UPDATE ON SDSU MOVE TO D1

[SDSUFAN]

Here is an article from the SDSU student paper the SDSU Collegian about what is going on in our quest for D1. I trust the Bison fans will find this article of interest.

April 30, 2003 Part 1 of 2

SDSU Home
College Publisher

DI transition committees will use summer to strategize in six areas
SDSU must tell NCC its plans for 2004-'05 season by Sept. 1, '03

By Justin R. Lessman
Last year at this time, talk of SDSU reclassifying its athletic program to NCAA Division I was just a whisper in the South Dakota breeze. Students mentioned it in passing. The public talked about it at area coffee shops. Faculty and administration scanned information about the concept.

It seemed so far away.

Now, after a year of questions, meetings, public forums, letters to the editor, discussions, arguments, disagreements and a stamp of approval from the South Dakota Board of Regents, SDSU is poised and ready to make the dream of Division I a reality.

Accordingly, it does not come as a surprise that athletic department officials have a full summer ahead of them.

"Things are still progressing," said Fred Oien, SDSU athletic director. "We'll just keep working on our objectives until they have all been completed."

Meanwhile, the DI transition team, composed of members of the former leadership team which studied the move to DI, is scheduled to continue meeting with consultants over the summer.

In addition to these meetings, the team has been split into six subset committees and paired with campus representatives with expertise in certain areas of interest. These subset committees will work toward drafting a portion of the formal strategy plan.

Oien said the strategy plan is being created to outline obstacles that remain in the quest for DI and to suggest solutions to those problems.

The six areas that the subset committees will look into are: academic support systems and the development of an academic criteria plan, NCAA compliance issues, fundraising development and techniques, development of external facilities and the financing of those, student athlete welfare including Title IX compliance, and university environment.

Oien said each of the six subset committees will outline goals and objectives of their specific area over the up-coming five-year transition period, suggest how to reach these, and the desired outcome.

Oien said he expects the final copy of the formal strategy plan to be completed by the fourth week of July. That gives athletic department officials just one month to formulate future strategy, as SDSU must notify the North Central Conference of its plans for the 2004-05 season by Sept. 1. Also looming in the distant future is the Dec. 1 deadline to submit a formal letter of intent to the NCAA applying for reclassification to DI athletic competition.

So, what needs to be accomplished yet before these final steps can be taken?

The most pressing issue is finding a suitable conference affiliation.

Thus far, SDSU has gotten the cold shoulder from the Big Sky Conference to the west, the affiliation that athletic department officials had deemed the most suitable.

Recent talks between SDSU, NDSU and other area schools indicate that interest in forming a new DI-AA football-only conference has been growing. However, suitable conference affiliation would still need to be located for the other sport programs.

"At this time, no conference affiliation has been found," Oien said.

[SDSUFAN]

Here is part 2 of the article:
April 30, 2003



DI transition committees will use summer to strategize in six areas


Thus far, SDSU has gotten the cold shoulder from the Big Sky Conference to the west, the affiliation that athletic department officials had deemed the most suitable.

Recent talks between SDSU, NDSU and other area schools indicate that interest in forming a new DI-AA football-only conference has been growing. However, suitable conference affiliation would still need to be located for the other sport programs.

"At this time, no conference affiliation has been found," Oien said.

"The search continues. We are still visiting with various conference officials, with athletic directors and university presidents."

And what if no conference has been nailed down by the Sept. 1 deadline?

"We have no formal plan in place if that happens," Oien said.

Top athletic department officials are not the only SDSU personnel involved in the DI transition process. Coaches are also being affected, along with their job responsibilities.

"Coaches are very much involved in the transition," Oien said. "In the summer, coaches are busy with pre-work on recruitment and preparation for the upcoming season. This summer, coaches will be involved with scheduling issues over the five-year transition period."

Aaron Johnston, head women's basketball coach, said his summer will be very full, just like any other summer, yet a little different in the wake of the DI transition.

"Yes, the Division I transition will pose more of a challenge to coaches, especially in the scheduling of competitive games," he said.

Johnston said one aspect of his job that will change in the future is recruitment of athletes.

"Division I places more restrictions on recruiting," he said. "There will be more work out of the office and on the phone, and less travel than before. After we get the process down, it could maybe even be a little easier from that perspective."

Johnston said normally SDSU puts on basketball camps from the first of June to the 15th. Then, the NCAA-mandated recruitment period goes into effect, lasting from June 15 to Aug. 1.

"I would say normally we are on the road 75 percent of those days," Johnston said. "We head to tournaments and other games and scrimmages. But in Division I, that will change some. It will be a big change for all coaches, from basketball to baseball."

