UND92,96

Looks like there's still a possibility of playing Cal Poly in 2008: link

My thoughts exactly.

Mankato hired Todd Hoffner, who was USD's offensive coordinator the past two years. He's originally from Esmond (ND), and got his master's from UND.

Does anybody remember whether there were any internal candidates that made the list of finalists when either Baker or Kupchella were hired? I'm just wondering whether Smith and Elbert's chances are more likely helped or harmed by their status as UND grads and deans? I have no idea what to expect from the board, particularly with Paulsen as president.

Sun Prairie (WI) OL Matt Stieber has been invited to walk-on at UND. link

If Ms. Burke gets the job, would Steve Brekke's job title become "senior men's administrator"?

Not to my knowledge. Maybe the Standing Rock tribal council put the kibosh on it?

Minutes from the November IAC meeting included some discussion about the AD position.

I think there may have been an article about his commitment to UND written by Erik Lofdahl on the minnesotapreps site, but it was a subscription article and I don't know exactly what it said. In any event, it's not a huge deal either way. It's not like UND is in need of another kicker until the 2010 season, anyway.

Yes, recruiting juco players this spring will be crucial to being able to field a competitive team next year, even considering the likely very weak schedule we'll have. Besides Travis Bledsoe, there will be very little proven scoring coming back.

The odd thing is that the kid apparently hasn't even taken his recruiting visit to NDSU yet. According to him (on the minnesotapreps board), he's visiting there this weekend.

St. Cloud has been pretty bad on the road, so I think that's winnable. Maybe UMD and UNO at home? I think it will be very tough to beat Augie. Had they not gotten the Iowa State transfer, maybe. But he's really good.

I too like Jossy, and would like to see her get more consistent minutes at the point. Of course, I'm not at practice so I don't know who does what and who earns the minutes. It's kind of too bad that Karla Beck isn't really the ball handler you need at the point, because she is actually the team leader in assists, and has by far the best assist-to-turnover ratio on the team.

True. Western Oregon is the only win against a dII with a .500 or better record.

UND is currently 11-7, with a minimum of 10 games remaining (nine regular season games plus at least one NCC tournament game). Do people now expect them to finish at, above or below .500? I'm going to guess 14-14. Up until the USD performance, I had really thought that at a minimum, we would win all of the home games except USD, and maybe win one or two on the road. Now, with two of the first three NCC games being very poor performances, I'm not so sure that's realistic. Thoughts?

I agree. I could see him as a nice fullback.

I'm not sure, but I'd say the chances are good. I have a feeling UND will sign a couple more offensive linemen, and Jordan Anderson and Andrew Anderson (Crookston) would appear to be good candidates to fill out this already nice group. That's strictly a guess, however.

According to a poster on the minnesotapreps board, Sims has committed to USD. It will be interesting to see whether they project him as a RB, because I believe UND was recruiting him as a DB.

Ditto. I would love to see Bruce Smith get the job.

According to Erik Lofdahl of minnesotapreps.com, Glencoe-Silver Lake QB-DB Matthew Muenchow is going to either UND or NDSU.

Some more superlatives for UND women's basketball from the WBCA: link

Probably this week. Last year's first poll was released January 24.

Speaking of point guards, I can't help wondering why Andrea LaFrance didn't red-shirt? Considering how little she's played (presumably due in part to injuries), it seems like kind of a shame that she's using a year of eligibility this year.

I believe he's a walk-on.

I don't know whether UND will need a new stadium in the foreseeable future or not, but people really need to quit focusing on playoff attendance as a barometer of interest in the program. Playoff attendance tends to be far different from regular season attendance not just at UND, but at many other schools, as well. There are a variety of reasons for it that have been discussed ad nauseum. The regular season average this year was 10,790, which I believe would have been a record at UND. I think it's reasonable to assume that once the home schedule gets to the point where we have several home games against strong opponents every year, that will increase. Whether it increases to the point where the Alerus is simply too small, we'll have to wait and see. In any event, if a new stadium is built, I think it's safe to say that it will be a result of a Engelstad-esque donation, and if a person (or people) want to make that kind of donation for a stadium, then more power to them.