AJS

The Alston award (701 award) works essentially the same as a NIL collective. To say that UND is sitting around doing nothing is patently false. How much do some schools NIL funds have? Seems like we're really talking semantics here. What UND cannot do is pay an individual athlete big $. I would argue trying to do that is not sustainable anyways.

I would say both. Logically, if you were going to enter the transfer portal, you'd gain nothing by waiting. That being said, just like with the Grad transfers, they seem to trickle in throughout the week. Side note: Interested in Ocansey. He was just a sophomore this year (Junior school wise). I wouldn't think there would be anything stopping someone from announcing they are going to enter before they technically could. He announces last week, but his name isn't officially entered until today.

I would have agreed before last night. Not a bad way to break up a win streak (1 pt & 33% of a pairwise point). Think that refocuses them, when otherwise they might have been flying too high.

Back to UND. Anybody else find it odd that we haven’t heard any of the “Covid extra year” guys say they are coming back? I’m starting to doubt Bo coming back. You just think we would have heard by now if he was.

Completely agree. It’s not sustainable to do year after year. One other layer I didn’t think of, which might also be an issue is it would set a potentially dangerous precedent. A starter who would get interest (maybe not high / middle P5), but low P5 / high G5, might see that and push for more $ or he’ll enter. A guy that previously wouldn’t have. If those NDSU rumors are true, I’m fascinated to see it play out. Selfishly, I hope they chase it.

I think so. I’m not worried about it at all. Facilities are still #1 in the country, Alston / FCOA is $10K a year. They’ll always be fine.

For the elite of the elite players, yes. Overall, no.

I love what UND is doing w/ Alston & FCOA. I absolutely would take that over an NIL fund. For UND, there’s a cap that everyone knows on a yearly basis. What I would fear about NIL is what’s playing out now. There’s a sliding scale. IMO it’s not sustainable for a school the size of UND IF you really want to be a player. What I mean is keeping any player that would potentially get 6 figures from a P5 school. That’s a battle you might “win” for a year or two, but not long term.

1 pt for conference. 33% for PWR.

I cannot get over this. No way Johannes or Britt should ever see the ice in OT.

Fine weekend, but why in the world would those 3 be playing in ot? I’m stunned.

For the record, it’s not because I believe NDSU is the 2nd most talented roster. Winners win, losers lose. It’ll be non-competitive in Vermillion next weekend.

Losers lose. Man, the FCS besides SDSU & NDSU is so pathetic. NDSU vs SDSU once again in Frisco. Book it.

Montana State better come up with a new offensive game plan fast.

Good stuff! Incredible game, boy was I wrong. This team just has it.

I wouldn’t put it past UND to score two in the 3rd, Persson has been awful though, I don’t trust him being able to shut the door.

Time to take a step back and reevaluate two weeks from now when the dust has settled. This program needs something to happen to stop the bleeding.

This is turning into a nightmare offseason.

For portal departures, when I talk about spin, it’s in regards for does this loss hurt the positional group for next year. There’s clearly nuance with that statement as well. Balancing classes, younger player development, etc.

Agreed. Although understandable, there's no way to spin Kilty entering. The Ocansey one you can try to, but we'll see. Spin would be, I'm not surprised a CB left, because although unproven, it's definitely the most talented potential defensive unit in 2024. So much of how I feel about CB going into next year relies on Hembry returning. (w/ Hembry there would be 5 guys who would expect to be on the 2-Deep -- now there would be four). I'd be fine if the 2-Deep is Hembry / Bluiett w/ Dixon / Bishop backing up.

No. No need. The incoming true Fr will replace Tommy as far as the # of QB’s on roster goes.

Tracking down some social media posts. Koshiol (OLB) will not return for his Covid year (or try the transfer portal).

Besides Kilty, so far so good this week. I'm pretty happy with the other Portal entries. Now, could really use some "committed to come back" type of messages from Beach, Belquist, Fort, Hembry, McNaboe, Vaughn.