Conference question (siouxrock need not apply)

[100_proof_grizzly]

I am going to put the shoe on the other foot with this question. *Awhile back on the egriz board a rather lengthy thread was started discussing your merits for joining the Big Sky Conference. *So I am going to ask you guys this question. *If you are in a happy, stable conference (regardless of level) and the University of Montana would try to get into YOUR conference, how would you feel? *Would the travel distance/market stats apply in our case? *Just wondering.

Oh and to siouxrock: *Ralph Engelstad Arena may be the best people have ever seen (your quote), and you suppossedly have a better board than everybody, but you don't have an established DI program (sorry one program out of many doesn't count for you even if it's hockey), over 20,000 fans at EVERY home game, and the fear and respect that becomes a perennial football power. *We are always looking to set up an extra home game each year so if you got the balls, give us a call.

[Bison_Kent]

Right now, I would be happy for two teams to come into the NCC because there are only 8 teams in the conference for next year's football season. We have two open dates right now and it would be good to fill those open spots with two quality programs.

Montana and Montana State (would be the two teams that I would choose based on the hypothetical sitution 100 Proof set) are not any further away then Northern Colorado (now a former member of the NCC). After seeing the two school's stadiums and fan bases, I would not have any problem with them being members.

Both Montana and Montana State have ties to several of the NCC teams and are similarly sized schools. Both have strong past history of being competive nationally in football and basketball.

If this is any proof, I wouldn't have any problems. If we had 10 teams already, then maybe it would be tougth but with just 8 teams it would be great to get the conference back to 10 teams.

[siouxrock]

WE GET ABOUT 12 THUSAND A GAME AT THE ALERUS
AND FOR HCOKEY 13,000
RECORD FOR B-BALL IN nd IS 19,500
WHEN THE SIOUX PLAYED D-1 POWER HOUSE KANASA
I DONT THINK KANSAS PLAYS MONTANA

[BisonInTexas]

Personally, I want my conference to be stable and competitive. If I can add teams that raise the competition in the conference, I am all for it as a fan.

From an AD's perspective, as far as the travel distance/ market stats for Montana joining a hypothetical NCC goes, the distance factor cannot be ignored, but it has to be balanced with how it affects the gate and will it raise the profile of the conference. On both of those cases, Montana would be accepted without hesitation into any conference because of the great fans and tradition it has. A natural rivalry exists with the states of Montana and North Dakota, as evidenced by past schedules (far in the past, but when we were at the same level, the rivalry between Montana, Montana State, and NDSU was a good one), and demographics have shown that there are a large number of NDSU alumni in Montana that would like to see that rivalry renewed. As a result, ADs love to add schools that you can point to on the schedule as a sure-fire sellout, both home and away.

You also have to balance the negatives (travel) with things like stability - in this hypothetical situation is Montana looking to join for a temporary stop as it evaluates going to a different conference? What are its motives to join my conference? Is it committed to being a top flight conference member?

As a university president, I would also look at how the university lines up as far as mission and academic excellence goes. University presidents don't want to associate their schools with lesser institutions. Montana is a flagship school with excellent academic programs so their mission lines up perfectly with NDSU and UND (although UND regards DI as a four letter word at the moment).

I can see the skepticism on the part of Montana in Big Sky expansion. I know it is going to increase the travel, but their are some real positives to expansion if you get the right schools. NDSU and SDSU are both high profile institutions in their states. Higher profile than many of the current Big Sky members would ever hope to be. Expanding east is seems counter-intuitive to the Big Sky, but has your west expansion (Northridge (now gone), Portland State and Sac State) yielded much for the Big Sky? I think that NDSU and SDSU will give you much more bang for your travel buck than those schools could ever hope.

I guess we will find out this week. I know it (Big Sky expansion) is still a long shot.

Tell me, were you in favor when the Big Sky accepted PSU and Sac State in your conference? Just wondering. (Note that I am not lobbying for NDSU and SDSU to replace those schools, just asking to get a data point on recent expansion (well I guess those schools replaced others that had left, so it wasn't expansion, per se)).

Craig

P.S.
As far as siouxrock goes, just ignore her/him. She/he appears to be someone who is still in high school or junior high (check the post times and you can tell when class gets out) so I wouldn't expect much intelligent input from her/him. If you just ignore siouxrock and don't reply to her posts, she will go away.

[Bisonguy]

I think tony is playing devil's advocate with his alter ego "siouxrock". :P

I vote to let montana into the NCC(hypothetically). A solid athletic program only helps to strengthen a conference. The Big Sky is only a horse and a half race right now. Montana and whoever else has a decent year.

[siouxrock]

bison chould be in the big sky becuz it is a tougher conference then the gateway

[tony]

Hahahaha! I am definitely not siouxrock. I do think that it's somebody putting on an act though. I could check his/her email address but that just doesn't seem right.

My real alter ego runs a website called Sooville.com with the proceeds from a $1 million federal/state grant. I constantly lobby for Sooville to build giant public works projects and get more money from the government to pay for stuff. Examples of the issues I tackle at Sooville:

Is $10,000+ for every man, woman, and child in Grand Forks really enough money for flood protection? We really need $20,000 per person but we seem to have left our wallet at the site of the new 20 million dollar waterpark. And, may I ask you, why only a 20 million dollar waterpark? With an 80 million dollar football arena, a 100 million dollar hockey rink, a 300 million dollar flood protection system, an economy subsidized almost entirely by state and federal money, it seems ludicrous to spend only 20 million dollars on something so important as a waterpark - that's barely $500/person, for gosh sakes!

We at Sooville are like a bunch of trust fund babies who have never grown up and who have never gotten real jobs. That's what makes us so petulant - we don't get the respect we deserve. Now pay our bills for us so we can build some more crap, dammit!

[siouxrock]

theres no such thing as sooville.com
ur jsut jealous becuz we haev actually played a #2 team in teh nation for mens b-ball
i am talkin about kansas
roy

[100_proof_grizzly]

There's a difference between playing the #2 team in the country and BEATING the #17 team in the country in THEIR house. Besides we play top teams in basketball tournaments every year.

[siouxrock]

whose #17 that the bison beat?