Great West Interested in UND & USD

[SLCBengal]

No surprise -- the Great West Conference is moving closer to adding the University of North Dakota and the University of South Dakota (since both schools have decided to make the move to division I).

What is a little surprising is Great West commissioner Ed Grom's statement that "the league also is considering two other schools "out west," but he declined to name them."

The University of San Diego, perhaps? Who is the "other" western team?

Great West Conference Interested in UND, USD

 

[bincitysioux]

Hello, North Dakota fan here. Just wondering how ISU fans feel about Dakota schools in the Big Sky. I know from reading message boards that fans of the Montana schools were generally receptive to NDSU and SDSU joining the conference, and seem to be somewhat receptive to UND and USD joining, now that the xDSU's are off the table. As a UND fan, I would love to end up in the Big Sky, and games with Idaho St. would interest me as they are a school similar in scope to UND that I'd consider a peer. I feel that the "core" of the Big Sky is ISU, Weber, MSU, and UofM and think that adding one or both of the UxD's (preferrably UND ) would help to expand that core and get the Big Sky moving in a better direction of being a conference made up of state-named flagship schools rather than one made up of directional commuter schools with very small localized fan-bases.

 

[pocatato]

From an academic standpoint I would consider it a great move. I don't know much about your facilities but understand they are fine. Travel for basketball is not ideal and most conference members oppose admission for that reason as I understand it.

 

[bincitysioux]

I don't know much about your facilities but understand they are fine

Football is played in the Alerus Center, a 13,500 seat domed stadium which was built in 2001.

Basketball is played in "The Betty", a 3,300 seat arena built in 2004.

Prior to the Betty being built, conference and other large-drawing basketball games were played in our hockey arena, The Ralph, which seats over 12,000 for basketball and was built in 2001.

UND also operates its own cable television network that televises hockey, football, and basketball games in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota.

 

[dave84again]

??? i'm jealous.....i wish we could brag about our more modern facilities. for what its worth, i would love to see the move to the big sky by both the dakota teams.

by the way...i truly am jealous of your facilities.

 

[bincitysioux]

??? i'm jealous.....i wish we could brag about our more modern facilities. for what its worth, i would love to see the move to the big sky by both the dakota teams.

by the way...i truly am jealous of your facilities.

Thanks for the kind words. We truly are blessed with those facilities here in North Dakota. As I said earlier, Idaho State is one of the 4 or 5 schools in the Big Sky that really interests me that I would like to see North Dakota competing against on a regular basis.

Factoid: Every year, the UND football team hosts a game called the Potato Bowl. The area around Grand Forks, ND is one of the richest potato growing regions in the country and home to one of the largest potato processing plants in the U.S. The first Potato Bowl was held in Grand Forks in 1966. UND's opponent that year in the first Potato Bowl was Idaho State.

 

[dave84again]

nice!!!!

i hope for more potato bowls in the future. how bout we make a pact now......no throwing them at each other!!!!!!! a.k.a. southern utah.

 

[biobengal]

Sioux, we used to play at the "Spud Bowl" and old earthen bowl that is now one of the nicer (albeit older) soccer/track stadiums in the conference.

Sorry to hear about your domed football stadium. ISU found out years ago once you build a domed stadium on campus it is expensive to maintain and expand.

 

[tuffgong]

Speaking of the Spud Bowl, Davis Field, Blues Traveler is In Concert there in Poky on 04/12/07... Pretty cool...

 

[bincitysioux]

Q&A with Doug Fullerton

Q: Two schools that were talked about as possible members of the Big Sky – North Dakota State and South Dakota State – have joined the Gateway Conference for football and the Mid-Continent for other sports. Why do you think the Presidents of the Big Sky schools opted not to invite these schools to join?

A: Location, location, location - North Dakota State University and South Dakota State University were very attractive to everyone in our league, they simply live a long ways away from our current members. And, I believe it was not only the travel concerns that bothered the Presidents. Conferences who have broken apart in the past, have always broken when long distances were involved. I think there was an underlying concern that expanding the league to the Dakotas may in the long run weaken the ties within our existing members.

Sounds like you guys are probably right about the travel. Too bad. I think that Idaho St., Montana, Montana St., Weber St., North Dakota, and South Dakota would make a helluva a good core for a conference for many years to come.