By now, anyone who follows college athletics understands the only constant is change, especially when it comes to conference affiliation. The Summit League has spent most of its 40-plus years in constant flux of teams, but the current stable of teams seems to make the most sense for, well, stability in both the opinion of Zim and the host. And yet, there's a horse that appears to be huffing and puffing to leave its stable again. Omaha brought in representatives from the Horizon League and Missouri Valley Conference in recent years but did not receive an invitation. But according to its well-connected play-by-play announcer, the public school in the heart of the largest city in Nebraska is well-positioned again to attract a different league. Considering Denver is on its way out and dropping the basketball affiliation to eight teams next year — and considering at least a couple of the schools not in the Dakotas are reportedly displeased about being shut out of a non-conference basketball event featuring teams from the Dakotas, Montana, and Idaho next year — should we consider the league to be on shaky ground? A couple of guys who have been covering the Summit League and its annual March gathering in Sioux Falls have their thoughts and what a future without the Summit League Tournament in the city would mean for SDSU and USD.

"It's about money! Just g*****n money!" The fictitious coach Pete Bell — played by Nick Nolte — said that about high stakes college basketball in the 1994 film about the sport and its scandals, Blue Chips. There's no scandal at Sacramento State, but anybody with a brain able to compute deductive reasoning can strongly surmise that the Hornets' acceptance into the illogical geographic non-fit of the Mid-American Conference — elevating an also-ran FCS program into the FBS — was first and foremost about the money. The MAC is charging SSU an $18 million entry fee and the Hornets are also paying the FCS-to-FBS fee to the NCAA while agreeing to cover the travel costs of MAC teams that reside 2,175 to 3,000 miles away when they visit Sacramento. This is the price of poker when you are desperate to join the FBS and the geographic fits — the retooled Pac 12 and Mountain West — said "no." Sioux Falls Live's Matt Zimmer wrote about this on Monday, and there was plenty more to unpack over beers at the Gateway Lounge during the weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" podcast for "Happy Hour with John Gaskins." What kind of poker hands do the South Dakota Div. I schools have now that North Dakota State is in the Mountain West and the MAC gladly takes in high enough bidders? SDSU athletic director Justin Sell continues to employ the holding pattern approach, but also braces to be ready in case the Jackrabbits get a call. In his Happy Hour interview last week, USD's Jon Schemmel gave that general stance for the Coyotes. They're not selling out. But when might they ever have a chance to buy in? Can they just sit back and hope "the big split" of the Power Four leagues from the Group of Six conferences is going to just happen, bringing the waves all the way to SDSU and USD (and Montana and Montana State, for that matter) and everyone can just slide into a new "second tier" FBS ocean? Again, plenty to unpack. By now, anyone who follows college athletics understands the only constant is change, especially when it comes to conference affiliation. The Summit League has spent most of its 40-plus years in constant flux of teams, but the current stable of teams seems to make the most sense for, well, stability in both the opinion of Zim and the host. And yet, there's a horse that appears to be huffing and puffing to leave its stable again. Omaha brought in representatives from the Horizon League and Missouri Valley Conference in recent years but did not receive an invitation. But according to its well-connected play-by-play announcer, the public school in the heart of the largest city in Nebraska is well-positioned again to attract a different league. Considering Denver is on its way out and dropping the basketball affiliation to eight teams next year — and considering at least a couple of the schools not in the Dakotas are reportedly displeased about being shut out of a non-conference basketball event featuring teams from the Dakotas, Montana, and Idaho next year — should we consider the league to be on shaky ground? A couple of guys who have been covering the Summit League and its annual March gathering in Sioux Falls have their thoughts and what a future without the Summit League Tournament in the city would mean for SDSU and USD.

