Matt

Hey-good for USD, the city of Sioux Falls, and the state of SD for showing a maturity that the leaders in ND have not been able to pull off. They also played a freaking AMAZING hand of poker here. Whether thats the regents, the athletic department, or anyone else, I haven't had this much respect for their program since 1986. That being said, the only thing this changes for UND and the fans is how we feel about it. To borrow a phrase from PA, our "nookie blankie" has been pulled away. We knew that in the vague future it would be possible the Montanas could move on. With USD at our side, that loss didn't seem so severe. Now that prospect is not a good scenario. However, we can't compare that hypothetical to where we are today, or where we were last week when we thought USD was in the BSC. We have to compare that hypothetical to where we were without a conference home for FB and a pending Summit invite. That's what we compare it to. Is the program better off as a member of a USD and Montanas-less BSC at some point in the future vs independent football and (potentially Summit member. I say the program is still much better off.

Did Wanless' programs' chances of winning BSC championships just get better or worse with the addition of UND, USD, and SUU? Wanless knows the answer.

I stand behind the earlier post. I don't see how Muss' overall record, or where the team is sitting this year, is an indicator that they are right on track for two years from now. I need to see wins to say they are right on track. I'm not seeing that. I'd feel differently about the track if there were say, a young QB that is making mistakes but shows signs of brilliance as well. Close losses also don't do much for me. NDSU hasn't had a sniff of the playoffs since they've been eligible, but it isn't like they are getting blown out. The difference between winning and losing is closer than it used to be at D2, so it will come down to a few plays here and there every week. The track the team is on now illustrates they are consistently on the wrong end of those plays. I don't think Muss' should be fired, but I don't think the team is on the right track either.

As I look at this season, and Muss' overall record, it's VERY difficult to describe the situation as being "right on track". I don't see this team as "right on track" to winning a Great West title, let alone having an overall record good enough to get an at large bid to the playoffs. What am I missing?

I was flying out of Hector in Fargo today and saw the volleyball team checking in for a departing flight. Is it common for UND athletics to fly out of Hector? I've never checked on fares out of GF, are they high enough to make bussing and flying out of Fargo cost effective?

"I can see why the Great West is disbanding" Apparently there was no follow up question to have Ed directly explain the tortured logic to get from a perceived badly officiated game, to the broader context of how the dominos of conference affiliation began to fall across FBS and FCS eventually resulting in the departure of teams from the Great West.

Quoting me? My quote was "solid analysis", local boy did the analysis. You are asking a lot of good questions as to the "why" behind the "what" that local boy outlined, though. It doesn't change what's going on with the Alerus now, but maybe if those "why's" can get addressed, the Alerus can perform better. No you can't tear the place down, but accountability must come from those in control so the same mistakes don't continue. I think we can all understand some people's frustration. Look at the Fargodome. Despite a reasonable amount of success many people are still miffed at the way the tax issue was sold to voters. Often tax issues come up with a lot of grand claims to get support from a broader base of groups in order to get a project passed (hockey in the Fargodome), and people get irritated when those claims don't come to fruition-for the very reason we all know-once it's built it doesn't matter, you can't tear it down.

Solid analysis.

This loss hurts on a few levels: 1) Injuries-Muss is in a bad spot right now. With so many performance and scheme problems it can come off as an excuse for him to dwell on injuries, but they are legitimately a mess in the training room right now. Ask Bob Babich how injuries can turn a season into a disaster and push you out of a job, only to have a new coach come in the next year with those players back healthy and perform well again. 2) Bye week-It sucks BIG TIME to go into a two week layoff after a loss like this. Coaches will walk a fine line of being hard on the players for blown assignments, yet keeping morale up with injuries (see above) and the record (see below). 3) Bad record-now 0-2 in the conference with a trip to Poly, which may just be a flat out better team than you, as your reward for losing a conference homecoming game, and looking bad doing it. This game is key because another loss drops you to 0-3 in the conf, with a no namer at home to meet you. At 2-5 and on losing two straight, what fans show up for that game? Winning at poly shows signs of life and maybe helps the gate. 4) The future is tough-this loss makes it very difficult to go into Brookings with a shot at a winning record. Not where you want to be going into recruiting season.

Is it just the TV broadcast or just me, but does it sound like a gym during an intramural basketball game in there?

That would mark the beginning of the end as it did for division 2. Top schools don't tolerate a lowering of the bar for the benefit of the rest of the membership, again, see d-2. It took what, approx 10 years after the first scholly reductions?

The game that killed me was Nov 14th 1998. A 14-9 home loss to Northern Colorado. High of 33 with gusts to 30mph. I don't even know what the announced attendance was, it was so horrible. A terrible thank you to one of the all time great Sioux teams. The loss put the team on the road back to Greeley for the playoffs. Unfortunate for Kleinsasser, Moore, et al. that McGuffy played at the same time.

I think so, but that doesn't read well on a press release, or ESPN.

Sounds like Bump is sending JG to Fargo to cover the game.

Reusse tweet "Good news. South Dakota beats up on NW Oklahoma State 48-14. Should help with Gophers BCS ranking." IALTO

From this perspective, was the entire move up to division 1 a potential benefit to hockey?

While I'm not willing to say they should have won this game since they never actually led, or even tied during the game, they showed a lot of guts in this game that they didn't last week. They represented well.

We gotta get the gophs on the schedule.

This isn't an either/or proposition between FBS wins and playoffs at the end of transition. I don't expect FBS wins and no playoffs. I also don't expect Idaho blowouts and Sioux Falls losses either. I expect a respectable FBS showing, protect your home field, and be in position to compete for the playoffs when that time comes. That means show up in Dekalb.

I don't think NDSU is necessarily the poster child on how to do it either. However, if the program doesn't give the fans something to cheer about now, there will be apathy and empty seats to greet the team when the transition is complete.

Because it's always fun to scapegoat our problems away, and some great programs have one, how about we blame the current conference situation, underwhelming performance of football and basketball, and coming up short in the frozen four on "The curse of Roger and Kuppie" for not moving up when they had the opportunity? My tongue is firmly in cheek here of course, but it's an amusing diversion to thinking of real solutions.

I'm hoping the game stays close long enough to become hoarse.

I agree with you, but this would take a vision and attitude from the president's office and athletic department that I have yet to see. I know there are different faces now than there were ten or so years ago when the xdsus started their move, but I wonder if the new guys have the fortitude to change the culture of 'this is good enough for us", and aspire to something more.

According to some docs I've spoken with at Medcenter, Sanford approached them a while back and they declined. Wanted to partner for a children's hospital, but Medcenter didn't want to become Sanford.

Bohl knows he hasn't achieved with his recruits and he's taking more risks with the kids he has been recruiting-both locally and nationally. The problem with that is if it doesn't pay off in the short term, the downward spiral tends to accelerate. Babich was a terrible play caller (see the before and after Mauer left as OC), but he could recruit. The shine is really fading on Bohl's head here in Fargo, and it will be ugly if this team isn't at least two games over .500 this year.