twins15

Yep... especially because there is no SUU this year that will go 1-17, giving everyone a free couple of wins basically.

Last year EWU was 10-10 and missed the tournament with 7/11 teams making it... This year, with 8/12 (so a slightly higher percentage of teams making it), I am guessing 9 wins should do it, and 8 will likely put you in a tiebreaker. That's my feel right now. Still think EWU will be the team on top at the end of the year... the Hornets are #1 right now, but they hung on to beat Idaho at home by the skin of their teeth, and their win over EWU came at home, in a game when Venky Jois was hurt. Hornets are a very good team but my money would still be on the Eagles for now.

I have thought about it, but I'm not sure I have the technical skills or the time to moderate such a board. But I will definitely look into that, thanks for the suggestion!

Hi all, I come around here every so often, but in case you don't know, I write a blog on the Big Sky. Every year, I like to go long-winded with my preview, in this case totaling 13K words. If you are interested in reading (probably in parts!), check out the link here - http://www.bigskybball.com/2014/11/the-most-comprehensive-big-sky-preview.html Thanks! Let me know what you think, or if you have any thoughts or questions....

Great news for UND! Odd to see the NCAA be logical for a change...

Nash would be huge if he would get an extra year of eligibility. Do you think he has any realistic chance? Doesn't seem as though the NCAA is very strong in the common sense area, unfortunately.

Hi, I've put up a post on some early rankings for next year and how I see things slotting out very early. http://www.bigskybball.com/2014/04/early-2014-15-big-sky-rankings.html I've put UND #11 for now with all of the losses, but really all guesswork for now. Would love to hear any thoughts or opinions...

Was at the game today... going by the numbers going in, I was expecting UND's interior D to be bad, but even I was surprised - it was dreadful. UND goes for the steal often, and sometimes it works (20 turnovers for UNC today)... but when it doesn't, it's like they lay out the red carpet for the ballhandler to get to the hoop for the open layup. Their help defense was just bad. Offensively, UND seemed to have some struggled with UNC's 3/4 court trap... they just struggled to be able to get into their half-court offense. The Bears were switching all screens, and I think that really took UND out of a rhythm, because they weren't able to turn the corner and get to the hoop, and they always weren't able to hit the screener popping back for a shot - with the switching (and UNC's big men being athletic enough to make that work). It was a frustrating performance to watch on both ends.

From the pre-game notes, it seems as though he is good to go TRAYLOR REGAINS ELIGIBILITY Senior Alonzo Traylor had to sit out the second semester of last year’s schedule, but worked hard in the classroom to regain his eligibility for the 2013-14 season. Traylor was starting to come into his own after eight games of last season, but poor academic performance cost him the second half of his first season at UND. Traylor had a double-double in what was his final game of the season in the Big Sky opener at Southern Utah (Dec. 18). He averaged 7.1 ppg and 5.0 rpg in just over 16 minutes per game. Not sure if he has some type of injury issue that kept him out of this one... but my impression is that he will be there and playing.

I think they'll be a little better than that, because I think their overall talent level is still above ISU and SUU... so I've got them 9th now. Had them at 7th before I learned of Russell's departure.

Hi guys, I have put together a little preview on the Big Sky (well, a big one!), if anyone is interested. I pretty much wrote about anything I could think about (order, conference tournament, all-conference teams, top newcomers, predictions, etc)... so if you like the Big Sky, I think and hope you'll enjoy! Would love to hear any thoughts - http://www.bigskybball.com/2013/11/the-most-comprehensive-big-sky-preview.html Thanks!!

Usually you can only get a medical redshirt year if you have not previously redshirted. In other words, I wouldn't hold my breath that the NCAA would actually be logical about it.

Jones said today that Brekke is going into the doctor again tomorrow for a checkup, but it is an "ongoing process." He said obviously they won't allow him to compete before he is completely healthy, but didn't really sound like they had any type of timetable at all. I think they don't really have a good idea or feel for things right now. He mentioned that last year Brekke got hurt, missed a bunch of games, came back, got hit again and missed some more games, and how it was tough for them to try to plan out their rotation. Sounds like they just want to avoid any uncertainty and wait until they aren't worried that any little hit with make things flare up again.

