UND92,96

I'm not saying that UND should or shouldn't play NDSU next year, but the difference between the schools you mention is that they choose to be in division II while not offering the maximum scholarships allowed, and/or choose to be in a conference that doesn't allow 36. They are, in effect, choosing to operate on a non-level playing field. If UND went I-AA but continued to offer 36 scholarships, then they would be choosing to be disadvantaged. But so long as UND is in dII, they shouldn't have to apologize for the fact that some of the teams they play are handicapping themselves by being in a division they probably don't belong.

Pitt State lost to Emporia today. UND may be the new number one, although who knows with the goofy strength of schedule index.

Thanks! I'm so seldom right that I need to revel in those instances where I am!

My understanding is that when they play college teams, it's a legit game. They are trying to win, just like the college teams are. When they play the Washington Generals or whatever their "opponent" is called these days, it's a show. That was what was in the Fargodome, and what was at REA last year. I plan on going, so I'll post afterwards whether it was a competitive basketball game or just a bunch of clowning around.

bisonguy: Check out this link for info on "real" Globetrotter games.

I'm not sure whether anyone has posted this yet or not, but Zach Parise is playing tonight according to Dean Blais at Sioux Boosters today.

Yes, that will be a very interesting game. I wasn't sure whether "Meet the Sioux" was going to occur first. I guess I assumed it was, but perhaps not.

I probably could have been clearer with my previous post. I certainly agree that the NCC is better top-to-bottom than the NSIC. My point is more that if a program is not dominant in its current division, how realistic is it that it will become at least competitive in a higher division? A big problem, as I see it, is that recruiting will be a huge challenge when you don't have even the possibility of an NCAA tournament appearance for a long, long time to use as a carrot to potential recruits. Plus, recruiting juco players will be more difficult as well because you no longer have that pool of talented players who weren't eligible for dI but were for dII. A comparably talented player to a Jerome Beasley or a Mark McGehee, for example, if eligible to play dI, is likely going to sign with a more established program that offers a chance to go to the Big Dance. With those two handicaps, I'm not sure how realistic it is to expect that the caliber of player NDSU is able to recruit will be better than it has been. Without the jucos, it may even be worse. Combined with the fact that you will be presumably playing against better competition, it could very well lead to some really ugly won-loss records. I guess we'll see over the next decade or so. In the interests of fairness, I think the same would happen at UND if it was to go dI, and that's why I'm really not for it at this point. It's fine for football due the existence of I-AA, and obviously for hockey, but basketball? I don't see how it can work. Just my opinion.

I have only seen a brief story on the WDAZ sports where they showed Derrick Franklin throwing down some dunks. I would assume "Meet the Sioux" should be within the next few weeks, so that should be a pretty good opportunity to see how the new players look in a scrimmage situation.

While anything is possible, the NDSU mens basketball program has generally been very average in dII, so I would be surprised if they have much success in dI--even at a conference level in a relatively low-level basketball conference like the Big Sky or Mid-Continent. Our geographical location makes it far more difficult to have Gonzaga or even Valpo-type success in North Dakota than if we were in Washington, Indiana, et al. And even if a conference is found in the near future, the issue of scheduling non-conference home games is probably always going to be a huge challenge. I have no problem with this statement if we are talking about football. But in terms of basketball, that statement comes across as more arrogant than based upon lack of competitiveness of NSIC schools. NDSU isn't typically any better than most NSIC schools in basketball. That's not necessarily a dig at the Bison, because in reality there doesn't seem to be the large chasm between the have's and have not's in hoops as there is in football. In fact, all the talk about the impending doom of dII should probably be limited to football, because the caliber of basketball in dII and the overall competitiveness seems to be quite good. I don't believe there have been any serious talks about reducing scholarships in basketball, although admittedly I'm not sure of that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm neither particularly surprised, nor do I care what anybody from the Forum thinks. I do think it's interesting, however, that in a matchup of two 5-1 teams, eleven out of eleven prognosticators picked the road team--especially considering the success UND has had against NDSU over the past decade, and even in years NDSU was considered a pretty big favorite by many people, i.e. 1993, 1999 and 2001.

The Forum evidently doesn't have any doubts about NDSU winning: link Of course, I imagine they all picked NDSU in 1999 and 2001, too.