Despite the changes looming on the DI horizon, Oien said he has complete confidence in all of his department personnel and head coaches and believes that they are prepared for the switch to DI.

"I feel that all of the coaches function at the appropriate level for Division I already," he said. "They are completely prepared and ready for this move."

What a difference one year makes.

[SDSUFAN]

Yesterday Virg Foss of the Grand Forks Tribune had an article about NCC schools leaving. *There was nothing new in the article except that there is a possiblity of the NDSU-UND football series continuing another 5 years.

Mr. Foss choose not to mention the other things going on at SDSU in terms of strategic planning as was reported by the Collegian and posted above. *Instead he choses to dwell on the fact that a conference has not be found by SDSU.

I think between Kupecella interviewing, NDSU make a quest for PHD programs, and the NCC going up in smoke that there are a few uneasy people among the UND community of fans and alums.

One question never analyzed and discussed in a new article is "Just how much of a cash cow is the UND Hockey Program, and is helping or hindering the other atheletic programs at UND? Is the hockey program less than successful and would this explain their resistence to D1AA? Mr. Foss should answering those questions instead of worrying about SDSU and its D1AA conference.
The UND never talk about the matter period D1 Hockey profitablity period. When Fred Oien asked "When is UND making the Move?" notice the move to glory of D1 hockey by Foss in his article. I have been booted from siouxsports.com, because I made fun of their hockey program, but it was equally funny how the UND fans over their are kind of parniod about NDSU and SDSU leaving D2.

The profitability of D1 hockey is the best red herring that can be caught in the Red River from Big Stone Lake all the way to Canada.

For those who have not seen the article I will post it in a separate reply.

[SDSUFAN]

NORTH CENTRAL CONFERENCE: Jackrabbits aren't leaving just yet
South Dakota State wants to find a conference before school says it's gone
By Virg Foss
Herald Staff Writer
At least one Major League Baseball broadcaster's home-run call is "going ... going ... gone."

It's also an apt description of the unsettled life in the NCAA Division II North Central Conference, where up to three teams could be going, going, gone to Division I.

Northern Colorado, based in Greeley, Colo., already has announced it is leaving the NCC after the completion of this school term.

North Dakota State in Fargo already has served official notification to the NCC that it will leave the league after next season. The third NCC team with Division I aspirations Brookings-based South Dakota State has won approval from the state board of regents to move to Division I.

Yet if one of the three schools remains in the NCC, it will likely be South Dakota State, which has until Sept. 1 to notify the NCC of its intentions for the 2004-05 season. The stumbling block for all three schools is finding a Division I conference. Currently, none have found one.

"We will not go to Division I unless we have a contract in hand for a commitment for membership in a conference," SDSU athletic director Fred Oien says. "We don't necessarily need immediate membership in a league, but we do need a commitment."

Big Sky?

South Dakota State and NDSU both have explored membership in the Big Sky Conference, but that league has elected not to expand at this time. Furthermore, the league has said if it does expand, it's likely to expand to the West, not the East.

If South Dakota State serves official notice to leave to the NCC by Sept. 1, it would leave the league with six teams from its current membership of nine. Minnesota-Duluth, however, has been accepted for membership effective with the 2004-05 season.

Sioux-Bison rivalry

With the Bison leaving the NCC and the Sioux staying, the split of the two North Dakota schools puts their rivalries in jeopardy in terms of future meetings.

But this week, NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor said he had a contract on his desk ready to send to UND athletic director Roger Thomas. The contract firms up a Sioux-Bison football game for the next five years from 2004 through 2008.

"I'd like to keep playing them every year, if we could," Taylor said, "as long as it a competitive game for both of us, which I think it will be, and as long as both schools want to play."

Sheer numbers may throw the competitive balance out of whack in time, though. Division II schools are permitted up to 36 full scholarships in football compared with the 63 allowed in Division I-AA.

NCC commissioner Mike Marcil remains hopeful that SDSU will stay in the league.

"They are one of our charter members, and we hope all the great rivalries they have in the league will outweigh all other considerations," Marcil said. "With Minnesota-Duluth coming in, we still feel we'd have the best Division II conference in the nation, and one of the best leagues overall, at any level. "

CONTINUED

[SDSUFAN]

Continued

NORTH CENTRAL CONFERENCE: Jackrabbits aren't leaving just yet
South Dakota State wants to find a conference before school says it's gone
By Virg Foss
Herald Staff Writer


The glitter of going Division I, though, remains strong.

"When's UND going to make a move?" Oien asked.

While NDSU plans to move up a level, UND consistently has said it is content in Division II in all sports except one. The glaring difference is that UND already has a Division I sport on campus in men's and women's hockey.

