UND92,96

Yes, I believe so.

Oskie from SFI also reiterated his belief that Taj Rich is a UND commit (per "comments" section of second-most recent blog entry).

In the Herald live chat today, Wayne Nelson stated that he expects Gentry will play as a true freshman, along with Antwi. If so, competition just got that much tougher for playing time on the perimeter.

Per a tweet by SFI, Mike Edwards, a NG from Sun Prairie, WI has committed to UND.

Check out the last sentence of this ESPN article: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7148713/big-east-meet-conference-usa-mountain-west

Wayne Nelson just tweeted the following:

It's at the Ralph: http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=58563&SPID=6388&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205267952

NDSU is picked to finish in the bottom half of the Summit, at least by the publications I've seen. UND should be able to be very competitive, and a win is quite possible IMO.

Last year's coaches' poll was released November 2, so I assume it will come out around the same time this year. I think everybody is very excited to finally be a part of a real conference again. The Great West has served its purpose, but in reality is little more than a scheduling alliance. In terms of expectations, I hope to see something close to 20 wins, and continued development of the young players, who showed a lot of promise last year. Perimeter play should be strong. The question will be on the inside, particularly developing depth and getting more consistent offensive production.

You're welcome.

Per SFI, Cal Poly's best defensive player, Asa Jackson, reportedly has a broken bone in his foot. If he's out or seriously hobbled, that could be a big factor on Saturday.

I follow on twitter the reporter who covers DL sports for the local paper, and he tweeted yesterday that it was due to an ankle injury.

This will be the first home game I've had to miss since 1999. I have four tickets--excellent seats. PM me if you are interested--will give them away.

It's a case of strength vs. strength: -Poly running game vs. UND run defense; -UND run offense vs. Poly run defense; and weakness vs. weakness: -both teams' passing game vs. pass defenses that have given up considerable yardage. It just seems like this might be a better matchup for UND, particularly considering last year's team with a much weaker defense and running game nearly knocked off a pretty decent Poly team in SLO. If UND can avoid losing the turnover battle, and get above-average production, by this year's standards, from the passing game (150-plus yards), I think the Sioux win this one.

UND will play at Wyoming on September 5, 2015 per a tweet by Dom Izzo.

Right now, there are only seven FCS teams who average fewer passing yards per game than does UND.

Upon further review, it would appear that SIU's big annual loss on football is apparently mostly due to how revenues are allocated within the athletic department, since UND supposedly has a similar football budget, but roughly three times the reported revenue compared to SIU despite lower attendance. In other words, disregard my previous posts on this topic.

Last time I checked, SIU isn't doing so well in basketball, and they only average a little over 4000 per game. It's not like they're Butler or something in terms of NCAA tournament money. Unless simply being in the MVC for basketball is so lucrative that it allows its member schools to grossly overspend on football, it makes no sense to me.

I've mentioned this before, but it's so bizarre that it may bear repeating--according to the OPE web site, SIU spends just over $3.2 million annually on its football program. It generates just over $1 million annually in revenue. How can a school justify losing $2.2 million per year on one sport? Where is that money coming from?

Tom Miller column on the alarmingly ineffective UND passing game: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/217860/

Jody Norstedt just tweeted this:

UND will be playing Minot State in Minot on October 30 with the proceeds going for flood relief: http://www.fightings...TCLID=205312231 The game can be seen on the Midcontinent Sports Network.

Here's a prospectus for the upcoming season: http://www.fightingsioux.com/fls/13500/pdf/2011-12/2011_und_wbb_prospectus.pdf I'm a little surprised that Roehrich is only listed at 5'8". I don't recall a forward that short at UND in a long time.

In the past, UND would automatically get over 10,000 for the Potato Bowl even though the opponent was often very weak. This year, it didn't happen. The reason? Disappointing 2009 and 2010 seasons. NDSU had a good average attendance in 2009 based upon the previous few seasons. I'm not saying the caliber of the home schedule is irrelevant, but it's much easier to overlook when the team is doing well. UND lost its momentum in 2009 and 2010. It can, and probably will be regained, but it will take a few more good wins, and then we'll probably see the fruits next season. If by chance UND goes into the tank the rest of this season, then I suspect attendance still won't be back to 2008 levels next year even with an excellent home schedule.

I agree that attendance is based on both winning and the caliber of opponents. For a time, you can probably get by on one or the other, as we saw in 2008 (record attendance despite a terrible home schedule). But eventually, people will find other things to do on Saturdays if the product on the field isn't a good one. If the type of football we saw at Fresno and SUU continues, I believe the vastly improved home schedule next year will translate into much larger crowds.