UND92,96

Not that this really has anything to do with the game, but it really seems that St. Cloud has hit the jackpot with some qb/rb/wr recruits who weren't necessarily highly sought-after. It appears that Birkel was an almost complete unknown coming out of high school in Wisconsin. Keith Heckendorf wasn't necessarily an unknown, but neither was he a huge name, either. I don't think the current quarterback, Kaczor, was recruited by any other NCC schools. What's ironic is that when they did sign a kid who UND and nearly everybody else was after, wide receiver Kyle Gearman from Alexandria, he transferred to St. John's after one year in the SCSU program! Despite their seemingly advantageous location, it really seems like St. Cloud is winning with players who may have been overlooked rather than guys who they were able to sign because of their proximity to the Twin Cities.

I've always thought McFeely just disliked everything and everyone. Or at least that's the persona he seems to enjoy cultivating. Geography would seem to dictate that the BSC is really the only viable option at this time. SDSU may be ahead of UND in the process, but having added just two scholarships for football thus far pretty much negates that advantage. Is that really a horse that NDSU wants to hitch its cart to? It would certainly seem that SDSU's move to I-AA football looks suspiciously like certain schools who have moved to dII and then kept their funding at the same level they were in NAIA. As Kolpack said or at least implied in his column today, the Big Sky is a football-first league. As between UND and SDSU, I think we all can agree who would appear more attractive to a conference that puts a high priority on football.

Wow, I'm glad I didn't say anything along the lines of "Bob Eblen is an idiot." Seriously, how would you rate St. Cloud's defense? It would seem that the only legit offense they've played may be Western Washington, who may not really be any better than Central Washington judging by their game last week. And while the Western Washington-SCSU game wasn't ever close, Western did do some damage offensively.

Kolpack has a column on the Big Sky today, in which UND is mentioned as having had discussions with the conference, and that UNC and SDSU have some work to do to get close the the Big Sky unofficial football scholarship minimum of 60. link

Only she can probably answer that. It's possible that she just grew up more of a UND fan. I think UND has been recruiting her from the start and perhaps NDSU got in later and she basically told them that she's either going to a dI school in a major conference, or she's going to UND. It's anyone's guess.

I think one of the big differences between the situations is that when NDSU announced their move, we all kind of knew that dII football scholarships would be cut at some point, but we really didn't know exactly when or to what extent. One school of thought was that it makes sense to stay in dII as long as possible because it would allow for at least the possibility of another title, something that presumably will be tougher in I-AA. I'm not saying that this school of thought is necessarily definitely right or definitely wrong, but it makes a certain amount of sense depending on your point of view. Now, with the football scholarship cut highly likely to occur within the next 3-4 months, it makes a potential move to dI/I-AA more pressing and arguably an easier sell to the public. It may not make a difference to a faculty member who doesn't care for or understand athletics, but for many of us who do, it certainly makes the decision easier to make.

I can't deny that Iowa St. draws well, plays in a very good conference, and did very well during the glory days of Taylor, Welle, et al. But over the past two years, Iowa St. is a combined 30 wins, 31 losses. To me, that's mediocre. It obviously remains to be seen whether they can regain their form from 3 or 4 years ago, or whether their success was based on hitting the jackpot with a few recruits who were overlooked by some of the traditional powers. For example, if Minnesota had had a decent coach back then, they would have been all over Taylor and Welle. That could have entirely changed the fortunes of Iowa St.

It looks like the d2football.com NW Region columnist has jumped off the UND bandwagon after last week's game. He dropped the Sioux from 1 to 3 in his unofficial regional power poll, predicted that Birkel can run against the Sioux defense, and that without Bowenkamp the Sioux can't throw well enough to win. If you're interested, read the entire column here.

Obviously the Sioux defense needs to keep Birkel under control. Two years ago, against a Sioux defense nowhere near what it is now, he ran wild. Last year, before he got hurt, he only had 37 yards on 10 carries. He reminds me a little of Josh Ranek. I think the run probably sets up the pass for them because I'm not convinced that their quarterback can win games like Heckendorf did. If the run isn't successful and the pressure falls on Kaczor (the quarterback) to carry the offense, I think he'll struggle. What I'm encouraged about is that the last time UND played outside on grass against a team with a pretty high-powered offense was Grand Valley State in the championship game and we only gave up 10 points and under 300 yards. I think this year's UND defense is at least as good, and probably better than last year's, so clearly we have a chance to hold them under 20 points. If Belmore can play somewhat effectively and not throw picks, I think the Sioux have a pretty good chance.

It's too big for most basketball games since it seats about 12,000, but as for whether it's any good for basketball, the NCAA must have been pretty impressed since the men's Elite 8 is there this year.

