RD17

Honestly, UND hockey gets the name out there "everywhere", which gives the school an unique advantage. Example: I can think of 3-4 different places where I've seen a UND hat or jersey for sale in Kansas City. Never seen any merchandise from any of the other Dakota schools here, despite the fact that there is a Summit school in town and it is within the MVFC footprint.

Incorrect, for the reason I just stated: UND is an established brand in MN and WI.

I think the part you're missing is that UND is a brand that is already well established to the east. The school is so well known and the recruiting ties so entrenched in MN and WI that recruiting those states won't be an issue regardless of conference affiliation.

And because of this past success "on its own", UND views the world of college athletics through a completely different paradigm than the other Dakota schools. The Vandrovecs of the world will never understand...

Wouldn't ORU going to the Southland pretty much mean that MVC expansion is definitely not happening anytime soon? I would think that after SLU, ORU would be near the top of the heap of potential MVC candidates. If ORU had any indication that an MVC opportunity may present itself in the next 2-3 years, wouldn't they have stuck it out in the Summit?

Very well stated. I don't think many people are able to grasp just how much the balance of power is going to shift from east to west in ND over the next several years.

Yep. I was saying the same thing yesterday, but I didn't use your pretty map : While it is true that conference expansion by anyone can't be ruled out, it is simply myopic to believe that NDSU would be near the top of the MVC's list.

He just doesn't get it. UND didn't/doesn't want the Summit because a) the Big Sky is more prestigious and b) it offers a home for football. Vandrovec has worked in Fargo and Sioux Falls so he has apparently become indoctrinated into the COU complex that dominates those two communities. To those who think like Vandrovec, UND should be willing to put aside its own self interest (having a league for football in particular) to be part of what Fargo, Sioux Falls and the other Dakota schools see as important.

Take a look at a map. The MVC is in contiguous states. The league works because it has great basketball within a tight geographic footprint. There is no way it leapfrogs South Dakota to take NDSU.

What makes you think the MVC will ever come knocking? You do realize that the MVC hasn't added a school in 17 years and has had just one departure in the last 26 years? If the MVC announced tomorrow it was expanding, it would have interest from probably a dozen or more schools, with NDSU way down on its list. If the MVC ever did decide to expand northward, NDSU would be third in line behind USD and SDSU just based on geography. I've said it before and I'll say it again: if Taylor et al would have been smart enough to allow Summit football to happen as a parallel league to the MVFC, future stability could have been created for the Summit League as a whole. Without football, the Summit is and forever will be nothing more than a "starter" league that everyone seeks to escape at its first opportunity. Thank goodness that UND skipped that step in the process.

As long as no one messes with the leprechaun: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/column-little-chapman-high-still-the-fighting-irish-but-the-leprechaun-had-to-go/2011/10/20/gIQAu9Oh1L_story.html

If you read the entire Fullerton Interview link posted by Smoggy last week there were two questions posed to Fullerton in reference to future TV contracts in the Big Sky: I'm not sure why it's hard for people to believe that the Big Sky could land something along the lines of a national TV package.The MEAC and SWAC are both on ESPNU while Division II even has a nationally televised game of the week on CBS College Sports. With the BSC having a presence in so many major media markets in the West, it only makes sense. Link to the entire Fullerton interview: http://sacstatesports.com/2011/10/14/sac-state-sports-interview-qa-with-big-sky-commissioner-doug-fullerton/#more-1189

FCS football is a financial disaster as it is. Adding full cost of attendance scholarships would make FCS football as a model completely unsustainable. UND needs to "pass through" FCS and move to FBS as soon as feasible.

Football teams don't get better when defensive linemen go down. It is a position that by its nature requires depth to keep people fresh during games and throughout the season. Jay Nelson is a pretty good player stepping in for Belmore, but he doesn't bring the same level of physicality against the run. Bellmore was special in that regard and not someone that can necessarily be replaced. Spencer Cummings could eventually end up being one of the best DEs UND has ever had and he will be asked to do a lot more as a RS Fr. Caleb Gillson will get his shot to step in and start at RT and I think he is a pretty good player. Getting half a season to start at RT could actually end up being a huge benefit as five "starters" on the line will return next year. That said, I think the OL is now down to six guys that are "game ready". The sixth is RS Fr. Shea Walker, who I have heard has very bright future as an interior lineman. I don't think we will suddenly see a major drop off in production as things stand now but one more major injury on the OL will make things very difficult.

Mussman will have the rest of this year and next year to prove he can do it. The situation he entered wasn't ideal because the program was declining in talent at the same time it moved up a level. I believe this had more to do with Buning's ineptitude than anything the coaches did, but certainly Lennon needs to accept some of that blame. I do believe that, considering the circumstances, the results of the first two transition years were acceptable while last season was obviously not. By next year Mussman needs to have this program humming or it will be time to go in another direction. We will know much more about whether the arrow is pointing up or down based on what happens the next two months.

It's all coming together now. The alleged phone call from Bohl to Mollberg on Saturday from TCF Stadium was likely to inform him that his stock was dropping as a QB and that NDSU was now only offering a partial scholarship to him. He would be have to earn time as a special teamer, and with some hard work may get a shot as a back up safety at some point later in his career. Fearful that he may end up in the MIAC if he didn't act quickly, Mollberg went with the backup plan and committed to UND on the spot. Sure, it was a rash decision and not really what he wanted, but at least it's a full ride and he gets to play QB. And the real reason for the soft verbal isn't really due to the potential of Iowa offering, because Bison fans have already informed Kirk Ferentz through an extensive email campaign that Mollberg is no longer a D-I quality QB. Mollberg may come to his senses however and accept a $500 per semester offer to go play QB at MSU-Moorhead where he can stay in the bright lights of the Fargo media market.

