UND92,96

B.K.: I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. No offense intended, but if the Bison start out 1-2, I'd be interested to hear whether you still think it was a good idea to play a brutal non-conference schedule.

So are you saying that UND hasn't made the NCC look good over the years? I seem to vaguely remember a rather nice run by the Sioux just two years ago which made the NCC look pretty good. Quite frankly, if you make the playoffs you have ample opportunity to see how you stack up against teams from other conferences and/or regions. Getting there is the most important thing, and UND has done that as well or better than any NCC team over the past decade. I would prefer to play Pitt St. and Cal-Davis in November rather than September. I will stand by my opinion that while it's all well and good to play a very tough non-conference schedule, the margin for error for making the post season is so small that it may not be the wisest move if you have serious playoff aspirations. Unlike in basketball or most other sports, each loss in football is crucial and very difficult to make up for with such a limited number of games. St. Cloud just needed to beat Mankato last year in order to make the playoffs. Their non-conference schedule did not keep them out--the second loss did.

Certainly I'm not saying that a win by St. Cloud over Pitt wouldn't bolster their playoff hopes. But by the same token, if they lose at Pitt, which is quite possible, I think it will hurt them far more than would two or three wins over the likes of Northern State or the other less-than-stellar teams St. Cloud played last year. As fans, we can talk all we want about how great it is to play a strong non-conference schedule. But if you happen to lose one or two of them and then ultimately lose a playoff spot to a team like Central Missouri who scheduled and beat two patsies, then what good was it to have that tough non-conference schedule? Yes, you will potentially be rewarded by beating an out-of-conference power. But if you lose, you will be equally punished. Whether it's worth the risk or not is up to each individual school. With regard to UND playing Crookston, I am not happy about it, either. I'm not going to try to defend it, but I don't know what difference it should make to a fan of another school who UND plays. No matter how bad you may think UND's non-conference schedule is, your team will have the opportunity to play the Sioux head-to-head and decide on the field who is more deserving potentially of a playoff spot.

The game is today.

On paper, Newberry College would seem to be a weak opponent. But the ironic thing is, if you are judging the caliber of an opponent strictly by what their 2002 record was, wouldn't that mean NDSU's 2003 non-conference opponents should view 2-8 NDSU as a weak opponent this year, too? Central Washington was a good example of a team that appeared on paper to have been weak, but obviously was not. I'm not saying that Newberry or Mesa St. are going to be some kind of juggernaut, but on the other hand, we can't possibly know how good or bad they actually will be this year, either. I think that the relative strength or weakness of a non-conference schedule with regard to playoff positioning is overrated. If you play division II opponents and beat them, that's probably enough if, and this is a big "if," you take care of business in the conference. Unfortunately, now that the NSIC is apparently going to get a playoff team every year, you almost have to win the NCC and/or have only one loss in the regular season in order to make the playoffs. It's sad, but that's the way things are today. I must disagree with you about why St. Cloud didn't make the playoffs last year. Check out playoff team Central Missouri's non-conference schedule last season: Lincoln and Sterling (KS)! That's way worse than St. Cloud's was! The key is not losing more than once. That doesn't exactly provide much incentive for playing a brutal non-conference schedule, in my opinion. I would be satisfied with a happy medium of good-but-not-great opponents like Winona, New Haven, or perhaps a Great Lakes team (other than Grand Valley). Playing Montana and Cal-Davis is admirable, but unless NDSU goes at least 2-1 in its non-conference games, which is a tall order, they would probably have to win the NCC to get in. I don't claim that it's fair, but it's reality.

