Championship game in January

[AmsterBison]

Anybody else think moving the game to January and having it on a Saturday paid off?

[eaglewraith]

Having teams with good fan followings paid off.

Let UNH play Lehigh for the championship in Frisco and see what kind of numbers you get.

The delay does allow people to arrange travel though so that is a plus.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Yes, I think you guys would have traveled real well anyway but a lot more things can not work out for a lot more people when you have 5 or 6 days to make the plans. It worked well.

[eaglewraith]

It may not stay in January though.

It's going to be fighting against the Cotton Bowl the whole time it's there.

[GoBlueHens83]

Last year it was so much easier for us to make travel plans then 2003 or 2007. IMHO having that extra time to plan your trip was worth the wait. I also thought that the full stadium this year looked great, so hats off to the NDSU & SHSU fans for that.

[DFW HOYA]

Let UNH play Lehigh for the championship in Frisco and see what kind of numbers you get.


Better than you would expect.

[eaglewraith]

Better than you would expect.

20k?

[BlueHenSinfonian]

I'm not against playing in January, but just watching on TV the game didn't have the epic end of season feel as a day game. The FCS championship should be played under the lights, not under the sun.

[Grizalltheway]

It may not stay in January though.

It's going to be fighting against the Cotton Bowl the whole time it's there.

Something tells me the NCAA doesn't really care. xtwocentsx

[NoDak 4 Ever]

It may not stay in January though.

It's going to be fighting against the Cotton Bowl the whole time it's there.

funny little story about that. My friend was coming from Fargo so he saw all the K State fans on the road in and I was coming from the east so I saw all the Arkansas fans. I'm pretty sure they didn't know about the game I was coming to see. :)

[Hammerhead]

Moving the game to the week between Christmas and New Year's Day might make it easier for some fans to travel to the game. Does it really matter if the game is on the same time as a bowl game instead of Women's basketball?

[Strommer10]

funny little story about that. My friend was coming from Fargo so he saw all the K State fans on the road in and I was coming from the east so I saw all the Arkansas fans. I'm pretty sure they didn't know about the game I was coming to see. :)
I talked to a cop on Friday in downtown Dallas, that lives in Frisco, & he asked us who was playing in Frisco (Our car had Frisco or Bust written on the back window). He had no idea about it. Also at a restaurant in downtown, we wished some K-State fans good luck later that night. They said thanks and just stared at our NDSU shirts and had no idea what it meant. They will find out in two years when we go down to Manhattan.

[TheDancinMonarch]

According to ODU coach Bobby Wilder in an interview Monday afternoon there is talk of creating a Final Four type situation with the semi-finals and finals being played at the same site. The winners of the semis would stay at the site for the week ahead of the final game. I am looking for some link to back this up.

[Sambow]

Three weeks was a long wait. I really think they would be better off not having the game the same week as the cotton bowl. I live in Fort Worth, about 40 miles from Frisco and nobody had a clue there was a game. That being said, I think the venue is great and it helps being in the central time zone 20 miles away from an international airport. Makes it easy for fans from anywhere to go to the game.

[FargoBison]

According to ODU coach Bobby Wilder in an interview Monday afternoon there is talk of creating a Final Four type situation with the semi-finals and finals being played at the same site. The winners of the semis would stay at the site for the week ahead of the final game. I am looking for some link to back this up.

Now that sounds like an insanely stupid idea.

[JSUBison]

Now that sounds like an insanely stupid idea.

No kidding, talk about a sparsely attended semi final. What fan base is going to travel well for two consecutive weeks halfway across the country? Big time money loser for the NCAA and schools, but I guess the host city would like it, I'm sure some fat cats would be happy. BCS b.s. trickling into our playoffs. xmadx

[HailSzczur]

According to ODU coach Bobby Wilder in an interview Monday afternoon there is talk of creating a Final Four type situation with the semi-finals and finals being played at the same site. The winners of the semis would stay at the site for the week ahead of the final game. I am looking for some link to back this up.

The would be terrible. The only reason it works for basketball is because everything takes place in the course of 3 or 4 day, not 8.

[kdinva]

I talked to a cop on Friday in downtown Dallas, that lives in Frisco, & he asked us who was playing in Frisco (Our car had Frisco or Bust written on the back window). He had no idea about it. Also at a restaurant in downtown, we wished some K-State fans good luck later that night. They said thanks and just stared at our NDSU shirts and had no idea what it meant. They will find out in two years when we go down to Manhattan.

Ask Lloyd Carr, Al Groh, et al, about 1-AA football xlolx

[UNH Fanboi]

According to ODU coach Bobby Wilder in an interview Monday afternoon there is talk of creating a Final Four type situation with the semi-finals and finals being played at the same site. The winners of the semis would stay at the site for the week ahead of the final game. I am looking for some link to back this up.

I can confirm this report. Montana, which hopes to decrease its chances of ever having to play a road playoff game, is the leading bidder.