The Sioux men are a member of the Division I Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while the Sioux women's program recently was accepted for full membership in the WCHA, effective with the start of the 2004-05 season.

If South Dakota State doesn't find a Division I conference affiliation by Sept. 1, Oien said, the school will remain in the NCC for at least another year past the 2003-04 season. The school could notify the league of its intention to leave after the Sept. 1 date but would suffer a financial penalty, Oien said.

Oien said South Dakota State is not close to finding a Division I conference. "Most of that dialogue is being done at the level of school presidents," Oien said.

Oien said SDSU remains committed to retaining all varsity sports it currently offers if it goes Division I. That likely would mean that South Dakota State would be affiliated with different conferences for different sports. Few Division I conferences, Oien said, sponsor all sports that the North Central Conference does.

Taylor said NDSU is continuing to look for possible conference affiliations, just like SDSU. "Things are a little quiet right now, for a couple of reasons," he said. "It's the end of the year for everyone, and they're working on budgets for next year, trying to get them in order. It's even a bad time for me to do it (look hard for conference ties)."

Taylor said NDSU continues to examine the possibility of forming a Division IAA conference for football involving NDSU, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Cal State Pomona, St. Mary's of California, UC Davis and South Dakota State, if the Jackrabbits move up.

"We've been talking, but we haven't had a conference call with all the schools or anything like that," Taylor said. "We need to find time to get on the phone. We'll probably attack it (conference ties) again later this summer."

Taylor said these can be the best and worst of times. "It can be frustrating, because you don't know what your future schedules will look like," Taylor said. "But anytime you go into something new, it's exciting and challenging. It gets you going a little bit."
Foss reports on sports. Reach him at 780-1129, (800) 477-6572 ext. 129 or vfoss@gfherald.com.

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[BisonInTexas]

Yesterday Virg Foss of the Grand Forks Tribune had an article about NCC schools leaving. There was nothing new in the article except that there is a possiblity of the NDSU-UND football series continuing another 5 years.

Mr. Foss choose not to mention the other things going on at SDSU in terms of strategic planning as was reported by the Collegian and posted above. Instead he choses to dwell on the fact that a conference has not be found by SDSU.

I think between Kupecella interviewing, NDSU make a quest for PHD programs, and the NCC going up in smoke that there are a few uneasy people among the UND community of fans and alums.

One question never analyzed and discussed in a new article is "Just how much of a cash cow is the UND Hockey Program, and is helping or hindering the other atheletic programs at UND? Is the hockey program less than successful and would this explain their resistence to D1AA? Mr. Foss should answering those questions instead of worrying about SDSU and its D1AA conference.
The UND never talk about the matter period D1 Hockey profitablity period. When Fred Oien asked "When is UND making the Move?" notice the move to glory of D1 hockey by Foss in his article. I have been booted from siouxsports.com, because I made fun of their hockey program, but it was equally funny how the UND fans over their are kind of parniod about NDSU and SDSU leaving D2.

The profitability of D1 hockey is the best red herring that can be caught in the Red River from Big Stone Lake all the way to Canada.

For those who have not seen the article I will post it in a separate reply.


Ah, yes, you have sampled the musings of Virg Foss of the GF Herald (not the Tribune). He used to be the chief cheerleader, er, sports editor of the Herald, now he does more "hard" news for the paper. I don't think that he has ever uttered a kind word about NDSU, or a critical one about UND in his entire career, especially the hockey program. His latest pet project is to try and spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about the NDSU move to DI. Since SDSU has become a close partner with NDSU in the move, they have come into his sights.

In fact, I predicted that SDSU would be the subject of one of Virg Foss's in-depth "investigative" articles in this thread:

So which conference would be best (http://www.bisonville.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=d1;action=display;num=1031338494;sta rt=)

It is a good thread to read - it has a link to an article that Foss wrote last fall stating why NDSU would fail based on the opinions of ex-UND coaches and administration now at DI schools. I let my opinions be known about Foss's objectivity in that thread as well.

Craig

[Charger]

His latest pet project is to try and spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about the NDSU move to DI. *Since SDSU has become a close partner with NDSU in the move, they have come into his sights.

This is exactly how I felt about this. *He provided nothing new and just tried to twist the info around to make it sound like SDSU's efforts for DI were really in trouble. *SDSU needs a conference affiliation at best, and we should be able to atleast get that. *I don't a expect decission to be made until the transition period is looked at by the NCAA this summer.

I was also wondering how much UND's great hockey program is bringing in. *Their Football team has good attendance and I would assume they have some money comming in because of them, but when scheduling time comes they aren't paying for any decent competition to come to GF. *Is this big hockey cash cow eating up the football funds as well? *I have my doubts that UND will ever move up to DI. *Now with the new NCC, they will be in a conference with like schools that all support hockey (Besides USD and Augie) much more than "those other sports".

