homer

Buy- I'm hoping this year he performs as well on the field as he has done recruiting off it. This should be a good year for recruiting with being playoff elgible, being in an well known conference with some great venues to pitch to recruits, the nickname being gone and not used against the program, and extension to let recruits know that the coach will be around awhile if he performs and the all black uniforms this year with replacements for others in the works. Get that IPF done and UND football is in a good spot. The staff has done very good recruiting with every year being better than the last on paper and kids producing on the field. The above should help that tremendously.

I'm betting Kolpack and Coach Bohl are on it. There is no way UND could be ranked that high.

Are you calling Portland St. a lower Big Sky team or are you making reference to SDSoM?

But kind of an important one when it comes to college athletics. What are the others? TV contract- Check Solid conference- Check Program tradition- Check Getting through transition and nickname figured out- Check Facilities- With the addition of the IPC (Check) Coaching- The staff has been improving on the field, has done well recruiting off the field Competitive schedule- Check (minus the SDSoM game, its tough to not look at the home games the next 3 years and not be excited)

Don't worry the Summit will be stable when its NCC 2.0 and when the MVC gets ready to expand, SDSU and USD will make great partners with one another for the jump. NDSU is no longer joined with anyone at the hip and has no travel partner either.

I don't know what type of relationship they have but Bresciani has always come across as a first rate guy. He has stood up for what he feels is best for ndsu and has done a good job there. He has been a good president and I don't see any reason not to believe him. The only people who believed Douple when everything came out were the few bison fans on this site and Star. Everyone else was in the same belief as bin's quote a couple above this one.

But don't forget that it can't be difficult to get the AQ. If its too difficult and the competition is to much, that is seen as a negative by a few of their fans as well.

The fun part is that we get to find out for sure in a couple months. I do know that the UND team you will be seeing this year is much better than the team that visited Missoula a couple years ago. I'm sure it all depends on how much the feds decide to get involved with all the rape incidents your team has been involved with if you can confidently say the same.

I didn't. Just focusing on the fall sports first.

Single digits. Things are picking up around here. I can't wait until fall for football and volleyball to start. I think both sports will have success this season in the Big Sky.

The bolded portion is pretty funny. That is what universities do, including your own. If the opportunity is there to plan ahead why wouldn't you do it. And yes, he is a current donor who has shown interest in donating a large sum for a specifc purpose.

Yourself, Kolpack, Bohl and all the other fans should take that arguement to the people who vote in the polls. I've yet to see them point out any voter who has agreed with their (your) arguement. All they/you have done is take it to the radio and message boards and whine about it. The truth hurts that UND was ranked and your media, coaches and fan base is looking pretty silly trying to come up with every excuse why 10 months later.

Serious question cause I don't know the answer- When is the last time the representative from the Summit league was seeded 4th or lower entering the tourney? How about 6th or lower?

Was it likely thats why they got in or was that why they got in? I've heard nothing that says otherwise. Who's trying to deceive others?

So are you basing your opinion on what your eyes saw or UND's record? I think Tennessee Tech, Stoney Brook, Harvard and Jackson St.'s record were vastly inflated due to the strength of their conferences. Each of those conferences has 5-6 poor teams in them. A team with weaknesses could still win 5-6 games in those conferences.

I'm glad I didn't have to point that out.

They are there. 16 and 25 respectively. Again, key to the playoffs is 7 wins. A average team can be in a poor conference and play two easy nonconference and get to 7 wins.

Obviously UND or Cal Poly did not have enough wins to get into the playoffs last year. If UND, Cal Poly or even SUU were in the Ohio Valley, the Southwestern confernece or the MEAC I don't know how any wins they would have had. There are some pretty poor teams in those conferences and some easy victories. The key to the playoffs is 7 wins, thats it. And yes, those 3 teams teams you named are ranked between 16-25. So were Harvard, Jackson St and Liberty so whats your point.

How many people show up to watch swimming & diving, golf or baseball anyways? Not many. It wouldn't matter if we were in the Big10, no one is showing up to watch golf or S&D or baseball in March or April. When getting into a new conference I'll take common opponents for football, mens and womens basketball and volleyball. Having that and being able to schedule NCC 2.0 as nonconference cannot be spun into a bad thing. Hockey has always been in its own conference and has established itself with those opponents and is doing just fine where its at.

Again, pick a school ranked 20 or below and in my opinion they don't walk through the GreatWest. Was the winner of the conference last year a top 15 team? Absolutely not, no one on this board is saying they were. However, I would feel pretty confident with UND or Cal Poly facing any of those teams 16 and lower. They wouldn't win them all, but I feel they would win more than they would lose.

Based on your "nonbiased" opinion?

I don't think one of the players coming in necessarily has to be a better player than one of the starters to get the nod. If they can come in and play better within the system and make those around them better, the overall quality of play of the 5 on the floor will increase. Even if the overall talent level isn't as high. Bottom line is we will have to wait until the season starts to see how good these players truely are and how it affects the lineup.

Have Kolpack, Boll and company got anyone to admit they made a mistake? Just curious cause I'm sure they called every voter. They have had 10 months.

Do you feel the winner of the Great West should be ranked or do you feel winning the Great West is not a big accomplishment? I don't think some of those teams ranked 18 and below would have walked through the Great West like you like to assume.

I'd say that the Great West champion, even though its a 5 team league, should be ranked in the 15-25 range if they have a winning record. Unless you want to downplay winning the Great West.