Should Jamestown be accepted into the NSIC?

[zimmy21]

Northern went to the MWB is 2004 and MSUM in 2018.. if that's our measuring stick for teams that are or are not forever bottom feeders.

Side note - is the Mineral Water Bowl dead for good?

That's a great question, I had not paid attention to that. When was the last Mineral Water Bowl?

[zimmy21]

I've always thought of SCSU as more of a baseball school sans football, but wrestling is probably more accurate. Crookston is definitely baseball.

Winona seems to be in the middle of the road on a lot of things. Football is usually competent, basketball, baseball is decent-ish, volleyball can spoil someone else's day - but they don't seem to be "great" at anything.

Mary is actually quite competent at club hockey, fwiw.

I had a hard time with SCSU as well, I consider them a baseball school but I don't pay much attention to wrestling. I do know however that they are a great wrestling program so I went with that.

[NorthDakotaDragon]

Wayne went to the Mineral Water Bowl in 2007, the NCAA playoffs in 2008, and went 8-3 in 2009.

I agree with your overall point though that schools like Bemidji and Wayne can overcome their funding/location disparities and compete with the right hires and players.

Northern went to the MWB is 2004 and MSUM in 2018.. if that's our measuring stick for teams that are or are not forever bottom feeders.

Side note - is the Mineral Water Bowl dead for good?

[SW_Mustang]

Haha, I misread this at first thinking you were a freshman for 3 years. I've know some people that took 7 years to to get their undergrad, but the extra years usually come on the back end not the front.

It took me 7 start to finish, but I wasn't attending full time for the first several years, and had a semester off in there. Did it this way to manage debt load. Not sure if I regret it or not - I never felt like a real college student only going part time, and when I transitioned I felt like I was much older than everyone else.

Having less than a quarter of the debt though has been pretty awesome... so I guess I picked my sacrifice.

Crazy thing is, I knew other students doing similar and some who wished they would have. That debt can be crippling if not properly managed. I know I could have done some things differently to shave a year or so off of the total, but it is what it is at this point.

[Tundra_Man]

Haha, I misread this at first thinking you were a freshman for 3 years. I've know some people that took 7 years to to get their undergrad, but the extra years usually come on the back end not the front.

I took 14 years to get my undergrad.

I made some rather poor academic decisions along the way.

[Purple Mav Man]

Not acceptable. Many Mankato faithful have made it known that any and all football programs must be on their level or they might as well not exist.

One has. Crazy that a writer would overdramatize something and misrepresent facts for their story… weird

[Stanger86]

The NSIC is already two football leagues operating underneath the same umbrella.

There is, and has been for several years, a clear divide between UMD, Mankato, Augie, USF, Bemidji, Winona, and Wayne compared to the rest of the league. Those teams may wobble from season to season but they will be ones who decide the conference title and determine who goes to the playoffs.

That leaves Northern, Moorhead, Mary, Minot, Concordia, and SMSU in the other category. Some of these teams may get frisky year to year but largely are not part of the conference title/playoff conversation. Should Jamestown join the league I suspect they would join this collective.

Each institution has its own goals and commitment for their athletic department. Obviously they vary greatly from school to school and market to market.

Not acceptable. Many Mankato faithful have made it known that any and all football programs must be on their level or they might as well not exist.

[Thunder]

Dear god, now you're trying to make me feel old but there are freshman on Wayne's football team that were in Preschool in 2009. I don't know if I'd include 2007, 2008, or 2009 as recent lol. I was a Junior/Senior in high school and a freshman in college for the 3 years Wayne was good before last year lol A lot has changed

Haha, I misread this at first thinking you were a freshman for 3 years. I've know some people that took 7 years to to get their undergrad, but the extra years usually come on the back end not the front.

[zimmy21]

Wayne went to the Mineral Water Bowl in 2007, the NCAA playoffs in 2008, and went 8-3 in 2009.

.

Dear god, now you're trying to make me feel old but there are freshman on Wayne's football team that were in Preschool in 2009. I don't know if I'd include 2007, 2008, or 2009 as recent lol. I was a Junior/Senior in high school and a freshman in college for the 3 years Wayne was good before last year lol A lot has changed

[SW_Mustang]

That's exactly right, it's a sad truth. It feels often that schools throw a program out there sometimes. Every School has it's focuses, I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks the remaining 14 schools have as their primary focus athletically.