How do we even begin to describe how big of a gargantuan, monster, mondo, monumental, mammoth, seismic whopper of a deal Monday was for Sioux Falls? The city's fourth-largest employer and one of the largest meat packing plants in the nation is moving its 117-year-old operation from the precipice of downtown Sioux Falls and next to the city's namesake and No. 1 tourist attraction — where, frankly, it has been an eye sore and on northeast wind-blowing days a nose sore — to free up 120 acres of land for new development that will impact generations to come. It is made possible by a $50 million donation from the wealthiest person in the state. The governor, mayor, every city councilor, and all of the heavy hitting business titans of Sioux Falls were there to marvel in the moment. Other than that, no big deal. But, a big enough deal to turn Happy Hour with John Gaskins — for a day — from a local sports show to a local city show. Sioux Falls Live editor/reporter Patrick Lalley, a Sioux Falls native, joins the host from Orion Pub downtown to break down one of the most significant announcements in the city's history. Let's go Lally-gagging.

In case you really live under a pink quartzite rock, here are the major details about the big deal from our Sioux Falls Live and Dakota Scout story from earlier Monday:

Smithfield Foods will vacate the site of its pork processing plant near downtown Sioux Falls and build a new slaughterhouse, following a $50 million donation from billionaire banker and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford.

Smithfield, which purchased John Morrell and Co. in 1995, will build a new modern processing plant in northeast Sioux Falls, clearing the way for the current site next to the city's iconic Falls Park to be redeveloped. The Smithfield plant occupies more than 80 acres of land, according to city records.

The new facility will open in Foundation Park near Interstates 90 and 29. Smith said the announcement was a major development for agriculture in South Dakota and the United States.

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," for Sioux Falls, Smithfield employees and agriculture, he said.

Hundreds turned out for the announcement including Gov. Larry Rhoden and Mayor Paul TenHaken, as well as Sanford. The deal had been under negotiation for more than a year.

So, what do we make of all this? What are the most important angles to hit and details to tackle?

In the history of the city, what news events or announcements can even compare?

Lalley was born and raised in Sioux Falls, just up the hill from the Orion Pub near St. Joseph's Cathedral. He has lived here for all but three of his 60 years. He has seen — and for almost four decades covered as a journalist — the titanic transformations that have taken Sioux Falls from a "cow town" of under 100,000 people just 40 years ago to a booming, burgeoning, robust corporate and economic hub of nearly 225,000 and ever-growing.

It didn't happen overnight, but land deals like this can thrust a city into another dimension.

What will that dimension be? There will be 120 acres to play with, and rest assured some political jockeying to stake claim to that land has already started behind some curtains.

It's a juicy conversation happening in pubs all over town.

Ours was recorded for your information and, maybe, your entertainment. It's what Happy Hour is all about.

Enjoy.

Matt Vitzthum called his shot early in his "Hello, World" press conference introducing and celebrating him as South Dakota's new head football coach. He called it and he immediately delivered. "If you don't like to see a grown man cry," Vitzthum said, "you might want to leave the room." Laughter ensued. Nobody left. And Vitzthum cried, almost on cue. Looking at his wife Alyssa and two young children — son Hayden and daughter Emery — Vitzthum's eyes welled and voice cracked as he began to thank them for their support. "Vitz," as most people in USD circles call him, choked up a few more times throughout his speech as he thanked his predecessor Travis Johansen, Bob Nielson — the retired Coyote head coach who hired Vitzthum to be the wide receivers coach two years ago — the school's administration, athletic department leaders, his football staff, the Vermillion and USD communities, and his players. Oh, the players. At least a dozen of them in the packed DakotaDome Club conference room that sits between the DakotaDome and the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Zoom back to last Friday. Athletic director Jon Schemmel said "the room exploded" when he told the entire team that Vitzthum was the new man in charge. The words "player-driven" and "relationships" were uttered a lot by Vitzthum and Schemmel several times on Friday. The same rhetoric was abundant from former USD quarterback Aidan Bouman in his Monday "Happy Hour with John Gaskins" interview about "Vitz" and in Sioux Falls Live profile about the coach earlier this week. The connection the Algona, Iowa, native has made with his players is as strong a reason as any why Schemmel had Vitzthum's name atop his list as potential Johansen replacements well before Johansen told Schemmel he was departing to take the defensive coordinator job at Rutgers. In his nearly half-hour one-on-one Happy Hour conversation following the press conference, Schemmel also dug into how Vitzthum takes instant command of a room and is a natural leader of young men. Emotional player-driven leader of men. So, where does it come from? Like most humans, parents played a major role. His mother, a teacher. His father, a farmer. In his first 15-minute Happy Hour conversation, Vitzthum sat down with the host for a flashback to growing up in Algona — two hours north of Des Moines and with a population of 5,487. He walks through when and how it dawned on him he'd pursue a career in coaching. Then, there's Vitzthum's affinity for Nielson and how Vitzthum landed the wide receivers coach position under Nielson two years ago. If it weren't for Nielson, Vitzthum is likely not in Vermillion. Why? What makes Nielson a "legend" in the coaching circles of this region? Vitzthum walked through this past season as Johansen's co-offensive coordinator and how Johansen showed him some head coaching ropes during the season. Also, does Vitzthum plan on having a different offensive approach and holistic philosophy from Johansen, a defensive coordinator by trade and unapologetically a "defensive-minded coach?"

