be gauged untill this year, as scheduling was very difficult last year.


on the Bobcat/Bison game...
I would highly suggest buying tickets ASAP when they go on sale to ensure a seat. I don't know how many people normally attend a MSU game or what it will be like playing the BISON, but I am thinking they may need to open more than just one section (section 107) to the Bison fans depending on how much it holds. How do they handle this when UM visits? I know about 50 or so that are attending the game for sure, and several more that havn't decided yet, and I don't exactly know a whole lot of football people. I am still trying to convince more to come. ;)