Stromer

I'll echo what everyone is saying. This a good idea. If basketball starts to regain its following in GF, the Ralph will get used more often. This will give them practice for switching the courts. Plus without the bad records of the teams, it would have had a good chance to get attendance over the Betty's capacity. And finally, its an event. That alone might draw some people in. I'm not a big fan of basketball anymore (college or otherwise) and wouldn't have went over to the Betty to see it but I'm thinking about going over and seeing it just to watch a game in the Ralph.

Because UND is a better fit than the other schools and since they aren't playing this spring, it doesn't really matter what a team is called? Sounds logical to me. But then a lot of people in this world don't think logic should apply in life.

They wouldn't have to wait! There is the thing. They could take UND now and by the time they joined conference play the name would either be changed or it would continue to be used with the blessing of the tribes and in agreement with the NCAA. So why won't they take UND now? And then Douple goes and cowers in a corner when asked about it. Go figure.

Exactly. Why that is so hard for some people to understand is beyond me. In other news, does anyone want to guess who we are going to have reffing this series? I'm going to rule out Hunt/Shep because they reffed the first series and we just had them last weekend. Gophers just had Campion and and Mason so I don't think they will be there either. Very likely it will either be Anderson/Friesema or Adam/Walsh. If we want any hopes of having a decently reffed series lets hope for Anderson. Although both teams are overdue for a series with Adam.

I wouldn't necessarily put the AA game in that category. They are tough to play against up there this year. Even the teams that swept them had very tough games. But I can agree with you on the UMD and the DU ref debacle. Win those 2 and its 22 points and the WCHA lead. Even a tie with DU and a UMD win would put us at 21 and one back of first. What a difference a couple of games can make.

Guess I will be having 2 24's before the game instead of a 32. Is it wrong to hope that the new size somehow appeals more to people, thus rendering the switch useless?

I think they should be able to find a JC player that would fit that role. I can understand the kids they are recruiting out of high school have potential but are a little raw. But I think they need to get some JC transfers to help with athleticism. A balance between the two may be needed for a couple of years to build a base for the program.

Here is my biggest problem. Jones has showed that the Princeton offense can work. Last year we played Texas A&M fairly close and after the game the A&M coaches said it wasn't a great game for them as our offense didn't suit their usual gameplan. Thats what the princeton is supposed to do. Neutralize talent gaps. And last year it did a decent job of it (close against A&M, win against UMKC, etc.). However, the offense this year is not the princeton. I have no idea what it is, but there is no excuse for scoring 11 points in a half, etc. Let them play a run and gun and I'll guarantee they break 20 in the first half at least. I just can not understand why this team looks so bad this year when they looked semi-decent last year.

Ahh Crookston is still below us so we are still in good shape.

Don't take this the wrong way as this is just an observation but this a lot more impressive than Niagra's schedule is, which you have been hyping all week. Why the different take?

I don't think it has as much to do with the team struggling as what the roster looks like right now. With 3 players out and some of the freshmen not really contributing much, I think that was more of a reason for Hak to re-evalute the situation. That being said, I think a 1/2 season suspension would have been the appropriate action in the first place so I'm pretty glad at how things have turned out.

Sat: Malone Sun: VV

I have to disagree with you. In most instances, there are negatives that come with not knowing. This is not one of those cases. The negatives only happen if it is created. Not knowing does nothing to us.

Exactly. We are not shooting the ball very good but we aren't being beat in every area like we did against Mayville. Makes you wonder. Edit: I guess we are shooting 43% which isn't horrible. This is just a strange game.

Exactly. Does it suck that he left before the bowl? Yes. But thats how it works in college football. You can't really coach a team and gather recruits if you know your not going to be there next year. Cinci fans need to suck it up.

This just got more exciting with the snow for the 2nd half.

I hope we never see that. I think they would stay at 10. Which ten teams would be in it, though, could be the question.

Friday- Lammy

I guess I'm in the camp that hopes that FBS never does go to a playoff. And if they do I hope they try to fix the current system first. Is it crazy that there isn't a playoff to decide the champion? Yes. However, its been that way for years. Why start monkeying with it now? Why not fix the system first? The real tragedy in the BCS are the polls. While human input is needed, currently the polls lead to the problems we see today. Using presason ratings handicaps a fair number of teams before the season even starts. Most posters find it hard to drop a team unless they lose. So if you start high, most years you can even lose a game and still stay ahead of unbeaten teams that have to climb up the charts. I would prefer a system that only uses human input at the end of the year. Does anybody out there really think that Texas would be ranked ahead of TCU or Cinc if humans only ranked the teams after the year? Combining that with the computers (to emphasize strength of schedule) would make for a much better BCS. Now there would still be problems (media wanting to still do polls during the year, who gets to vote, etc.) but I think they could be worked around. Dropping the bowls or other worse options (like including the bowls in the playoff) might still eventually need to happen but I think the tradition can be saved while making the current system work if people would think of other alternatives.

Anyone else find it a bit surprising that none of the first 3 games today were really close and that 2 of them are/were very one sided? Seems odd for the quarterfinals of the playoffs. But I expect tonight's game to be a good one.

Have you looked at the roster? I think the hometowns will answer your question.

Fri- Gregoire Sat- Vande Velde

Exactly. I'm at a loss that when Shep used to suck, we got him all the time. And now that he is one of the top refs in the league (which may or may not be saying anything), we hardly see him. Those two ref a good game. They may miss some calls and call some ticky tack stuff, but we never would see the crap that was pulled on Sat night.

I saw that. Very nice. I really liked the TD run in garbage time. Brought a smile to my face. I'm hoping with the year Oklahoma had, Stoops may end up at Notre Dame. That would bring another smile to my face.

Probably. The third one and maybe the last were ENG. I heard St. Cloud had 2 shots on goal in the third and both went in.