Schemmel goes deep in walking through the 72 hours after Johansen broke Schemmel the news of his new job. This included turning his basement into a head coaching search bunker, but it wasn't much of a search. Schemmel's account includes the emotional meetings with Johansen, Vitzthum, and both together before Johansen took off for New Jersey. Both of the head coaches Schemmel has hired in the last 13 months are young up-and-comers (Johansen is in his early 40's and Vitzthum is 39) who have had offers from schools at higher levels for much higher salaries the last couple years. Did Johansen's leaving after one season make Schemmel pause to hire another "rising star" and make him consider more of a "Bob Nielson type" — older and more likely to spend several seasons in Vermillion (Nielson spent nine before retiring)? How much did the swift hiring of a USD assistant to replace Johansen have to do with the special 15-day transfer portal window that is now open for Coyotes players due to Johansen's departure? And what about the football program, in general? Since arriving at USD in December 2023, the Madison native has aggressively worked to bring that operation's budget to as close to the top of the FCS as possible. The Coyotes have reached the FCS quarterfinals three seasons in a row — the only team in the nation to do so. But they have yet to play in an FCS Championship game, and both Schemmel and Vitzthum were not shy to use the words "national championship" multiple times both in front of the masses and in their Happy Hour chats. So, what goes into that? And how big is USD thinking for football? Schemmel has remarked that the $17.5 million North Dakota State paid to leave the FCS and join the Mountain West Conference in the FBS is a pill that USD would not be ready to swallow today. Of course, to join the FBS, a program needs an invitation from a conference. Before their MWC invite, NDSU's administration spent a decade full of tireless research and plenty of resources just to determine if the program was ready to take the leap. Is USD doing that digging, or planning for it? While Schemmel's current stance of USD's status is continuing to work to be an FCS national champion, what is his sense of what lies ahead for the future of the Coyotes and the three remaining FCS schools in the Dakotas — USD, North Dakota, and South Dakota State. Oh, the Jackrabbits. Schemmel is not shy in talking about them, either — in the most respectful of ways. SDSU overtook NDSU as the premier program in the FCS when the Jacks won national titles in 2022 and 2023. How much does SDSU's football and overall athletic success — championships and game attendance — have to do with how Schemmel and his department operates? And what kind of efforts are Schemmel and staff making to close the gap in those areas with the only other Div. I program in the state? We had questions. Schemmel has plenty of thoughtful answers. ' Enjoy.

