This should worry logo supporters.

This statement should worry Sioux fans that want to keep the Fighting Sioux name. I interpret this as a plea to get the name/logo issue solved (Fighting Sioux name changed very quickly) so we can get into the less than stellar Summit League. There is a lot of pressure from the football and basketball cabal to change the name so they can find a conference.

Personally, I would like to see UND still try to get into the Big Sky Conference because I feel there are better more attractive teams in the BSC than the Summit. I think that the nick name committee should be allowed to see transpires at Standing Rock and Spirit Lake before the University moves with their decision. Again, the Fighting Sioux should not be changed on a whim but after all avenues have been exhausted with the two tribes. The university and the State board of higher education owe it to the people that helped fund the lawsuit with their donations. If not; please tell me why they spent a million plus suing the NCAA if the University was going to just change the name anyways? It isn't just about football and basketball. I also don't believe that the University needs to rush change the name and undo the work of Sam Dupris who seems to be making progress with his out reach to the two Sioux tribes.

USD to announce Summit League acceptance today
“From my perspective, it’s been urgent all along,” Faison said. “It isn’t any less urgent. There’s a new committee and they’re in the process of going through their work.

“Obviously it makes it even more problematic in terms of our league affiliation,” UND athletic director Brian Faison said. “We’ll have lost an important part of that conference.”

On Tuesday, the Summit’s Presidents Council voted unanimously to invite the school into the conference beginning July 1, 2011, according to an e-mail sent to Summit League member schools. USD will not compete in team tournaments that season, the last that the Coyotes are ineligible for NCAA postseason competitions.

In 2012-13 USD will be an active member of NCAA Division I and will participate in Summit League tournaments.

USD announced it would lift its athletic programs from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2006 and is now competing as a Division I independent. UND is in the same situation.

USD and South Dakota State, a member of the Summit League, will resume head-to-head competitions in sports other than football by fall 2011. The in-state rivals have not competed against each other in most sports since SDSU left Division II after the 2003-04 season.

The same is true for North Dakota State, a member of the Summit League, and UND.

So South Dakota’s good fortune means UND’s ability to resolve the nickname and logo issue quickly has heightened.

“From my perspective, it’s been urgent all along,” Faison said. “It isn’t any less urgent. There’s a new committee and they’re in the process of going through their work.

But again that’s a time line that we don’t really control. All we can do is encourage that they go as quickly as they can, and I’m sure they are.”

Faison said the nickname and logo issue has affected many UND programs. The University of Minnesota, for instance, won’t play UND in sports hosted by the school.

Faison said the Sioux might have been able to get the Gophers on the schedule for football, if the issue had been resolved.

The Gophers play South Dakota State this year, South Dakota in 2010 and NDSU in 2011.

Minnesota plans to play at least one BCS opponent every year while also committing to play Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) opponents from the region.

“If we would have had things resolved, I think we could have been in the mix,” Faison said.

It’s hurting other programs, too. They can’t get games or competitions against Minnesota. It means fewer opportunities to compete close to home, Faison said.

“At this point we need to get the nickname and logo issue resolved so we can move on,” he said.