A new and better FBS thread

[Twentysix]

Toledo and NIU are being mentioned before NDSU as potential adds to the MWC. Explain to me how that happens if NDSU has laid the groundwork of preparing us for an FBS invite.

It does not. Ndsu is obviously not REALLY in consideration.

[BigHorns]

C'mon guys. It's not that hard to be optimistic, try it once and you might like it

"Yes booster club/NIL wants 100% to go FBS as does Coaching Staff's. The Pres/AD can't publicly come out and say it for political reasons.... but trust me its 100% a go and NDSU can go alone! "

Its ironic really, this is the best chance we've had in a decade, and people all act like its doomsday because they are kicking the tires on other FBS schools first.

We were never going to get invited to G5 conferences other than MW or MAC, and now there could be opportunities with both. This all takes time for the conferences, but when they start looking at FCS additions, we will be near the top of that list.

IF this time it doesn't work out, then I'd understand the anger and frustration. But the process is still early.

[NDSU92]

Its ironic really, this is the best chance we've had in a decade, and people all act like its doomsday because they are kicking the tires on other FBS schools first.

We were never going to get invited to G5 conferences other than MW or MAC, and now there could be opportunities with both. This all takes time for the conferences, but when they start looking at FCS additions, we will be near the top of that list.

IF this time it doesn't work out, then I'd understand the anger and frustration. But the process is still early.

Hey look I get it our admin has determined that playing coy with everyone, especially our own stakeholders, is the best way to move forward to an invite. But they also gotta realize this is different than seemingly all of our competition for an invite so they’re going to catch hell for appearing like they’re doing nothing. It is what it is, they’re doing their job and fans are doing theirs.

They made their decision and if it turns out they’re right, I’ll be the first to line up to eat crow. I’ll also be the first to say that I’ve been told they’ve had deep convos with the MW in the past so I know they’ve done something at some point. But they’re putting a lot of pressure on a very frustrated fan base.

[BigLakeBison]

Hey look I get it our admin has determined that playing coy with everyone, especially our own stakeholders, is the best way to move forward to an invite. But they also gotta realize this is different than seemingly all of our competition for an invite so they’re going to catch hell for appearing like they’re doing nothing. It is what it is, they’re doing their job and fans are doing theirs.

They made their decision and if it turns out they’re right, I’ll be the first to line up to eat crow. I’ll also be the first to say that I’ve been told they’ve had deep convos with the MW in the past so I know they’ve done something at some point. But they’re putting a lot of pressure on a very frustrated fan base.

Absolutely! They own every aspect of this. If they get an FBS invite, they get the credit. If they don’t, they have a 50 million dollar practice facility, declining performance of a large number of programs and no clear path to an FBS invite. If I’m wrong I’ll admit it. It’s just telling to me when what’s leaked is every single FBS team is ahead of us in the pecking order and 2-3 FCS as well. Doesn’t bode well unless there’s “chaos”. That seems ridiculous. If that was our realistic path to FBS a $50 million dollar practice facility is an absolute waste of money.

[56BISON73]

Toledo and NIU are being mentioned before NDSU as potential adds to the MWC. Explain to me how that happens if NDSU has laid the groundwork of preparing us for an FBS invite.

This is your evidence???? Two FBS teams named in front of an FCS team? So it was made up bullshit. Again.You have no clue what has been going on behind the scenes.

[BigLakeBison]

This is your evidence???? Two FBS teams named in front of an FCS team? So it was made up bullshit. Again.You have no clue what has been going on behind the scenes.

Do we have an FBS invite? No. Do we have a legitimate D1 athletic department? No. We have a $50 million dollar practice facility that doesn’t move the needle on an FBS invite and a basketball program that isn’t impressing anyone either. Explain how what my eyes see are wrong?

[56BISON73]

Do we have an FBS invite? No. Do we have a legitimate D1 athletic department? No. We have a $50 million dollar practice facility that doesn’t move the needle on an FBS invite and a basketball program that isn’t impressing anyone either. Explain how what my eyes see are wrong?

And you know this how? You dont and its nothing more that an uninformed opinion. Just as the first post I responded to. You treat your opinion as fact even though you dont have the knowledge.

Had an interesting conversation with Gene Taylor about the the transition to FCS. Want to know what the most difficult and surprising was to him??? The administrative requirements and the additional requirements and for the next move. The practice facility and all the other improvements are pieces of the puzzle. They dont have to be grandiose to be laying the ground work. There is so much more that you dont have a clue about.

[BigLakeBison]

And you know this how? You dont and its nothing more that an uninformed opinion. Just as the first post I responded to. You treat your opinion as fact even though you dont have the knowledge.

Had an interesting conversation with Gene Taylor about the the transition to FCS. Want to know what the most difficult and surprising was to him??? The administrative requirements and the additional requirements and for the next move. The practice facility and all the other improvements are pieces of the puzzle. They dont have to be grandiose to be laying the ground work. There is so much more that you dont have a clue about.

My opinion is opinion. Im not really concerned if you agree with it. I am a fan and an “investor” in the program. If I’m uninformed I think that’s an indictment of leadership as well. They need as many of us as possible to buy in. There is no invite yet and NDSU is a ways down on the pecking order. Even with all the movement. That’s quite telling to me. If NDSU doesn’t get an invite this round, what’s the plan to renew fan engagement moving forward? What’s the plan to solidify the budget so that we can continue to build for the future? If I have to guess, I’m not putting money towards it. I think a lot of fans feel the same way.

[NDSU92]

Do think it’s possible yall are both right. To 56’s point, I’ve been told work has been done by the department to get something done. I think most with any level of access to the athletic department are more calm about it because they’ve heard some details of work that has been done in the past. Frankly speaking I’ve been told by multiple sources I very much trust that on multiple occasions, an invite was essentially imminent only to evaporate at the last minute.

To BigLakes’s point, it’s been 6+ years of “trust us we’re working on it but we can’t talk about it”. Understandable but for the average fan who doesn’t have that access but still donates thousands and is getting overcharged on tickets, that is only going to work for so long. Those people are starting to leave in droves and it will significantly hurt our programs if it continues like it has.

In the past I and others would get rebuked pretty bad on here when we criticized the lack of communication coming from the athletic department on FBS. Those people could never understand that my point wasn’t about letting FBS conferences know about our intentions, it was about letting our fan base know what our vision is moving forward. It was trying to avoid this exact current situation where attendance and interest are plummeting because people have no idea the direction we are going or trying to go. It would’ve been very helpful now if they would’ve laid down some of that transparency in the past, and if we don’t get an invite during this round of shuffling, open communication is an absolute, absolute must. Otherwise we’ll see the bottom fall out on fan interest.

[Professor Chaos]

I will say that if you're frustrated about NDSU's action or inaction when it comes to an FBS move it does about as much good to rant about it on Bisonville as it does to sit in Matt Larsen's office and wait for the phone to ring from the MWC. Let the people who need to know know how you feel, they're not hard to reach.