RD17

Also, I confirmed with NSIC commissioner Butch Raymond today that the NSIC is bumping it's scholarship maximum in football from 21 to 24, effective in the 2006 season. Not a huge increase, I know, but at least a signal that the league may be starting to get somewhat serious about trying to compete in Division II. Mr. Raymond informed me that about half of the current conference members should be in a position to take advantage of the increase at that time, so it certainly appears as if many NSIC schools will be putting more resources into football. Throw in Upper Iowa and U-Mary (both schools plan to be full scholarship) and the NSIC should be much more competitive with the NCC in the future. Currently, the NSIC averages about 15 football scholarships per school.

Interesting to note that the UMC folks are very displeased with the Minot paper printing anything about them having an interest in the DAC-10. In fact it appears some of the UMC higher ups denied it when questioned and it was printed anyway. This is from KROX's weekly sports column:

Thanks for pointing this out. It was a complete oversight on my part and has now been edited.

Brandon is switching to a brand new board (not just an upgrade, but a completely new software package) and the problems with the old board came up unexpectedly, so he wasn't prepared to make a switch at this point. In fact I believe he is switching to the Invisionboard software that Jim uses on siouxsports. If I understand things right, a big part of the hangup is that he is trying to preserve all the information from the old board so that people don't have to re-register. Since he manually approves each new account on the board, this would be a major timesaver for him. I know he has people helping him with the technical stuff, but it obviously takes time to get everything right. It should be back up again shortly.

I do a google news search almost daily to make sure I'm up on the latest for my writing duties at D2football.com. That is how I came upon this article since it contained several of the words I typically search for (NCC, UND football, Division II, etc.). Like Jim said, many of the football fans that visit this site know me by name but most of the hardcore hockey folks probably don't since I don't post in this forum that much. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a hockey fan and I read the board quite frequently. But I am far from a hockey expert so I usually leave the commentary to those that are.

I have no idea what the deal with Franklin is. I can't say I've noticed him at all this spring. I believe he has had grade troubles before, so who knows. I think it goes without saying that this defense is going to be outstanding. I don't believe I'm exagerrating at all in saying that this defense should rank right up there with the 2001 UND defense and could be among the best in Division II history. Just some interesting facts on the 2005 Sioux defense: *There are six players (Anderson, Dahlen, Duchscher, Peterson, Brandsted, Gagner) that were named All-NCC last year. Anderson and Gagner were All-Americans according to several publications and both have been named conference MVP at their position groups. *It appears that there will be seven senior starters and nine seniors overall in the rotation. Five of the juniors (Ullsberger, S. Brennan, DeSautel, Babington-Johnson, Hoffschneider) have been regulars in the rotation since their freshman seasons. *There will be two 4-year starters (Anderson, Gagner) and five 3-year starters (Hoffschneider, Brandsted, Duchscher, Maier, Dahlen) in the lineup. It's hard to fault a unit that led the nation in scoring defense last year, but there are a couple of areas that I think could use some improvement going into this fall if this defense is going to rank up there with the all-time best: 1) Believe it or not, tighten things up a bit against the run. I know 107 yards per game on the ground is not exactly porous and when you face running backs the quality of Jamar Day (UNO), Jermaine Race (Pittsburg State), Stefan Logan (USD), Lee Marana (Harlon Hill finalist from MTU), and Matt Birkel (SCSU) twice-- you're going to give up some yards. But UND gave up some big plays on the ground at times last year. That needs to be addressed and I think it will with the defensive line being another year deeper and stronger. 2) Force more turnovers. Last year's defense forced I believe 32 turnovers in 14 games and I don't believe any were forced in any of the three losses. By contrast, the 2001 defense forced 45 turnovers in 15 games and scored six defensive touchdowns. 3) Develop a shutdown corner (or two would be even better ). Ryan Manke was sensational last year and he essentially took away a third of the field by himself. Craig Riendeau did the same thing for the 2001 defense. Hoffschneider was much improved last year but still had a tendency at times to give up the big play. The two guys on the depth chart on the other side (Alexander and Longe) are extremely talented but unproven. Someone needs to step up and become the guy that can lock up the receiver on his side of the field every down.

I was at part of the scrimmage on Saturday and noticed that Groeschl was back at receiver. Whatever the deal was with switching back, it was a smart move for both him and the team. He would have been no better than third on the depth chart at QB (behind two guys in the same class) and he's too good of an athlete to stand on the sidelines and watch. With him back at receiver, I'm a lot more comfortable with the talent and depth at that position going into the year.

Getting back to Crookston, going back to the NAIA (or D3) is really a move that school needs to make. UMC has only been a 4-year school for a decade or so and there just isn't the alumni base (or much of anything else) to support an athletic program at this level. The only problem with the NAIA in this instance is that UMC has a hockey program so I'm not sure if they would be allowed to do some sort of dual affiliation or what would happen there. D2 hockey teams are ineligible for the postseason, so as long as they could remain in their hockey conference, things should be fine. I've always thought that UMC, Mayville, Valley City, and UM-Morris should be in the same conference in either the NAIA or D3. Those four schools are too similar not to be.

