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Mid-Con President's Meeting


mickeyb

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EagleBackr - I wanted to be the first IPFW fan to post on your message board, since according to you none ever have.  Also, to correct you, IPFW has the fifth largest student enrollment in Indiana.  I think before bashing us, you should visit campus sometime and get a genuine look at our university.  Then you can use some logic in your arguments rather than the word "podunk". (Is that a word?)

I am sure that our men's basketball team will be a tremendous surprise to you and ORUTerry, who thinks that we will be an RPI drain.  By the way, Coach Fife (who actually played in a final championship game) was 3-1 against the Dakotas, with a hodgepodge line-up of holdovers from the previous coach and the few recruits he could get at the last minute.  He is a great coach and will prove that.  I would hope that you guys could be just a little more positive in the future.  Sure we do not have the $8 Million budget of ORU, but we will do alot with the $5.4 Million that is budgeted for next year.  Also, the basketball venue is fantastic and seats 11,500.  Just last year, IPFW received a $5 Million gift from a local businessman with $1 Million for the construction of an indoor track facility and $4 Million for athletic scholarships.  Great things are happening here and we should not be looked down upon because our name is an acronym. 

Quark

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Quark,

I hope you guys prove us wrong and field strong, competitive teams. You say your arena holds 11,500 - what is your average attendance? If IPFW joins the league, it will be in all of our best interest to see that they do well.

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OOOOhhhhhhhhhhhh. Quark busted ya'll!

It's good to see that we are developing some new enemies since ValpoRick is gone.  :-D

Personally I would be glad to see IPFW and all of the schools that receive invitations become competitive in the league. If we will be surprised on how good your school is in basketball, Quark then that's a good sign. The Mid-Con needs every team to develop strong out of conference schedules, committment to building better facilities, and recruit better athletes. If your school is allready doing that, then you will probably start off better than some of the bottom feeder programs in the league. If not, then you will be just another bottom feeder in the league and a reminder of why ORU should bolt to a better conference when it gets the chance. Nobody likes an RPI dragger.  

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ORUTerry -

Thanks for the reply.  Average attendance last year was 3,969, according to the NCAA statistics.  Our high game was 8,957 against Notre Dame.  I think that if we are in a conference and games mean more, then attendance with increase accordingly.  Fort Wayne has a population over 250,000 and there is no Division I university within 75 miles of us.  If the team is good, the people will show.  I am really looking forward to IPFW being in the mid-con and all the opportunity that it will bring.

Quark

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The attendance figures are not bad..... it sure beats the 220 that Chicago State drew - when they had a home game. It's also interesting that IPFW is in a community that does not have NCAA D-1 competition. If they can show some success, they might build a more loyal and enthusiastic following.

I do have a question - when will the state regents allow for IPFW and IUPUI to change their names? How about Fort wayne State or something like that?

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ORUTerry - I do not see a name change happening anytime soon.  However, every year a group of professors puts forth the concept of separating from Indiana University and Purdue University, becoming Fort Wayne University.  It has not gained much support though, the students like graduating with an IU or PU diploma.  We will see. 

Quark

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Guest EagleBackr

...IPFW can get in on two conditions: 

1. Change your name to Fort Wayne University or Fort Wayne State. 

2. "Oo-wee Poo-wee" has to change their name to the University of Indianapolis or Indianapolis State.

Folks, if we want to start being thought of as "big-time" (or even "medium-time"), then we need to start acting like it...

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IPFW plays in a pretty nice facility - the recently expanded Allen County War Memorial Arena

949_348.ts1151592806515.jpg

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EagleBackr - I wanted to be the first IPFW fan to post on your message board, since according to you none ever have.  Also, to correct you, IPFW has the fifth largest student enrollment in Indiana.  I think before bashing us, you should visit campus sometime and get a genuine look at our university.  Then you can use some logic in your arguments rather than the word "podunk". (Is that a word?)

