UND92,96

UND probably has a guaranteed eight tough games right off the bat. SCSU was supposedly the worst NCC team this year, and we all know how close we came to losing that one. Assuming another game against a I-AA team, that's nine tough games. That leaves two more to be scheduled, since the Herald article yesterday indicated UND would like to get back to an 11-game schedule. To me, one of those two games has to be against a "lesser" opponent, to prevent a potentially suicidal schedule. Sure, we could theoretically get a game against a GLIAC or MIAA team, but it's very tough to get games against the GLIAC because they only have one open week from their conference schedule. As for the MIAA, other than NW Mo. State, it's questionable how good those teams are these days, given how Pitt State did against BSU, and the fact that Winona State actually beat two MIAA teams this year.

What's the latest on Harkins' condition? Will he play this year?

The Herald has a couple of articles today on the football season, and on the prospects for next season. Listed as newcomers to watch were Jake Landry, Kenley Wahlin, Nate Rambeck and Creighton Schroyer on offense, and Joel Schwenzfeier, Paul German, Ryan Kasowski, Ty Boyle and Dylan Glaser on defense.

Thanks--I was thinking this was Mary's only season as a provisional dII member. As for BSU, maybe the fact that they didn't lose badly to Pitt State last week will convince Tesch that he doesn't need to be afraid to schedule a strong, fully-funded program like UND. Given the proximity of the schools, the connection between Tesch and Lennon, the fact that BSU will likely be the pre-season NSIC favorite, and the fact that the two schools play in every other sport, it seems like a no-brainer that these teams should play.

I believe this will be the first recruiting weekend, and it should be a good one with Wisconsin in town for hockey. I understand the Brackins kid from I-Falls will be one of the prospective recruits visiting.

Question--considering the inexperience at quarterback and to a lesser extent on defense, who should UND be looking to play for non-conference games next year? Winona is definitely not on the schedule again, but what about another NSIC team expected to be at or near the top of their conference? I know Mary has an open date for September 1. That game may not be popular in many people's eyes, but obviously Dale Lennon did coach there, and it would probably be a good idea from a "strength of schedule" standpoint. It would also probably give a young quarterback a better chance to succeed and gain confidence than would playing against a I-AA or a traditional dII power. Just a thought.

Wayne Nelson touches on some of the same things we've been discussing in this thread in an article today: [url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=19727

Konrath, Gudmunson and Setness are all in the running, I'm sure, but I think the reason people are speculating that it's mostly a Freund vs. Landry competition is because Lennon himself indicated as much on one of the coaches' shows a month or two ago. I know a lot of people are understandably skeptical about a freshman potentially starting at quarterback, since it hasn't happened in recent history at UND, but keep in mind that Shepard at USD was a freshman this year, and he did pretty well. Also, Reilly at CWU was quite good in 2005 as a freshman, and they didn't even have a running game to take some of the pressure off. Ditto for Schlafke from UMD in 2005.

I'm not saying that it's right for the coaches to publicly call out a player or players. But now that the cat is apparently out of the bag, I think it's fair game for us to speculate that perhaps there's a measure of truth to it. And if so, that's a concern. The underachieving comment is directed at the fact that three of the last six games have resulted in a loss and two close wins over teams with significantly less talent than UND (IMO). Mary has one win, I believe. Northern is pretty good, but probably no better than Moorhead, who UND defeated convincingly. I don't know that much about Lewis, but I wasn't all that impressed with their talent. I've only seen the home games, but I just can't say that UND is playing anywhere close to their ability. Or maybe they are, and they're just not as good as I thought. In either case, it's a little disappointing. As for the men, I just like what I'm seeing from them. I think they're showing a lot of improvement. The women seem to be great one game, and average the next.

One might be able to make the case that the criticisms are somewhat unwarranted if they weren't coming directly from the coaching staff (and not just Roebuck), but it certainly appears to me that if the coaches are displeased, then it's not entirely unfair for the fans to be a little restless, as well. I can accept it if a player is giving her all but the results just don't come because of perhaps a lack of ability or a bout of cold shooting; but when effort is allegedly a problem, it should be a concern to anybody who cares about the program. The sky isn't falling and the Sioux are still a good team, but let's not kid ourselves and act like there's nothing to be concerned about. For the first time in several years, I actually feel like the men's team is more fun to watch for the simple fact that they seem to be giving all they have and are arguably overachieving. The women, while probably one of the most talented dII teams in the country, are arguably underachieving, despite their very good record.

