Should Jamestown be accepted into the NSIC?

[zimmy21]

I think Mankato and Bemidji would give the same resistance as UMD and St Cloud.

Not sure why, it can't get any worse for them.

[SW_Mustang]

I'm not an expert on ACHA but Minot (your 2023 National Champion), Mary and Jamestown are all in the ACHA D1 and Moorhead and the other Jamestown team are ACHA D2.

I don't think there's much rhyme or reason honestly - teams come and go, depends on who is going to school at that time. Jamestown is ranked #6 currently, apparently - maybe they are varsity too. It can be hard to tell with non-NCAA associations.

Apparently the AAU added college hockey now under the "CHF" banner - did not know that.

The interesting bit is there is a D2 conference that sponsors "D2" hockey independent of the NCAA or any other association, and it's a varsity sport.

[Purple Mav Man]

Since we don't want this thread to die does Jamestown try to take their hockey program D1? I think not but if they go and you get Minot to move their team up we can get an all NSIC league in D1 hockey. I get you don't get Duluth or St Cloud to leave the NCHC but it would be fun though.

I think Mankato and Bemidji would give the same resistance as UMD and St Cloud.

[AU guy]

No.

Minot couldn't, Moorhead couldn't, NDSU (and SDSU) refuse too - I don't see any way Jamestown would.

It's an interesting thought though.

I actually think Minot turned their club team varsity but stayed in the ACHA - which is apparently a thing that can be done and has been by many other schools.

I'm not an expert on ACHA but Minot (your 2023 National Champion), Mary and Jamestown are all in the ACHA D1 and Moorhead and the other Jamestown team are ACHA D2.

[SW_Mustang]

Since we don't want this thread to die does Jamestown try to take their hockey program D1? I think not but if they go and you get Minot to move their team up we can get an all NSIC league in D1 hockey. I get you don't get Duluth or St Cloud to leave the NCHC but it would be fun though.

No.

Minot couldn't, Moorhead couldn't, NDSU (and SDSU) refuse too - I don't see any way Jamestown would.

It's an interesting thought though.

I actually think Minot turned their club team varsity but stayed in the ACHA - which is apparently a thing that can be done and has been by many other schools.

[Purple Mav Man]

Ha! It all makes sense now.

I am in now way rooting against Jamestown to succeed. Just making some observations that would lead one to believe this is designed to fail.

We’re rowing the same boat, brother.

[NorthDakotaDragon]

I believe there are some SW fans that are pro-Jamestown due to the commissioner being an SMSU grad. I’m reaching, but trying to make sense of it… haha

Ha! It all makes sense now.

I am in now way rooting against Jamestown to succeed. Just making some observations that would lead one to believe this is designed to fail.

[Purple Mav Man]

Glad you're sticking up for Jamestown, but a quick browse through Twitter and you can see the ND kids getting signed by teams on the top half of NSIC have legitimate recruiting interest from a good portion of the league, and in some cases, attention from the local FCS schools. I don't think I'm reaching by saying the class full of undersized ND kids that didn't appear to have a lick of attention from other NSIC schools isn't gonna move the needle much. You can play Devil's advocate all you want, but we've seen this story play out before.

Sure, maybe a couple of those guys are diamonds in the rough, and I do think it's important to establish a local recruiting base. My point is only that there is a difference between that and going all in on ND and letting anyone with a heartbeat play for the Jimmies.

I say all that as someone who played HS football in ND and am proud of it. But I am a realist. That won't win you football games in the NSIC.

I believe there are some SW fans that are pro-Jamestown due to the commissioner being an SMSU grad. I’m reaching, but trying to make sense of it… haha

[NorthDakotaDragon]

Why is it assumed that all of the ND kids Jamestown signed are automatically worse than the ND kids signed by Moorhead, Minot, Mary, etc.? It looks like Moorhead signed 11 ND kids themselves, why not call Laqua the next Kotelnicki?!

Glad you're sticking up for Jamestown, but a quick browse through Twitter and you can see the ND kids getting signed by teams on the top half of NSIC have legitimate recruiting interest from a good portion of the league, and in some cases, attention from the local FCS schools. I don't think I'm reaching by saying the class full of undersized ND kids that didn't appear to have a lick of attention from other NSIC schools isn't gonna move the needle much. You can play Devil's advocate all you want, but we've seen this story play out before.