I really have no idea why this series is continuing. UND obviously has nothing to gain because the previous UMC games have all been extremely lopsided, and Crookston has little to gain because, well, the games have all been extremely lopsided. I understand the difficulty of scheduling decent non-conference opponents without having to shell out big bucks, but I would have to assume that at a minimum, you can get one or more home-and-home series with decent opponents. Please, Roger, no more UMC games after this year! Nobody wants to see this game! But with all that having been said, UND does still have the best home conference schedule in the NCC so hopefully the Sioux can take advantage of it. Considering last year's record, I imagine the Sioux will be picked in the middle of the pack in the NCC, but I honestly think that UND can win the league if the defense is a little more consistent and Bowenkamp makes good decisions. The talent is there, and the team should have sufficient motivation after last year's disappointing performance.

I believe KFGO did lay off three people, but Ed wasn't one of them. I don't believe there has been anything to suggest that the football on-air personnel will be different for next year.

Congratulations to Jerome Beasley on this honor. Beasley named player of the year Jerome was the only NCC player named to the Daktronics team. I thought TenBroek may also get selected. I would have to think he was also one of the best 15 players in division II.

Time will tell as to Nelson. My fear is that he goes to SDSU or someplace and develops into a force and we are left to ponder what may have been. UND does have a pretty talented point guard coming in by the name of Josh Doyle from Iowa. He's supposed to be an outstanding shooter. I don't know whether he'll be red-shirted or not. I strongly suspect that UND coaches are actively trying to land a couple more juco impact-type players, either a post or a point guard or possibly both. They already signed one impact player in Aaron Austin, and hopefully Adam Jacobson will help also.

I agree that as a junior, he was not particularly impressive. But he has improved fairly dramatically in the past year, to the point where he was a Mr. Basketball finalist. As I stated above, kids of his size (6'9") who actually have touch and coordination are very rare in this area. He's a pretty aggressive shot-blocker, a good shooter from the free throw line in, and with some added bulk and strength, he could be a very good college player. It all depends on how much he works to get better. Grant was fairly impressive last year in that he had pretty good skills and could handle the ball well for a bigger kid. But he is at least 2" shorter than Nelson, and didn't play particularly big, in my opinion. In terms of upside, I would say Nelson has much more potential than Grant, who incidentally ended up at Northern State. Grant didn't seem all that interested in being a post player, and his limited quickness and athletic ability would seem to limit his effectiveness on the perimeter in college, particularly on defense.

I started this thread to talk about basketball recruiting. How the above four posts pertain to that, I have no idea. If you guys want to have petty arguments, I'm sure there's a more appropriate thread for it.

Probably whichever team wins the head-to-head matchup, don't you think? I don't think any Sioux fan is going to be making the case that this is a good non-conference schedule. It isn't. But in the end, it's the conference schedule that makes or breaks the season. If NDSU loses to UND again, the fact that NDSU played a better non-conference schedule will be pretty small consolation.

The schedule I posted above can be found on www.fightingsioux.com. I assume it was posted within the past week since I had checked before and there were no non-conference games included, plus the Northern Colorado game was still included.

Here is the 2003 UND football schedule: Date Opponent Time/Result Sep 6 MINNESOTA-CROOKSTON TBA Sep 13 at Mesa State College (Grand Junction, Colo.) Sep 20 NEWBERRY COLLEGE TBA Sep 27 AUGUSTANA COLLEGE * (HOMECOMING) TBA Oct 4 ST. CLOUD STATE * TBA Oct 11 at South Dakota State * (Brookings, S.D.) TBA Oct 18 NORTH DAKOTA STATE * TBA Oct 25 at MSU-Mankato * (Mankato, Minn.) TBA Nov 1 NEBRASKA-OMAHA * TBA Nov 8 at South Dakota * (Vermillion, S.D.) 1 p.m. Nov 22 vs. NCAA Division II Playoffs (First Round) TBA Nov 29 vs. NCAA Division II Quarterfinals TBA Dec 6 vs. NCAA Division II Semi-finals TBA Dec 13 vs. NCAA Division II Championship Game (Florence, AL) TBA All home games denoted in bold CAPS I certainly can't say I'm excited about any of the non-conference games, or the fact that it's apparently only going to be a 10-game schedule.