[tony]

I've made my feeling about the Grand Forks Herald (UND's Daily Press Release) known before. The Herald has about as much journalistic credibility with me as Ed Schultz does :)

[SDSUFAN]

I am glad others see Grand Forks Herald and Virg Foss's article like I do. At times there is news to be found there.

I understand UND lost 3 players off their Women's basketball time including Britz who was a good athlete. Some one alluded that Prezzaria was also leaving. Maybe she is coming back to Fargo. That would really be good news for the Bison faithful, but not for the Jacks. Mary is an excellent 3 point shooter.

[BisonMav]

You would almost think Foss, the Weird Herald, and UND fans would not be whining about NCC teams moving up and out. The NCC is losing two great football programs, giving UND a better chance to win the conference and advance to the playoffs each year. SDSU men's and women's basketball would be out of the way, along with NDSU women's basketball. UND could dominate the NCC now and maybe get some National Championships. They could also improve their standings in other sports. The Sue could have their choice of Division II recruits in the area, although they think they compete with Minnesota, Duke and Notre Dame for recruits. Ten years down the road when UNC, NDSU and SDSU are established in their new division, it probably won't matter much anymore. Virg will have to write about the evils of Bemidji State and Crookston, newest NCC members.

[SDSUFAN]

No matter what Virg Foss's pen will write, it will never answer the big big question, I have had about UND and that is "Why are they content to stay D2?" *Those who work with the budgets at UND, the small people who crunch the numbers day in and day could give a very objective answer to this question.

I have my own notions, and thats all they are.

1. Hockey is not the cash cow its suppose to be and with a women's hockey program, there is no revenue left over to put into the other sports. Will the women *hockey draw crowds of 12,000? I have my doubts and will need a subsidy for some time to come.

2. I tend to believe the City of Grand Forks is sticking a fat hog with the football game receipts at the Hilarious.
Despite the inaugraral season with all those home games, they may have a few bags of potatoe chips left over from the potato bowl and thats all they got to show for.

3. The Ralph Englstad Ice Arena is another big question mark which has *a zillion question marks in my mind,. Is UND making any money from this operation or is it all going back to operations of the facility and Ralph Englestad's estate? When wealthy people die, it takes forever to completely settle the deceased estate. All those attorneys got to file all those forms and dot all the eyes etc and also get paid. So with less than a year from the death of Ralph Englestad, that part is understandable. *I think the UND foundation needs to be on their toes, because they are now dealing more with Mrs. Engelstad, who may have different thoughts about things, and does not feel that same loyality to UND the the old goalie did while living. It will boil down to what Ralph put in writing and how the courts intrepretate his statements. So how and how much UND will benefit from REA is yet to be seen, and not knowing that I can see some reservations about moving up to D1AA.

4. The fear of investigating D1AA also intrigues me and maybe that may reflect the arrognance of Kupcella and his bad experience with D1AA at Southest Missouri State. *It would indeed be interesting for Carr and Associates to do a study at UND. *What I found in reading the Carr report made at SDSU, is that they ask a ton of questions and put all the answers and facts in perspective. I wonder if the officals at UND would be forced to reveal certain facts that would not set well with North Dakotans and also point to the problems that they may have financially in the athletic department.

Also what would the results from a marketing study at UND show?

Virg did not go near any of those issues in his Sunday piece.

[BisonMav]

This answers the attendance question.

The contest, the longest in NCAA women's hockey history, was played in front of the largest crowd in NCAA Women's Frozen Four history and the second largest women's collegiate ice hockey crowd of all-time with 5,167 people in attendance


Here is a Herald article from October 2002 on Women's Hockey cost.


A new contract between Ralph Engelstad Arena and UND's Athletic Department should result in enough new revenue to cover the school's increased costs from women's hockey and scholarships. Todd Berning, arena general manager, said the new arrangement allows the athletic department to retain about $500,000 more in ticketing and marketing revenue in the coming year than it kept in the arena's first year of operation. 'It doesn't quite double it, but it's a lot more,' Berning said. That's money that UND Athletic Director Roger Thomas can count on right away when he prepares future department budgets, instead of waiting to see how much the arena can contribute at the end of the year. And it turns out that it's just enough to cover new expenses within the department related to women's hockey and increases in scholarship costs for student athletes. It costs about $300,000 annually for the school to fund women's hockey, and scholarship costs are approaching $1 million, Thomas said. He said only 22 percent of his operating budget comes from the state, and most of that goes toward staff salaries. The rest of the budget is derived from student fees and about $1.5 million from the Fighting Sioux Club, the department's main fund-raising arm. The Fighting Sioux Club also received a $700,000 boost in its revenues because of opportunities afforded by the new arena, officials said.