They have also co-sponsored with Delaware an amendment to the playoff elgibility rules that would allow D2 wins to count provided that the game draws an attendance of at least 20,000.

[eaglewraith]

I can confirm this report. Montana, which hopes to decrease its chances of ever having to play a road playoff game, is the leading bidder.

They have also co-sponsored with Delaware an amendment to the playoff elgibility rules that would allow D2 wins to count provided that the game draws an attendance of at least 20,000.

No chance Montana gets it. That's too difficult of a travel destination two weekends in a row for other teams. And if Montana doesn't even make it what purpose does it serve. If they're going to go down that route, it needs to be in a dome somewhere that is easily accessible for traveling that you don't have to worry about weather because that's a lot coordinating activity to have weather bring it to a halt. Would be an extremely poor decision to have Wa-Griz be the host for that.

[bluehenbillk]

I think playing in January on a Saturday works fine. Playing right before or after Xmas is going to limit attendance b/c of family obligations. It doesn't really matter for TV purposes because the game will always draw flies in terms of ratings.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Now that sounds like an insanely stupid idea.

No doubt about it.

[HailSzczur]

I think playing in January on a Saturday works fine. Playing right before or after Xmas is going to limit attendance b/c of family obligations. It doesn't really matter for TV purposes because the game will always draw flies in terms of ratings.

Alot of somewhat bittersweet feelings along that line in this household. We made the choice that Chattanooga a week before Christmas wasn't the best idea. Especially from a family member who passed on going down to Lexington in '85 when we were in the basketball championship game.

[RabidRabbit]

I like having the game on a Sat., during the same timeframe as the major BCS bowls. I especially like the 3 weeks after the last game, as lowest airfares occur for 14 days out. I also like that the site is near a hub airport. Prefer that the site is in central TZ.

Frisco has the right size stadium, and location to be a good site. The only part that could be better is a dome, as that allegiates dimished attendence due to weather. But, as one that values the ability to be played under any conditions, I may be wrong in such thinking.

[BlueHenSinfonian]

I like having the game on a Sat., during the same timeframe as the major BCS bowls. I especially like the 3 weeks after the last game, as lowest airfares occur for 14 days out. I also like that the site is near a hub airport. Prefer that the site is in central TZ.

Frisco has the right size stadium, and location to be a good site. The only part that could be better is a dome, as that allegiates dimished attendence due to weather. But, as one that values the ability to be played under any conditions, I may be wrong in such thinking.

PHP looked pretty good with a sell out crowd this year. Hopefully there was enough buzz created that next year there will be a full house even if there isn't a local team and another with a rabid fanbase used to driven ten hours just to get to the next town.

I'd still rather see a night game though, it helps the atmosphere and it would make it easier for everyone who has to work Saturdays to be able to watch on TV.

[Twentysix]

funny little story about that. My friend was coming from Fargo so he saw all the K State fans on the road in and I was coming from the east so I saw all the Arkansas fans. I'm pretty sure they didn't know about the game I was coming to see. :)

On the way back, we got bison horns from tons of K-State fans. Arkansas fans had no clue.

I wonder if knocking off KU last year made Kstate fans more aware of us this year.

[Pards Rule]

I like having the game on a Sat., during the same timeframe as the major BCS bowls. I especially like the 3 weeks after the last game, as lowest airfares occur for 14 days out. I also like that the site is near a hub airport. Prefer that the site is in central TZ.

Frisco has the right size stadium, and location to be a good site. The only part that could be better is a dome, as that allegiates dimished attendence due to weather. But, as one that values the ability to be played under any conditions, I may be wrong in such thinking.

Agreed - this coming from a Pard who attended at the behest of NDSU fans who I befriended during my trek out to Fargo last Sept. The timing was perfect - if NDSU wasn't in it I wouldnt have gone but the spread between the semis and final allowed me to take advantage of airfare. I came down Friday morning and got a flavor of Frisco that day. Very nice town - seemed perfect in terms of size, accomodations and local spirit for the I-AA (Im changing it back as it looks like BCS might be moving toward a playoff for the final four) championship game. I read the Dallas Morning News every day and while Arkansas vs Kansas State was front page sports and the NC was on the inside pages, I dont think the NC would dominate coverage if the NC was moved to another week down there. The fact is many more folk are into Division I period and we have our own cult. I didnt get a feeling we were outmanned so to speak inthe DFW area - my God everywhere I turned Sunday in downtown Dallas (while visiting the Sixth Floor Museum and walking around and eating at Spaghetti Warehouse) I saw green and gold! My tour through the Sixth Floor just after noon had seriously 75% of the folks sporting NDSU colors. I stayed in a new LaQuinta ($75 a nite!) off Texas 183 in north Dallas and there were a few KS fans there and of course I was wearing my Bison tshirt and wished them well on their game and they were asking me questions about the I-AA championship game. We also got to remember this is only the 2nd year in Frisco so we will continue to ramp it up! GO >> FRISCO!!