I mean no offense to you personally, but that's a pretty outlandish statement. If everybody who chooses to go to this game is an alleged rich person because they are paying anywhere from $10.50 (senior citizen price) to $27.50 for a ticket, what does that make someone who goes to an NFL, NBA or NHL game, or a big-name concert? Those ticket prices are generally more than $27.50. I understand the frustration with rising ticket prices, but I don't think there's any reason to attack or generalize those of us who do go to the games.

That will probably be the deciding factor in the game--whether NDSU can run on the Sioux. If they can't, then UND has an excellent chance to win. It has been a number of years since NDSU has really run successfully against the Sioux. It really never happened with Gordon running ball (no 100 yard games and no td's), which is quite remarkable when you think about it. And I'm not sure that the Bison offense is really any better than it was during the Babich era, excluding last year, although it does seem to be more diversified. I would assume that the Sioux will make it a priority to stop the run and make Stauss beat them. Considering the relative struggles of the NDSU offense for much of this year, I wouldn't be shocked at all if they have problems running the ball on UND. UND hasn't run the ball successfully against pretty much anyone, although they have shown the ability to win anyway. If the passing game is working, however, it may open up some running lanes.

I too have been critical of Bowenkamp, and certainly he hasn't been consistent considering his performance in most of the Augie game and in the first half of the St. Cloud game. But if we're going to be critical of him when he plays poorly, we really should give him some credit when he plays well. He completed 23 of 37 passes against SDSU for 284 yards with two touchdowns and no int's. That's pretty good. Let's also remember that he's not the one calling all those screen passes. I'm not offering these numbers in an attempt to denigrate Tony Stauss, but rather to show how Bowenkamp has compared to the far more highly-touted Stauss thus far: Overall JB 61% completion percentage, 9 touchdowns, 2 int's TS 67% completion percentage, 2 touchdowns, 3 int's NCC only JB 57.5% completion percentage, 3 touchdowns, 1 int TS 61.5% completion percentage, 1 touchdown, 2 int's I really think that if Mussman would open up the playcalling in the first half, similiar to what was being run in the second halves against St. Cloud and SDSU, the running game would actually be far more effective. Look at St. Cloud as an example. Yes, Birkel is a good back, but they were able to run pretty well against the outstanding run defense of UND in the second quarter with their backup running back, in large part due to the threat of the downfield pass. It's a case of the pass setting up the run instead of vice versa.

Here's the new poll: Midwest 1. Pittsburg State (6-0) 2. North Dakota State (5-1) 3. North Dakota (5-1) 4. Winona State (6-1) 5. St. Cloud State (5-2) 6. Nebraska-Omaha (5-2) 7. Emporia State (5-1) 8. Concordia-St. Paul (5-1) 9. Northern State (5-1) 10. Central Missouri State (5-1) Wow, have things changed from just a few years ago. Who would have thought that an NSIC team could be ranked in the top four one week removed from a loss? It's looking like it will be a battle between the NCC and the MIAA to see who gets a second team in, because unless they lose again, Winona is in for sure. Fortunately, the NCC seems to have the inside track since both Emporia and Central Mo. are now ranked pretty low and still have to play Pitt St.

Under the circumstances, it's probably not a surprise to many people. I feel bad for Wilson since he waited so long to get his chance, then gets hurt on the first possession of the first game he starts. That may have been his one window of opportunity to play. Bowenkamp runs hot and cold so he might do great or he might play like Graig Gorder did in the 2001 Sioux-Bison game.

