When 10,000 fans show up at the Fargodome on Saturday to watch UND and NDSU renew their rivalry for the first time in a major sport, it should be a wake-up call to administrators that these rivalry games need to be scheduled in every sport, every year.
It doesn’t matter whether UND or NDSUÂ needs the game more. It doesn’t matter how bitter the breakup was for the two schools when NDSU first made the move to Division I. (After all, we’re talking about two pretty revamped administrations.)
What matters is that 10k-plus want to see a dog of a game. The Sioux will play the Bison in a nonconference tilt that pits a team 305th in RPI against a team ranked 57th. A record-breaking crowd wants to watch a game not many in the stands think will be close.
It all seems so simple. How many athletic departments have the luxury of scheduling a nonconference game that will probably be the second-most attended basketball game in the history of the state of North Dakota. (No. 1 being Kansas vs. UND in 2001 at the REA)?
When UND announced its move to join the Big Sky Conference, NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor said renewing the rivalry between the Sioux and the Bison was probably on UND’s back burner at the time, considering all of the rigmarole involved in joining a new conference.
I’m pretty sure no one at UND saw that as the case. Why then aren’t the Sioux and Bison playing in women’s basketball? Why can’t some setup be concocted for football to work?
No matter what’s to be said about the politics of scheduling, everyone needs a moneymaker. That’s not even getting into the collatoral money-making involved, with the amount of buzz and interest generated by the games.
All you seem to hear lately about the rivalry is ‘who needs the game more?’ Well, you could say every college athletic department in the country needs this kind of game.
Just yesterday, I was reading this column on ESPN.com, which reads: “Recently the NCAA reported that only 14 Division I-A programs clear a profit, while no college or university in the United States has an athletic department that is financially self-sustaining. Nobody in Division I — not Alabama, not Auburn, not Oklahoma, nobody — has an athletic department that pays its own way.”
So we could all use the money. So let’s put petty grudges aside, or any other insignificant holdup, and get these games in the books.
Excellent commentary! Very well written and right to the point. Thank you for having the fortitude to speak up!
Amen brother.
Tommy you need to talk to both UND and NDSU womens basketball and football coaches and find out who is being petty and why.
As for the D-IA schools not making enough money maybe they should look at how much they pay the coaches.
10,000 fans tell the story in no uncertain terms; money be damned, full speed ahead….or torpedoes or something, right
Oh my goodness. A quarter of the crowd gets in free. UND and BWW bought out 2,200 seats. It doesn’t matter who is petty, who quit, who was interested in destroying NDSUs move to D1. It doesn’t matter who is petty and insisting on a 7,000 home/home gift from NDSU or they wont play? Sure it doesn’t matter and being magnanimous is easy isn’t it? Its easy to forgive yourself too. UND SOXs.
Hopefully the storm will render the gratuity from BWW useless and without value. That was the biggest grandstand in North Dakota college athletics since UND quit playing NDSU and now they want everyone to stop being petty? I dont think there was anything petty about UNDs behavior until the situation became desperate for them, which was almost immediately. Ever since then its just been petty? Please.
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This article nails the point: these schools need to play each other. And if it takes the North Dakota state legislature to get involved, so be it: the games between the two schools matter to the public of N. D.
In Pennsylvania, a superb rivalry between Pittsburgh and Penn State is not played. Absolute nonsense.
Don’t let this happen in North Dakota.
Look at the crowd Saturday in the FargoDome and tell any reasonable person this game should not be played each year. Alternating home sites (REA and the FargoDome).
I agree the game is very important to UND. But NDSU has little need for it. NDSU has move beyond the small local consideration for sports competition. It is mildly intresting for them to play but while UND really needs the game to gain recognition NDSU does not. Will that change in the future when UND completes all their penalty to moving up a division? Yes, but right now it is UND that needs the game real bad. They lacked the vision to see the advantages of moving up to Division 1. NDSU had the vision and lead the way for both universities showing how it could be done. I do congradulate UND for having the intelligence to see they were going to become a second level university in the state if they did not follow NDSU’s lead. It is not easy to admit you made a mistake and UND showed great courage in admiting it and making the move to Division 1 in all sports following NDSU. As UND finishes their probation it will be fun to see them compete at the same level again. I look forward to the time when UND and NDSU meet in FCS post season games. That will be a game that will out shine all past games in hype and importance. To great competition in the future, HOO RAA!
JBB: Either post something positive or just go away. We are well aware of your bias.
The game turned out to be a dud. UND is no good and will have to give away a lot more tickets next time, if there is a next time.
Now that the Dome has broken the barrier and proven its worth as a basketball venue its a much better proposition to get a name team in here. That would draw a big crowd and give NDSU significant exposure, something it doesnt get playing UND. It also opens up the potential for the Summit League tournament.
As far as UND goes this did nothing for their negotiating position. To play in Fargo UND is going to have to come to terms with their true market value. Think Morgan State or Stoney Brook with a reduction for needed travel costs. One of the big pluses for the OOC games is to get exposure in new markets. NDSU already has all the exposure it needs in North Dakota.
38-31 ha, ha