That would make things really simple- just trade UMC for MSU and the conference stays at 10 teams. MSU might not be ready to be a D2 power, but the Beavers would be a huge upgrade from UMC. I also thought it was interesting that Hedberg said that MSU needed to keep its eye on the changing landscape in Division II over the next five to ten years. He then went on to say that they were bringing in the NSIC commissioner to meet with coaches and administrators. If you say you don't have any immediate plans to move to D2, but then you are bringing in Butch Raymond to meet with your school, something isn't quite adding up. It certainly sounds like a situation similar to that of UMary- the school isn't going to say too much until a move is actually in the works. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I have seen parts of practice a couple of different days, but I've only caught the basic offensive and defensive drills and stuff like that so its hard to get real feel for how things are going and who might be ready to make a big impact. I can say that I have paid particular attention to what's going on at the WR spots since there are some openings there. From what I have seen, it looks like Weston Dressler is going to be the go to receiver and he has looked very good out there, making some terrific catches. Dan Grossman is out for spring practice (I'm not sure what the injury is) and it looks like for the most part anyway, Thomas Loegering has been the number one split end in his absence. I have also watched transfer Martin Tatum closely and while he looks like a very good athlete, he has had trouble catching the football consistently when I have been watching. Maybe it was just a coincidence or whatever, but I'm just reporting what I have seen. As an aside, does anyone know if the team still practices at the same time on Saturdays as it does on the weekdays? I'd like to go check out practice for awhile tomorrow if I know when it is for sure.

I have always said (and if you read today's Bismarck Tribune, NSIC commissioner Butch Raymond agrees with me ) that in Division II, a 10 team conference is perfect. Nine football games and 18 basketball games and playing everyone an equal number of times is the way to go in Division II. Many of the DI leagues are trending toward the 12 team "superconference" and holding a league championship game, but that obviously will not work at this level because D2 has playoffs. That said, I still think the NSIC would look at adding more schools. Like UND9296 stated, there will be pressure for schools like Northern or Winona to consider moving to the NCC and how long can UMC keep trying to pretend it is running a Division II athletic program before someone there wises up and moves the school back to the NAIA or D3? In other words, as long as the NCC and NSIC coexist as Division II conferences in the same geographic area, the possibility exists that the NSIC will lose some of its more established members to the NCC. Having the extra cushion of one or two schools can help offset the problems of losing members. Besides Minot, I know that both Dakota State and Jamestown College have at least talked to the NSIC in the past and the rumor out of Sioux Falls is that the University of Sioux Falls is also beginning to take a look at Division II. If the NSIC tells Minot that it doesn't want to go to the odd number of 11 members, I don't think MSU will have a terribly difficult time finding another school to move with it and get the league back to an even number.

I also corresponded with the Minot AD (Rick Hedberg) via email in January and he also told me point blank that MSU was studying a move to D2. I would imagine that with Mary and Huron leaving the conference, MSU isn't the only remaining school in the DAC that will be seriously looking at it. MSU is also (along with the city of Minot) making a major push for a new football facility, something similar to the Bismarck Community Bowl. The latest I've heard is that it would be a complete renovation of MSU's current stadium with field turf, new stands, new pressbox, etc. If that goes through, MSU would have excellent facilities for a D2 school. My bet is that Minot State will announce by the December 1st deadline that it is entering the exploratory year for Division II and also begin aggressively pursuing membership in the NSIC.

Sorry. I fixed my original post and added the link.

A couple of quotes from the column:

Interesting news. I can't say I'm necessarily surprised by this and it does make some sense. Many NCC schools have been and will continue to play these teams anyway out of scheduling necessity, so why not make them part of the league? From the perspective of each of the current NCC schools, one plane trip west for a football game each fall shouldn't be a budget buster. One thing people may not be aware of is that neither CWU or WWU are anywhere near fully-funded for football. CWU has 15 scholarships and WWU 21 I believe. I think the major difference though is that limited scholarships go much farther in that area of the country (higher population, less recruiting competition, more potential for D1 transfers) than they would around here. I guess my point is that these two schools would be more competitive in the NCC (and they've already proven it) than an NSIC school that offers the same number of scholarships. Maybe as part of this deal the two Washington schools would be still be required to raise their scholarship levels some? Although this all sounds good, finding an 8th school for all sports still has to be the top priority. A seven team basketball conference obviously doesn't work very well.

From what I was told, Southwest Minnesota, Bemidji, and Northern were the three that voted against Upper Iowa. One of the main reasons those schools voted no was travel, but I believe having an odd number of teams was just as big a factor if not more so. There was also a lot more behind the scenes politics going on with UIU getting into the conference this time than what there was last fall. I'll put it this way: even if UIU was the only school getting voted on this spring, I still believe it would have gotten in rather easily (maybe a 7-1 vote?) this time.

