UND92,96

I agree that it's likely to come down to UND and the SCSU-Augie winner. The bottom line for the Sioux is we need to shoot it better from outside. Teams are not going to let Langen beat them for the 3rd or 4th time in a season, so they'll just double her all the time or sit back in a tight zone. We'll go as far as the outside shooting of Mahlum, Boese, Maffin, Guinn and Jahner will take us. And unfortunately, another shooting performance like today's could very easily result in a loss. You're not going to win very often shooting 34%.

Of current local or formerly local coaches, you have to look at Craig Smith, Craig Irwin and Brad Huse. I'm not aware of anybody else who would be as good or better of a candidate locally. I'm hearing rumblings that Margenthaler from Mankato may be headed to a division I job (Idaho St?), so another good job may be opening which will attract attention from most of the same people who would apply for the UND position should it open up within the next few weeks.

I'm surprised they have two games in which conference foes are playing each other in the first round since it was easily avoidable, but such is life I guess.

CSU-Pueblo won the RMAC tournament to get that conference's autobid, and I think it's almost certain they'll get the number 8 seed, and play UND in the first round. The Sioux beat Pueblo 89-47 earlier this year. I'm guessing that Wayne State will be the only team in the regional that UND has not played this year. I'll guess the seeds will be as follows: 1. UND 2. SCSU 3. Wayne St. 4. Regis 5. Northern St. 6. Augie 7. Concordia-SP 8. CSU-Pueblo

From today's McFeely column:

But have things really changed that much? Again, I bring up the name Dave Gunther. I'm not saying it was a mistake to have forced him out, but if anybody had earned the right to go out on his own terms, it was Gunther. I see absolutely no reason why Glas has gotten so much more leeway, except for the fact that former a.d.'s Gino and probably Wanless were more willing to pull the trigger than RT was. Time will tell as to whether Buning will do what so obviously needs to be done.

Looks like some opposing teams' fans are voting.

Glas actually did make at least a cameo appearance last night, as I was sitting right in front of him during the RR-South game. On another note, while I'm not trying to be a smarta$$, I'm surprised that as many as 5 people (so far) have voted for Glas to stay. I assume those people also feel that Dave Gunther got the short end of the stick, as he was forced out after six sub-par seasons, which is far fewer than what Glas has had. And of course, had Gunther not been forced out, Glas would probably have never gotten the UND job. Ironic, isn't it?

I think it would be a shame if it wasn't discussed. To pretend things are fine with the men's basketball program right now would require somebody to be in complete and total denial. If Rich can't see that he should voluntarily step down, then he's the one in denial. 11 years in a row without so much as a top-2 finish in the NCC is more than enough to justify a change, with this past season being the last straw.

We can only hope that Buning is thinking along the same lines.

A couple of big upsets in the quarterfinals of the RMAC tournament last night, including Regis losing. Metro and Fort Hays also lost. Hopefully Kearney can win the tournament, otherwise somebody is going to get the autobid who wouldn't have otherwise had any chance to get in, and a more deserving team will be squeezed out. Here's the most recent regional poll:

It would normally happen shortly after the season. If nothing has happened by the weekend of the final four (division I), I suspect Glas will be back again next year.

Yes.

UNO beat USD tonight, so the Sioux will be playing the Mavs on Saturday. That makes for a better matchup for UND IMO, since USD made it difficult for Langen by forcing her away from the basket on defense.

I suspect Tusculum would have been either undefeated or very close to it had they played Charleston's schedule. I just would prefer to see a team that could conceivably provide a challenge to the Sioux. I don't think anybody in the WVIAC would do that. Tusculum was evidently a bit down last year, but was 9-2 in 2003 and above .500 in 2004.

That game could possibly be beneficial from an RPI standpoint--although I'm not sure how the RPI works exactly--but the West Virginia conference is brutal. I think any team in that league would be blown out by 50-60 points against anybody from the NCC.

Tusculum also has an open date which would work for that week before the Central Washington game. They appear to be the only decent opponent with that open date according to those listed on d2football.com.

I thought these comments by Gene Roebuck in a McFeely Forum column today were interesting:

You are correct. Lorenz played in two regional tournaments--2003 and 2004. UND and NDSU played each other in one of those years, and UND won. She must have been talking about a regular season game.

1986 was the last year UND didn't have an all-conference player.

According to the media guide, it hasn't happened since 1986.

I'm assuming that Quigley is going to be named NCC mvp, but I really think that honor should go to Kristi Boese. Yes, Quigley has the bigger point and rebound numbers, but Boese is ranked in the top 6 in the league in points, rebounds AND assists, and she is a far superior defensive player than is Quigley. Of course, the team accomplishments are far more important than are individual honors, but I really feel that Boese deserves the honor of being named conference mvp. Even if she doesn't get it, she's clearly the most COMPLETE player in the league.

Go to the "thoughts on the Betty" thread for an explanation.

I can't completely discount the rationale for waiting, but I just don't want to feel as though we're throwing next season completely away by retaining the current regime for yet another season. Craig Smith is the current Mayville State head coach and a UND grad. He's only been a head coach for two years, so he'd be something of a gamble, but I figure if a guy can win in Mayville, North Dakota, he can win anywhere. He was also a Tim Miles assistant for awhile. Craig Irwin is the head coach of ND State College of Science. He's been very successful there. I believe his winning percentage is over .800 during his six years there. Somebody on this board mentioned that he's related to Roebuck, but I don't know that for certain. Normally I wouldn't be too enthused about a juco coach, but we did do pretty well the last time a UND basketball program hired somebody from the juco ranks (Roebuck). The ex-Jamestown College coach is Brad Huse. He would also be a good candidate if he's interested in coming back to North Dakota.

Hiring a new coach is really the only thing that may stop the exodus of fans after the women's game. I don't think wins and losses are the main issue. Give me a team that plays hard, plays with some emotion and has a good scheme which results in somebody getting a quality shot most offensive possessions. Fans can get behind a team like that even if they're not necessarily the most talented, and even if their record isn't necessarily spectacular. With UND, either there's not a very good scheme, or else the players just don't run it properly. I suspect it's the former. The more I think about it, the more opposed I am to waiting until the division I move has been officially announced to start a search for a new coach. We all know that barring some kind of miracle, we're going. I'm sure most coaches in the upper midwest who have any familiarity whatsoever with UND know it, too. Delaying things another year just sets us back that much further. The program is in desperate need of a shot in the arm. Keeping the status quo is not going to get it done. Craig Smith and Craig Irwin have been mentioned as possibilities from the area. How about other coaches from the NCC? I'm thinking of Margenthaler from Mankato in particular.