Matt Vitzthum called his shot early in his "Hello, World" press conference introducing and celebrating him as South Dakota's new head football coach. He called it and he immediately delivered. "If you don't like to see a grown man cry," Vitzthum said, "you might want to leave the room." Laughter ensued. Nobody left. And Vitzthum cried, almost on cue. Looking at his wife Alyssa and two young children — son Hayden and daughter Emery — Vitzthum's eyes welled and voice cracked as he began to thank them for their support. "Vitz," as most people in USD circles call him, choked up a few more times throughout his speech as he thanked his predecessor Travis Johansen, Bob Nielson — the retired Coyote head coach who hired Vitzthum to be the wide receivers coach two years ago — the school's administration, athletic department leaders, his football staff, the Vermillion and USD communities, and his players. Oh, the players. At least a dozen of them in the packed DakotaDome Club conference room that sits between the DakotaDome and the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Zoom back to last Friday. Athletic director Jon Schemmel said "the room exploded" when he told the entire team that Vitzthum was the new man in charge. The words "player-driven" and "relationships" were uttered a lot by Vitzthum and Schemmel several times on Friday. The same rhetoric was abundant from former USD quarterback Aidan Bouman in his Monday "Happy Hour with John Gaskins" interview about "Vitz" and in Sioux Falls Live profile about the coach earlier this week. The connection the Algona, Iowa, native has made with his players is as strong a reason as any why Schemmel had Vitzthum's name atop his list as potential Johansen replacements well before Johansen told Schemmel he was departing to take the defensive coordinator job at Rutgers. In his nearly half-hour one-on-one Happy Hour conversation following the press conference, Schemmel also dug into how Vitzthum takes instant command of a room and is a natural leader of young men. Emotional player-driven leader of men. So, where does it come from? Like most humans, parents played a major role. His mother, a teacher. His father, a farmer. In his first 15-minute Happy Hour conversation, Vitzthum sat down with the host for a flashback to growing up in Algona — two hours north of Des Moines and with a population of 5,487. He walks through when and how it dawned on him he'd pursue a career in coaching. Then, there's Vitzthum's affinity for Nielson and how Vitzthum landed the wide receivers coach position under Nielson two years ago. If it weren't for Nielson, Vitzthum is likely not in Vermillion. Why? What makes Nielson a "legend" in the coaching circles of this region? Vitzthum walked through this past season as Johansen's co-offensive coordinator and how Johansen showed him some head coaching ropes during the season. Also, does Vitzthum plan on having a different offensive approach and holistic philosophy from Johansen, a defensive coordinator by trade and unapologetically a "defensive-minded coach?" Jon Schemmel Meanwhile, in his Happy Hour chat, Schemmel goes deep in walking through the 72 hours after Johansen broke Schemmel the news of his new job. This included turning his basement into a head coaching search bunker, but it wasn't much of a search. Schemmel's account includes the emotional meetings with Johansen, Vitzthum, and both together before Johansen took off for New Jersey. Both of the head coaches Schemmel has hired in the last 13 months are young up-and-comers (Johansen is in his early 40's and Vitzthum is 39) who have had offers from schools at higher levels for much higher salaries the last couple years. Did Johansen's leaving after one season make Schemmel pause to hire another "rising star" and make him consider more of a "Bob Nielson type" — older and more likely to spend several seasons in Vermillion (Nielson spent nine before retiring)? How much did the swift hiring of a USD assistant to replace Johansen have to do with the special 15-day transfer portal window that is now open for Coyotes players due to Johansen's departure? And what about the football program, in general? Since arriving at USD in December 2023, the Madison native has aggressively worked to bring that operation's budget to as close to the top of the FCS as possible. The Coyotes have reached the FCS quarterfinals three seasons in a row — the only team in the nation to do so. But they have yet to play in an FCS Championship game, and both Schemmel and Vitzthum were not shy to use the words "national championship" multiple times both in front of the masses and in their Happy Hour chats. So, what goes into that? And how big is USD thinking for football? Schemmel has remarked that the $17.5 million North Dakota State paid to leave the FCS and join the Mountain West Conference in the FBS is a pill that USD would not be ready to swallow today. Of course, to join the FBS, a program needs an invitation from a conference. Before their MWC invite, NDSU's administration spent a decade full of tireless research and plenty of resources just to determine if the program was ready to take the leap. Is USD doing that digging, or planning for it? While Schemmel's current stance of USD's status is continuing to work to be an FCS national champion, what is his sense of what lies ahead for the future of the Coyotes and the three remaining FCS schools in the Dakotas — USD, North Dakota, and South Dakota State. Oh, the Jackrabbits. Schemmel is not shy in talking about them, either — in the most respectful of ways. SDSU overtook NDSU as the premier program in the FCS when the Jacks won national titles in 2022 and 2023. How much does SDSU's football and overall athletic success — championships and game attendance — have to do with how Schemmel and his department operates? And what kind of efforts are Schemmel and staff making to close the gap in those areas with the only other Div. I program in the state? We had questions. Schemmel has plenty of thoughtful answers. ' Enjoy.