Sure, maybe a couple of those guys are diamonds in the rough, and I do think it's important to establish a local recruiting base. My point is only that there is a difference between that and going all in on ND and letting anyone with a heartbeat play for the Jimmies.

I say all that as someone who played HS football in ND and am proud of it. But I am a realist. That won't win you football games in the NSIC.

[AU guy]

Don't forget about UMary, they have a pretty good club team and following as well.

Let's reach out to the league office. We're going to be a D1 hockey league!!

[Millsy]

Since we don't want this thread to die does Jamestown try to take their hockey program D1? I think not but if they go and you get Minot to move their team up we can get an all NSIC league in D1 hockey. I get you don't get Duluth or St Cloud to leave the NCHC but it would be fun though.

Don't forget about UMary, they have a pretty good club team and following as well.

[Purple Mav Man]

Since we don't want this thread to die does Jamestown try to take their hockey program D1? I think not but if they go and you get Minot to move their team up we can get an all NSIC league in D1 hockey. I get you don't get Duluth or St Cloud to leave the NCHC but it would be fun though.

Don’t they have two men’s hockey teams currently? Gotta boost enrollment.

[AU guy]

Since we don't want this thread to die does Jamestown try to take their hockey program D1? I think not but if they go and you get Minot to move their team up we can get an all NSIC league in D1 hockey. I get you don't get Duluth or St Cloud to leave the NCHC but it would be fun though.

[oldyellaHer69]

Just a quick comment on UIU and NSIC, I think someone mentioned it wasn't the fit they thought it would be...I agree at the end, but when they joined the NSIC it was a much, much different league. It was just a couple years in and Mankato, Duluth, Augustana, St. Cloud came back into the conference which changed things drastically. Some of the schools are the size of UNI in terms of student population and very hard to compete with in terms of resources, etc...with that being said the original make-up when we joined was a very, very good fit for UIU. Most schools at that time weren't full scholarship, rosters were similar, etc...with the inclusion of the new schools and then Sioux Falls it upped everyone's game in terms of scholarships. In terms of football Shea had a very nice run for a few years, believe 6-5 three out of four years during one stretch and given the league that is a success. I know wrestling isn't as broad, but UIU has always had a very good wrestling team and won a couple NSIC championships early on and has always been in the top half and nationally ranked. If you look at overall success across most sports those 4 schools that came in/back after UIU joined has been the most consistent and dominating overall.

Cocks pull out and the Jimmies slide right in, sounds like the cocks just never fit, maybe size does matter

[Peacock]

It is always interesting to see how this goes.

Early on Upper iowa has some good success in baseball and women's golf. They were quite competitive in the NSIC

Volleyball was terrible to start b ut got good as time went on ironically in what might be the league's deepest and toughest sport.

They were always good in hoops. very compeitive and a force.

Never really made a leap in football especially long term

USF - great in football, mostly competitive in most sports. - I presume most would say being in Sioux Falls has helped this which is not the case for the other "new" programs.

Minot -- very good in some things, never in football

Mary - sort of up and down in many things and pretty good at football coming into the league, not as much except for here and there recently.

the biggest thing is the league is so good and deep. It is hard to make the leap.

Just a quick comment on UIU and NSIC, I think someone mentioned it wasn't the fit they thought it would be...I agree at the end, but when they joined the NSIC it was a much, much different league. It was just a couple years in and Mankato, Duluth, Augustana, St. Cloud came back into the conference which changed things drastically. Some of the schools are the size of UNI in terms of student population and very hard to compete with in terms of resources, etc...with that being said the original make-up when we joined was a very, very good fit for UIU. Most schools at that time weren't full scholarship, rosters were similar, etc...with the inclusion of the new schools and then Sioux Falls it upped everyone's game in terms of scholarships. In terms of football Shea had a very nice run for a few years, believe 6-5 three out of four years during one stretch and given the league that is a success. I know wrestling isn't as broad, but UIU has always had a very good wrestling team and won a couple NSIC championships early on and has always been in the top half and nationally ranked. If you look at overall success across most sports those 4 schools that came in/back after UIU joined has been the most consistent and dominating overall.