UND92,96

Let's say hypothetically that UND did go dI/IAA without a conference invitation in hand, and assuming NDSU and SDSU are still in the Great West for football, would their bitterness towards UND override common sense by lobbying for the denial of Great West membership by UND? Keep in mind that the GWC is desperate for members now that they're down to five after this year.

It seems that every time Bellecourt opens his mouth, his foot ends up squarely planted in it. I have no idea how many members this coalition has, but can't they find somebody a little more diplomatic (and less offensive) as their mouthpiece?

Here is a release from the GNAC conference. You need to scroll down a bit to get to the team previews. CWU is very young on the offensive line, and lost the entire front seven on defense from last year.

Matt Anderson from Cavalier will likely be the most sought-after player in ND this year. Other area kids who should draw some considerable college interest are Jake Landry and Ryan Kasowski, and possibly one or two other kids from Central. I'm sure there are others, particularly in northwest Minnesota.

I could understand not going out for football if a kid has legitimate dI hockey ability and could be jeopardizing a scholarship by getting injured, but truth be told, there are very, very few kids who have that kind of hockey future. If Jake Marto can play football, I don't understand why some kid at RR who will be lucky to even make a USHL team after high school can't do the same. Even if you just have all the best non-hockey-playing athletes, RR should still be able to put together a competitive team. As mentioned earlier, some of the 80's Cichy teams were quite good with minimal contributions from hockey players. Losing becomes a vicious cycle. Red River has had a couple of terrible teams, which turns off the middle school kids, and they don't go out once they get to high school because they presumably don't want to be associated with a losing program. I'm an ex-Central player, but I do hope Muir can get the program straightened out because it's embarassing to have a school the size of RR be one of the worst AAA football programs in the state.

Here's the official UND release for the first game. It would appear that the rumored loss of another offensive lineman to injury/illness is true as Brett Bauer isn't listed on the 2-deep depth chart. Will Kusler is now the starting left guard, and Brian Troen, who was slated to be the starting left guard, is now at left tackle.

So why is it that Red River football has gotten so bad? I suppose it's easy to say that too many kids concentrate solely on hockey, but I don't buy that as being the primary reason. Nick Cichy had some excellent teams in the 80's, and I don't think those teams had many players who also played hockey. I know the 1987 state runner-up team had very few hockey players on it, and I suspect it was the same with the 1982 state runner-up team. Clearly it's not just a problem with Grand Forks in general, either. Even with far fewer base kids than there used to be, Central is doing quite well lately, and will probably be one of the top two or three teams in the state again this year, and of course EGF is coming off a state title and looks solid again.

I don't know what point you were attempting to make with the highlighted quote, but in any event, it's better to host playoff games which don't sell out as opposed to not hosting any playoff games at all. I believe the finances of UND's football program are actually quite healthy compared to most fully-funded programs in dII.

My understanding is that those banners will be in the Alerus this season. I was at the shrine game in July, and there was one up already from the 1930's, so they were evidently just starting to hang them.

This article was in the Forum today. McFeely also had a column about it.

I noticed in the UND press release that the duties currently handled by Bruggeman will be assumed by the new senior women's administrator, to be hired in September. By combining those two positions, it will presumably save a decent amount of money. Getting the budget balanced is obviously one of the most important tasks Buning faces, and this would seem to be one step in that direction.

There is a scrimmage in EGF tonight at 5:30. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend, but if anyone goes and could maybe post their thoughts, it would be appreciated. Specifically, I'm wondering who looks to be starting on the offensive line besides Kuper, Buisker and Storhaug. A poster on d2football.com indicated that another UND offensive lineman may be out with mono, but he didn't know the player's name. Also, how does new running back Brandon Brady look? Thanks in advance.

It will be interesting to see how Benter develops this year. I saw him play in the first round at the state tournament last year, and he struggled a bit as I recall, although he apparently played much better in the two games after that. He was also recently named to an all-tournament team for a pretty big AAU tournament. link. The kid from Williston is Brian Qvale, and he'll be a junior this year. At this point, I'd kind of expect him to go to at least a mid-major dI.

The roster has apparently been updated, and in addition to Franklin, other players who have been removed include Rick Presthus and Andy Hoffelt.

UND picked sixth in pre-season poll. link. Question for those who follow the volleyball program closely: is this the make-or-break year for Maria Bruggeman? Obviously there's a new boss, and presumably all programs will be under review, particularly those whose success has been modest at best. I believe her career NCC record in 37-77 (.324), and she is coming off a winless conference season. I'm not advocating anything one way or the other, I'm just curious what the sentiment is among those who follow the program. It would certainly appear that the program should be capable of more, particularly now with the Betty being, I assume, one of the nicer volleyball facilities in the NCC.

He quit towards the end of spring ball. I'm not sure what his reasons, if any, were. Ironically, his departure may open the door for another Wisconsin product--Jordan Armentrout--who looked good in the spring game.

I suppose we should have seen this lack of offensive line depth coming, considering how many defections we've had by offensive linemen recruits in the past four years. Of the 18 o-line recruits signed between 2001 and 2004, eight lasted two or fewer years in the program: 2001 Chris Kuper--three-year starter; all american Matt Buisker--part-time starter as junior and projected starter as senior Brian Osterday--two years and gone Mike Wacek--one year and gone Mike Henneman--never reported (died tragically a few years later) 2002 Andy Hoffelt--part-time starter (currently injured) John Bronson--backup Cody Bartlett--one year and gone Darrin Kalash--one year and gone Jeremy Anderson--never reported 2003 Mitch Braegelmann--started as a freshman (currently injured) Brett Bauer--projected starter Andy Soll--backup Nick Bonnet--one year and gone 2004 Brian Troen--projected starter Brett Rousseau--backup Erik Moe--backup Mike Yilek--one year and gone It's a good thing that former walk-on Storhaug developed into a starter or else we'd be probably looking at starting three young and fairly experienced players on the line right now.

Here's a Herald article focusing primarily on the offensive line situation. Will Kusler may end up moving to the interior line. Also, due to Drew Thomas likely being out for the year, there is virtually no depth at fullback, meaning true freshman Marcus Tibesar could get a look.

Anybody know whether Hoffelt is also out for the season?

When talking about the running game, don't forget about the new guy, Brandon Brady. He could be the wildcard. A 200-plus pound back with speed is something we haven't had since...well, I can't even remember when. I wouldn't look for him to leapfrog Strouth on the depth chart, but he could get into the mix before too long. I've heard from more than one person that he's quite a talent.

It's only available via the print edition. They typically use some sort of graphic for this type of thing which for whatever reason never is included in the online edition.

Here's an article about another walk-on for the men's basketball team.

The pre-season depth chart was in the Herald today, and although I realize you sometimes have to take these with a grain of salt, I have to admit that I'm a little concerned about the o-line. The projected starters, according to the chart, are sophomore Brett Bauer at left tackle (where's Hoffelt? He's not listed at all), freshman Brian Troen at left guard (I've heard Braegelmann is hurt, anybody know for sure? He's not listed at all, either), senior Tyler Storhaug at center, Kuper at right guard, and senior Matt Buisker at right tackle. If this chart is accurate, and admittedly it may not be, Kuper is the only full-time starter returning.