At least for track, the BSA is adequate. When I ran track in high school, and I believe it's still the case, we had three meets per year there, including the EDC and the unofficial state indoor. We didn't run at all at Hyslop after my junior year, and it has been many, many years since a college meet has been held there. In short, Hyslop is a terribly inadequate indoor track. I think that NDSU's track success compared to UND is a combination of UND having essentially no indoor track compared to an adequate one at NDSU, and NDSU likely spending a lot more money on their programs compared to UND. Until UND has an indoor track, it's probably pointless to consider offering the maximum number of scholarships, at least on the men's side.

Lennon and Bowenkamp were interviewed in a segment on the WDAZ sports last night. It definitely sounded like Bowenkamp would not play. He said something about having aggravated the injury last week by trying to come back too soon. I'm starting to wonder if he'll return at all. I did think it was interesting that Lennon specifically also mentioned Manke's name. We'll probably know a little more after Lennon's radio show tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised if Belmore has a fairly short leash if he struggles early on Saturday. Perhaps the backup quarterback will the hero for the second year in a row against St. Cloud.

SDSU has a good basketball program by dII standards, but in case you haven't been paying attention lately that success hasn't translated into post-season success in recent years. In terms of overall accomplishments as a basketball program, UND and SDSU are very comparable. UND and SDSU both have 8 region titles (men's). NDSU has none. In terms of the women's programs, SDSU won one title, but are well behind UND and NDSU in that regard and in conference titles. In terms of hockey, it's significant due to the revenue stream in produces and the fact that basketball is also played at REA so the arena itself would likely be very interesting to a potential conference.

A reference? No. Just that the theory is not necessarily limited to a few people on this board. Why do you seem so threatened by the fact that perhaps it's possible to seek and obtain a conference affiliation BEFORE moving to dI, just as Carr recommended? Between Harmeson's quotes in McFeely's column and RT's comments in the Dakota Student article, you don't have to read too far between the lines to see what may be going on behind the scenes.

I guess I don't see how what I wrote can be construed as a slam at SDSU. Among the schools mentioned as interested in the Big Sky, plus UND if they have also expressed interest, I just think it's not a stretch to speculate that UND and NDSU would be the two top choices. That doesn't mean SDSU wouldn't get in as well, if three schools were added, but if you think that SDSU would get in OVER UND, I would vehemently disagree.

What are you talking about, we'll have the Great West! Seriously, my guess is either both UND and NDSU will get into the Big Sky, or neither will. In which case, at least you'll have company in your dI independent purgatory, and we'll both have the Nickel to play for again!

I certainly can't disagree with that. A couple of dates to keep in mind: January 10, 2005--Vote on proposed dII football scholarship cut from 36 to 24. August 1, 2006--Effective date of cut (if resolution passes). My guess? If the above-described resolution passes, look for an announcement from UND within 6 months after January 10, 2005.

That's what I originally thought regarding Kupchella, but I have since learned that he does listen to those working under him, and if football scholarships are indeed cut as expected, you can bet that Roger Thomas will tell him that UND has no real choice but to move or risk a significant regression of the football program. Since this scholarship cut looks inevitable, I fully expect that the wheels are in motion for a move by UND to dI/I-AA within 2-3 years.

I would agree with the allure of a higher NCAA division argument if we were talking about a school like Georgia Southern or Montana who was playoff-eligible, in a conference where several of the members were not looking to move out as soon as possible, and which had a history of recent I-AA success. However, as it pertains to this particular thread in which we are talking about kids quite literally in UND's own backyard, I really don't think NDSU has any advantage over UND EXCEPT for the scholarship advantage, which admittedly is significant. If UND goes I/I-AA fairly soon as most probably expect, then the two will be back on even scholarship ground within a few years and these points will again be moot.

To the extent there's any allure involved, I suspect it would have more to do with a full scholarship instead of a partial.

I don't really think anybody is saying that Belmore is necessarily a bad quarterback, or that he won't improve with time. But throwing out the Mesa St. game--which you almost have to do considering how bad they've turned out to be--Belmore is a combined 23-47 for 288 yards, 4 int's and 3 td's over the past two games. Looking at those numbers objectively, I don't think it's surprising that people are concerned and feel that perhaps Manke would do at least as well and possibly better. I just think there's too much talent at the other positions and there's too much at stake to give Belmore a long leash and just let him play his way out of these struggles, assuming he can. If Wilson had never gotten a shot to play last year when Bowenkamp was struggling, the Sioux may never have made the playoffs. Perhaps Manke can give the team a similar shot in the arm, even if it's not necessarily a permanent change.