RD17

Judging from the comments coming out of the St. Cloud paper this morning it's pretty clear who they're most concerned about:

The Good: Offensive line looked very, very good. It seems like they picked up right where they left off last year. Run blocking was outstanding and the pass protection very good. I'm not worried about the line anymore. Tony Hermes and Digger Anderson played like All-Americans and were all over the field. The one new wrinkle I really like is when they go to a four man front with Hermes and Babington-Johnson playing the ends. It's tough for Division II tackles to deal with their speed coming off the edge. The Bad: Bowenkamp was awful. There's just no other way to put it. He's a senior and a three year starter and there is just no excuse for for making the kind of mistakes he was making. The defense gave up way, way too many conversions on 3rd and long. Dumb penalties, guys not staying disciplined in their zones, poor tackling on the receivers, etc. There's a lot of talent there though, so once they get things cleaned up they should be outstanding. The drive that really drove me nuts was the one just before the half that made it 21-9. Delta converted on 3rd and 13, 3rd and 7, 3rd and 10, and 3rd and goal from the nine. Stop them there and the game is over. All in all, a win is a win and I guess that's what's really important. I think the team has the potential to be better than last year once they get some things cleaned up.

Cadwell was very impressive in the spring game, so it doesn't suprise me that he's in the mix at DE. Although I didn't pay much attention to Alexander in the spring game, I've heard some very good things about him. Braegelman is a suprise to me simply because not many freshmen make an immediate impact on the OLine at UND. The thing I'm most interested in finding out about is the receivers. Will any of the redshirts make a big splash or will Johnson/ Grossman/ Weber/ Groeschl see the bulk of the playing time? I'd like to think that one of those young guys can become the big deep threat like Lueck last year. Somebody with the inside scoop fill us in.

There's an interesting article in today's Minot newspaper about the Beaver athletic department. It certainly looks like Minot State is making a major push to improve its athletics and if they are successful, they'll almost certainly outgrow the DAC 10. Scholarship dollars making difference at MSU Some snippets: And this makes star2city look prophetic:

There are several GLVC schools (Kentucky Wesleyan, Quincy, St. Joseph's) that already play football as D2 independents or hold joint affiliations with the NAIA and play their football there. Throw in two other independents (Tiffin and Upper Iowa) to go along with Rolla and Indianapolis and it looks pretty likely that a new (and very bad) D2 football conference will be formed. You also have Central State (Ohio) restoring football and the rumor that Truman State and Southwest Baptist will be leaving the MIAA for the GLVC.

If I'm not mistaken, Minot State used to draw pretty big crowds for basketball back in the 80s. The MSU Dome was pretty new and they had good teams with alot of local talent. Obviously, things have gone down hill some since then. With their facilities and the size of the school and town, I think Minot St. could probably support a D2 program at a NSIC type level in the future and if things continue to go the way they're going, that's probably where they'll end up. Dickinson State is also in the same boat (actually DSU is probably better suited for D2 right now than Minot). Jamestown College and Dakota State have both at least inquired about membership in the NSIC in the last couple of years. I'd venture to guess that the NSIC has probably sent out feelers to most of the DAC-10 schools because they need new members. With the NSIC needing members, it's an opportunity for some of these schools to get out of the quickly fading NAIA without having to add major dollars to the budget.

Delta State now runs a 3-3-5, the same as North Alabama does. They had a pretty good defense last year, but they lost 6 starters including NT Anthony Maddox, who was a 4th round pick in the NFL this spring. Maddox was far and away their leading tackler last year from the NT position! The loss of a player that dominant in the middle of the DSU's defense is going to leave some question marks and put more pressure on the rest of the players this year. On offense, DSU lost their top two RBs and a couple of offensive linemen. Other than that, the rest of the offense returns. DSU averaged around 530 yards and 45 points per game last year in a top D2 league so the Sioux defense will have their hands full. The QB and top WR are both underclassmen, so obviously they are very talented players. The one nice thing for the Sioux defense is that they saw (and beat) all three Harlon Hill finalists last year, so they will have an idea of the kind of effort it will take to get the job done and won't fall apart if things don't go their way (Central Washington 2002). All and all, it should be a great matchup. A much more exciting opener than Crookston.

Thankfully, playing a 10 game schedule isn't going to hurt the team anymore. With the new points system for playoff selection and considering that the regular season is only 11 weeks long now, it might even be to UND's benefit to play only 10 games. I would guess that more than half the teams in D2 are now playing 10 games and the NCC teams that are playing 11 have had to fill their schedules with some awfully poor opponents like Waldorf, Tiffin, Panhandle St., Peru St., and Upper Iowa. I know Dale Lennon has brought up on the coaches show before that UND needed to have a full regular season schedule to avoid being hurt when it came to the playoffs. UND had 11 games from 2000-2002, so the scheduling philosophy obviously changed under Lennon. Why Wanless/RT didn't want an 11 game schedule before that is beyond me. Like you said it would have been so simple- you had 9 NCC games each year, play a Bemidji/Moorhead/UMC at home, then schedule a solid program like Northern Michigan or Ferris State for a home and home series with the home game the same year that UND only had 4 NCC games at Memorial Stadium. A perfect schedule with 6H/5A games each year.