UND's budget with hockey:
Kupchella:

North Dakota's current annual athletics budget is $5.8 million ($1.8 million of which is for our Division I hockey program);

[SDSUFAN]

Bison Mav:
Thanks for the inserts from the past, it helps answers and maybe corrects and confirms some of my notions about UND. If you take the hockey 1.8 you have a budget that is comparable with SDSU, which offers 20 sports and UND has maybe 16 without hockey. The state support of 22 percent in terms of salaries would be very comparable with SDSU.

I dont know where our Jackrabbit Club is in terms of total fund raising but UND may have us there by a few grand with its 1.5 million, but much that could be for the sport of Hockey, which is outside the comparison box of UND vs SDSU.

"The rest of the budget is derived from student fees and about $1.5 million from the Fighting Sioux Club, the department's main fund-raising arm. The Fighting Sioux Club also received a $700,000 boost in its revenues because of opportunities afforded by the new arena, officials said."

Does that mean the REA Corporation only turned over $700,000? *When you consider conseratively of 10,000 average per hockey game at $10 to $20 bucks a ticket and maybe 24 events to a season, the revenue plus conscession is much more than $700,000. I say again, UND officals, be on your toes in dealing with Ralph's estate and his REA Corporation.

I honestly believe UND is in good of shape-if not better- to go D1, than SDSU is. The problem has to be with Kupchella. Lets see what happens here. Kupchella my end up wishing he had taken the IUP job.

[BisonMav]

I talked to Jim Langer at the Roger Maris Golf Tournament for about two minutes. Asked him about SDSU going Division I. He sees the situation pretty much like many of us. The move is the logical step with the current DII situation. He also mentioned the importance of a conference.

For those that do not know, Langer is a former SDSU football player and NFL Hall of Famer with the Miami Dolphins teams of the early 1970's.

[SDSUFAN]

Bison Mav:
If you had asked to to autograph your Jim Langer Football card, you would have been asked to send 10 bucks to SDSU towards the Jim Langer football scholarship. He never charges for signatures, like some hall of famers, but instead asks people to donate to perpetual football scholarship in his name at SDSU.

Jim is a very humble guy. His two sons played baseball for SDSU. Neither had the urge to put on the pads.
Also Jim gave our volleyball coach a heads up on the Ebnet sisters from near St Cloud. They have been a big part of our sucess in Volleyball at SDSU.


I have found out from a reliable source that a Carr staffer is in Brookings and is writing the draft of the strategic plan. This plan will be done next month, and the offical announce will probably be in August. I think its a green light for D1AA even though a firm commitment for Conference may not be made by Sept 1.
I am about 99.5 per cent certain that 2003-04 will be the last year in the NCC for SDSU. If the .5% error proves me wrong, then you can say I was wrong.

[BisonMav]

SDSUFAN,
I hope NDSU and SDSU make some noise in 2003-2004 being the last in the NCC and DII. The new Great Northern Western RR Conference will be fun. It is looking more like the Mid-Con for other sports also.

Jim Langer has been a classy celebrity guest at the Roger Maris Golf Tournament each time he has been there.

[89rabbit]

I know it is a little early, but any new info about SDSU's move?

[SDSUFAN]

89rabbit;
Hey its good to have you aboard. I have been away from the computer for a week and I come back to find two SDSU posters besides myself and Charger. What an increase in numbers. The Bison fans are pretty much good eggs and we have a common issue, namely moving to D1AA.

As far as an update, my on-campus contacts have grown very silent in the past few weeks. I suspect the reason is that they are mulling over the draft of the strategic plan which will be a big factor in deciding "When". *SDSU has to let the NCC know if they are going or staying in year 2004-05 on Sept 1. From what I have been told, the NCC instituted a resolution at the May meeting that would require a three year notice of plans to leave the NCC and I suppose D2. *Its not clear what the consequences would be if they left before the three year requirement was met, that is provided SDSU decided to stay in the NCC for year 2004-05. *

There is another matter that is not clear and that is "How definite must the conference affliation or membership be made before moving up to D1AA. *
The fact that the AD'S (SDSU's Fred Oien was included) met in Orlando a few weeks ago and moved in a positive direction towards forming the new D1AA conference for football and exchange future schedules was a step toward forming a new D1AA conference. Would just that action qualify or meet the criteria of a finding a conference?

Dr. Oien has told me that being able to get D1AA opponents on the schedule was more of an issue than finding a conference. In other words, NCAA regulations are probably more important than say a self imposed or even a Board of Regents approval of finding a conference.

