UND92,96

That's why I asked what their excuse is. Between not televising the UNI game (like WDAY did in 2003 when NDSU played @ Montana), and apparently not televising a road playoff game for the first time in memory, something doesn't seem to add up when it comes to WDAZ and UND football. Sweeney needs to explain the situation tonight if he expects to be cut any slack by the viewers on this one.

I understand that it may not be feasible for UND to completely drop WDAZ, but I'd like to think there would be some ramification to DAZ breaking the precedent set years ago that road playoff football games are televised, period.

So has anybody heard of what WDAZ's excuse is? I guarantee that if it was NDSU in the playoffs, whether dII or I-AA, WDAY/Forum Communications would have it on. To the extent it's possible to find a new station to partner with for the FSSN, I think it's time to explore that possibility.

I'm pretty sure the Nebraska-Colorado game is on Friday.

Did they give a reason?

If WDAZ doesn't do everything within their power to get this on tv, it's going to be a huge public relations black eye for them. I know KVLY attempted to get the UC-Davis game back in 2001. I don't know whether they'd ever be willing to travel to Omaha, but I suspect there's a chance if DAZ drops the ball.

According to the Kolpack/Hallstrom blog, both UND and NDSU are recruiting Bismarck linebacker Luke Senger, but UND is offering more scholarship money. Be sure to read the "comments". Somebody rips our ol' buddy Jerome Hattlewick a new one. Funny stuff!

I agree that there were some real positives to be taken from last night's game. I can't help but think what UND could be if the team was actually healthy--Koenig, Bledsoe, Gutter, Dryburgh and Harkins all being either out or coming off a serious injury. The team is definitely more fun to watch than it's been in awhile, and some of the new guys are very talented.

O.K., now I'm worried!

Just to clarify, the walkon I was referring to Holthuson (sp?). She played the final eight minutes of the game. No matter how poorly Langen played in the first half, I would still prefer to have her in the game at crunch time over somebody who has seldom ever played, UNLESS the decision was made that it was more important to teach a lesson rather than win a game. Hence, my comment about how I don't believe Gene necessarily was going all-out to win that game. As for the zone issue, I stand by that opinion. A zone has a place in basketball, although there are still a few oldschool coaches who flat-out refuse to play one. Another prime example of when it was needed was the regional loss to Concordia-St. Paul two years ago. When you're getting killed on penetration and one-on-one play, a zone can limit that.

I didn't even recognize the UND team I saw last night. It was absolutely brutal to watch. I thought Beck and Bergan played well, but most of the rest of the team was terrible. And I honestly don't think Gene was all that interested in winning after the first half performance. I'm not sure how else one would explain why his best player sat the entire second half, while a walk-on played eight minutes in the second half of a close game? I've said it before and I'll say it again, Gene is a great coach, but it would be nice if he'd be willing to actually play zone once in awhile when the situation calls for it. UND was absolutely killed on backdoor plays last night. I think a zone would have stopped a lot of those easy baskets. It's just frustrating that every team UND plays will play zone against the Sioux--and it works when the outside shots aren't falling--but Gene refuses to play anything but man, even when the matchups are a problem.

Nope, both UND and UNA were number one seeds that year. UNA was undefeated and UND had one loss, but that was back when playing a I-AA killed your strength of schedule, and since UNA had played one, that was the difference.

Check this link at page 7 for the answer. The higher seed hosts, provided they meet certain qualifications.

I would describe it as "playing to win;" as opposed to "playing not to lose." I'm pretty confident UND will be playing to win this time. Aggressive playcalling and sure tackling will win this game for the Sioux.

link

It seems pretty weird to have a first-team all-NCC quarterback who threw for a whopping 73 yards per game. I expected to see that back in the days NDSU was running the veer with Jeff Bentrim and Chris Simdorn, but not today. Miller is a running back who happens to line up at quarterback IMO.

link UND first teamers include Dressler (most valuable receiver and also selected as a returner), Chappell, Braegelmann, Enger, Wolff (most valuable d-lineman), Hoffschneider, Ullsperger and Brennan (most valuable linebacker). Second teamers were Troen, Alexander, ZBJ, Hellevang and Halfmann.

Moorhead also beat UMD by 2 on a neutral floor. Of course, I don't think UMD is anywhere near the Sioux this year in terms of talent, but I agree that Moorhead is a legit opponent.

I don't think so. I believe a school has to guarantee a certain amount in order to host. If that guarantee isn't met through ticket sales, I would assume the school must make up the difference. However, the guarantee isn't very large. I think it's something like $5,000 or $10,000 for a first round game. That's why schools like Northwood (under 2000 in attendance) could afford to host.

I would assume so. I don't remember the last time a road playoff game wasn't televised.

I read that, also. Never mind the fact that the official was right there and didn't throw a flag on the Brennan hit. The fact of the matter is that Boettcher simply isn't a particularly good quarterback, and he wasn't going to make much of a difference in the game. Sure, maybe if he plays Winona may have scored 7-10 points (unlikely but possible), but on the other hand, UND could also have scored far more had the dogs not been called off early in the 3rd quarter.

There's no question UND will need to tackle better against Miller in order to win. However, I think one of the reasons I'm so confident about this one is how UND did defending USD. The gameplan should be quite similar--force Miller to beat them by throwing the ball. It worked against a team with a better running back, better receivers and a better passing quarterback. The way the UND offense is playing, I'm quite confident that they'll put up some points--probably 30 or so. If UNO gets behind and has to throw, they could have some problems, unless they get more of those lucky deflected pass receptions again.

If the program is still struggling next year, then there's some concerns. As far as fan support is concerned, UND probably does about as well as a program could considering how many poor seasons there have been over the past decade. To see what losing does to attendance at even a school that prides itself on being a "basketball school," look at what's going on at SDSU.

I'm not really worried for a couple of reasons. One, all five games this year have been played without one key player (Langen for most of the first three; Maffin the past two). Secondly, Langen has been a slow starter all three of her seasons at UND, but chances are in about a month or so she'll be back to what we're used to seeing. This team does apparently have some flaws--probably not enough outside shooting for one--but I think they'll be very tough once at full strength.