UND92,96

It really doesn't look like Concordia is very well prepared to host this tournament. I just read on their web site that there will be no advance ticket sales. You have to buy your tickets at the arena, and the ticket windows won't open until one hour before the first game. Also, all tickets will be general admission--no reserved seats at all. I don't think I've ever heard of not being able to buy tickets in advance, and not having any reserved seats.

Congrats to Todd Rypkema and Evan Lindahl for being named all-conference. But Tola Dada being named league mvp? Give me a break. I wouldn't have put him in my top five for that award. Staten, King, Moeller, Carlson, Rypkema and probably others were all far more deserving.

I was hoping, but not expecting. I think Concordia is a total fraud right now. Maybe they would have had a shot at winning the regional at full strength--a longshot but a shot nonetheless--but I see them having no shot now. SDSU has almost a bye into the final despite being a number four seed. They crushed Kearney earlier this year, and I see them having no problem whatsoever against either UMD or Concordia. Concordia somehow managed to finagle three home games out of their four games against NCC opponents, and took advantage of it for the most part, although I would dare say that their wins over both NDSU and SDSU were more or less flukes. In a rematch, I'd look for a 20-plus margin of victory for any of the NCC teams against them. I just hope that the regional committee membership changes next year. I believe this has been the exact same committee for at least the last three years. I realize that members are supposed to recuse themselves when discussion of their own teams comes up, but does anyone believe that it's a coincidence that Mesa St. and Concordia have had reps on the committee the past three years?

Although the Concordia web page lists the capacity of its arena as being 1200, the announced attendance at the NSIC title game was 2199, so apparently it can hold a few more than previously thought. I still think it's irresponsible to hold this tournament in a facility that can't even hold as many people as at least three of the NCC schools in the tournament AVERAGED on the year. There should be a minimum capacity of 3000 or 4000 in order to host, and if you haven't even managed to average 1000 people per game on the year, then don't bother bidding. Concordia averaged under 700 on the year, and hadn't had a crowd of 1000 until the NSIC semi-finals. I find it disingenuous that money plays a huge factor in being the impetus behind strict regionalization for football and basketball, yet when it comes to potential for revenue-generating in the playoffs, money is apparently meaningless.

That's probably part of it, but the conspiracy theorist in me thinks there's some kind of unspoken agreement between the RMAC and NSIC committee reps to award the top-ranked team between those two leagues the right to host if it can possibly be justified. Two years ago, it was as if we were supposed to conveniently forget that the NCC has won this tournament every single year since its inception. I think everybody who knows anything about dII women's basketball in this region knows that if Concordia had to travel to Grand Forks, Fargo, Brookings, Vermillion, etc., they would have at least four more losses, and quite possibly five or six more losses. I think it's insulting everybody's intelligence to act like a 27-3 team from the NSIC or RMAC is somehow better than NCC teams with a few more losses but who are playing a far more challenging schedule. Unfortunately, the waters were muddied somewhat by Concordia winning early-season home games against NDSU and SDSU (along with a loss to the 5th-place team from the NCC St. Cloud St.) Just as the committee had egg on its face when Mesa promptly lost two years ago, I look for the same thing to happen this time around. Duluth is the only NSIC team who has shown anything over the years, and they've never hosted. Why should a janie-come-lately like Concordia be rewarded when they haven't accomplished anything as of yet?

According to the Concordia web page, their arena seats just 1200! With all the UND grads in the cities, plus all the NDSU and SDSU people who I assume would go, there is no way that this tournament should be in an arena that small. There will probably be a lot of people turned away at the door if UND, NDSU and SDSU all make the semi's. But my faith in the regional committee went out the window two years ago when Mesa St. was awarded the right to host with a gym that makes Concordia's look like a palace by comparison, not to mention the complete lack of success enjoyed by the RMAC over the years. It was political correctness run amuck. Hey, let's let everybody have a turn hosting! I'm sure there's going to be some very interesting conversations going on today and tonight by the committee members, but I have very little confidence in the tournament being anywhere else but Concordia despite not having an adequate facility with which to host.

Even if Concordia does, as expected, host the regional, they are about as vulnerable of a 27-3, number one seed as you can get. They lost their second-leading scorer in the conference semi's with an a.c.l. injury, and prior to their loss today they managed to beat a pretty mediocre Moorhead team by just three points (at Concordia) yesterday. If ever that criteria regarding availability of student-athletes was going to come into play, this would be an example of how it could since losing your second-leading scorer is a pretty big blow at this time of year. In the end, though, Concordia's overall record and their early-season wins over NDSU and SDSU will most likely get them the number one seed. I still look for them to go out early--maybe even in the first round.