The fact that there is interest from the Mid Cont, would this meet the criteria? *There are some vaguery twists and not sure how definite must the conference affliation be?

I tried to download the NCC minutes from their website and they require a password, so this information is not apparently public information.

I suspect the Fred Oien and staff, the Strategic Committee and the President Miller's staff are all busy meeting to consider all aspects of making a decision about "when". Until they get to the point where they can offically make a press release, I dont think we will get much of an offical update.

I am like you an off-campus Alum, but am pretty much in the dark on this one. I live in Nebraska and get to Brookings often, but still really dont know whats going on at this moment.
As far as nay-sayers, the Brookings Coffee shops are still full of them. These are the people who never supported the Jackrabbit Club, and are now *going to withhold their contributions because SDSU is moving forward. I guess we can't miss something we never had. ;D

[89rabbit]

Thanks for the update SDSUFAN. I will be back in Brookings next month and will do some pokeing around. I look forward to our decision and chating with you more.

[bisononce]

Re: SDSU move up. Any background news on Coughlin - Alumni stadium. I saw the layout about five years ago. It is an impressive facility, but "one-sided." At that time, the visiting team used a nondescript HCB building off to the side. Any changes done or upcoming, or discussions going on?

[SDSUFAN]

Some of the small projects were to start this summer, but after driving around the staduim, this weekend all I saw was a few piles of dirt here and there, so maybe August will be a busy month. *The "When" decision, namely leaving the NCC this year seems to have put nearly every thing on hold including some of the small construction projects.

I think SDSU is being very careful in allocating the current resources, and as a result these things are slow in coming.
There are a ton of improvements to be made to Coughlin. *We finally got additional restroom stalls for men and the women's situation was really terrible. *These things happened about 2 years ago. Prior to that not much had been done since the Staduim was opened in 1962. So yes SDSU needs to get going on fixing and improving things. Also the parking west of the staduim is now paved.

[89rabbit]

Bisononce,

The long range "bigger" projects include adding the "other side" to the stadium. It will have backed seats, skyboxes, and an indoor practice facility. The artist's drawings look great. It is going to happen, but as SDSUFAN says everything is on hold until we get through the D I (I AA) process. So we don't have a time frame for you.

[SDSUFAN]

Here is the same message I posted over on the SDSU-d1aa board.

Keith Mehlum the Assistant AD at SDSU called me to wish me a happy birthday( July 22). I missed his call so I sent a email back to him thanking him. I guess it pays to be a generous booster at SDSU. You get birthday calls from HPER.

In addition I asked for a status report on whether the move will happen in year 2004-05. Here is what Keith Mehlum told me:

"On the DI front the President is on the phone almost daily with Big Sky and Mid-Con Apresidents gauging interest. Based on those conversations, we will make an official announcement regarding our decision to move or not move hopefully by mid-August. It's official with NDSU, they're going in the 04-05 year. We have begun trying to schedule fb games with the 6 other fb independents that we had a meeting with in June and at the May NCC meetings they revised the conference notification rule. After Sept 1 of this year, a school now must give the league 18 months notice instead of the prior twelve. This essentially means 2 years. These are all factors that will weigh in our final decision next month. That's all I know for now. End of quote

The NCC rule is for 18 months notice and not three years as I stated in a thread on Bisonville.com and D2 football.

[JBB]

Very interesting. Obviously some people dont think the Big Sky is a waste of time.

[JACKGUY]

I would think that if they are trying to schedule games with the other independents for football that tells you
where their head is at. I just don't think the BigSky door
is closed completely.

[SDSUFAN]

Just my speculative take, but the NCC putting in the 18 month notice rule kind of changes things. I wonder if SDSU could maybe based on conference progress so far go as an independent until these Conference plans become more concrete and more definite. I know some skeptics are going to try and get the Board of Regents involved and try to hold SDSU feet to the fire.

From what I understand the Board of Regents are really upset with USD for the legal liablity that they acquired in the law suit where two former coaches sued over their dismissal. This all happened on AD, Jack Doyle's watch, but Kelly Higgins resigning rather quickly this summer is another mystery. *I guess my point is that USD would be the one raising the most cain, but maybe with their own troubles they will not have much credibility with the Board of Regents. *Gov Mike Rounds has since appointed Dean Krogman(Former SDSU baseball and football star) and a SDSU student to the Board of Regents, so most of Janklows gang(USD connections) is starting to leave. So the Regent makeup is probably better for SDSU than it was back in December.

There are going to be a bunch of coffee shop complainers, but most would not spend money on a lawyer to file a suite. *There could be a surprise here.

