Bison athletics: Sept. 4 football game may be on TV

North Dakota State football fans should know in the next few weeks if they'll have to drive to Lawrence, Kan., to watch the Bison season opener.

Signs point to television, but then again, signs also pointed to NDSU's recent Division I Football Bowl Subdivision games against Wyoming and Iowa State as to being on TV.

That didn't happen.

In the case of this Sept. 4, a best guess would be Fox College Sports picking up the game, said Jeremy Jorgenson, director of broadcasting at NDSU.

Kansas' Big 12 Conference has a pecking order of networks to choose from to air league games, starting with ABC and then ESPN. Fox College Sports is probably on the end of the list, but the NDSU-KU game is not exactly a marquee matchup for conference exposure, either.

Television is the reason the kickoff time has not been set. Conferences can wait as late as a week before the game, but Jorgenson doubts that will happen in this instance.

"Fox usually comes out with their schedules before the Fourth of July," he said.

Jorgenson said there's a good chance a local affiliate will broadcast one or more of NDSU's games this fall.

Last year, KVLY-TV picked up four games and three of those were aired on the North Dakota NBC Network.

But NDSU first has to wait for the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which owns the TV rights to all of its member games. The Missouri Valley has a contract with Fox Sports Net and the league has to wait for Fox to determine its schedule before it can release a date to a local Fargo affiliate.

Besides the KU game, NDSU's home game with Indiana State does not have a set kickoff time and Jorgenson said that is because the athletic department has to meet with Harvest Bowl organizers.

Of the nine others, only two are at night, which is on the light side for evening games compared to other years.

But afternoon games are also better slots for TV games.

Former Bison player transfers to So. Illinois

George Danilkowicz, who left the Bison football team prior to last season, surfaced at Missouri Valley foe Southern Illinois this spring and has been added to the 2010 roster as an offensive lineman.

Danilkowicz, from Green Oaks, Ill., was recruited by NDSU as a defensive lineman as part of the 2007 class. He played sparingly in 2008 appearing in three games and was switched to the offensive line after the season.

Etc. etc. etc.

Bison first baseman Melissa Chmielewski (3.83 GPA, health/physical education) was named to the ESPN Academic All-American first team in a vote of sports information directors. She is the fourth player in program history to be so honored. ... NDSU football recruit Trevor Gebhart from Sioux Falls, S.D., won the 200 and 400 meters and was second in the 100 in the South Dakota Class AA state track meet last weekend. ... Bison golfer Amy Anderson shot a 75-75 at a U.S. Women's Open qualifier near Chicago recently and missed moving on by four shots. ... Baseball player Zach Wentz was named to the all-Summit League second team as a starting pitcher.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546