Augustana hockey is the only Div. I sports program that resides in Sioux Falls, and the Vikings, ranked No. 18 nationally and currently sitting in third place in the CCHA, host fourth-place Bowling Green at Midco Arena on Friday and Saturday nights. These are Augie's final two regular season home games, although the Vikings still have a shot at gaining home ice in the league's tournament, which starts in three weeks. Wins this weekend would go a long way toward that, plus an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament — which would be an incredible feat for a third-year program. Which makes this the perfect time to sit down and chat with Vikings coach Garrett Raboin, a rising star in the college hockey world who spent this past Christmas break as an assistant coach for Team USA in the World Junior tourney in the Twin Cities with former Sioux Falls Stampede leader Bob Motzko, now the head coach at Minnesota and Raboin's mentor as both a player and assistant coach at St. Cloud State. Raboin regales with his memories of that event and what it meant to work with Motzko again. He also describes why his Vikings won eight of nine games since that Christmas break, a hot stretch that was cooled off by a couple road losses at No. 20 Michigan Tech last weekend. There's also an elite goalie, a top five (in nation) defense, and fresh faces for Raboin to glow about. But what really gets Raboin revved up is talking about the electric atmosphere at Midco, the Swedish meatballs and street tacos his kids love to eat at the games, and the recent Nexflix "The Boys of 1980" documentary about the "Miracle on Ice" squad that captured gold at the Olympics that winter. Enjoy.

All of sudden, you wake up and it is February. In fact, Mid-February. If you're a winter sports fan that means bang, the stretch run is here. Over the next couple weeks, regular season conference championships and league tournament seedings will be sorted out, raising the stakes with each game. That means even more anticipation with each shot taken, each loose ball or puck lost, every timeout or foul called. It's not March Madness, but it is the push that will determine who will get to hunt down hardware next month. We'll call it February Fury — for Summit League, Northern Sun, and high school hoops. On the latest "Thirsty Thursday" Happy Hour chat, the host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer dive into some of the teams and races involved — particularly the Coyotes and Jackrabbits men and women— and their upcoming tests. In Class AA boys, No. 1 Lincoln will lock horns with No. 2 Roosevelt in a potential state championship preview on Tuesday night. All of the Augustana and University of Sioux Falls basketball teams are home on Thursday and Friday with games that will go a long way in deciding if three of the teams — USF men, USF women, Augie women — will reach the NSIC postseason tourney. Augie's women will try to be the first team to beat Minnesota State (24-0, 11-0), the top-ranked team in the nation, in the Elmen Center on Thursday. For Augie's men (14-4 NSIC), a Saturday showdown with St. Cloud State (16-2) will pit the top two teams in the NSIC, with the Vikings holding on to slim hopes of a regular season title. And then, there's Augustana hockey. That squad is the only Div. I sports program that resides in Sioux Falls, and the Vikings, ranked No. 18 nationally and currently sitting in third place in the CCHA, host fourth-place Bowling Green at Midco Arena on Friday and Saturday nights. These are Augie's final two regular season home games, although the Vikings still have a shot at gaining home ice in the league's tournament, which starts in three weeks. Wins this weekend would go a long way toward that, plus an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament — which would be an incredible feat for a third-year program. Which makes this the perfect time to sit down and chat with Vikings coach Garrett Raboin, a rising star in the college hockey world who spent this past Christmas break as an assistant coach for Team USA in the World Junior tourney in the Twin Cities with former Sioux Falls Stampede leader Bob Motzko, now the head coach at Minnesota and Raboin's mentor as both a player and assistant coach at St. Cloud State. Raboin regales with his memories of that event and what it meant to work with Motzko again. He also describes why his Vikings won eight of nine games since that Christmas break, a hot stretch that was cooled off by a couple road losses at No. 20 Michigan Tech last weekend. There's also an elite goalie, a top five (in nation) defense, and fresh faces for Raboin to glow about. But what really gets Raboin revved up is talking about the electric atmosphere at Midco, the Swedish meatballs and street tacos his kids love to eat at the games, and the recent Nexflix "The Boys of 1980" documentary about the "Miracle on Ice" squad that captured gold at the Olympics that winter. Enjoy.