Most of those WIAC schools would be great D2 members, but a public school going from zero scholarships to a full scholarship D2 conference would be a huge undertaking. Plus, I'm not sure how it would go over if one or two of the schools was allowed to go D2 and into new conference and the rest had to stay in D3 because the state would have to help subsidize most of the scholarship money, at least to start with. IMO, it would be far more likely that the whole WIAC would move to D2 at once, if it ever came to that. That way the whole league could be incrementally and evenly be transitioned into scholarship sports.

The basketball teams already play occasionally. In fact Mary smoked the UND men by 30 in Bismarck a couple of years ago. A football game will not happen until Mary gets through its period as a provisonal D2 member (as I noted in my other post- probably in 2008). The only thing that could happen here is that the NCAA will waive some of the provisional years. That has been talked about as a way to make Division II more attractive to new members. The reason UND will not play a provisional D2 team is because it seriously cripples UND's strength of schedule index, which is one of the top factors in selecting playoff teams. I would imagine though that Mary will still be able to play Dickinson or Minot in non-conference games. The existing DAC schools are going to need opponents with there only being eight schools left.

I agree. Mary will do just fine in football. The only thing that may hurt them for awhile is the provisional status as far as recruiting(they are looking at being playoff eligible in 2008, at the earliest). Mary should be an annual NSIC title contender once it gets through the provisonal period.

That's a good question. I guess if I had to handicap it as far as who I think is most likely at this point, I would go something like this: Kearney: I just think it makes sense from a competitive and geographic standpoint for UNK to eventually be part of the NCC. I know they are concerned about having the money to fund enough scholarships but the new football facilities should help. It really is too bad that the NCC didn't have the foresight to boot Morningside in the early 90's when they had that big scandal in their athletic department and add UNK when they wanted in. Northern State: Believe it or not, NSU led D2 in basketball attendance this year and I have to think the pull of bringing in USD, Augie, SCSU, UND, etc. on a regular basis for basketball would make joining the NCC very attractive. Very similar to UNK though in the sense that scholarship money is lacking and football would basically be sacrificed, at least in the short term. Michigan Tech: MTU would fit nicely with the NCC because of the existing hockey relationship. Travel would actually be shorter for them in the NCC than GLIAC. I think the one thing really keeping them in the GLIAC though is the connection to the Lower Peninsula. Winona State: Would have topped my list a month ago before the NSIC decided to invite UIU and Mary. Now that they are in a stable conference situation and essentially a guaranteed spot in the football playoffs each year, I don't think they'll leave. St. Thomas: Definitely have the cash, it's just a matter of whether they would ever leave D3. This is the school I would most like to see join the NCC.

I think the issue of expansion just got much more critical with the news that the NSIC is expanding back to 10 schools. I'm especially concerned about basketball scheduling. When you consider that the eight current NSIC schools will each be adding four conference games to their schedules, that leaves a total of 32 less non-conference games for those teams to play! Not to mention that everyone's favorite independent schedule-filler (Upper Iowa) will also be unavailable. Will the NCC have to consider playing three head to head games in the conference just to fill out schedules?

I'm still baffled by the attendance at the SCSU/UND playoff game. SCSU was hosting its first playoff game in 15 years, playing the game against a major conference rival in a brand new stadium, and the weather was absolutely beautiful for November (mid-50's and sunny). How in the world do you only draw 2500 fans, half of which are supporting the other team? Unbelievable. I think the bottom line is that some schools have great fan support for football win or lose and others obviously do not. Sometimes breaking that culture and turning a place into a "football school" is easier said than done.

I actually think Upper Iowa will do just fine in the NSIC. Yes, it's a small school located in a very rural area, but UIU has the money to fully fund all of its sports and I think it's just a matter of time before the school becomes quite competitive in that league. The other major advantage UIU has is that there aren't any other "bigger" D2 schools in its back yard to compete with in recruiting. I realize that 15-49 in the major sports isn't very good, but this year was the first that UIU had any scholarships available to use. Not to mention that in football anyway, many of the freshman recruits that were given scholarship money were red-shirted for the future and the team played this season with essentially a D3 roster. Very similar situation to what NDSU did with its men's basketball recruits this year- red-shirt them instead of "wasting" a year of eligibility, even if they could have likely helped the team. Anyway, I've found out through my writing job for D2football that Upper Iowa fans and alumni are very passionate, which was very surprising to me considering the size of the school and the fact that it historically hasn't had much of a football program. There must be something positive going on down there for people to be so proud of the school.

That was the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen in a game. The other amazing thing lost in all of this is that the same kid made a 3-pointer at least two or three feet beyond the NBA line with a few seconds left to tie the game in regulation. He also made a 3-pointer with two seconds left to beat Eastview by two during the regular season. I think the kid is a clutch player. And he's only a sophomore.