Augustana - Hockey / Basketball for NSIC sports
Bemidji - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Concordia - Volleyball
Mary - Cross Country?
Crookston - Baseball?
Duluth - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Mankato - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Moorhead - Basketball
Minot - Baseball? Maybe Soccer? Moreso Club Hockey
Northern - Basketball
Sioux Falls - Football
Southwest - Volleyball
St. Cloud - Hockey / Wrestling for NSIC sports
Wayne - Volleyball
Winona - Track? Baseball? Do they even care about Basketball anymore?

I still love the pipe dream of the NSIC sponsoring D1 hockey if we could get Minot to make the jump, or Moorehead who was looking into it years ago.

I've always thought of SCSU as more of a baseball school sans football, but wrestling is probably more accurate. Crookston is definitely baseball.

Winona seems to be in the middle of the road on a lot of things. Football is usually competent, basketball, baseball is decent-ish, volleyball can spoil someone else's day - but they don't seem to be "great" at anything.

Mary is actually quite competent at club hockey, fwiw.

[UMary1]

Thanks for the insight. Montana seems to be the most consistent and realistic spot to establish a recruiting base that can compete in the NSIC. The AZ and CA kids are nice additions, but so tough to rely on that pipeline. I know there are only so many kids in the upper Midwest to go around for all of the football schools, but it drives me crazy when I look through the ND college’s recruiting classes and there is maybe a handful of kids from the Tri-State area. History has proven many times over that you cannot build a program that way. I did not know much about your new HC but he sure seems like the right guy to try climb that mountain if there ever was one. Hoping for a recruiting class full of MT kids for you guys.

Could not agree more, as an Alum and supporter of the program I used to get excited seeing some flash from AZ, NV or CA but have come to realize the Tri-State formula as a foundation with some difference makers Ie( in today's game Grad transfers from all around are what lead success and sustainable programs. I will say this, I think staff turn over is also key. Lately Mary has been going through position coaches like halloween candy. I understand the nature of the carrousel but it makes me wonder why we can't at least string 2-3 years with some returning coaches. This goes a long way in recruiting and building momentum.

[Augieholic]

2. Some recency bias sneaking in there. Wayne was pretty bad to average for years before their recent climb that began in 2021. 17 losing seasons since 1995 for them. That is no knock to them at all as they are now a top tier team in the NSIC. Just shows that one of the middling teams can make the jump into the upper echelon.

Wayne went to the Mineral Water Bowl in 2007, the NCAA playoffs in 2008, and went 8-3 in 2009.

I agree with your overall point though that schools like Bemidji and Wayne can overcome their funding/location disparities and compete with the right hires and players.

[zimmy21]

St Cloud and Duluth would probably leave the NSIC if they had to give up membership in the NCHC.

I'm struggling to see how that's bad lol

[Millsy]

That's exactly right, it's a sad truth. It feels often that schools throw a program out there sometimes. Every School has it's focuses, I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks the remaining 14 schools have as their primary focus athletically.

Augustana - Hockey / Basketball for NSIC sports
Bemidji - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Concordia - Volleyball
Mary - Cross Country?
Crookston - Baseball?
Duluth - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Mankato - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Moorhead - Basketball
Minot - Baseball? Maybe Soccer? Moreso Club Hockey
Northern - Basketball
Sioux Falls - Football
Southwest - Volleyball
St. Cloud - Hockey / Wrestling for NSIC sports
Wayne - Volleyball
Winona - Track? Baseball? Do they even care about Basketball anymore?

I still love the pipe dream of the NSIC sponsoring D1 hockey if we could get Minot to make the jump, or Moorehead who was looking into it years ago.

St Cloud and Duluth would probably leave the NSIC if they had to give up membership in the NCHC.

[zimmy21]

The NSIC is already two football leagues operating underneath the same umbrella.


Each institution has its own goals and commitment for their athletic department. Obviously they vary greatly from school to school and market to market.

That's exactly right, it's a sad truth. It feels often that schools throw a program out there sometimes. Every School has it's focuses, I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks the remaining 14 schools have as their primary focus athletically.

Augustana - Hockey / Basketball for NSIC sports
Bemidji - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Concordia - Volleyball
Mary - Cross Country?
Crookston - Baseball?
Duluth - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Mankato - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Moorhead - Basketball
Minot - Baseball? Maybe Soccer? Moreso Club Hockey
Northern - Basketball
Sioux Falls - Football
Southwest - Volleyball
St. Cloud - Hockey / Wrestling for NSIC sports
Wayne - Volleyball
Winona - Track? Baseball? Do they even care about Basketball anymore?

I still love the pipe dream of the NSIC sponsoring D1 hockey if we could get Minot to make the jump, or Moorehead who was looking into it years ago.