Unfortunately, I don't think the coaches' shows are available over the internet. They're on 96.1 FM, but as far as I can tell, you can't pick up that station on the web except for when games are actually on. I agree that the team seems to have a tendency to coast. With all due respect to Northern, Lewis and Mary, these are teams that UND should dominate, and it hasn't happened. Northern was actually better last year, and look how badly the Sioux beat them in the regional. If the effort and consistency don't pick up soon, UND will lose several games this year. Teams like the Seattle schools, SCSU, Augie, USD and UNO will be tough to beat on the road, and in some cases even at home.

Roebuck can be pretty blunt, but I don't think it's at all typical to be publicly critical of players' effort.

I agree that he's got a very difficult job ahead of him. That was as bad of a team as I've seen in a long time.

Did anyone happen to see the game in Bismarck last night? It sounded like the Sioux took a step (or two) backwards. Roebuck didn't sound too pleased in the post-game interview.

People who haven't seen a UND men's game for awhile really should check them out this year. This team is definitely headed in the right direction.

Considering the uncertainty at quarterback and the major graduation losses on defense, would it be a good idea to schedule another I-AA (I'm not ready to start calling it by that other name yet) team next year? I'm thinking no, but I'll admit there are good arguments on the other side.

Obviously the UND men's basketball team has a new coach, and the play is already improved over recent years despite not having much of a chance to recruit yet. Two programs that SHOULD be cause for concern for their fans are the NDSU women's basketball program, and the SDSU men's basketball program.

I think attendance is down all over the NCC due to having too many non-conference games in a short period of time and often on weeknights, and the loss of traditional rivals which drew very large crowds, bringing up the season average. Finally, the odd-number of teams in the NCC has resulted in a lot of one-game weekends, with that one game often being on a Thursday. Thursday games are never going to draw as well as Friday or Saturday, although I realize Thursday-Saturday games will be the norm for a dI conference. I have been going to UND basketball games my entire life, and I can recall many seasons where every conference game had crowds far in excess of the Betty's capacity. Granted, with the move to dI and the fact that men/women doubleheaders will cease to happen, things may never be exactly the same as they were, but I have no doubts that 3300 will be far too small of a capacity once UND is in a dI conference, and has decent teams.

There was a pretty long thread on this subject last year. I believe the problem is that the Betty was rushed so that it would be completed in time for use during the world juniors a couple of years ago. I place far more blame on REA than on UND for the problems with its size and to a lesser extent its design. Had the men's basketball program been anywhere close to the level it was during the early 90's, there's no way the Betty could have been used for conference games last year, at least not without losing out on a huge amount of revenue due to ticket demand far exceeding supply. Most basketball fans I know are quite disappointed with the seating capacity of the Betty.

It just seems weird that the series with Northern, Concordia-St. Paul and Moorhead have all been what we would expect--we go there one year and they come here the other--but with Bemidji we go there two years in a row.

It's kind of interesting that Metro State, who UND beat a few weeks ago on a neutral court without Maffin and with a still-hobbled Langen, has gone on to beat St. Cloud State by 18, and just knocked off number one ranked Emporia State. Metro's only loss is to UND.

Exactly. UND has a better coaching staff, better facilities, and a far better history of success in football than does SDSU. I found it pretty interesting that Lennon makes roughly $25,000 more annually than Stiegelmeier.

UND played UMC both at home and on the road last year. I know non-conference games are tough to come by since so many of them are needed with just a seven-team conference, but I just can't understand why we would agree to travel to Bemidji two years in a row unless it was part of a home-and-home series like last year with UMC, and like the men have had with BSU the past few years.

I just noticed a rather odd scheduling quirk--UND is playing at Bemidji State for the second year in a row. What's up with that?

I'm not sure of the exact nature of his injury, or when it occurred, but I believe it was a lower body injury, and I know it was season-ending.