I am sure that our men's basketball team will be a tremendous surprise to you and ORUTerry, who thinks that we will be an RPI drain.  By the way, Coach Fife (who actually played in a final championship game) was 3-1 against the Dakotas, with a hodgepodge line-up of holdovers from the previous coach and the few recruits he could get at the last minute.  He is a great coach and will prove that.  I would hope that you guys could be just a little more positive in the future.  Sure we do not have the $8 Million budget of ORU, but we will do alot with the $5.4 Million that is budgeted for next year.  Also, the basketball venue is fantastic and seats 11,500.  Just last year, IPFW received a $5 Million gift from a local businessman with $1 Million for the construction of an indoor track facility and $4 Million for athletic scholarships.  Great things are happening here and we should not be looked down upon because our name is an acronym.

Quark

Well, you got to give Eagle Backer props for saying just the right things to get an IPFW fan to start posting.  EB always knows just what to say  :wink:  IPFW's arena looks pretty legit as well, better than some of the arenas already in the mid-con.  And those NDSU pictures look really nice too, their baseball stadium looks very nice as well.  All in all SDSU, NDSU, and IPFW all have good looking facilities and look to be great additions to the mid-con.  I'm glad that all the representatives of those schools came over and posted all their pics and super props to 89rabbit that guy has single handedly taught us more about SDSU than I ever thought I would know. lol.  I look forward to some great competition from those schools, hope to see you soon.

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The Mid-Con needs IPFW for the immediate NCAA "protection", and despite my concerns of adding another acronym school, they will be a significant upgrade over Chicago State.  The Dakotas offer some hope for the future, if the Mid-Con needs further protection as SUU and Centenary move on, for whatever reasons (SUU to Big Sky, Centenary to wherever).

That said, ORU needs to be squarely in this "likely to move on" category.  As poorly regarded as the Mid-Con was before, the loss of Valpo has SIGNIFICANTLY diminished the value of the conference, and ORU needs to do everything it can (including win everything in the Mid-Con), to upgrade its status and move on to MVC, Sun Belt, etc.  Unfortunately, staying long-term in the conference (even with consecutive conference titles) will tend to downgrade ORU's national status, unless ORU can experience a "Bryce Drew shot heard round the world" moment, and gain the giant-killer status of a Valpo.

Short-term, ORU needs the Mid-Con to stay tournament eligible, so expansion is imminent.  But, without a Valpo, I would be very disappointed if ORU is still in the Mid-Con in 3-5 years.

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Don't worry ORU fans, I think that you'll find that NDSU-SDSU-IPFW will be a more than adequate competitive upgrade for the Mid-Con from Valpo-Chicago State.

We in the Jackrabbit Nation have no intention of being cellar-dwellers.  We'll take some lumps early, but we'll give some as well.

And Quark, we're gonna remember those two men's basketball games (and the whuppin's IPFW gave us) for a long, long time.  We're not even in the conference and the rivalry has begun.  Head on over to the SDSUFans.com board and say hi!

Beat the Mastadons into Extinction!!!  :-D

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I agree with EB.... IPFW is a joke and will be an RPI drag on the conference. But, they constitute a school that will help the conference in the short-term and thus will get an invitation.

The two Dakota state schools will be difficult to get to (especially in the winter) but they will bring a completely different fan base to the Mid-Con.... these schools are large (relatively) public schools that will have enthusiastic fans eager for success in D-1. Think about it.... they represent the only D-1 action in their respective states and will have tremendous regional backing - especially if they are a bit successful. And what else is there to do up there in the winter but watch basketball? In fact, we may regret the day we invited them in and created a monster. I just would hate to be on the bus when it is 40 degrees below zero and it skids into a ditch.....

An (amused) NDSU fan here...

