UND92,96

What does "should've won" mean? Winona was behind for all but about a minute of that game. If their defense could have come up with a big series late in the game, perhaps they would have won. But they didn't, so they lost. That game was very much like the UND wins over NDSU and UNO. Get a nice lead, go into a shell on offense, let the opponent back in. That was just the style that last year's UND team played. It drove me crazy much of the time, but you can't argue with the results.

I am sure you and every other Sioux fan thought the same thing last year, but were you thinking how inferior Winona was when you were losing with less than two minutes to play? In my opinion, in the 2001 game UND probably did underestimate Winona's offense to an extent. I say that because in the two weeks following that game, UND shut down two teams in UC-Davis and Pitt St. that were more talented than Winona was. Last year, I don't think UND underestimated Winona at all, but the way that game played out was very typical of UND games last season. Of the 14 games the Sioux played, 8 were decided by one score, and 3 more were decided by two scores. So although Winona can be justifiably proud of the way they came back, it's not as though they did anything that teams like NDSU, SCSU, UNO and SDSU did not. This year, the UND defense has really come of age and are playing extremely well. Last year, the defense was very up-and-down. I respect the quality of the program and understand Sioux fans have the right to look down on Winona to some extent (we haven't beaten you yet), but the narrow-minded thinking (regarding the quality of Winona's play) by the majority of Sioux fans is unbelievable. I think most NCC fans do look down on Winona's schedule, although that's not due to anything Winona has done. You obviously can't help that the rest of the NSIC is so far below you. And you can't be blamed for the fact that Missouri Western is nowhere near what they were last year, just as UND opponent Mesa St. is nowhere near as good this year as they were last year. And I love the way sioux fans look down on SDSU like their not worthy, did you not squeak a win out in the last seconds over them? If SDSU was so run of the mill in the NCC why couldn't the might sioux stomp'm? A little recent history on the UND-SDSU series. At home, UND has won these games by an average of 27 points per game in the last 6 games in GF. On the road, it's typically been a struggle, so last year was no exception. UND is 5-3 in Brookings since 1990. To the extent SDSU is looked down upon in football, it's because they were typically a middle-of-the-pack NCC team, they didn't win a conference title after the early 60's, and because they had only one playoff appearance as a dII program. In Brookings, they're pretty tough, although Winona probably should have been more competitive in that game than they were. Unfortunately, since that game was the only one for Winona against essentially the equivalent of a fully-funded dII program with a winning record (I know they're technically I-AA but they are at 38 scholarships), and Winona lost pretty convincingly, that adds a certain amount of fuel to the fire for Winona-bashers, of which I am not one. Pull your heads out, you aren't head and shoulder above the rest and your road play proves it. That's certainly true, and I don't think anybody would deny that. But most teams struggle on the road when playing quality competition. See Winona's game at Brookings as Exhibit A. The big difference between UND and Winona is that UND generally has to play 2-3 very tough road games in a season, whereas Winona has maybe one in the non-conference schedule, and really none in conference play. Although Winona gets big power points for winning at Bemidji, I doubt anybody outside of the NSIC would consider that a tough road game. Ditto for playing Concordia, particularly at a neutral site like the Metrodome. Besides the best team in the NCC has two losses and your play them this week. I wish you luck because you'll need it. Obviously we'll find out who's the best team in the NCC on Saturday.

On the one hand, Bruggeman is far more successful than any of the past UND volleyball coaches, with a career record of almost exactly .500. The bad news is that a career record of just .500 is far better than any past UND volleyball coach. I don't know enough about the situation to say whether there are issues here besides wins and losses, i.e. a lot of unhappy players. I have met Maria a few times and she seems very nice, but I don't pretend to know much about her coaching abilities one way or the other.

I just looked at the schedule, and after a respectable 7-4 start, they have since gone 1-12.

While I'll be the first to admit that I'm not much of a volleyball fan, I too am discouraged by what has transpired this year. I know Maria did get the team to the post-season the past couple of years, so she's clearly not a terrible coach. But the team this year went from winning several matches early, to losing something like 12 of the last 13. Hopefully this is a one-year aberration instead of volleyball unseating softball as the worst women's sport at UND. Another year like this one might call for a change in leadership, although that may be unrealistic considering the fact that her husband is an assistant a.d.

This series in recent years has been very difficult to figure out. On the one hand, you have a team like UNO that is very predictable and wants to establish a power running game. That would appear to play right into the UND defensive strength, and yet the Sioux have not been able to consistently shut down the running game against UNO the way they have against nearly every other primarily running team. From the UNO perspective, it's kind of baffling that they've had a running game effective enough to actually move the ball on UND and win fairly often (5-3 since 1996), and yet they've had practically no playoff success. It just doesn't seem to add up.

