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The NDSU side of the equation
SDSU's Division I rival thinks move up with Jacks has worked after 1 year
Chris Solari
csolari@argusleader.com
Published: 05/9/05 1:55 am
NDSU Myron Green (32) tries to get a shot off against SDSU last January in Frost Arena.
(Argus Leader file photo)
Hours after losing his final game in Division II, Tim Miles was on the road to the future.
Miles, the men's basketball coach at North Dakota State, drove his rental car from the North Central Conference Tournament in Omaha to St. Louis in March 2004. His mission: Watch the Missouri Valley Conference tourney to find out what the Bison would need to compete in Division I.
"Getting to that level and staying at that level is a whole new trick," Miles said.NDSU moved to the NCAA's highest division with budding rival South Dakota State, and both are still searching for a conference. That's the biggest drawback for a pair of schools that seem to have tied their Division I fates to each other.
For NDSU in its first Division I season, scheduling was difficult, victory totals were down in many sports and athletes could not compete for national championships. It's pretty much the same story SDSU can tell - except the Jackrabbits had a little more success scheduling Division I foes.But even with those bumps along the way, Miles and other Bison coaches and athletes call their opening foray into Division I a success.
"A lot of people say we have nothing to play for," NDSU football player Justin Buckwalter, a native of Lake Preston, said. "As a team, we make sure we have something to play for - we play for our university, we play for each other."
Coaching challenges
Amy Ruley has known nothing but success in her 26 years at NDSU with five Division II national titles in 25 years. Somewhat strangely, however, the Bison's 26-1 record this past season was the best in school history.
But Ruley had difficulty scheduling Division I games. Her team played just two top-level opponents (beating Cincinnati and losing to Texas Christian) and faced a mish-mash of NAIA and Division II schools, similar to the other independent teams experiencing the transition."I think it went as well as could be expected," said Ruley, whose team beat SDSU twice. "For all of us, we'd like to have a conference. That's the biggest challenge right now."
In comparison, the SDSU women had little trouble scheduling road games against Division I foes. The Jackrabbits played USC, Oklahoma State, Purdue and others on the road this past winter.
Miles, who was at Northern State when it made the leap from NAIA to Division II, watched his team go 16-12 in 2004-05, but winless in eight tries against established D-I schools."There were nights when we were just overpowered," he said. "It's just a helpless feeling. But the most positive thing is that we felt helpless only a few times. Most of the time, we were right in games, and the difference (between D-I and D-II) was a great deal less than what people understood."
Neither NDSU nor SDSU can compete for Division I postseason basketball berths until 2008-09.NDSU's scheduling for next fall, when the Bison and Jackrabbits must play full Division I schedules, has gone well. Both Miles and Ruley have more than a dozen home games against Division I teams slated already.
Gene Taylor, NDSU's athletic director, said some of his coaches have been working with their SDSU counterparts to bring in more games.
"Anytime a team can come in and get two games within a couple hours, it's beneficial for them," he said. "If one of us was sitting here by ourselves (moving to Division I), it would be a struggle."
The NDSU side of the equation
SDSU's Division I rival thinks move up with Jacks has worked after 1 year
Chris Solari
csolari@argusleader.com
Published: 05/9/05 1:55 am
NDSU Myron Green (32) tries to get a shot off against SDSU last January in Frost Arena.
(Argus Leader file photo)
Hours after losing his final game in Division II, Tim Miles was on the road to the future.
Miles, the men's basketball coach at North Dakota State, drove his rental car from the North Central Conference Tournament in Omaha to St. Louis in March 2004. His mission: Watch the Missouri Valley Conference tourney to find out what the Bison would need to compete in Division I.
"Getting to that level and staying at that level is a whole new trick," Miles said.NDSU moved to the NCAA's highest division with budding rival South Dakota State, and both are still searching for a conference. That's the biggest drawback for a pair of schools that seem to have tied their Division I fates to each other.
For NDSU in its first Division I season, scheduling was difficult, victory totals were down in many sports and athletes could not compete for national championships. It's pretty much the same story SDSU can tell - except the Jackrabbits had a little more success scheduling Division I foes.But even with those bumps along the way, Miles and other Bison coaches and athletes call their opening foray into Division I a success.
"A lot of people say we have nothing to play for," NDSU football player Justin Buckwalter, a native of Lake Preston, said. "As a team, we make sure we have something to play for - we play for our university, we play for each other."
Coaching challenges
Amy Ruley has known nothing but success in her 26 years at NDSU with five Division II national titles in 25 years. Somewhat strangely, however, the Bison's 26-1 record this past season was the best in school history.
But Ruley had difficulty scheduling Division I games. Her team played just two top-level opponents (beating Cincinnati and losing to Texas Christian) and faced a mish-mash of NAIA and Division II schools, similar to the other independent teams experiencing the transition."I think it went as well as could be expected," said Ruley, whose team beat SDSU twice. "For all of us, we'd like to have a conference. That's the biggest challenge right now."
In comparison, the SDSU women had little trouble scheduling road games against Division I foes. The Jackrabbits played USC, Oklahoma State, Purdue and others on the road this past winter.
Miles, who was at Northern State when it made the leap from NAIA to Division II, watched his team go 16-12 in 2004-05, but winless in eight tries against established D-I schools."There were nights when we were just overpowered," he said. "It's just a helpless feeling. But the most positive thing is that we felt helpless only a few times. Most of the time, we were right in games, and the difference (between D-I and D-II) was a great deal less than what people understood."
Neither NDSU nor SDSU can compete for Division I postseason basketball berths until 2008-09.NDSU's scheduling for next fall, when the Bison and Jackrabbits must play full Division I schedules, has gone well. Both Miles and Ruley have more than a dozen home games against Division I teams slated already.
Gene Taylor, NDSU's athletic director, said some of his coaches have been working with their SDSU counterparts to bring in more games.
"Anytime a team can come in and get two games within a couple hours, it's beneficial for them," he said. "If one of us was sitting here by ourselves (moving to Division I), it would be a struggle."