UND92,96

I don't think anybody is trying to blow any smoke here, or claim this season is anything better than what it is. However, when a team has been in a position to win all of its conference games, only to lose most of them by being out-played late in the second half, or by missing free throws, then clearly it's a reason for optimism to finally pull one out, on the road, short-handed, against the second-place team in the conference.

I believe playing even one play precludes a red-shirt season. For a medical red-shirt, however, the limit is having played in 20 percent of a team's games prior to the season-ending injury.

Maybe Ebanks. The rest will almost certainly red-shirt.

What makes this win all the more impressive and improbable is that it was done not only without Doyle, who's out for the season, but also without Youmans, who didn't make the trip (apparently for disciplinary reasons). Bledsoe was really the only true guard playing for the Sioux tonight, and had to play 34 minutes.

The men may have finally gotten over the hump, winning tonight in St. Cloud. Interestingly, of the four NCC games tonight (two men's and two women's), the underdog won all four.

I compiled some information about all of the commitments thus far. All this information was found on the web, but I make no guarantees of its accuracy, and there are almost certainly some honors certain players earned that I omitted: Catlin Solum, rb, Fargo South, 5'9", 180 2004, 2005 and 2006 all-EDC; 2004 second team all-state; 2005 and 2006 first team all-state; 2006 AAA player of the year; 2006 ND Gatorade player of the year. Broc Bellmore, dl, West Fargo, 6'1", 250 2005 and 2006 all-EDC; 2005 second team all-state; 2006 first team all-state; bench presses 350 lbs. and squats 585 lbs. Dan Hendrickson, lb, Minot, 6'0", 200 Missed much of 2006 season; 2005 first team all-state. Drew Daggett, wr, Frazee (MN), 6'4", 205 Injured for part of 2006 football season; placed third in the 110 hurdles and second in high jump at 2006 state track meet; also part of place-winning 800m and 1600m relay teams. Chris Anderson, wr, Duluth Central, 6'2", 160 Injured and missed part of 2006 season; 2006 all-conference. Josh Murray, rb, Pepin (WI), 5'11", 195 2004, 2005 and 2006 all-conference and honorable mention WFCA all-state; 1088 yards and 19 td's as a senior; rated by wisfootball.net as #7 RB in state; runs 4.5 40; has also scored over 1000 points during his basketball career. Cody Rose, qb, Elmwood (WI), 6'4", 190 Threw for 1080 yards and 13 td's as a senior; 2006 all-conference and honorable mention WFCA all-state; father played for the Buffalo Bills. Brent Goska, db, Wisconsin Rapids, 6'3", 190 2005 second team AP all-state (at qb); 2006 WFCA all-state (at qb); ran the wishbone; named one of the top 20 prospects in Wisconsin by scout.com; rated by ESPN/Scouts, Inc. as #213 QB nationally; rated by wisfootball.net as #26 overall prospect and #2 QB; runs 4.82 40. Kris Ankenbauer, db, Plano (TX), 5'9", 170 2005 and 2006 all-district; ran an electronically timed 4.47 40 yard dash at a Nike camp last summer. Tru Nguyen, lb, Burnsville, 6'0", 200 Named seventh-best college prospect at 2006 MSL/Adidas Chicago combine; 2006 all-conference; bench presses 335 lbs. and squats 450; runs a 4.88 40 yard dash; 32" vertical. John Carruth, wr, Eden Prairie, 6'6", 205 2006 Star Tribune second team all-metro (at tight end); honorable mention all-state. Brandon Quesenberry, ol, Billings West, 6'3", 265 2006 AA first team all-state; placed 2nd in the shot put at 2006 Montana AA state track meet. Mike Ebanks, de/olb, Hibbing Community College, 6'3", 225 2006 all-region; 19 sacks in 2006; runs 4.5 40 yard dash. Matt Simmons, ol, Racine Park (WI), 6'5", 320 2005 AP second team all-state; 2006 WFCA all-state; rated among the top 140 offensive tackles in the country by ESPN/Scouts, Inc.; named one of the top 25 prospects in Wisconsin by scout.com; rated by wisfootball.net as #12 overall prospect and # 3 OL; runs 5.38 40; 20 reps x 185 lbs bench press. Chris Schaan, de, Chandler (AZ) Hamilton, 6'2", 210 2006 second team 5A all-state; 76 tackles and 17 sacks as a senior. Deryk Van Zee, wr, Billings West, 5'10", 175 2005 AA first team all-state (receiver); 2006 AA first team all-state (receiver and punter). Mitch Goertz, lb, D.C. Everest (WI), 6'3", 222 2006 all-conference, all-area and honorable mention WFCA all-state. Mark Kubacki, lb, Stillwater (MN), 6'2", 230 2006 all-conference. Brad Kelley, lb, Coon Rapids (MN), 6'2", 210 2006 A.P. and Pioneer Press honorable mention all-state; 2006 all-conference; led conference in total tackles; #8 in state of MN (all classes) in total tackles. Troy Bryant, db, Menomonie (WI), 6'1", 184 2006 all-conference, all-region and honorable mention WFCA all-state.