I think Nash will definitely be a serious contender to start and play a lot of minutes - to me, he is their best big man and I would expect he'll play as many minutes as he can handle. He should be the perfect four man for the fast style of play UND can play with their good guards. The athleticism of a combo of Nash-Huff would be tough. In my mind, either Traylor or Brekke is UND's best "true" big man, but that's just me. Not sure how the coaches view him, but he had some nice numbers and flashed some nice game during his time last year. If it were me, he would be the first big man off the bench...

It seems like the decision on whether to redshirt or not is one of the toughest decisions a coach has to make. If it's close, it seems like at the mid-major level you should always lean towards redshirting. I think I remember reading a quote by Dale Lennon back in the day... who said basically when you redshirt you are trading a guy's worst year for his best year. It seems like a lot of times, though, coaches lean towards not redshirting, and playing instead. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

Gents, posted an article looking at the potential contributors to UND's bench. Would love to hear thoughts on where I may be off or on - http://www.bigskybball.com/2013/10/a-look-at-north-dakotas-bench.html

Hey all, If you are interested, thought it would be fun to take a very early look at rankings for next year! Obviously these will change, especially since teams are still signing players, etc. But could be a fun discussion starter! http://www.bigskybball.com/2013/05/early-2013-14-big-sky-rankings.html Let me know what you think!

All games except the final will be on Big Sky TV... and the final on ESPNU as you said.

My article, if anyone is interested - http://www.bigskybball.com/2013/02/north-dakota-gets-thrilling-win-over.html

What a finish!! Great shot by Aaron Anderson... Huskisson looked surprised to get the ball on that last play, missed the open layup. Lots of nice plays down the stretch for UND to pull that one out. Big road game... should ensure a spot in the conference tournament, while putting UNC squarely on the bubble...

The key I think will be UNC's offensive rebounding. Derrick Barden is the best offensive rebounder in the Big Sky, and UND has struggled keeping teams off the offensive glass. If UND can rebound and defend UNC's three-point shooters they will really have a chance in this one.

Wouldn't really even be too much of an upset since it's in PSU. But an Eastern loss would provide a little bit more breathing room for everyone for sure.

Found this from a couple years ago on tiebreakers - 1. Head to Head Competition a. Consider the head-to-head record during the Conference season. In double round-robin play, a team would have to sweep the b. In the case of more than two tied teams, consider the conference regular-season record for head-to-head competition among all of the tied teams. This process is used to break ties between any of the tied teams with any remaining tied teams returning to the process at criteria 1.a. Example: Teams A, B, C, and D have identical records from a double round robin season. In head-to-head competition, team A emerges with a 4-2 record against the other tied teams, team B and C have a 3-3 record and team D has a 2-4 record. Teams A and D can be placed in the final standings at that point, while teams B and C return to criteria 1.a. If B and C have split their regular Conference season games, they will move to criteria 2, performance against other teams in descending order. c. In the case of three or more teams having identical win-loss records, the normal tie-breaking procedure would be used. When one or more of these teams is eliminated by using the tie-breaking procedure, the remaining teams involved would then return to the criteria listed in a. to break the tie. This will be done until a team is established for that particular seeding position. 2. Performance Against Conference Teams This will be determined in descending order of finish, beginning with the No. 1 team. (Example: Teams B and C remained tied after head-to-head criteria from above. Team A has been declared the Conference champion based on the above criteria. Team B has split the conference season games with team A, and team C has lost both of the conference games to team A. Team B is now placed in second place ahead of team C.) 3. RPI rating 4. Coin Toss A win Saturday I think would almost clinch a tourney berth for UND... That would be UND up 3 games over NAU with 4 games to play (and NAU would be 8th or tied for it)... and I would think it would be just about impossible for UND to drop to 8th.

Thanks for the link! Let me explain Huff being on the honorable mention section (and not on the first or second team)... When I came up with the teams, I was considering their contributions for the whole season, not just conference games. So even though he missed just one conference game, he also missed almost all of the non-conference slate. If it was just an award for play during conference season only, I think that Huff would be a first-teamer. He has been absolutely outstanding this year. Before the season, I wrote heading into next season Huff would be one of the leading candidates for POY (along with Kareem Jamar of Montana)... and over the past month he has certainly made it look like that will be the case.

So still no word on Jaron Nash?? I hadn't heard anything either... man, this is absurd.