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Building a rivalry
Meantime, the Bison and Jackrabbits are working together to fill the void of not having a conference and having left behind their chief rivals - the Universities of North Dakota and South Dakota. The hope is that the two new Division I schools can build the kind of cross-border rivalry that exists with Ohio State and Michigan and Colorado and Nebraska.
"I think it's really going to become one of the best rivalries in college football," said Buckwalter, a junior offensive lineman from Lake Preston. "Both of us are coming up through the ranks together, and each college wants to be the first to say we were ranked in the top 10 and that kind of stuff."It's on now."
NDSU and SDSU played each other more often this school year and produced a couple of classic confrontations.
Johnson's Bison won their final meeting with the Jackrabbits in March on a buzzer-beater in Fargo. Last October, SDSU's football team scored with 39 seconds in Brookings to play to capture the first battle for the Dakota Marker trophy, which was created foster the football rivalry."I definitely think it's there," said Lacey Johnson, a senior Bison women's basketball player from Wessington Springs, about the rivalry. "(SDSU) used to have USD, and we used to have UND. Those were stronger rivalries - this is more about mutual respect."
Athletes respond
Allen Burrell, who dominated the sprints at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays over the weekend, would have been a favorite to win a handful of Division II titles this spring had NDSU stayed put.
But the senior said going to Division I was right for the entire university and brought him satisfaction."I always wanted to compete at the Division I level," he said. "For me, it was a great move to compete against some top athletes."
For Buckwalter, the exodus from the NCC and D-II brought on quicker competition and a faster-paced game.
"Size-wise, the NCC has some big boys," he said. "That really wasn't a difference for us."Some vivid memories Buckwalter took came from football road trips to far-away places. He recalled walking through a hotel lobby in Louisiana before a game with Northwestern State, where the locals asked what "NDSU" on their clothes stood for.
The Bison, who finished the season ranked No. 23 in the final ESPN/USA Today poll, won that game, against a Demons team that qualified for the Division I-AA playoffs and ranked No. 17 in the nation.For Johnson, the various levels of competition that the Bison women faced on the basketball court posed challenges of staying motivated and consistent.
Instead of intense games late in the season against the likes of solid Division II programs like USD, the Bison played outmatched NAIA teams like Si Tanka-Huron.
Taylor has heard positives and negatives from his current athletes. When he talked with athletes, particularly the seniors, he understood that they went to NDSU to try and win Division II championships"But the majority of the responses were, 'You're right, I gave that up. But what I got was the opportunity to compete against Division I-caliber athletes and found that I can compete at that level and, in many cases, be successful,' " Taylor said. "They walked out of here feeling good about themselves as athletes."
Down the line
Taylor has been meeting with incoming recruits, explaining the conference situation. He tells them that the goal is to be able to qualify for Division I championships as soon as the school is eligible.
"This is a very, very mature Division II program, and even very mature for the first year in Division I," he said. "If we can be competitive fairly early on, that hopefully will open some eyes."Taylor's forthright nature helps coaches with recruits, but both Ruley and Miles say eventual conference affiliation is a must. Something echoed by the SDSU coaches from the start of the transition to Division I.
So far, only the Bison and Jackrabbit football teams have a league home. Both are charter members of the Great West Football Conference.
"I have coaches in Minneapolis say to me, 'Boy coach, that kid will be a heck of a North Central Conference player," Miles said. "Well, we don't have a conference yet, but we're not in the North Central anymore."Without a league, there are other things to look forward to as the program grows. The men's basketball team will play at Wisconsin next year. The women will travel to Minnesota. The football team also is looking at setting up a game with the Division I-A Gophers, which would be played in 2007 at the earliest.
"I think for all of us," Ruley said, "it will get easier toward the end of the transition period."Reach Chris Solari at 977-3923.
Building a rivalry
Meantime, the Bison and Jackrabbits are working together to fill the void of not having a conference and having left behind their chief rivals - the Universities of North Dakota and South Dakota. The hope is that the two new Division I schools can build the kind of cross-border rivalry that exists with Ohio State and Michigan and Colorado and Nebraska.
"I think it's really going to become one of the best rivalries in college football," said Buckwalter, a junior offensive lineman from Lake Preston. "Both of us are coming up through the ranks together, and each college wants to be the first to say we were ranked in the top 10 and that kind of stuff."It's on now."
NDSU and SDSU played each other more often this school year and produced a couple of classic confrontations.
Johnson's Bison won their final meeting with the Jackrabbits in March on a buzzer-beater in Fargo. Last October, SDSU's football team scored with 39 seconds in Brookings to play to capture the first battle for the Dakota Marker trophy, which was created foster the football rivalry."I definitely think it's there," said Lacey Johnson, a senior Bison women's basketball player from Wessington Springs, about the rivalry. "(SDSU) used to have USD, and we used to have UND. Those were stronger rivalries - this is more about mutual respect."
Athletes respond
Allen Burrell, who dominated the sprints at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays over the weekend, would have been a favorite to win a handful of Division II titles this spring had NDSU stayed put.
But the senior said going to Division I was right for the entire university and brought him satisfaction."I always wanted to compete at the Division I level," he said. "For me, it was a great move to compete against some top athletes."
For Buckwalter, the exodus from the NCC and D-II brought on quicker competition and a faster-paced game.
"Size-wise, the NCC has some big boys," he said. "That really wasn't a difference for us."Some vivid memories Buckwalter took came from football road trips to far-away places. He recalled walking through a hotel lobby in Louisiana before a game with Northwestern State, where the locals asked what "NDSU" on their clothes stood for.
The Bison, who finished the season ranked No. 23 in the final ESPN/USA Today poll, won that game, against a Demons team that qualified for the Division I-AA playoffs and ranked No. 17 in the nation.For Johnson, the various levels of competition that the Bison women faced on the basketball court posed challenges of staying motivated and consistent.
Instead of intense games late in the season against the likes of solid Division II programs like USD, the Bison played outmatched NAIA teams like Si Tanka-Huron.
Taylor has heard positives and negatives from his current athletes. When he talked with athletes, particularly the seniors, he understood that they went to NDSU to try and win Division II championships"But the majority of the responses were, 'You're right, I gave that up. But what I got was the opportunity to compete against Division I-caliber athletes and found that I can compete at that level and, in many cases, be successful,' " Taylor said. "They walked out of here feeling good about themselves as athletes."
Down the line
Taylor has been meeting with incoming recruits, explaining the conference situation. He tells them that the goal is to be able to qualify for Division I championships as soon as the school is eligible.
"This is a very, very mature Division II program, and even very mature for the first year in Division I," he said. "If we can be competitive fairly early on, that hopefully will open some eyes."Taylor's forthright nature helps coaches with recruits, but both Ruley and Miles say eventual conference affiliation is a must. Something echoed by the SDSU coaches from the start of the transition to Division I.
So far, only the Bison and Jackrabbit football teams have a league home. Both are charter members of the Great West Football Conference.
"I have coaches in Minneapolis say to me, 'Boy coach, that kid will be a heck of a North Central Conference player," Miles said. "Well, we don't have a conference yet, but we're not in the North Central anymore."Without a league, there are other things to look forward to as the program grows. The men's basketball team will play at Wisconsin next year. The women will travel to Minnesota. The football team also is looking at setting up a game with the Division I-A Gophers, which would be played in 2007 at the earliest.
"I think for all of us," Ruley said, "it will get easier toward the end of the transition period."Reach Chris Solari at 977-3923.