UNC basketball

[sambini]

Now that UNC is in Big Sky. Will become a basketball power? Did they ever win the title in the NCC? And did they not have sparse crowds out there to? So going int the Big Sky gonna fill up the arena?

[filbert]

No. There are no basketball "powers" in the Big Sky unless you count Weber State, who are usually the fourth best team in Utah (behind Utah, Brigham Young, Utah State).

UNC won one NCC title, 1988-89.

Yes, they have trouble drawing crowds.

No, going into the Big Sky won't fill up their arena. The Big Sky isn't really a very good basketball conference. Not the worst, but not a particularly strong "mid-major." Their champions are routinely 14-seeds or worse in the NCAA tournament.

Still, it's a better conference than the one NDSU and SDSU are currently in

[sambini]

We will still outdraw them? the conference issue will work out be patient.

[filbert]

It will be a dark day indeed when NDSU (or SDSU for that matter) is outdrawn by UNC in basketball . . . ever.

UNC's arena seats only 4,500. Last year (year 2 of their D-I reclass) they averaged 1,085 per game, playing:

Loyola Marymount
Western State
Great Falls (low, 525)
Texas State
Texas-Pan American
Longwood
Utah Valley State
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Denver (high, 3,311)
CU-Colorado Springs
Colorado College
UC Davis

Not exactly a blockbuster home schedule.

NDSU last year averaged 1,654 per game going 10-2 at home (it helps to get 6,000 in the house for the SDSU game), and SDSU averaged 1,617 with a dreadfully uninteresting home schedule and a woefully struggling team that could only manage 6-5 at Frost Arena (drawing 4,200 vs. NDSU in Brookings).

The first year of the D-I transition is easily the hardest one for home basketball fans. Year two is much more interesting, as you get some D-I opponents in rather than struggling through a home slate of NAIA, D-III, and D-II schools. I believe that the current rule only allows two non-D-I schools on the schedule.

From another thread here, NDSU this year has so far:
Eastern Michigan
Maine
Hamline (MN)
Idaho State
Manhattan
Utah Valley State
SDSU
Idaho
IPFW
Mayville
Mary
Denver
UMKC
(thanks to roadwarrior over in the schedule thread for the update)

One would hope that there are many more home games yet to be announced--most or all will be D-I schools.

SDSU's home scheduling seems to be further along:
Southeast Missouri State
Cal State Fullerton
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Denver
UMKC
Manhattan (at Sioux Falls)
Butler
Utah Valley State
Southwest Minnesota State
IPFW
Texas Pan American
NDSU

Some of these schools may be visiting Fargo as well.

We'll see.

[roadwarrior]

According to your list, filbert, NDSU has 13 home games scheduled and SDSU 12. How does this mean that SDSU seems to be further along?

[filbert]

See, that's what happens when you post an article, go over to the other thread and see roadwarrior has updated the NDSU schedule, then go back and update your post with new info but don't change the "editorial" comments.

In other words, NDSU sure made a lot of progress in the 15 minutes it took me to write my post!