bincitysioux

Nice preview of the game from Jonathan Reed.......... Also lots of good coverage in the Ogden newspaper

The Big Sky is an auto-bid conference. Finishing 2nd, in theory, gives them an easier path to the championship game. North Dakota is going to try to win that auto-bid over the next few days. I would not at all be surprised if they won it. I would also not be surprised if they bowed out in ugly fashion on day one. Unfortunately, that seems to be this team's M.O., and yes, that is on the coaches IMO. I get that. I'm not hung up on the NDSU win. For me that doesn't equate a successful season. But it was a good win, rivalry aside. They are top 40 in RPI for those that live and die by that. I hate the obsession some have with the Bison and the Gophers. What really irritates me is when I'm sitting in the REA and the Sioux score a goal and the crowd goes, "Yay!". Then when theY announce that the Gophers are trailing in some random game and the crowd goes, "YYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!". And I've never said the Summit sucks, just that I think it is comparable to the Big Sky and I'll stick by that. North Dakota has only been eligible for "the dance" for 1 year. I think Jones has basically squandered the talent on this team this year. Overall I've been disappointed. This team should have 20+ wins. But he has won two conference tournaments and his first two seasons in a legitimate DI conference have either met or exceeded expectations. I'm not chipping in for the bronze statue, but I'm not stringing up the rope either.

And who is thumping their chest? All we've said is UND has a legitimate shot of advancing through the conference tournament. The season could also be over my 4:00 tomorrow. They are inconsistent and frustrating at times, and they are great at times. It was a bumpy season, but at the end of the day, they finished 2nd in the conference, right where most people thought they would. I'm pretty sure every person here that follows the basketball program would trade the win against FU for a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Sadly, sometimes the only thing worse than an NDSU fan is a UND Hockey fan..........

I think Huff would have to be on it. I believe he is top 10 all time at North Dakota now in scoring, rebounding, and steals. And he's done it against much tougher competetion than Guldseth or Beasley. I would say: Jackson Guldseth Huff ? I'd probably go with Vonesh for the fourth spot.

Nice of you to point out that UND only has a chance to win because Weber is struggling.

Yeah but the Big Sky's cellar dwellar used to be a middle-of-the-pack Summit team. If the Big Sky is so horrible, isn't it surprising that they won the head-to-head match ups with the Summit? Maybe the Summit is not as great as you think. Again, congrats to your favorite team on an impressive season. It must be very exciting. Thank you to you and Bison Dan for instinctively coming here to criticize a conference of which you are not a member on the heels of one of the most historic nights in Bison history.

Meh.......... I'd put the top 4 teams from the Big Sky against the top 4 teams from the Summit any day. Big Sky won head to head against the Summit. Both leagues amassed a whopping two wins each against top 50 RPI teams, and of those 4 games in which a Top 50 RPI team went down against either conference, it was NDSU 3 times! The truth is that the Summit is very top heavy. The Big Sky is much more competetive throughout. The Summit gets an inflated RPI comparatively to the Big Sky because the Big Sky has many more members, and plays many more conference games against one another. Summit teams are able to load up on more non conference against decent teams and that is where the RPI moves up and down. RPI doesn't move much for anyone once conference play starts. But NDSU did have a wonderful season, and congrats to your favorite squad on winning their tourney.

It was somewhat surprising because of the issue of parity that WeAreNorthDakota eluded to. SDSU has had a remarkable run in wbb in DI. They were very good in DII as well of course. USD hasn't been great lately but they've always been pretty good too. Plus it was "rivalry" game and funny things can always happen there. As far as the strength of the Summit in WBB, it is not great and never has been. SDSU has been head and shoulders above the rest of the Summit competition since they joined. To me that makes it less surprising that USD won the tournament, since they were also a top DII team. By comparison, the Big Sky is traditionally a much stronger league for wbb. The Big Sky is legitimately a "mid-major" conference in women's basketball, similar to the Horizon or the WCC on the men's side......

It is a 68 team tournament. Doesn't matter if you are #68 or #64.

I disagree. I love the fact that the regular season means so much in the Sky. More than half the conference has basically been in playoff mode for the last month or so. People often say that the regular season means nothing in a one bid league. Not the case in the Big Sky. I have really enjoyed the reshuffling that takes place every weekend the last two seasons....

I'm just not aware of any TV coverage, though I could be wrong. I don't think any of the women's tourney games were televised last year either. ROOT Sports is really shafting the Big Sky conference. Their deal called for them to televise "up to 12 men's basketball games", and they've only done 1 or 2 each of the last two seasons and that was only because the Big Sky team was playing a WCC or MWC or WAC team on that night. Before the Big Sky's deal with ROOT, the championship game for the women was on Altitude, and the men's semis were also on Altitude. The men's title game this year is on ESPNU. Don't have any idea if Midco is in play for any of the women's games or not, probably unlikely.

Montana actually has a higher RPI than Weber.......... 154 Montana 189 Weber 210 EWU 218 UNC 223 UND 250 NAU 263 Sac St.

I think just WatchBigSky.com.........

North Dakota was picked 2nd and 3rd in the respective pre-season polls. Finished second, right where most thought they would. Perhaps Jones deserves an extension for once again meeting, or even exceeding expectations......................

I have zero confidence either way heading into this game. I don't expect to win, but we could win by 20 and it wouldn't surprise me. I don't expect to lose but we could lose by 20 and it wouldn't surprise me.

Actually after two years of Big Sky play, only Weber and Montana have won more conference games on the road than has North Dakota. Now non-conference road games are another story. All I ever hear is how difficult it is to win on the road in the Big Sky. UND has been fairly successful at it.

Very true. It is kind of sad that anybody who has followed this team at all, shouldn't be surprised by this embarrassing loss to a team that was trying to make a case to be the worst in DI this season.

Goodnight everybody. This just isn't worth my time.

What a joke. Had my hopes after the last few weeks. No effort at all tonight.

This team is playing horrible basketball to tonight.....

Dr. Jeckyll, meet Mr. Hyde. Sioux down 9 to winless SUU........

We are trailing at half to a team that hasn't won a D1 game this season.

I actually think the boys B tourney should be rotated between GF, Fargo, Bismarck, and Minot so that each big city gets it every 4 years. Girls B basketball and volleyball should always be in Bismarck foe the central location IMO......