Yep, Mollberg may be good enough to get an offer from a Big 10 school as a QB but would never see the field in that capacity if he went to NDSU. Makes perfect sense.

I think the decision to stay so vanilla offensively in this game was probably a good one. BHSU runs a 3-3 scheme with a lot of movement and the coaches probably felt they would do as Drake did and send a bunch of exotic blitzes, cause pass blocking issues, and expose weaknesses on film. So the decision was made to just pound the ball at BHSU, which worked so well that the first four TD runs by UND were on the same exact run play to the same side of the formation. I also like the fact that Bradley has only thrown one interception in 97 attempts so far this year. I thought his big weakness would be carelessness with the ball after what he did as a JUCO but that has not been the case. So obviously ball security is being preached to him by the coaches and it seems to be getting through to him. He is going to have to start making more plays as the season progresses, but at least he isn't hurting the team to this point with bad decisions.

SUU is good... I would say a legit top 10-15 FCS team. That loss to SDSU in the opener could haunt them come playoff time however. Offensively, the QB is awesome. But, they don't have the talent at WR that they have had the last couple of years. The OL is huge, but their backs are pretty average so the running game is suspect (as it was last year). Sorenson is good enough to beat teams on his own, but has almost thrown as many picks this year (5) as he did all of last year (6). He is going to throw for 300+ most likely, but UND needs to find a way to create a couple of turnovers like SDSU did. With just two interceptions all year by the Sioux defense, I'm not banking on it. The reason SUU was so tough defensively last year is that they had the two best corners in the conference. They also moved a former starting corner to strong safety so they had great man coverage skills in the secondary. The best corner graduated, but the other two secondary guys are still there along with an All-America caliber DE and one real good linebacker. They still like to play press coverage and with five pick 6's in the first four games I'd say it's working. They want to take away the short stuff and dare teams to throw over the top, which obviously works quite well for them. For UND to have a chance they HAVE to run the football well (40+ times for 200+ yards). Pass blocking is not the strength of this OLine and I don't like the thought of DeNeui and McKendry having to go one on one with one of the best DE's in the country 30+ times in pass protection. So, even though there will be complaints on this board for them to open up the offense, UND's best shot of winning is to continue to pound the football on the ground like they have the past couple of weeks and not turn it over. With SUU's defensive style and the way they will load up the box, there will be a lot of 1-3 yards runs. But give Miller and Garman enough touches and hopefully they can break a couple big ones which in turn may open up some play action passing. Like others have mentioned, SUU is an overall bad match up for UND and it will take a very well played game by the Sioux to come out of there with a win.

My two concerns about Bradley would be 1) he is just a second year college player and 2) he threw a lot of interceptions last year. If he's the best UND has then they need to go with him, but I'm not 100% confident we will see major improvement at the QB position this year.

You make a very good point about the differences between UND and the other three Dakota schools when they entered their respective transitions. Plus UND already has a top-notch D-I program bringing in Minnesota, Wisconsin etc. on a regular basis so it is much easier for Sioux fans to just put football on the back burner when things don't go well. I would also argue that the USF loss burst the bubble so to speak with the average fan. From the start of the 2008 season up to and including the USF game, UND averaged about 9950 fans per game including two games of over 12,000 fans. Since that loss, UND is averaging about 7800 fans per game with just one game exceeding 10,000. I said at the time that it was a foolish decision to schedule USF and it has proven to be a real mistake. I think the fans are still out there, but are in wait and see mode when it comes to football at this point. They want this transition to be over and to see a successful team on the field against real opponents (i.e. Big Sky) and with something to play for. If things can get rolling again next year, it won't be long before another attendance record is set and we are talking about the Alerus being too small. Also, to get this thread a bit back on topic, someone told me last week that the new IPF will include offices, meeting rooms, weight room etc. for the football program. If so, this will be as big or bigger for the program than the indoor field itself. Also have heard that the ball is already rolling to have a new stadium in place at the time the Alerus lease runs out (7 years?). Just curious if anyone else out there knows if what I have been told is true.

Great post. This data points out the tremendous growth potential UND athletics has. Many of the other FCS programs are relying on student fees and outrageous amounts of institutional support to fund their programs while UND actually has butts in the seats. If we can get the indoor practice facility built soon and then eventually a 20K + football stadium built on campus, this university will have they tools it needs to develop into a very good D-I athletic program.

The NSIC plays a 10-game conference schedule. The ONLY open date SCSU could possibly have would be week one, which is when UND has Drake scheduled. This game will not be happening, at least not in 2011.

As I've mentioned in other threads, at any point in the last 5 years the Standing Rock Tribal Council could have taken the time it's taking me to write this post to give UND permission and we wouldn't be in this situation. So, at this point we have a choice. We can either be bitter and angry and obsess over why UND isn't going to be the Fighting Sioux anymore. Or we can use that energy to do something positive and have an influence on a new nickname. Since the former is a waste of my time, I'm going to choose the latter.

I think this is a great addition to the schedule. Early season games always do well from an attendance standpoint and next year's team is still going to be young and will be breaking in a new QB. It should be a big help to have a very winnable game like this before taking on the two FBS teams. As far as the rest of the schedule, I'm not that worried about it. We know Cal Poly and USD will be coming to the Alerus, so that is at least two attractive games. And it's the last year of the transition and we just have to get through it while looking ahead to a much brighter future in the Big Sky. 2012 should feature a home schedule of SDSU, Central Arkansas, and four BSC schools (one of which will likely be Montana or Montana State). I can wait for that.