UND92,96

Did anybody else catch the end of the I-AA semi-final game between Texas State and Northern Iowa last night? With the score tied at 37, Texas State got the ball at its own 25 with 1:17 to go, with the wind, playing at home, and with all three timeouts remaining. Their offense had obviously done quite well to that point, having scored 37 points. Instead of trying to get into field goal range for the potential game-winning points, their coach elected to take a knee three times and play for overtime. The home crowd and many of the Texas State players were apparently in disbelief that he wouldn't even try to go for the win under those circumstances. Of course, Northern Iowa then went on to win in overtime. This was one of the strangest coaching decisions I've ever seen.

According to this week's fightingsioux.com basketball release, Rich needs five more wins to break Gunther's record. Will he do it? I'm thinking that winning the home game vs. Bemidji will be imperative, because after that the only really good chances for wins may be Minot State, Upper Iowa and the home game vs. Augie.

I've made this point before, but let's not overlook the fact that the exact same thing happened between USD and SDSU the past two years. To the best of my knowledge, USD did not schedule SDSU at all, or at least not in the highest-profile sports of football and men's and women's basketball, following SDSU's move to dI/I-AA. Whether SDSU fans are as bitter about it as tony is towards UND, I don't know. And while the UNO-UNC rivalry doesn't compare to UND-NDSU or USD-SDSU, UNO and UNC stopped playing each other following UNC's dII/NCC departure, as well.

I think the 1997-98 team was the best. That was Tiffany Pudenz's senior year, plus I believe Mandy Arndtson was injured early in the 1998-99 season so she really didn't play that year, but she was very good her freshman year (97-98). The nucleus of Crouse, Jaime Pudenz, Richards and Winger was the same both years, but when you add Tiffany and Arndtson into the mix, that's what I think sets the 97-98 team apart. Both teams were certainly very good, though.

If Tim wants to transfer to play for his father, that's certainly his prerogative, but as far as Rod is concerned, it seems a little unseemly that he would publicly state that if hired, he and Tim would likely be a package deal.

It's interesting that UND is easily leading the NCC in home attendance for women's basketball, but is just 4th in men's. You have to wonder if we'd be even lower in men's attendance but for the fact that there have been several double-headers.

The 1998-99 national championship team started 18-0.

This is UND's best start since the 2000-01 team started 15-0. It looks like the trip to Colorado for games vs. Pueblo and Metro will be the biggest challenges left prior to the start of NCC play.

That's possible, but I don't think there's a whole lot of scholarship money available unless there are defections.

I have to think that at this point, even those who aren't ready to say that Rich SHOULD be let go/re-assigned would have to acknowledge that somebody else will likely be coaching the UND men's basketball team next year. I think it's economic reality that something needs to be done to get people excited about the program again. Interest may be at an all-time low right now. I grew up going to these games and have been a season ticket holder for years, but I have to admit that it's very difficult to make myself actually attend unless there's also a women's game.

It's kind of a scary proposition that not only are we down right now, but we're starting three seniors who are pretty clearly three of our best players. Next year's team could be even younger than this year's, as there will apparently be no seniors at all, and a whole bunch of freshmen will likely need to play immediately. It's just very, very hard to be optimistic about the immediate future of this program.

Thanks, I didn't realize only one player per team could make it. That seems like a stupid rule, but so be it.

Digger makes the AFCA All America team, but Jeff Glas is left off! The guy who was selected as kicker was from some NAIA school and was 16-23 for field goals (compared to Glas's 30-36), and was just 14-17 on PAT's (compared to Glas's 48-49). What a crock.

UND is number 4 in the new poll. link. That's about where I figured the Sioux would be considering the pre-season ranking, but I'm a little surprised that UND hasn't picked up any new first place votes. UND had two first-place votes in the pre-season poll, and still has just two.

Good luck to Tibesar. I'm sure he'll do well. It's interesting that he's the first UND assistant in awhile--at least as far as I can recall--who left in order to take a dI assistant job. From Tesch to Lennon (before he came back) to Hedberg to Bubba to Dosch, everybody left to take a head job at either the dII or NAIA levels. I have to think Mussman could have had an offensive line coach position at a I-A school by now if that was the direction he wanted to go. A head coaching position at a quality dII program, which is apparently what he's holding out for, doesn't open up very often.

Supposedly some time this week.

This is definitely the best depth I can recall UND ever having.

Interesting comments from CSP coach Paul Fessler after the game: I'm sure SCSU and UMD in particular would disagree, but I'm not so sure he isn't right.

UND has now avenged three losses from last year by an average margin of 33.3 points. Not too bad. It was great to see Ashley Langen have a breakout game. The bad news is that her performance won't exactly encourage too many more teams to play anything but zone against the Sioux. She just can't be stopped down low with a man-to-man defense.

I could be wrong, but I think Ferris opted for another guarantee instead of a return trip.

Grand Valley won 55-20 today, and will meet NW Missouri State in the championship game. I have to think at least the top four northwest teams could have won the whole thing this year.

I have to think that's about as well as the Sioux can play. Good field goal percentage, few turnovers, and even out-rebounded a much bigger, stronger team. The problem, of course, is that we get practically no points in the paint, nor do we get much of any offensive production off the bench despite playing 10 guys. It will be very tough to win consistently without somebody who can score on the low blocks. But it's still nice to get a win over a pretty good opponent. If there's a good year to be down in the NCC, it's this year since there appear to be several teams who are in a rebuilding mode.

Since SCSU is only at about 30 scholarships for football, I would agree that them going I-AA wouldn't necessarily have a huge effect on UND (or NDSU), since I can't see them upping their scholarship numbers to a large degree anytime soon. In basketball, however, they could have a major effect on the Dakota schools' ability to recruit mid-major caliber dI players in Minnesota. They have a good coach, they draw pretty well, and never underestimate the significance of their proximity to the twin cities metro area.

1976 was definitely one of the high water marks in terms of a schedule filled with recognizable names. Just don't bring up what UND's record was that year.

I'm almost positive he was named scout offensive player of the week at least once, so presumably he practiced all year. I have to think he was medically cleared to play prior to this past season.