capncat
Freshman Member
God's Gift To Message Boards
Posts: 28
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Post by capncat on Sept 23, 2010 11:14:26 GMT -6
USD fans have no idea who those schools are because they aren't fluent in the FCS language yet. Spend some time over at www.anygivensaturday.com and it will become very apparent that USD is the small fish in the Big FCS pond and that schools like Furman, Lehigh, and Colgate have fervent followings. It took the Minnesota win for most of those people to realize USD was now FCS. Better yet, go to www.championshipsubdivision.com for a much better FCS-educated group of posters who have talked about USD for years. AGS died two years ago.
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Roman
Freshman Member
Posts: 42
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Post by Roman on Sept 23, 2010 11:19:57 GMT -6
And yes Bison and Jack fans, we royally screwed up by not going D-1 at the same time you did. I couldn't disagree more. We would not have experienced this level of success had we gone D-I when the XDSU's did. At the time USD did not have the organization, policy, finance and leadership in place to make a successful transition. I know many assume we could have achieved the same level of success back then but it simply is not true. The way I see it...USD had no choice but to stay DII until the ducks were put in a row. Being a supporter of the D-I move I'm very grateful that the move was not made earlier.
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capncat
Freshman Member
God's Gift To Message Boards
Posts: 28
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Post by capncat on Sept 23, 2010 11:35:00 GMT -6
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Post by GoYotes on Sept 23, 2010 11:42:38 GMT -6
I couldn't disagree more. We would not have experienced this level of success had we gone D-I when the XDSU's did. At the time USD did not have the organization, policy, finance and leadership in place to make a successful transition. I know many assume we could have achieved the same level of success back then but it simply is not true. The way I see it...USD had no choice but to stay DII until the ducks were put in a row. Being a supporter of the D-I move I'm very grateful that the move was not made earlier. Agree the U wasn't ready to make the move at the same time as NDSU & SDSU. However under the leadership of President Abbott and former AD, Joel Nielsen, the needed improvments were made and the transition is slightly ahead of plan. I also feel new AD, David Sayler, is a good one to continue the transition.
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Post by yotefan on Sept 23, 2010 12:04:23 GMT -6
USD should not be considered a small fish in the "Big FCS pond" just because we are new to FCS. Lehigh has around 7,000 students. Furman and Colgate have around 2,800. USD currently is just below 10,000 students and we are the smallest of the 4 Dakota schools.
Roman, I am not even going to get that debate started again because everyone has an opinion on the topic and we plowed that ground enough on the old board. The fact is, USD is D-1 now and we need to make the most of it. As a supporter of the move to D-1 I hope you're a member of the Howling Pack too. We need everyone we can get.
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Post by Yote 53 on Sept 23, 2010 12:13:17 GMT -6
Yeah, those are the size of the schools, but my point is we are relatively new to FCS and there are some very established programs that at first glance we think, "never heard of 'em".
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Sept 23, 2010 12:58:25 GMT -6
I agree. Just because a school has more students doesn't mean they are a better or more traditional school for football. Look at some of the schools that have less students than USD and some of them rank pretty high on the FCS scale.
USD is new to D-I and a lot of these schools have more tradition, plain and simple. You just can't be the new guy in football and be the coolest kid on the block. Ask Boise State about that....
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Post by yotefan on Sept 23, 2010 13:41:04 GMT -6
In an effort to avoid too much thread drift, the original question I asked was "does anyone think there are too many FCS schools as it is?"
I asked this question in the broader context of USD's conference discussions. The reason I did so wasn't due to a belief that because USD has more students means we are better than the aforementioned schools. The point was that the four Dakota schools don't require hopping on google for 99.99% of America to know who or where they are when their name rolls across the bottom of the ESPN ticker.
Additionally, the question was made because one of the many reasons cited for moving to D-1 by all 4 Dakota schools was the perceived watering down of D-2 sports, in particular football, and the desire to gain more program and university exposure.