So, what will the Jackrabbits and Coyotes do now that North Dakota State has accepted an invitation from the Mountain West Conference to play football in the FBS league? Should they operate as if they desire and plan on being an FBS program someday — which takes considerable resources (staff, NIL money, scholarships, for starters) and energy spent researching — or keep on truckin' as FCS outfits? It will take an invitation from an FBS conference to join NDSU at the next level. But what should those schools do, or want to do? Happy Hour spent plenty of time on that topic on Monday and Tuesday with guests like Kurtiss Riggs and Matt Zimmer. But what do the men who actually run the state's two Division I athletic departments say? Wednesday's show opens up with those remarks from SDSU's Justin Sell and USD's Jon Schemmel. To understand better why the Bison made the move and why it appears most fans, boosters, and administration is on board with the FBS leap, veteran Fargo reporter and columnist Mike McFeely joined Happy hour for literally an hour. Why is it such a slam dunk move for NDSU to go to a level that some perceive is barely above the Missouri Valley Football Conference? Why give up decades-old rivalries with neighboring peer institutions in the Dakotas and legitimate chances to play for national championships (and add to the trophy case of 10) in exchange for either a long shot at competing in the College Football Playoff — Group of Six squads James Madison and Tulane were destroyed by Power Four schools in this past season's first round — or a second-tier (or lower) bowl game? Is the Mountain West really that awesome? For five years, McFeely has been making his case for NDSU to take a "moonshot" at the FBS, and he and plenty of Bison backers now have their wish. Enjoy an entertaining hour from his point of view. Cameron Fens Wednesday's show takes us to Vermillion and to the center of one of the most remarkable stories in college basketball this season. Literally to the center. South Dakota's seven-footer Cameron Fens is the Summit League's leading rebounder and the Coyotes' second-leading scorer. He poured in 14 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and threw down a thunderous two-handed jam in a heated second half in USD's emotional 68-67 win at South Dakota State on Saturday. The win boosted the Coyotes to 6-5 in Summit League play with five games left before the Summit League Tournament, March 5-8. More specifically, USD is 6-3 since its 0-2 start in conference play and 4-2 since the league's leading scorer Isaac Bruns suffered a season-ending injury. Many know the basic story of USD's M*A*S*H unit — five season-ending injuries and another player who left the team, forcing the mid-season acquisition of two players who thought their college careers were over, Silan Bennion and Trent Hudgens. Fens takes us inside the ropes on the Yotes' experience of bringing in new players, how they gelled so well so fast, and what coach Eric Peterson has done to make it all work. The Dubuque, Iowa, product also walks us through his transferring from Illinois-Chicago to USD a couple years ago, his season-ending foot injury from last year, his country roots and country music fandom, his close relationship with his father Randy — who also played college basketball as a center — and always being a "big man," both on the court and in life.