UND's return rekindles old rivalries
News that the University of North Dakota is on the verge of moving back to the neighborhood is being greeted with enthusiasm – or at least tempered enthusiasm – by those who will now likely see a lot more of UND than they have seen the last decade.
The Grand Forks Herald has reported that UND will announce Thursday that its athletic programs other than football will join the Summit League starting in 2018-19, while Missouri Valley Football Conference school presidents will vote this week on accepting UND as a member for 2020, a vote that is expected to pass.
Competitions with UND go back to 1903 at USD and 1906 at SDSU, with hundreds of football and men’s and women’s basketball contests between them in the years since.
Those rivalries were bent when SDSU left the North Central Conference after the 2003-04 school year and broken when USD ended up – after flirting with the Big Sky alongside UND – with membership in the Summit League and MVFC.
It would have been the common sense route at the time for UND, but its Fighting Sioux nickname was a potential obstacle, in addition to what appeared to be tepid interest in the football program from the Missouri Valley Conference.
After a wait of more than a decade, though, the core of the old NCC appears to be headed for a reunion.
“UND would be a fantastic addition to the league,” said USD men’s basketball coach Craig Smith, who grew up less than an hour from Grand Forks. “It would really tie a lot of things together in the region and it would reconnect us with our history with the old NCC and the Division II days. For USD, it would give us another program in the region that our fans could identify with.”
Report: UND to join Summit League in 2018, MVFC in 2020
The return of UND would move the Summit League from nine schools to 10 and the Missouri Valley from 10 schools to 11. Maneuvering the Summit to an even number of schools would make future scheduling easier in addition to adding a familiar foe. Moving the MVFC to an odd number, conversely, would set up some interesting future conversations.
Missouri Valley teams play eight conference games a year now. Would that stay the same? Would the rivalry schools on I-29 play each other every year? If so, would that throw off the strength of schedules within the conference?
"From a rivalry standpoint and a familiarity standpoint, I think there are some positives for our football program,” said SDSU football coach John Stiegelmeier. “I think it bolsters the Missouri Valley even more because of where (UND’s) program is at. On that note, it's going to be tougher and tougher to survive the league for all of us.”
UND was a playoff team last fall and has a strong tradition going back to its Division II days, as well as a loyal fan following. It would be understandable for those in charge of beating the Fighting Hawks in the future – coaches who are already facing five or six playoff-bound teams during a typical season – to spot competitive drawbacks.
"It's a concern,” Stiegelmeier said. “I don't know if it's a huge concern. I don't know how they're going to schedule, but they're so regional with their mentality that we'll probably always play the NCC schools. Three of those four made the playoffs and USD is doing a great job, too.
“Budgets are a huge concern for our schools. If we travel to Grand Forks instead of Youngstown, our budget will be lessened. But we don't know how they'll determine who you play every year. If it goes strictly by (geography), that could raise some (competitive) concerns."
It is a five-hour drive from Vermillion to Grand Forks, so it’s not like UND right is next door. Given the travel challenges on some of the Summit League basketball road trips, however, treks north on I-29 will seem tame.
“It’s not a bad trip when you compare it to driving to Omaha or Sioux Falls and then sitting in the airport for an hour, then having to connect with another flight and wait around for another hour,” Smith said. “Getting in a bus and being able to just drive five hours without worrying about everything else seems a lot easier.”
If all current Summit League schools remain between now and UND’s expected inclusion, it would give the conference 10 teams for basketball. That would give schedulers the option to form geography-based travel partners. Potentially a team could play a Thursday game in Fargo and finish it off in Grand Forks on Saturday and then return home. And do it the same way every season. Things like USD’s Wednesday, Feb. 8, game at Fort Wayne – a mid-week flight for just one game – will be easier to avoid.
“Everybody’s schedule would be even then,” Smith said. “And I can’t speak for any other schools, but non-conference scheduling has been very difficult for us. This would give us two fewer non-conference games to worry about.”
The Fighting Hawks’ inclusion would be most intensely felt in a return to regular matchups with NDSU – the Bison have only grudgingly entered into head-to-head contests with UND in football and basketball since leaving the NCC – but the impact goes beyond Fargo and beyond the big three sports.
“In track it’s good news because it would give us another men’s team in the league,” said Lucky Huber, USD director of track and field and cross country. “Right now we only have six and it’s been a struggle for us. This would definitely help. They have a brand new indoor facility up there which to me means they’re making a commitment to track and field. Bringing them in would help raise the level of our league.”