I know a lot of NDSU fans accuse Gene Roebuck of basically being a jerk. Well, this quote, which appeared in both the Forum and Herald, is an example of why many UND fans feel the exact same way about Amy Ruley: I think most of us agree that it's stupid that the NCC even has a post-season tournament for women. Thus far, I don't believe it's gotten any team into the tournament who wouldn't have gotten in anyway. But to basically say that "we didn't care anyway" after a loss is an example of not knowing when to keep your mouth shut. If NDSU truly didn't care about winning a game with their arch-rival, they should have just forfeited and saved 3300 fans some money.

If the committee actually follows the criteria set out by the NCAA--and I personally doubt that they will based upon recent history--it would appear that the Sioux have made a pretty good argument for the number two seed. Here is how the criteria shake out as between UND and NDSU according to my very unofficial compilations: 1. overall won-loss UND 25-5 NDSU 24-6 advantage: UND 2. head-to-head UND 1-2 NDSU 2-1 advantage: NDSU 3. records vs. common opponents UND 15-2 NDSU 13-4 advantage: UND 4. won-loss within region UND 19-4 NDSU 18-6 advantage: UND 5. overall strength of schedule UND 10.53 NDSU 10.77 advantage: NDSU 6. within region s.o.s. UND 11.04 NDSU 10.50 advantage: UND 7. availability of student athletes--not applicable So it appears that UND has the advantage in four of the six applicable criteria, which are to be considered in no particular order of relevance. But the regional committee has already shown in the past two years to not have any particular fondness for UND as the Sioux were basically robbed of the right to host two years ago in favor of Mesa St., and last year we had a four to one advantage in the criteria, with one tie, compared to NDSU, but were still seeded lower. I wouldn't be surprised if UND is seeded as low as fourth. But the most important thing is that the site will be a neutral floor for the NCC teams. I don't believe Concordia would have finished higher than 5th in the NCC, so I would be shocked if they actually win the tournament despite hosting. UND should have confidence after finally showing that they can beat good teams away from Hyslop. I believe the twin cities is probably the most beneficial site for UND other than Hyslop as there should be a very nice UND contingent there--quite possibly more than even Concordia will have.

Craig Riendeau certainly didn't have one of his better games that day, but he has a national championship ring and was named to three different all-america teams so I think we'll forgive him. In the interest of fairness, here's the box score from the game in question. It looks like if anybody was made to look silly that day, it would have been the Winona db's since UND quarterback Kelby Klosterman was 27-32 for 341 yards and 5 td's!

I like UND's chances tonight IF Roebuck has made an adjustment so that Lorenz and/or Froehlich can't back down Mahlum every time down the court and shoot over her from inside of 10 feet. It seemed like there was a clear-out about every other possession the last time these two teams played, and Amy is just too short to play good defense inside the paint against somebody 6 or 7 inches taller. UND has matchup advantages of its own in that NDSU doesn't have anybody who matches up very well with Boese. Fricke and Klabo are both far too slow to guard either Boese or obviously Leighton, and I doubt very much that any of the smaller players can deal with Boese down low. It would also be nice if Perrizo can hit a few outside shots. She's been very good hitting free throws this year, but from the floor she's really struggled of late.

I was kind of thinking the same thing regarding NCC women's basketball. UMD has done well in the past and probably will do well again in the near future, USD has obviously done well recently but whether they will continue to do so minus Koupal is a huge question mark, St. Cloud St. has potential but must step it up a notch or two, Augie is usually pretty decent but not great, and UNO and Mankato are typically awful. UND doesn't necessarily return a ton of talent next year, although I think Boese is outstanding and Mahlum and Jahner are pretty good guards, but I almost think they have to be considered heavy favorites next year by default. I do think that the Sioux will have some very good newcomers next season, as two Minnesota Ms. Basketball finalists have already signed and there are three or four pretty good red-shirts this year.

I'm not trying to put down the Huskies, but it's probably a good thing for them that the system doesn't take into account margin of losses, since they had some very bad ones late in the season. Not only did they lose 6 of their last 7, but they weren't even competitive in several of those games, i.e. against UND, NDSU, SDSU and USD.

