bincitysioux

UND outrebounded Bemidji 37-27. The Sioux did have 18 turnovers, which is way too many against a poor team like BSU. Scoring Leaders: Youmens: 19 Boyce: 14 Little: 11 I agree, I think it was good win on the road. Doyle is obviously missed, and I think Gutter is probably more important. UND needs an inside presence. Gutter has provided that when he's played, but he's missed some time due to injury and currently for personal reasons (death in the family). I think if Gutter stays healthy and contributes after the new year, Koenig is productive, and the big guy Lenhertz gets in the mix, those 3 guys could give UND an inside presence that they need, combined with the play of their guard/sm forwards, the Sioux could make a little bit of noise in the NCC this year.

I'd like to see Lenhertz get some more playing time. I know he is young and inexperienced, but he is a big body. Not just tall, but he is thick as well. UND has had some tall guys the last few years like Lindahl and Rypkema, now Dryburgh, but these are all skinny guys, not real physical. Lenhertz at the very least can take up some space, get a few rebounds, and maybe block some shots as well. Koenig is obviously not 100%, and probably won't be at all this season, and Gutter has missed alot of time as well due to injury and personal reasons. UND is going to need an inside presence when the conference season starts.

Sioux WIN! 79-56 Final Score

Sioux Lead 76-52 2 min left Big Ben Lenhertz is busting out with 8 points!

UND 66 BSU 36 8 minutes left

Sioux 58 Beavers 32 12 minutes left in game Youmens has 16 Game is sloppy, though.

At least he is smart enough to realize that U of M fans and alumni would want to see games against UND. I give him some credit for that.

The appeal of playing Minnesota in all sports are: 1) Tons of alumni in the TC (like you said; possibly benefits fundraising), 2) huge payout for football approaching $300,000 for a game DI UND could be competetive in, 3) Recruiting (we recruit the TC heavily), 4) TV games (football, basketball, and hockey would all likely be on FSN North), 5) Proximity--not only would we be paid for each FB/BB game played at UMTC, it is a close drive to get there, 6) UofM is considered the top teir school in our region of the Upper Midwest, if we want to elevate our position in the region, it would help to be able to do it on stage head-to-head with our region's big dog. I've sent my check to the Nickname litigation fund, and I'm a huge supporter of keeping it. But I am also a huge supporter of this DI move, and if the nickname is going to prevent us playing the 3 most geographically friendly major DI programs in our region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa), perhaps it must go. I don't know if there are any other DI programs that UND fb/bb fans would get more excited about playing than the regional/hockey foes of Minnesota and Wisconsin. FWIW, if in the end we can no longer offically be known as the Fighting Sioux, I'd prefer to go with no official nickname at all. Sell the rights to the name and the logo to a newly formed apparel subsidiary of REA Inc. and they can make and sell as many shirts, jerseys, and sweaters with the Logo and Name as they want, just without reference to UND.

Sioux 37 Beavers 20 Halftime Really ugly first half

Sioux 20 Beavers 16 7 left in 1st half Sioux playing sloppy, being foiled by the vaunted 1-3-1 trap

Sioux 13 Beavers 4 14 minutes left in 1st half

Quote from UMTC A.D. Maturi:

I'm aware of Wisconsin's inane policy of not playing schools with Native American mascots, but I didn't know that Minnesota also did such a thing . I don't see UND playing Florida St. anytime soon, but Illinois is just the type of I-A program that could be willing to pay a school UND to come to Champaign for a guarantee game.

Got them. Thanks for the offers...

I don't know if it is really a case of "football or basketball are DII so I don't care to go to those games". I think it is more a case of UND hockey fans used to playing UMTC, UW, Maine, BC, etc., etc. Those are big time schools that interest even just the casual sports fan (which since the new REA was built there are alot of "casual" sports fans that go to hockey games. Then these same fans see that the football team is playing Winona or the basketball team is playing Wayne St. and they probably think, "who the fork is that?". The bigger pool of competition that DI will offer in like-opponents to UND will create more fan interest. Remember, the biggest crowd to ever show up for a basketball game in ND was for a Sioux basketball game (Kansas, ~13,000) and the last Sioux-Bison basketball game in GF drew over 7,000. In the last six years Sioux football has drawn between 10-13,000 for games against UC-Davis, NDSU, SDSU, UNO and others. The fans are here, they just don't like the competition lately. When the Sioux move up and are competing successfully against schools like Montana, Montana St., Northern Iowa, Minnesota, etc., etc., more of the non-diehards are going to take notice. The trick is going to be to get notable DI schools to come to GF on a regular basis. And if UND really wants those that reside in the "hockey-only" fan section to get interested in other sports, it would be wise to get other DI hockey-playing schools that they identify with on the schedule for other sports. I'm very confident that there will be a sharp increase in attendance starting with the 2008 season.

And, yet another addition to the blog revolution--Wayne's World. and....Fee Throws

Here's what Bubba had to say about UMD's possible move to the NSIC. Link

Maybe Bubba would consider becoming Defensive Coordinator/Associate Head Coach at a Division I program? I'd be all for that.

I think UND playing night football games would be a fantastic idea for early season non-conference games especially. It would certainly raise attendance. Part of the problem with afternoon games is that it basically blows the entire day. The catch is that once hockey season starts, the football team would be commiting suicide if there were home football and hockey games the same day. If that ever occurred, attendance for the football game would be in 5,000 range. I don't think the coaching staff would want to have to be shifting the start times for football week to week to accomodate hockey, they like to stick to a set schedule, that is why they are always in the afternoon. But I would love it if they had night games at the very least for early season non-conference games, or maybe even up until the start of hockey season.

I would like it if Basketball had its own forum. Alot of times I just glance at the main page to see what threads have the newest posts and miss alot of posts made regarding basketball when women's hockey or soccer or something has the most recent post. If it had its own forum maybe there would be more discussion about it. The season threads for M & W basketball get long also by the end of the season.

Tickets are sold

I am also very pro-DI biased, but I would love for our football program to exit DII with a national championship trophy in tow. I would like to see a repeat of last year's schedule with the 11th game added. 8 conference games, 1 DI game (hello, Montana St.), 1 home patsy (while I wouldn't look forward to playing them, Bemidji or Tiffin would be good for strength of schedule), and then 1 out-of-conference clash with someone like Pitt St. or NW Missouri. Unfortuantely, since it will be our last year of DII, any out-of-conference home game is probably gonna be against a crappy team that we had to over-pay to get here, because there will be no promise of a return game by UND for them.

If this passes in January, wouldn't that also make NDSU and SDSU eligible immediately for the 2007-08 year?

Thanks for all the info Hammersmith!

Is the NCAA/CS actually considering expanding the playoff field, or is that just message board fodder?