  Oh, come on!  It hasn't been -40 around here for at least a couple of years. :-D  Seriously though, if you bus in, it might be a bit of a problem to get to Fargo in Dec-Feb; but while it can get quite cold, heavy snowfall is not very common and ice storms are rare.  If you decide to fly in, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the <5 min trip from the airport to the performance sites.  There are 8 flights daily from Minneapolis on Northwest, 4 flights each daily from Chicago and Denver on United, and 2 flights daily from Salt Lake City on Delta.  We're no metropolis, but we're not a hicksville either (~150,000 metro).

  It was true that NDSU was the sole DI presence in ND, but our in-state rival, UND, has just declared their intent to go DI .  They plan to make 2007-8 their exploratory year which would make them a DI counter in 2009-10, tourney eligible in 2012-13, and a core member in 2021-22.  Tensions between the two schools and their fan bases are running pretty high (mainly)because of several negative comments made to the media by UND coaches and administrators when NDSU made its move, as well as their refusal to schedule NDSU in almost any sport thereafter.  SDSU's rival, USD, has not yet made a decision on whether they will stay DII or not.

  It is true that the Mid-Con is NDSU's second choice, but that was mainly a football issue.  Historically football has been NDSU's lifeblood, so it is not suprising that we would look to a strong I-AA football conference first and should not be taken as an insult to the quality of your conference.  With our new charismatic, friendly, and talented men's basketball coach (Tim Miles) and our upset win at Wisconsin; basketball at NDSU is beginning to move out of football's shadow.  Money has also started to come in and we now have the $8M in hand to begin the first phase of a (much needed)two-part, $16M sports arena renovation.  Phase-1 ground-breaking will take place this coming spring(2007) and eventually the capacity of the BSA will be raised from 6000 to between 8000 and 9000.

  We are not a Duke, a Gonzaga, or even a Valpo, but we are a good school on the rise with great leadership, strong fan support, and the backing of our city.  I think we will be a valued addition to the Mid-Con if we are invited and I hope our schools will get many chances to compete in future years.

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SDSU Athletic Director Dr. Fred Oien and Mid-Con Commissioner Tom Douple were both interviewed on "The Sports show with Brad & Scotty", on our local ESPN Radio affiliate.  You can listen using the links below:

http://www.brookingsradio.com/sports.htm

http://www.brookingsradio.com/FREDOIEN6-28-06.mp3

http://www.brookingsradio.com/douple6-29-06lo.mp3

Special thanks to rabbitman from bringing these to my attention.

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The next step has a time line.

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... S/60706018

Mid-Continent officials will visit SDSU Aug. 9-11

By CHRIS SOLARI

csolari@argusleader.com

July 6, 2006

The date has been set for officials from the Mid-Continent Conference to visit South Dakota State University.

A seven-member team will make the site visit to the Brookings campus Aug. 9-11, SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien said.  .  .  .

The league office in Chicago said the Mid-Continent group also will visit Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne from Aug. 2-4 and North Dakota State from Aug. 7-9.

Oien said Mid-Continent Commissioner Tom Douple notified SDSU of the dates of the visit Thursday morning.  .  .  .  (read more)

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From a practical standpoint, how soon can the conference move to invite these schools into the league? Can they become part of the league for the 2006-07 season? Does it matter to the league; is there a time consideration in terms of member requirements relative to NCAA eligibility rules?

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From what I have read and heard it sounds like '07-'08 is the earliest that any of the three of us would be admitted.

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Ah, look an answer in print.  ORUTerry is a powerful man, he asks a question and paper's print stories to answer it!  :wink:  :-D

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgaz ... 985967.htm

IPFW is 1st stop of Mid-Con?s official visits

Staff and news services

IPFW will be the first of the three schools that Mid-Continent Conference officials will visit this summer in determining which should become a new conference member.

League officials will visit IPFW on Aug. 2-4, North Dakota State on Aug. 7-9 and South Dakota State on Aug. 9-11, Mid-Con director of media relations Kristina Petersen said.  .  .  .

A report from each visit will be submitted to the Mid-Con presidents council, which will meet in the fall and possibly take action in determining expansion. The earliest a new member would begin play in the Mid-Con would be 2007-08.  (read more)

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