I think you just described former Notre Dame star Rocket Ismail. That's just about exactly how Notre Dame used Ismail a few years ago and I could see Dressler having a similar role at UND.

I believe Dressler is listed as both a WR and RB in the recruiting press release, so the coaching staff wasn't sure at that time where he might fit in on the team.

Dressler is one of those rare players that has what seems like a "sixth sense" when running the football. It's almost like he has eyes in the back of his head and no one can ever get a square shot on him. USD has a kid that has a similar running style and might even be smaller than Dressler, and he ran for over 1,000 yards last year as freshman. The other thing to keep in mind is that UND has another RB recruit with tremendous credentials (Rohde) coming in this fall. It might be that the coaching staff feels Dressler is better suited to be a WR because of that. The one thing I'm sure of: Dressler is going to be a tremendous punt and kick returner. He has all the skills necessary to be great on special teams.

Man Sicatoka, you must have some awfully good eyes. I can't make out whether the seats are leather, plastic, or made of cardboard. One thing the Betty should be actively pursuing is the ND Region 2 boys and girls basketball tournaments. Region 2 runs from Hillsboro north to the Canadian border. The tournament has alternated between Mayville State and Grafton high school for the last 10 years or so, but Mayville is too small and Grafton isn't allowed to hold the tournament anymore. The Betty would be the perfect size and location for such an event. I'd imagine the tournaments combined would draw 10-12K and introduce lots of college bound teenagers to the finest athletic facilities in the upper midwest.

UND didn't seem to get the benefit of the doubt from the playoff selection people very often in the 90's. I know there was one other year in there ('91 maybe?) where Mankato had 3 losses and UND only had 2 and they took Mankato for the playoffs. I think a big part of the reason UND seemed to get snubbed when it came to the playoffs was the refusal to play more than an 10 game regular season schedule. No matter what happens when you play head to head, 10-1 just looks more impressive than 9-1. Early season games always used to draw pretty well at Memorial Stadium and it just baffled me why UND didn't want to play another home game in September.

That whole period from '96 to '98 was a frustrating one for UND football. The bottom line was they couldn't beat UNC. In '96 both UND and UNC had 3 regular season losses, but UNC got to go to the playoffs based on their win over the Sioux. In '97, UND went to Colorado for the last regular season game with an 8-1 record and a chance to win the NCC outright and ended up losing the game and not making the playoffs at all. Then in '98 UNC beat the Sioux twice.

I don't think so. I think it has more to do with the fact that Kleinsasser didn't play a real glamorous position. He was basically used as a 6th offensive lineman his first three years until they got him more involved catching passes as a senior.

4-H 97-98, Thanks for the correction. I always had it in my head that Howe's injury happened his senior year. Speaking of '98, that might have to be the most disappointing season to be a Sioux fan. There was so much talent on that team... Moore, Kleinsasser, Lotysz... That playoff game in '99 against NWMSU was a tough loss, but that last regular season game in '98 against UNC when Kleinsasser dropped the gamewinning TD pass was worse. An NCC title and home playoff game went out the window on that one play. UND then played UNC in Colorado the next week in the first round of the playoffs and got blown out. That was a frustrating way to end a season.

Here's my list: 1) 2001- can't really go against the national champions. The best defense I've seen at the D2 level to go with a more than competent offense. 2) 1999- I really thought that team was national championship caliber but they just didn't catch the breaks the 2001 or 2003 teams did. They beat UNC in the regular season and both teams finished with one loss, but UNC got the home field in the midwest region while UND got the 3rd seed. That was also the year Kelly Howe broke his leg right at the end of the regular season and a bunch of other key guys, like Mike Juhasz and Dan Graf, were banged up going into the playoffs. The Sioux still almost pulled off the win against NW Missouri, and NW went on to win the national title. 3) 2003- not the most talented team, but definitely the most exciting! They just fell one comeback short at the end of the year. I think the confidence gained by all of the young players from last year's success and the hunger from being so close to a national championship is really going to help the team the next couple of years. 4) 1994- I thought this team was the best of the '93-'95 NCC champs. They lost two NCC games early in the year (including the game where Todd Bouman from St. Cloud scored a TD on the last play to beat UND in the Potato Bowl) but they really got rolling the 2nd half of the season. They blew out NDSU in the Fargodome and beat NDSU again in the 2nd round of the playoffs before losing to UNA in the semi's. 5) 1965- I believe their only loss was 6-3 to NDSU. NDSU went on to win the college division national championship that year. UND blew out Idaho St., Montana St., and Northern Iowa and beat current I-A school Northern Illinois 37-20 in the Mineral Water Bowl.