Of course, it doesn't say much for NDSU's football program if they can't win anything more prestigious than the coveted "best team in Fargo" award over the past 8-10 years in this shell-of-its-former-self division.

For what it's worth--which admittedly isn't much--I did see both Nelson's at an early season UND game. Of course, that doesn't mean they were/are being recruited. Since the state of North Dakota produces very, very few big kids (6'8" or taller) with much ability or potential, I think it would be a mistake not to take a chance on Kyle Nelson. Big kids are pretty tough to recruit to division II schools, period. At present, Rypkema is in the fold for two more years, but there are no other true post players on the team or who have signed a letter of intent. Recruit Mike Gutter is more of a power forward, I think, and Evan Lindahl is definitely not a center.

Let me preface this by saying that I realize that it will almost certainly not happen, but has there ever been any effort to add I-AA football to the list of sports which allow predominantly division II and III schools to "opt up," i.e. hockey, wrestling and the like? Unlike basketball and BCS-level football, there's no pot of gold to split amongst its members in I-AA football, so money probably wouldn't be the prohibitive factor from the perspective of existing I-AA football schools. In fact, some may welcome the additional programs for scheduling reasons. On the other hand, many others would probably resist due to added competition, among other reasons. And whether it is worth it to the NCAA and/or the existing I-AA football schools to make this change considering how few schools would probably be interested in moving up is another question. It would seem to me that allowing the "opt up"--assuming it is coupled with assurances that the program would be fully funded-- would be more cost-effective from the NCAA's perspective than adding sub-divisions to division II.

I'm curious whether anyone who has seen May-Port play thinks Kyle Nelson and/or Craig Nelson might be NCC-caliber players? Kyle is a legit 6'9" and has a very nice touch. He would definitely have to red-shirt and get stronger, but it wouldn't surprise me if ultimately he turns out to be a better college player than Tyler Koenig of Fargo North if he works hard to get stronger. It's refreshing to see a big guy who doesn't want to drift outside and shoot 3's instead of planting himself on the blocks. Craig Nelson reminds me a little of ex-East Grand Forks and Mayville St. star Travis Lindgren. It doesn't seem like he's big enough, but he just gets the job done. I don't blame Rich Glas for not recruiting Lindgren out of high school since he's only about 5'8", but in retrospect he would have been a very nice NCC point guard considering the numbers he put up in the DAC-10. Nelson is probably about 5'10", very heady, makes good decisions, and can knock down shots. I'm not sure whether he's quick enough, however. It's tough to tell watching him play against ND Class B competition. I assume he played AAU ball during the summer so that would have been a much better barometer of how he does against better competition.

I would love to see a new basketball facility, but I fail to see the point of making it a 3,200 seating capacity. UND averaged 3,800 in 2001-02 and 3,400 this year. I would think that a 4,500 to 5,000 seat facility would make more sense. It's fine if the bigger games would be moved to the big Ralph, but at least make the new facility comparable in seating capacity to Hyslop so that nearly every game doesn't have to be moved. Otherwise, what's the point in building a new facility at all? It reminds me of Minnesota's building that women's basketball/volleyball facility only to have the womens b-ball games moved to Williams Arena immediately thereafter due to lack of seating capacity.

That's very disappointing to hear about Brennan. He had the ability to be a great player. I wonder if one of the defensive ends will now move to noseguard? I assume Muro may now be the starter, with possibly Shane Duchscher and freshman Kruger in the mix also. Momerak is probably big enough to move over if necessary.

