Hambone

A note about Stewart - he is a mid-year so he would be around for Spring ball.

I was talking to a Minnesota recruiting guy and I asked if Boltmann was comparable to Studsrud, and he said that was a very good comparison. So I'd say maybe he'll be ready to run the squad when Studs is gone. Would love to see Heidelbaugh develop, though.

And so I'm wrong. I've thought that NDSU had always had recruits during the playoffs, but I guess I'm wrong. Oh well, can't be perfect all the time.....

I think you'll see more of a push in January for more recruits. I know they are on some JUCO kids that I believe are mid-year, so they would be eligible for spring ball. I know they're looking at some JUCO DB, OL and possibly a QB. Not sure how serious we are on some of the kids. As per usual I think you'll see some very successful weekends in January. As it relates to hosting kids during playoffs, you definitely can until the quiet period as far as I know. I haven't looked at any of the quiet/no contact time frames for this year though, so I don't know when they start.

I'm still not 100% sure I'm able to make it, but planning on it (so haven't got my ticket yet). I'm guessing there are plenty in similar situations. I think we should be able to surpass 10k. Would love to see more......

After the NAU game I was on the field with my son and buddy SiouxDini and Kennedy / Faison walked up to me and we talked football playoffs and volleyball championship for a bit. Faison was really engaged in the playoff talk and how he was pretty comfortable that not being seeded we would still get a home game.

I try to get up for one game a year from down here, and this will be my third this year. For NAU I left at 6am on Saturday and came home after the game - thinking I will do that a couple times a year going forward so should be able to make 2-3 games a year. Edit: my wife doesn't care for football and doesn't like me spending too much money on it, otherwise I would probably have season tickets and make at least one out of town game a year as well. Have to pick my battles

I plan on driving up, but can't commit until after the weekend.

As it relates to the first round, I think the game I'm most interested in is ISUred against Central Arkansas. ISUred has been playing well lately, and Central Arkansas was in the running for a seed until the last week of the regular season. A lot of people thought that a 6 win MVFC team should not be in, as they weren't as dominant as a conference this year as they were last year when Western Illinois got in. Personally I believe Albany should have gotten in ahead of them, but they didn't so we're left wondering if ISU deserved it. Also am hoping that Weber is able to pull off the upset at Chatty, although I think that Weber's offense isn't strong enough to get much going against a stout Chattanooga defense. Although I didn't get a chance to see the Weber game, a few people have told me that other than NAU they thought that Weber was the toughest team we played. I'm ready for some post season football.

My picks in bold. Saint Francis at Villanova Weber State at ChattanoogaLehigh at New HampshireNorth Carolina A&T at RichmondCharleston Southern at WoffordIllinois State at Central ArkansasSamford at Youngstown StateSan Diego at Cal Poly

Alright - thought we could do some prognosticating and do some picks for the first round. Additionally, other than the main game of interest (Richmond/A&T) we can have some general playoff discussion within. Here are the games to pick: Saint Francis at Villanova Weber State at ChattanoogaLehigh at New HampshireNorth Carolina A&T at RichmondCharleston Southern at WoffordIllinois State at Central ArkansasSamford at Youngstown StateSan Diego at Cal Poly

SFI guys are talking about doing a Q&A this afternoon. Hit them up on twitter letting them know you're interested if you would like them to do one.

UND has offered Thomas Gibson out of WIsconsin. http://www.hudl.com/video/3/3245247/57d09b6e688ec4fb44409966

I like this bracket a lot, as you would get to see a lot of matchups that aren't regionalized. I would love to see Cal Poly take on SHSU, Richmond/Jax State, SDSU/EWU, UND/Chatty or Maine, The Citadel/CSU. Although I'm still guessing we have SDSU/NDSU/UND in a little pod so that only one makes it through the quarterfinals.

I'm not an OL guru by any means, but he hasn't played badly. You can definitely tell he is young, though, as he has had some troubles with experienced DEs. But, if he gets the technique down better and puts on 30 more pounds, he will be a very good player for us. Plays with a mean streak and seems to be pretty strong and agile.

They did actually show a replay right away on the big screen for this play (as they wanted to replay the fumble recovery), and he definitely pitched it forward. To the naked eye it did look like it was a bungled hand off, but it was the right call.

This kid goes on a visit every weekend. I think I've seen him off to all sorts of different places every weekend. At least if he decides on UND he will have had a lot of information from which to make a decision. I believe he's a pretty solid kicker as well.

Game worries me too, but I do trust the defense. I will be making it a day trip with my son. Worth the multiple hours in the car (I hope).

Seriously?????

Unless SDSU or UND get a seed, I'd say it's about 95% that they get matched up in the first round. And the most likely result would be the winner going to Fargo. Would love to be matched up with a Western Illinois with the winner getting sent to Sam or out east - so we can play some other teams.....

Also, already revving up the MVFC machine, as I've seen references that Illinois State is making their case to get in at 6-5 (UNI still has a shot to reach 6-5 as well).

Too bad both USD and Stony Brook crapped the bed today, against mediocre teams.

Committee's initial top 10 1. Jacksonville St2. Sam Houston St3. Eastern Washington4. North Dakota St5. James Madison6. The Citadel7. Richmond8. Chattanooga9. Charleston Southern10. Central Arkansas

Cal Poly never gets any love in polls. Also, North Carolina A&T doesn't belong as high as they are.

Not the ideal first half. Let's get this rolling in the second half.