My guess is we are going in 2004-05 year. Why schedule Augie when we can play UCD, SSU and others.

I think its important to show other D1AA members that we are dead serious about the move in order to get them on the schedule.

[JBB]

I think its important to move fast too. If you wait the 18 month penality period will really make all of this a moot point. I dont think SDSU would be on anybodys radar scope for conference membership for at leat a year after the penality period ended, say the 2006 - 07 season? By then you will probably be moving up alone or with und.

[filbert]

Hey, obviously I need to up my donation $$. I'm here in Lee's Summit, MO, but I'm still a Jacks BB season ticket holder. Nothing would please me more than the Jacks joining the Mid-Con. Of course, I've got a buddy in Sacramento now, too, so Big Sky would be ok, too. What's this jacks-d1aa board...anyone got a URL?

[Bisonguy]

CLICK HERE FOR SDSU BOARD (http://www.diaafootball.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl)

[SDSUFAN]

Looking at the D1AA COMP SCHEDULE printed by USA Today, I think games may be easier to come by than one thinks. Gateway schools like Ill State have Drake on their schedule as does St Mary's California. There are a number of D1AA non scholarship probrams that have been kind of a filler, I would think SDSU with 36 scholarships would be more of a challange than those such as Drake, Valpariso, and San Diego U who have none.

[89rabbit]

filbert,

Welcom to the board. It is good to see another Jackrabbit in the KC metro (I am in Shawnee). Hit the SDSU board when you get a chance. It is new but growing.

I like you would love to see the Jacks go with the Mid-Con. It would be fun to have them come our way (I think we could kick some Roo butt). However the Big Sky would be a great fit also. Bottom line for me is lets get this thing done. I see no advantages to waiting.

Go State!

[SDSUFAN]

Filbert:
I concur with 89rabbit, its good to have you aboard. It was very nice of Tony Crawford, a big Bison Fan, to set up a SDSU board. So jump in. I guess we dont have to think too hard to come up with your favorite comic strip

[Texas_Jacks_Fan]

Delaying the inevitable move to D1 just puts us one more year behind, I, (like ya'll), think this is the time- Lets do it, NDSU has committed, we're marketing ourselves as a package deal- NDSU and SDSU which is smart for travel reasons. Speaking of the mid-con, I think both Dakota State schools would have been in the top 3 or 4 last year in that conference. With the developing new Western Football conference, I think we have the foundation in place to go NOW- Goodbye NCC.

[89rabbit]

CLICK HERE FOR SDSU BOARD (http://www.diaafootball.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl)

Texas Jacks Fan,

We are all one with you on this issue. Check out the new SDSU Board, that Tony set up for us when you get a chance. Love to see you there also.

Lets Go Rabbits!

[SDSUFAN]

There is a Argus Leader feature on SDSU and the move to D1AA. President Miller is to appear before the Board of Regents today.

Also the Argus is running a poll about the D1 move and the current count is 33% yes and 66 % no. I would appreciate all the Bison Fans weighing in on this vote.


Here is the link:

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Saturdayfeature.shtml

[SDSUFAN]

I just noticed that the online poll box is not in the sports section with the article but is on the front page or home page.

Here is the link to the Vote on the online poll

http://www.argusleader.com/

[WYOBISONMAN]

Judging from the poll in the Argus Leader support is a little thin for the D1 decision at SDSU. What is up with that. The same poll in the Fargo Forum with NDSU as the subject would be pretty different I think.

[Texas_Jacks_Fan]

I'm not shocked by those pole results, Most or all of the USD and Augie fans dont want this to happen, because it will make their programs more insignificant than they already are, and I suspect alot of them are weighing in. Its a SF newspaper. I called into a radio show last Fall that was debating the D1 switch, I think it was KELO, and the hosts were very down on the move, but that station carries either USD or Augie games on its station... so there is some bias going on in some media outlets.

[SDSUFAN]

Wyobison:
The difference is that Argus Leader is a statewide paper and includes coverage of SDSU-USD and Augie on equal basis. Many of those "No" votes are USD and Augustana Connected. If the decision was a referandum on the ballot, it would never pass. We just have jealous and short sighted folks in South Dakota.
Its an image problem where they just can not see sports on a D1 level, and there are those who just see this as risky. So a number of things go into this.

Neither the Sioux Falls Argus Leader or the Brookings Register have had a Jeff Kolpeck who wrote some very good articles on the progress at NDSU. So that kind of publicty has been lacking and almost luke warm support by the Argus.