I'm not trying to say that UND should be the favorite heading into next year. On the contrary, I suspect the Sioux will be picked 4th in the league in the pre-season. But I'm just not convinced that SDSU is necessarily going to sustain what they've done this year, either. The reason I feel Pater is a bigger loss to SDSU than Boll and/or Moen are to UND is that UND has shown the ability year after year to reload and replace one great player with another. I don't think SDSU has shown that as of yet, and even with the arguably the best team they've ever had this season, they're still 1-2 against UND. There have been a number of programs that have put together some nice runs, i.e. Cal Poly Pomona, Emporia St., Southern Indiana, etc. However, all of those programs have had some poor years recently, as well. What sets UND apart in my opinion is that year after year, you can practically count on the fact that they will win 80% or more of their games. Very few programs can say that--not even NDSU, as witnessed by last season when they missed the tournament altogether. My point is simply that SDSU hasn't proven anything more than that they are capable of stringing together a couple of good seasons in a row and winning the NCC once. Whether they can beat UND consistently (they're 1-5 over the past two years), and sustain a high level of success even after losing their best player remains to be seen. I think we already know that even after losing the likes of Sheri Kleinsasser, Jenny Crouse, Jaime Pudenz, Katie Richards, Theresa LeCuyer, etc., UND still manages to be at or close to the top year after year.

In womens hoops next year, I think the top four from this year will all be pretty equal again. SDSU returns 6 of their top 8 players, but Pater is a big loss and apparently they have lost arguably their top recruit to UND (Lindsay Draayer). USD has Koupal which is enough to make them very good but they do lose their next two best players. NDSU will be solid. UND could surprise some people as even though Moen and Boll graduate, Leighton and Boese may very well become the best forward tandem in the league next year. A big key is whether one or more of the incoming class of recruits can provide a consistent 3-point threat. Between Carissa Jahner, Jenna Werdell, Jami Glick (red-shirting this year), Lindsay Draayer (if SDSU has released her from her LOI) and Val Sannes (if she recovers from her knee injury), it could be a very good group.

I did hear awhile back that Shad Carney left, probably due to a lack of playing time and the fact that he was unlikely to play much, if at all, this season. It's unfortunate that he didn't pan out, but the good news was that his departure did open up some pretty substantial scholarship money. Fortunately, between Bowenkamp, Groeschl, Manke, etc., there are still plenty of quality quarterbacks around.

Thanks for the post. I too am pretty excited about spring football and the prospects for the Sioux rebounding back to contending for the NCC title next year. That's great news about Wolf. I had no idea that he was now that big, or that he has that kind of speed. The defensive line should be pretty solid with Brennan, Momerak, Smith, Newhouse, Muro, Wolf, Peterson, etc. The pass rush definitely needs to be better than it was last season, and I hope that Babington-Johnson's speed will help there also, similar to what Eric Schmidt's speed did at the OLB position. The defensive backfield should be as fast and as deep as it's been in a while. Hoffschneider is a stud from what I've heard, Stratton and Gagner are as good a pair of safeties as anyone will have in the NCC, and hopefully between Manke, Brandsted, Franklin, Charles, etc. there will be quality depth as well. Lueck will add a whole other dimension to the offense. You don't find many guys with his combination of height (6'4"), speed (4.5) and leaping abililty (36"-plus vertical) very often. Ahlers and Stattelman are good possession receivers and Alkins and Grossman have excellent speed. Mahmoud is a proven commodity at running back and Beatty and hopefully Jim Miller will make that a deep position. The o-line mostly returns intact with an added year of experience and I'm hoping they will be one of the team's strengths. I will be very interested to see what happens at quarterback, as well. Obviously Bowenkamp has the inside track, but Groeschl may push him with a strong performance this spring.

To the best of my knowledge, Lindahl has done nothing to cause anyone to question his attitude since he's been at UND. His only issue has been whether he can play good enough defense to merit extensive playing time. I suspect that will improve with a year of NCC experience under his belt. At about 6'10" and a great shooter, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he develops into a Kyle Behrens-type talent over the next three years. Dobmeier may have gotten Mr. Basketball over him, but I think that Lindahl will end up having the much better college career when all is said and done. His brother is about 6'6" and also a very talented player. However, I'm not sure whether or not he's division II caliber. I haven't seen him play since his sophomore year at state. I would expect him to either go to DAC-10 school, a juco, or possibly an NSIC school, but that's just a guess.