With the way the Sioux played over the last 8-9 minutes, I think they would have lost tonight regardless of who they were playing. SCSU is still the worst team in the league, tonight's game notwithstanding. UND won't have to play them in the regional, because SCSU won't be in it. But what tonight's game does show is that the margin for error between UND and everybody else isn't large enough to win without playing relatively well. I don't know whether losing to an average team like SCSU makes it easier or more difficult to take than losing to a really good team like Augie or USD?

Sioux lose. What a complete and utter collapse! Reminds me a little of a game against Northern a few years ago, in which UND gave up a 20-point second half lead. 2 of 19 from 3-point range isn't going to win a lot of games.

Matt's dad is the one who played at Moorhead. With that said, I still suspect that much of the family still has at least some allegiance to UND when compared to NDSU. Whether that's enough to land Matt for the Sioux, I guess we'll find out within the next few days.

UND up 37-30 at the half.

If you believe what Hallstrom says, it's basically down to Minnesota, UND and NDSU. Minnesota has shown interest, but hasn't offered. UND and NDSU have.

The question is, will Minnesota offer? According to Hallstrom's blog today, they haven't yet.

Ryan Bakken weighs in on the subject.

Schaan was second team all-state in Arizona's largest class (5A). link.

Again, taken directly from the NDSU release:

It seems to me that Northern Iowa came closer to making the playoffs than did Cal-Poly. link. This argument is really getting old.

I'm not sure how seriously UND ever recruited him, but Andrew Blacklance from Thief River Falls is apparently going to Northern Iowa, per this blog.

Whatever. I stand by what I posted, which was not insulting in the least towards NDSU. NDSU did not defeat a single team that made the playoffs. With that in mind, any claim that NDSU was the best team in I-AA is highly dubious. Heck, judging by the computer rankings, the best single win by either NDSU or UND was actually UND's win over Northern Iowa. In the end-of-season rankings, they were ranked higher than Ball State or any of NDSU's I-AA opponents.

This is unconfirmed, but according to a poster on the wisconsinpreps.com message board, linebacker Mitch Goertz from D.C. Everest High School has committed to UND.

Undefeated against I-AA competition? Yes. Very good season? Yes. Played any teams that actually made the I-AA playoffs? No.

Mike Ebanks article.

Not that they're a particularly appealing opponent these days, but I wonder why Northern Colorado hasn't been playing the SU's of late in either football or basketball?

I was thinking more along the lines of basketball. I realize football scheduling is far more difficult.

With Tim Tibesar's rapid ascent to defensive coordinator at Kansas State, I would think that once UND is a counter for I-A teams, K-State (or wherever Tibesar is a head coach by then) would be a strong possibility for an opponent. Also, it will be interesting to see whether Buning has any pull in terms of scheduling Army. As an aside, considering Gene Taylor came to NDSU from Navy, isn't it somewhat surprising that the Bison haven't played Navy in any sport?

Didn't he tear his acl during his red-shirt year? I don't remember for sure.