FARGO – The Summit League basketball schedule will have a new look to it for the upcoming season.

The conference announced Wednesday, Aug. 7 that the league will have a hybrid schedule for this season and teams will play league games on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with an occasional doubleheader.

North Dakota State will face its biggest rival on two separate Wednesdays during the season.

The Bison men will go to Brookings, South Dakota to take on South Dakota State on Wednesday, Feb. 19 and the NDSU women will also play on a Wednesday at the new First Bank and Trust Arena on Jan. 29.

In fact, each of the NDSU women’s matchups with the Jackrabbits will be on Wednesdays. The Jacks trip to Fargo will be on Feb. 12.

With the Summit League still having nine members for a second straight year, scheduling becomes a challenge. Commissioner Josh Fenton has spent the last two years trying to find the right formula to play games. He said on Hot Mic in March 2024 that may include “playing on non-traditional dates.”

The league also pushed its start date of games back to after the first of the year. Over the past few seasons a common complaint from fans was having league games being played before Christmas or during the holiday season where there are either no or few students on campus for the league’s biggest games.

For example, the NDSU men hosted SDSU in back to back seasons during the holiday break. In December 2021, the Bison faced UND on Dec. 22 in front of a crowd of 3,510 fans.

The league announced last month that the conference tournament would be moving to a Wednesday-Sunday format in Sioux Falls for the first time after traditionally concluding the tournament on a Tuesday night. The tournament will begin on Mar. 5, concluding Mar. 9.

Dave Richman’s Bison men will open league play at home on Thursday, Jan. 2 against St. Thomas. The Tommies eliminated NDSU from last year’s conference tournament in the quarterfinals. The Bison will host North Dakota in a doubleheader at the Scheels Center on Saturday, Jan. 25.

There will not be a doubleheader in Grand Forks this year.

The move to Wednesdays for the league may also be catering to television. The conference is in the second year of its three-year agreement with CBS Sports Network. Last year the league televised games on Saturdays and Sundays, but Wednesdays may prove to get more attention or better time slots than traditionally busy Saturdays during the season.

Jory Collins NDSU women’s basketball team will open conference play on the road Jan. 4 at St. Thomas, with its home opener slated for Jan. 9 against Denver.

NDSU men’s basketball 2024-25 conference schedule

Jan. 2 – vs. St. Thomas

Jan. 4 – vs. Omaha

Jan. 9 – at Oral Roberts

Jan. 11 – at Denver

Jan. 16 – vs Kansas City

Jan. 18 – at South Dakota

Jan. 25 – vs North Dakota (doubleheader)

Jan. 30 – vs South Dakota State

Feb. 1 – at St. Thomas

Feb. 6 – at Kansas City

Feb. 8 – at Omaha

Feb. 13 – vs Oral Roberts

Feb. 15 – vs Denver

Feb. 19 – at South Dakota State (Wednesday)

Feb. 22 – at North Dakota

Feb. 26 – vs South Dakota (Wednesday)

NDSU women’s basketball 2024-25 conference schedule

Jan. 4 – at St. Thomas

Jan. 9 – vs Denver

Jan. 11 – vs Oral Roberts

Jan. 16 – at Omaha

Jan. 18 – at Kansas City

Jan. 22 – at South Dakota (Wednesday)

Jan. 25 – vs North Dakota (doubleheader)

Jan. 29 – at South Dakota State (Wednesday)

Feb. 1 – vs St. Thomas

Feb. 8 – vs South Dakota

Feb. 12 – vs South Dakota State (Wednesday)

Feb. 15 – at North Dakota

Feb. 20 – at Denver

Feb. 22 – at Oral Roberts

Feb. 27 – vs Kansas City

Mar. 1 – vs Omaha

Dom Izzo is the Sports Director at WDAY-TV. He began working for WDAY in 2006 as the weekend sports anchor and was promoted to Sports Director in 2010.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dakota News Now) – While many of us may be eyeing the November election, others have been watching legislative changes and a bill making its way through Congress.

One such bill is the Farm Bill, which is the main policy governing agriculture and food.

Farmers are concerned as to why the bill hasn’t passed yet, and Dakota News Now spoke with lawmakers and producers to learn what’s important for them.

On Wednesday at the Sioux Empire Fair, in celebration of Ag Appreciation Day, South Dakota’s elected officials and farmers alike met to share a meal and talk about what’s going on in the state.

Representative Dusty Johnson discussed the changes with the farm bill, who it impacts and why it’s important.

“Obviously, we all eat. We all want to make sure that we’ve got food available for purchase and having great American farmers and ranchers who have the predictability of knowing what the rules of the road are gonna be, makes sure that America is growing a powerful amount of food to feed us and the rest of the world,” Rep. Johnson explained.

Overall the bill affects everyone, especially the farmers.

“This really does affect them on a day-to-day basis because it identifies what the price support is for those commodities, and so for them, it means affecting their daily lives. It means it’s affecting their income. So they watch it carefully and they know a lot more about it than some people realize. They’d like to know what the future’s gonna look like for farming operations and what to plan for,” Senator Mike Rounds said.

Several people have been eagerly waiting to hear about the bill, including SD Pork Producers Council Executive Director Glenn Muller.

“Well, I’d be very surprised if we’d get a new farm bill. It has to be extended in September to be maintained and I would predict that they will do an extension to get passed the election and possibly the inauguration before we get a new farm bill. We’re certainly pushing to get it done prior to that, but optimism is not real high that that’s gonna happen,” Muller expressed.

The big question still remains: Who is to blame for the long wait? Muller said he’s not completely sure.

“Well, I think as far as, I don’t know that I want to say blame. It just seems like there’s a lack of functionality at a national level in the legislative process and administration right now. A lot of focus on the election, but not so much productivity on what’s happening in Washington, D.C. is our concern,” Muller said.

Officials said that they hope to see a change in the congress by the first of the year.

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