UND92,96

Sorry, but I had to stick up for my alma mater.

I maintain my stance that I would really prefer UND to stay dII barring a dI conference invite or a big football scholarship cut. But IF dI is the direction UND is heading, what are people's thoughts of how it would affect UND basketball? My own personal opinions are: pro's 1. men would probably start getting the caliber of players we were getting in the 70's, early 80's, and early 90's. 2. occasional (road) games vs. big name opponents. 3. women would probably be immediately very competitive with all but the elite teams. con's 1. conference? 2. lower attendance due to poor home schedule, which would be an even bigger problem without a conference. 3. increased expenses, which would hurt even more considering number 2 above. 4. while it may help men's recruiting, it could very well hurt the women's recruiting. 5. no more national championship possibilities for women. 6. lengthy period of post-season ineligibility, which would be a much bigger problem for the women than the men. Thoughts?

I have to take issue with the highlighted statement, as Central did beat South in the regular season in football, and was ranked first in the state for most of the second half of the season.

I have been watching that situation, also. It's extremely difficult to get "name" dI schools to travel to low to mid major schools. Looking at Montana's schedule, they very rarely get anybody decent to travel there either, and obviously they've been dI for many years. But of course, at least they have conference games with established rivals to make up for their lack of attractive non-conference home games. Maybe getting guarantees would offset the lack of home attendance to a degree, but as far as ticket sales are concerned, a move to dI would likely have a negative impact for UND. I think that's a very important fact that needs to be considered in discussing a potential dI move.

It's tough to be too critical of a 32-point win, but I was a little disappointed in how many easy baskets the Sioux gave up, and in how few turnovers were forced. I suppose it can be chalked up to the fact that the level of intensity against an obviously overmatched opponent isn't going to be the same as it would be against a Concordia-St. Paul, for example, especially in the last game before the Christmas break.

Who is going to step forward and stake a claim to the starting 3 position? Maffin had started for most of the first 13 games, but is struggling right now and has a low field goal percentage. Guinn started last night and is shooting better than Maffin, but has had a bit of a problem with turnovers. I realize both are coming off serious injuries, which is difficult for anybody. Hopefully one of them can step forward over the next few non-conference games, because NCC play is coming up fast. That position will be important because whomever is playing there will likely get a lot of open looks as teams will continue to focus on trying to stop the inside game.

UND certainly does have a good history with Stephen and/or Argyle, particularly with the Borowicz brothers, and now with Halfmann and Safranski. Plus, as I mentioned before, if Gratzek is as good of a student as it appears he is, he should have a good chance at the equivalent of a full ride between academic and football scholarship money. That would negate one of the primary advantages NDSU has over UND (ability to offer full rides).

UND is up to number 2 in the latest poll.

If Anderson visited UND this past weekend (last week's Forum article said he was scheduled to), I wouldn't be surprised if he commits to one or the other as early as this week since he's probably taken all the official visits he's going to take. Hopefully Trenbeath and Oksendahl are talking to him often since I assume both are home for Christmas break.

The league definitely looks tough this year. What I find encouraging is that we all probably agree that UND is better and deeper than last year, and last year UND went a combined 5-0 vs. UMD and SCSU. I am quite certain that neither St. Cloud nor Duluth has added anything close to what UND has in terms of newcomers. Plus, St. Cloud has played a very soft non-conference schedule which could hurt them a bit once NCC play starts. Duluth relies so much on Dietz that they will be vulnerable, especially in those games where she struggles. That was how UND absolutely throttled them by 35 last year in Grand Forks.

It looks like a few of the players have really struggled with their shooting the past couple of games. Hopefully it's just a matter of being tired from finals and/or the fact that the season has been a little longer than it normally would have been at this point due to the early start at the Disney tournament. On the plus side, Langen really seems to have elevated her game recently. If the outside shooting can get back to where it should be, along with Langen's dominating play inside, we'll really see what this team is capable of.

There was a death in her family.

Sioux seem to have things back on track after that woeful performance in the UMC game, and lead Bemidji 48-27 at the half.

BSU certainly has talent, but I can't help but wonder what their graduation rate has been since Gunther left? Sure, it's nice to have better talent and more wins, but is it worth it to bring in 8-10 new transfers every year in return for 17-18 wins per season? I believe 20 wins is the most they've had since they've gone to this virtually-all-transfer method of building a team. Maybe an argument can be made that there's nothing wrong with it, if a decent percentage of the players actually graduate, but if not, then no way. Glas and Hennessy were having an interesting conversation about that very thing last Wednesday night on the coaches' show, but unfortunately I only heard bits and pieces of it due to poor reception.

For what it's worth, I think Roebuck agrees with you. It's kind of ironic that going dI would probably help the men's program, but could very well have a corresponding negative impact on the women. Personally, I'd prefer to do what's best for the women, but it seems that dI is the direction the athletic department is heading.

From today's Herald regarding Travis Mertens:

Another Wisconsin kid UND is apparently recruiting. link.

It was apparently a good game between Crookston and GFC yesterday. Wahlin scored 27, Seay 26, and Crookston won by 5. link. If her stats so far are any indication, Seay should have a very good chance at ND Ms. Basketball this year.

This was a mild surprise to me, but NDSU seems to be a bit lacking in offensive firepower. They clearly couldn't handle Dietz at all. This is just my personal opinion, but it appears as though NDSU's recruiting has really fallen off in recent years. Since signing Katie Lorenz--who is certainly an excellent player--they haven't really brought in many "difference makers" in the past 3-4 years.

UND is reportedly showing interest in a kid from Colorado. link.

Here's [url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=111818

I can only assume the Betty expenses have something to do with the disproportionately large number, although in reality I don't understand the point of artificially inflating both the reported expenses AND the revenue for basketball (revenue is reported to be $640,000+). In any event, regardless of the "real" number, it appears the NCC schools are spending the most in general, without getting much bang for their buck, particularly when compared to Winona.

I realize the numbers from the OPE site are by no means 100% reliable, but I thought this was interesting, anyway. I've ranked all the teams in the NCC and NSIC based upon how much they reportedly spend on their men's basketball program according to the most recent numbers available: 1. UND $711,657 2. UNO $420,417 3. Augie $413,732 4. SCSU $363,632 5. Mankato $352,150 6. Northern $341,570 7. UMD $338,672 8. USD $329,740 9. Southwest MN $310,250 10. Concordia-SP $284,693 11. Wayne $248,549 12. Bemidji $216,053 13. Moorhead $199,121 14. Winona $190,023 15. UMC $158,220 Again, these numbers may or may not be truly accurate, but they were reported to the federal government, so I would hope there's some basis for them. Clearly we're not getting our money's worth if the UND number is anywhere near accurate. And that holds true even if the "real" number is actually closer to what UNO and Augie are supposedly spending.