Does anyone know how this year's red-shirts have done in practice? I'm assuming Sannes hasn't practiced at all due to injury, but I'm curious who is expected to contribute next season? I know Werdell is supposed to be a very good three-point shooter, and that is something that will be badly needed next year.

I'm pretty sure that UND would give Winkelman a full ride in a heartbeat if he committed. If he goes elsewhere, it will be another in the list of excellent high school players in recent years who we came close to getting, e.g. Matt Jones and Josh Mueller, but ultimately did not. It's tough because not only are we competing with lower level division I schools for some players--and a lot of kids are so enamored with the division I label that they don't even care that the actual caliber of play of many lower-tier division I conferences isn't very good--but also with the fact that a lot of kids would prefer to play closer to home. That's where we are at such a disadvantage with North Dakota and northwest Minnesota producing so few good basketball players. Once you get into South Dakota, Wisconsin or Iowa, the distance from home becomes a major obstacle if that player is also being recruited by a school which is a few hundred miles closer.

Of those two scholarships, do you think they'll hold one for awhile in the chance that Koenig is indeed going to transfer? Also, it sounds like Winkelman will announce his decision following the end of Morris's season, which should be within the next couple of weeks. Any rumor as to which way he's leaning?

I listened to Glas on the coaches' show last night, and he said that Ryp, Lindahl and Johnson combined to shoot a little over 50% on the year, but that the rest of the team combined shot well under 40% on the year. He sounded generally pleased with the defensive effort this year, but without question the shooting must be better next year. There was mention by Swyg that the assistants were currently recruiting in Ohio. I can only assume the are looking at junior college players. Glas confirmed what we already knew--that there's not much scholarship money available. However, he did say (although it was tough to hear due to the static) that they hope to sign one "difference-maker."

I've always felt that McFeely is pretty much anti-everything. He seems to revel in ticking off as many people as possible. Sort of a local version of Dan Barreiro.

It sounds like the Great West may be down to six teams, according to the Forum:

To be completely honest, I'm not very disappointed in last night's loss, because now this season is mercifully over and the coaches can get out and recruit a couple of more players. The odds of actually having won the NCC tournament to extend the season were pretty unlikely, anyway. It sounded like last night was a microcosm for the entire season. This year was a series of games where the Sioux played just well enough to lose. I'm not pointing any fingers since we all know there were extenuating circumstances which played a large role in the 14-14 season. But on the other hand, there was enough talent to actually have had a lead late in many games, so I can only assume there should have also been enough talent to hold onto it more often than we did. Even with the key injuries, I think 14-14 is a disappointment. This team still had enough talent to have won at least three or four more games than they did.

So what are the most glaring needs to address so that next year's team can contend for an NCC title? For one thing, I don't think this year's team had enough outside shooting. With Ryp dominating inside, it should have provided a lot of open shots for the perimeter guys. Lindahl can obviously knock down 3's, and Johnson will generally hit one or two of them per game, but nobody else was able to provide any consistency in that regard. I know Austin has the ability, but he just wasn't ever able to get things rolling. Jacobson also has ability, but must be far more consistent and play up to his ability. I know Doyle was a great shooter in high school, so hopefully he can recover from his injury. It's hard to know whether Parks will be able to recover enough to be an effective player considering the severity of his injury. Nobles should also provide some outside shooting. While there may be enough shooters on the current roster if they all played up to their abilities, I would like to see at least one more player who can be enough of a 3-point shooter to open things up inside. I'd also like to see another big man to spell Ryp on occasion and who can be a scoring threat while he's in there. Maybe Stoute can improve enough to be that guy, but that's not a certainty. Of course, Koenig would be an ideal candidate if he does indeed transfer. Otherwise, it will probably be necessary to add another transfer. I'm not even sure that he would necessarily need to be 6'8" or taller if he's strong and athletic. A King or a Staten, for example, were obviously able to do very well inside despite only being about 6'5" or 6'6". Finding that kind of a talent may not be realistic, but I'm sure there are juco's or dI transfers out there who can provide some more inside scoring punch. With a couple of additions, and continued improvement by some of the current players, next year's team has the potential to really do something. UNO and Mankato both return quite a bit, but I see no reason why UND can't win the league next year.

Isn't it a little odd that Stratton was named most valuable defensive back over Danny Gagner, who was first-team all-NCC?