With USF and several state supported institutions petitioning to fill that void in SD, I think this question has even more merit. You can bet folks in Mankato and Omaha tend to look at these would-be newcomers as being on a different level than they are.
I feel as if USD and the other Dakota schools are looked at in the same way now that they are in D-1 and in some cases rightfuly so, however in another sense, that shouldn't be the case.
I don't think the casual sports fan is as well versed as our friends Nidaros and Cap'N Cat when it comes to FCS football. And although USD fans are learning to "speak the language of FCS" as Yote53 would put it, most aren't as fervent as those on this board when it comes to supporting their respective schools.
The other point that has been lost in translation is this, simply because we are new to D-1 and lack an FCS tradition does not mean that all the prior years in the NCC as a D-2 school and prior when USD would regularly play Big 10 and Big 12 schools and even Notre Dame is null and void.
Whether you agree USD is late to the D-1 party or you feel they are right on time is a moot point now. We are here, we have not yet fully arrived simply because we beat Minnesota, but we are going to make some noise and hopefully sooner, rather than later, earn a place amongst the FCS elite.
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usdlaw
Senior Member
Posts: 930
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Post by usdlaw on Sept 23, 2010 14:03:05 GMT -6
I'm lost. Maybe that is because I don't know where Furman is? Or because I don't care unless they make it on USDs schedule, or because I thought this topic was about conferences.
The AD is working on a new conference, he said that is his top priority, then I hope the new basketball arena (sorry Yote53, football means a lot to many, but so does basketball).
Other than the MVFC or the Big Sky, are there even other realitic possibilities?
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Sept 23, 2010 14:54:06 GMT -6
I am pretty sure that has been covered in this thread, plus the fact that they are the most realistic for OBVIOUS reasons.
It's also your job to do research on the FCS. Just because you don't know a school doesn't mean they don't have tradition honestly.
I don't know if there are too many FCS teams, because most of them are better than D-II schools like Augie and such. Personally, I think there are too many FBS schools.
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Post by GoYotes on Sept 23, 2010 15:20:06 GMT -6
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Post by yotefan on Sept 23, 2010 15:30:46 GMT -6
AD Sayler confirmed his preference for the afforementioned Summit and MV Divisions in his Argus Leader live chat today. Certainly sounds like things are moving ahead.
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Sept 23, 2010 16:01:01 GMT -6
With this news from the Grand Forks Herald, I am sure USD is in the same process, especially after the U of M win. The momentum is rolling right now and I would expect USD to be in the MVFC or the Big Sky football conference by January.
My guess is that USD goes to the MVFC because the The Big Sky is an all-sports conference. So for UND, they could go to the Big Sky or the MVFC, and if they do go to the MVFC, that could tell me that the Summit is definitely merging with the MVFC for football only basically.
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Post by mnbison on Sept 23, 2010 16:31:15 GMT -6
With this news from the Grand Forks Herald, I am sure USD is in the same process, especially after the U of M win. The momentum is rolling right now and I would expect USD to be in the MVFC or the Big Sky football conference by January. My guess is that USD goes to the MVFC because the The Big Sky is an all-sports conference. So for UND, they could go to the Big Sky or the MVFC, and if they do go to the MVFC, that could tell me that the Summit is definitely merging with the MVFC for football only basically. OK, let's not put the horse before the cart here Yote fans. Is something Brewing here, quite possible. But IF you are to get an invite to the MVFC I would expect it to come after your transition is over or better put you might get invited to the party soon but you won't be able to get into the door until the transition is over. Now with that said, I would bet a lot of MVFC schools would look to put you on their schedules as OOC games. I'm still not sold that this is the best thing for the conference, not a jab at the Yotes I just don't like a split conference but that's just me.
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Sept 23, 2010 16:33:34 GMT -6
If you don't like a split conference then you better stop watching college football. Plus, I don't get how you aren't for that because it says on travel cost, which means more money saved....just saying. I never got the people who don't like split conferences I guess.
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