I would echo the sentiment that the Sioux need to run the ball. I just don't like the screen passes and short over-the-middle stuff because it's so predictable and so easy to pick off if the qb makes a poor throw or decision. I'm still irritated by that 2001 game in which the Sioux thoroughly dominated and yet lost due to four picks and a blocked punt. Make UNO earn their points. Even though UNO now has their best receiver back, it really shouldn't be that hard to stop a passing game with a weak-armed quarterback and only one true receiving threat. My only real criticism of Dale Lennon in his otherwise stellar career thus far has been the inability to consistently beat UNO, and the inability to win big road games against playoff-caliber teams. This game is a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

I just saw an interview with Chris Mussman on WDAZ and he said that the plan right now is for Manke to start on Saturday. Of course, I'm sure they want to keep Behrns and co. guessing, so who knows whether this announcement really means anything.

Grand Forks may not necessarily be football crazy, but UND is in the top 5 or 10 in dII football attendance year in and year out, so that has to count for something. Again, I'm not saying that the attendance would be huge for a national championship game here, but neither would it be a huge drop-off compared to what Florence typically draws.

RD17- What's your assessment of UNO's offensive line? On paper, they don't really seem like they'd be as good as what UNO typically has, and yet they're again putting up huge rushing totals. Is it more a matter of Day being that good, or is the relatively inexperienced offensive line better than expected? Can the Sioux realistically keep Day somewhat under control?

Speculating on attendance is interesting, but ultimately I'm not sure the NCAA really cares too much about it. This is the same organization that once awarded the women's basketball Elite 8 to Pine Bluff, Arkansas for three years. I don't think there were 100 locals there when I went in 1998. Regarding the Snow Bowl, I don't think that's an apples-to-apples comparison. All-star games, especially in football, just aren't that interesting. At least with a national championship you have two actual teams playing each other instead of a group of players with maybe a week to practice together prior to the game. I'm not saying that 10,000 locals would show up for a non-UND game, but I'd be willing to bet that the game would generate more excitement and local media attention than the Snow Bowl ever did.

I was impressed with Manke in the first half, except for the interception into the endzone which was a poor decision. The second half? That was a whole different story. He had the same struggles that Belmore has had with regard to poor decision-making and bouts of inaccuracy. I'm thinking Bowenkamp will probably be given a shot on Saturday. If he can throw at all, which he apparently now can, there's nothing to lose. On the bright side, UNO has given up at least 13 points in every game this year, and with the way the Sioux defense has been playing, that could actually be enough.

I'm pretty sure UNO won't jump over UND since UND's SSI is still higher, and obviously they have one more loss. I believe this week it will be 1. Mich. Tech; 2. Northwood; 3. Winona St.; 4. UND. I had been concerned that even if the Sioux somehow managed to win out, they wouldn't be able to jump over Winona St., at least in SSI. However, UND got potentially a big break yesterday when Concordia-St. Paul lost again. That means that when Winona St. presumably beats them in two weeks, it will be a 12-point game rather than a 14-point game since Concordia will likely finish with an under .700 winning percentage. UND should be no lower than 3 IF they could win the last two. Actually, I believe UND could rise all the way to 2 if Michigan Tech were to lose to either Saginaw Valley at home, or to Grand Valley State at the Big House. EDIT: I see Jim has updated his regional rankings estimator, and SCSU is still in the top 4, at number 4. If that is the case, I suspect there will be a pretty big uproar for the second week in a row over the regional rankings. It seems inconceivable that a 2-loss team who didn't even play a particularly difficult non-conference schedule (UMC, Wayne St., Northern St. and West. Wash.) could be ahead of UND, or UNO for that matter. The manner in which the SSI is calculated is really looking like a joke right now.

With Minnesota hockey series, and the football game tomorrow, this would be a great weekend for a recruiting visit.

I've thought of that possibility, also. Freund's credentials are pretty impressive, although I have no idea how he's doing this year in practice. This is all speculation on my part, but I suspect Manke might be one of those players who does better in a game situation than in practice. I'm afraid Belmore might be just the opposite, at least at this point in his career.

Yes, according to a feature on him in the Herald from about a month ago.

I don't think anyone is disgruntled about Winona. Just with the idea that somehow wins over Bemidji St. or Concordia St. Paul would possibly merit 14 points if common sense played any role in the process at all. Winona St. would probably still do well if it played a tougher schedule, but I can't say the same for anybody else in the NSIC. Winona St. is the only team in the NW region that will have a virtual bye into the playoffs every year unless one or more NSIC programs drastically improves.

One other thing on Dressler, don't blame him or the coaches for the fact that the media is constantly asking Lennon or Mussman about him. I've heard it on both the 1440 A.M. coaches' show with Hennessy and Swygman, and the WDAZ show with Sweeney. Those are the guys, along with the Herald writers, who are asking about him. It's not as though Lennon is always talking about Dressler without being specifically asked.

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that we're all Ferris fans now!

That's obviously bad news about Bowenkamp, and I'm certainly not happy that Belmore is also hurt, but at least this will give Manke a shot to start and hopefully play a whole game to see exactly what he can do. While he's not as fast as Belmore, I think we'll see better accuracy and very sound decision-making. I'm a little afraid he may not come back next fall if it appears he won't get a real shot to win the starting job, so this game is probably especially huge for him.