College football attendance and enthusiasm are almost always mirrored by wins and losses.
In no season is that more magnified than this 2011 UND football season, one sandwiched between the end of the Great West Conference and the start of play in the Big Sky Conference.
It's what makes UND's 16-0 season-opening win over Drake on Thursday in the Alerus Center significant, regardless of the game's ho-hum, lackluster nature.
The Sioux football program couldn't afford, on the heels of a dismal 3-8 season, to leave the Alerus Center after laying an egg against the Bulldogs and staring at two FBS bullies -- Idaho and Fresno State - coming up the next two weeks.
Interest in UND football needed that win.
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As the Sioux swim in obscurity at the tail end of the patchwork Great West and the promise that sits ahead in the Big Sky, this year's UND home schedule is less than attractive.
As has been the case during UND's transition to Division I, filling a home schedule with a five-team league such as the Great West, when other large conferences are in the midst of their league slate, has proven difficult.
This year's Sioux home schedule, a year away from featuring strong, proven teams in the Big Sky, features two NAIA programs, one Division II team transitioning away from NAIA status and the non-scholarship Drake.
After Thursday's game against Drake, the Sioux have five remaining home games.
UND can always count on strong attendance from three areas: Potato Bowl, Homecoming and a season opener.
Apart from this year's Potato Bowl (Sept. 24 against Black Hills State) and Homecoming (Oct. 22 against Cal Poly), UND has to bank on fan interest to draw crowds and produce revenue during the remaining three games.
If UND lost to Drake, how many fans would have come out to see Montana Western on Oct. 8?
Thanks to an opportunistic defense and a 100-yard rushing performance by Mitch Sutton, Sioux athletics won't have to answer that question.
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Although the Sioux didn't leave any of the 8,484 in attendance against Drake in awe (less than half of that total remained to hear the final horn), it was a win - one the Sioux needed to lay the groundwork to a successful season leading up to playoff eligibility in 2012.
What Sioux fans want to see most this season is promise. UND can't advance to the postseason, but the team's backers would sure like to see glimmers of hope that it's a possibility around the corner.
Despite penalties and sacks plaguing the win over Drake, the Sioux showed areas of encouragement.
UND incoming quarterback Joey Bradley had to feel the weight of an offseason full of pressure. The Sioux certainly didn't want to see another failed attempt at quarterback after the passing game struggled so mightily down the stretch last season.
The sophomore Bradley, and a wide mixture of youngsters on both offense and defense, gave those in Kelly Green reasons to believe.
That's all you can ask for if you're counting tickets Oct. 8 against Montana Western.