Losing Mussman would really hurt UND for this year because a) he's a very good OLine coach and there will be some inexperienced players there and b) the team has already been through spring ball so they would have to get used to a new coordinator/new system in a short period of time this fall. I posted earlier when Schweigert left that losing Mussman would hurt the team more in the short term and that would especially be the case now when the season is just 2 1/2 months away. To answer your first question, I don't think Mankato will bring in an interim coach because it sets them back another year recruiting. Even though it's late, it's a good enough job to attract some quality candidates. I think Holley left because he was doing a bad job more than anything else and he could probably see that he was on a sinking ship. He didn't have alot of success recruiting this area and wasn't very well liked. The Mankato paper is reporting today that they're bringing in a coach from Southern Mississippi to interview so we'll see what happens.

I think the reason for the major difference in philosophy is that NDSU has to win in football right away for the move to work while SDSU has more time simply because of the historical differences in expectations at the schools. After beating Montana last year and seeing the success that UNC had in their first year, NDSU fans are going to expect immediate success. If for some reason NDSU fails to be successful in football, financing the move could be a big problem. OTOH, SDSU fans probably have limited expectations for their football program right away (or if they don't they need a reality check ). I'm sure they realize that if they couldn't win an NCC title in the last 40 years, it's going to take awhile to get the program up to speed at I-AA. I sure hope Roger Thomas has his pen and paper out and is taking notes.

This is the part that isn't true, and if you go back and re-read my post, I pointed out exactly why: On to the rest of your post: I fully understand the point you're trying to make about exclusivity, which is why I'm contending that it's hypocritical to say that NDSU and SDSU deserve their right to exclusivity if they so choose, but the Michigans and Ohio States of the world do not. On the other hand, I could easily counter that entire argument by saying that the BCS schools would be the ones taking the responsible approach. Sure, many of them have huge budgets, but for the most part, their revenues exceed expenses. The BCS schools also do a much better job that the rest of DI with being Title IX compliant and sponsor the highest number of women's sports. (That's a statistical fact, not an opinion) On the other hand, you have everyone's poster child for I-AA success (Montana) running a million dollar per year deficit, and the rest of the DI football playing schools run deficits that are even larger (on average). Now just who is it that's on the moral high ground and who's running amok?

As I understand it, Duluth is going to 30 scholarships this year, then up to the max in the next year or two. UMD and UND would be on equal footing, they're in the same division and conference now. In fact any shcool in D2 has the opportunity to be on equal footing with UND. It's not UND's fault if schools can't or won't fully fund their athletic programs.

In most cases it is overzealous alumni that are to blame for schools making foolish decisions with their athletic programs. The same thing that makes college sports great (the passion people have for their schools) is what drives the insanity and irresponsibility when it comes to making decisions regarding athletics. This simply isn't true. Title IX, as originally passed in 1972, simply states that no institution that receives federal funding can discriminate on the basis of sex. I don't think anyone would argue with the logic in that. Title IX didn't become an issue until the early 90s when the Clinton administration decided to add the proportionality interpretation. Why is that important? Because the major boom in women's sports at the high school and college level occured in the 70s, before Title IX was enforced as it is now. Women's sports were evolving just fine on their own without making it next to impossible for schools to carry a full array of men's sports and without these assinine "quotas" that we essentially have now. If you're a supporter of Title IX as it is enforced now, surely you'd have to agree that the best way to acheive proportionality would be to cut scholarships and roster sizes in half at all levels of college football. This would allow for more opportunities for women and save the olympic men's sports from further cuts. Fair is fair, right? Read the above two paragraphs and think about what you're saying. On the one hand, congress would need to step in on the basis of some moral high ground to stop the BCS schools from breaking away from the NCAA and forming a new level of college athletics established only for the elite schools. On the other hand, it is totally acceptable for NDSU or SDSU to enjoy their exclusivity as a D1 school??? What if Ohio State and Michigan decide that their value as an athletic enterprise is being diluted by the NDSUs and SDSUs of the world moving into Division I? Is it not OK for those schools to enjoy their "exclusivity" if they so choose?

The "out clause" in the policy has to be there. It's one thing to say you won't play the Bradley Braves in a regular season baseball game. It's entirely different to say you won't play the Florida St. Seminoles in the Fiesta Bowl or the Utah Utes in the NCAA basketball tournament. It's funny how the almighty dollar can make someone forget about their "principles".

I don't believe there is any way to reform college athletics and have it work because it is impossible to save schools from their own stupidity. IMO, 30-50% of the schools in every division are playing at a level above what they can support financially. No matter how many times schools are told that it's foolish to 'sell' home football games in a comical effort to avoid being reclassified, or that it's foolish to switch divisions when you don't have a conference to play in, or that it's foolish to try to compete in D2 football when you can only afford 5 scholarships, someone is always going to try. The best thing that could happen in college sports is if the BCS schools were to break away and form their own super-conference or a whole new association. This would force the rest of the schools to realize that not everyone is capable of competing at the highest level and it would make them take a realistic look at where they stand on the college sports landscape instead of holding on to a pie-in-the-sky dream that one day they'll be in the Big 10.