Thank goodness for President Miller an outsider who was president at Akron U and can see the the ups and downs of going to D1. She has worked very quietly about making this move and she has the key people on the faculty, Alumni and Foundation pulling towards this goal and thats what counts. The naysayers in the coffee shop can grip and vote no on the on-line poll, but they dont make the final decision as far as what conference we are in. President Miller does and I think she will move without a conference as was reported in the article.

[Texas_Jacks_Fan]

We are very lucky to have President Miller and Dr. Oien moving this forward despite some in the community who dont have SDSU's best interest in mind. The Argus has been lukewarm but I echo the previous post, They understand that SDSU being successful will upset the competitive balance in the state-They are thinking of themselves... not what is best for SDSU

[filbert]

Like I pointed out on the SDSU board, the Argus is a Gannett paper (i.e. USA Today i.e. Al Neuharth i.e. USD) so the relative anti-SDSU-D1 bias is to be expected.

[SDSUFAN]

I guess we need more SDSU grads working for Gannett and the Argus Leader. I think too, the problem is that the staff are often on their way to a bigger and better Newspaper since Gannett owns a ton of them. So with guys from Michigan and elsewhere, learning about SD and SDSU is a process that starts over when each one moves on to bigger and better things.

Adam Thaler was the SDSU writer befor Chris Solari. I thought Adam was a more proactive in his writings about SDSU than Chris Solari, the current writer. It appears that its going to take some education. Adam moved on to a better job on the west coast.

Very typical of working in the Gannett chain.

[NDSU_grad]

I would guess that a vote in the GF Herald about the Bison move to DI would probably be pretty similar to the vote in the Argus Leader, except that about 80% of the words in the Herald article would be misspelled.

[Bisonguy]

SDSU is having a press conference at 10:00 tomorrow. Here's a link from the Jackrabbit Board if you want to listen on the PC - http://www.depotradio.com/sports.php

Does anybody know why SDSU might have a press conference? ;D ::) ;D

[Charger]

I have heard it's good news.

[BisonMav]

From Today's Argus Leader: SDSU to Officially Declare Today.
Argus Leader (http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Fridayfeature.shtml)

Today's Forum: NCC School Likely to Join D-I Ranks:
Fargo Forum (http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=38498)

[89rabbit]

Its offical South Dakota State University will move up to D I/I AA!!! Yahoo! ;D This season will be our last in the NCC. This is GREAT for both the Bison and the Jacks!

Go Jacks!

[Bisonguy]

Welcome to the Next Level!

[JACKGUY]

Now let's find both schools a conference. I think now that it is clear that both schools are committed to DI that a conference will be easier to secure! Two solid Land Grant Schools with great track records should be very attractive to the conferences we are persuing.

[Hammerhead]

Not to mention 2 schools relatively close together for weekend baskeball trips.

Way to go SDSU!!!

[JBB]

Excellent!! Conference? Hey let's start our own!! We have done that before!!

[UNCBearsFan]

The old NCC aint what she used to be. Congrats SDSU to stepping up.

[Charger]

Hey UNCBearsFan do you guys have a message board?

[89rabbit]

Here is the latest from the Argus:

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Mondayarticle2.shtml

SDSU & NDSU, DI all the way!

[BisonMav]

Argus Leader (http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Thursdayarticle2.shtml)

I see the Argus Leader had a negative article on the SDSU move to Divison I today. * To some of us the cup is half full, to the negative people out there, misery loves company.

[89rabbit]

The most important issue that Mr. Garry completely ingnores is the NCC changed it rules of the game in midstream to paint SDSU in a box. Perhaps had the rules stayed the same SDSU would have remained D II until a conf. was found. However we will never know that, because the rules were changed.

Beyond this Mr. Garry sites his own Newspaper as a source. As if, when the Sioux Falls Argus Leader says so then it must be true. That would be like President Bush saying that "the President of the United States on many occasions has said. . ." and using that as evidence to help support an issue he was putting forward. (Sorry Mr. President, no disrespect intended)

Lastly he quotes the Carr report as saying that "possible options should be in place before making the decision to reclassify..." Meaning that SDSU need to have options in place before they make the decision. Seems to me that the Big Sky, Mid-Con, Horizon, Missouri Valley, and Great Western are all "options" so its ok to make the decision.

It is clear to me that many folks are concerned about what is going to become of their favorite University (now that the NCC is a shadow of itself) and don't have the guts to say so out loud. So they pretend that they are worried about SDSU. Don't worry about SDSU, worry about poor old USD and Augie. They are in far more danger. We have been and will continue to be the largest and finest University in South Dakota.

Go Jacks!

[MN_BISONS]

You hit the nail on the head 89rabbit. These people should worry about their own backyard and let NDSU and SDSU worry about themselves. You can smell their fear in the air.....it's laughable really.