*Sigh*... Did you even read my posts? I most certainly did NOT say any single UND receiver is some sort of superstar. And after watching Babich in high school and last year, I hardly think I'm the only one who has questioned his ability. I suspect that many NDSU fans were questioning why he was even on the team last year. If he's improved this year, more power to him. But in my completely insignificant opinion, he should be attacked until it's clear that he's up to the challenge. As for Krause, he's a nice player and has been mentioned as a possible late-round pick, but drafted in the first two rounds? Get real. David Kircus of Grand Valley State had unbelievable college stats in a sophisticated passing offense, good size and excellent speed and he wasn't drafted until the late rounds. And Krause is 6'3", not 6'5". I've never seen either his speed or vertical posted anywhere, but I'm going way out on a limb and speculating that he doesn't run a 4.3 or have a 40" vertical.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anything you've said, but let's not forget that aside from last week against UNO, NDSU's offense has been pretty underwhelming this year. They managed just 20 points against a terrible MSU-Mankato team, and the offense put up just 17 at home against SDSU (the other td being by the defense). NDSU will likely have just as much trouble scoring on the Sioux as vice versa, and if they were to fall behind early it will extremely difficult for them, as well. With that being said, certainly UND has to avoid falling way behind early. The good news is probably that NDSU hasn't done much of anything offensively in the first quarter of games this year. In fact, I believe prior to last week, they hadn't scored a point in the first quarter. Is it really any coincidence that the past two weeks, the Sioux offense only came to life in the second half after falling way behind? It would appear that the only way the playcalling gets aggressive is when there's nothing to lose. I'm not saying that UND should treat the whole game like a two-minute drill, but why not get a little aggressive in the first half, too? I think that anyone who saw the SCSU game knows that this offense can be explosive, but not by running between the tackles and throwing bubble screens--the usual first half scheme. The strength of the Sioux offense is throwing the ball and spreading it around amongst Stattleman, Ahlers, Lueck, Johnson and Grossman, with hopefully some short passes to the tight ends and Wisthoff out of the backfield. Hopefully Lennon's decision to go for the two-point conversion and the win against SDSU is a sign of a shift away from the usual ultra-conservative nature of the UND offense. This year's offensive personnel simply isn't capable of winning by being a primarily running team.

The difference, to me, is that UNO is not a true passing team. I still consider them a running team that is able to complete passes because most teams cheat to stop the run. NDSU didn't have to cheat, although UNO did get some rushing yards. Krause has good numbers, but he is by far their best receiver and I suspect that there was a good deal of doubling of him. At least, that's what I would do as a defensive coordinator. Essler is a nice player at free safety, but until I see Babich, or Walter if he's in there, consistently cover somebody one-on-one with my own eyes, I am a skeptic. The Sioux don't rely on any one receiver, which makes doubling more difficult, and I suspect that there will be plenty of one-on-one opportunities. Whether those opportunites are won by the offense or defense remains to be seen, but I do think that an offense with a number of tall and capable receivers will be able to win its share of those battles.

I'm sure you're probably correct, and really it's the same with the UND defense. Running against the Sioux is generally pretty futile, but some teams have been able to get yards through the air. I guess the difference is that UND has also given up points via the air, at least in the first halves of the past two games. I still would try to exploit NDSU's corners, though. I'll be the first to admit if I'm wrong, but I'm not convinced that Babich and company are any better than average at best.

It's no secret that UND has not run the ball very successfully this year, and that NDSU has done a very good job of stopping the run. It's also clear that UND can throw the ball quite well, and that NDSU has been thrown upon by some teams with success. Therefore, I would look for the Sioux to run the ball just enough to keep the defense honest. If the Sioux are going to score enough points to win, it will be via the pass. I would throw at NDSU corner Bobby Babich at every opportunity. He's not tall, and he's not particularly fast by NCC corner standards. A Babich-on-Lueck matchup, in particular, would appear to be a big advantage for UND. I imagine NDSU will really try to get after the quarterback, so believe it or not a traditional screen pass (NOT a bubble screen) may be effective in slowing down the pass rush. Another interesting question will be whether NDSU tries to throw more often than they have been. Again, it's no secret that UND has been thrown upon, but that the Sioux have done a nice job of stopping the run with the exception of the first half against SCSU. Thus far, NDSU has been primarily a running team. I don't believe the Bison will be able to make a living running the ball against the Sioux (although obviously that remains to be seen), so the play of Tony Stauss will be a key. He is apparently throwing mostly 0-to-5 yard passes, so his completion percentage is good, but his yardage and touchdowns are not. I haven't seen him play aside from the second half against Montana, so I don't know how much he has been asked to throw downfield, but I would expect that he may have to on Saturday. Although many, and perhaps most impartial observers would probably consider NDSU a favorite in this game, I do like UND's chances. This will be NDSU's first true road test since the second game of the year, UND does seem to match up pretty well with what NDSU likes to do offensively, and the Sioux offense can possibly exploit what is arguably a Bison weakness by throwing the ball. I expect a low-scoring game that will probably be decided by a field goal either way.