Bison06

I looked on the website and he is listed at 210, why would they under-report his weight? If he really is that large, he is going to be a tough matchup for opposing teams. I remember SUU had a guy back in 04-05 named Jerome Eason, I think he was in the 215-220 range. His best attribute was his blocking ability, man I could not get away from that enormous dude all game.

Are you exaggerating or did he really put on 30 lbs?

Thanks, that's what I thought but the sports guy had me doubting myself.

Forgive my ignorance, but how is Zach Parise's name pronounced? I always thought it was Pa ree z, but the sports guy in MSP last night said Pa reese and I didn't know which one was correct.

If UND judges it's success by the program overtaking Montana it will be a tough row to hoe. IMO, and I don't have time to look up stats to support my stance right now, but Montana is the best "program" at the FCS level and it really isn't close in my mind. The consistency from year to year, what was it up until a few years ago 16 years in a row making the playoffs. That is completely unprecedented as far as I know. All FCS teams should strive to have half the success that Montana has enjoyed over the last 3 decades. Montana is IT when it comes to FCS football and has been for a long time.

As I said, I watched every playoff team and I saw 3-4 UND games. The level of play UND put on the field was not up to par IMO. If I wasn't a Bison fan you'd probably concede that fact. Outside of SUU which is debatable, which of UND's wins last year was impressive? Are you sure you want to put stoney brook in this conversation? Maybe you didn't see them give SHSU the best game they had seen all year up to that point.

Doesn't it get old saying the exact same thing over and over and over and over again? I don't speak for NDSU, I don't speak for the NDSU fanbase, I speak for me. I have never once claimed to be over or not care about UND.

Haha, sorry you are correct. I confused myself for a second there. Illinois St had 7 wins in inarguably a top 3 conference and they sat home.

I'll make my point one more time then I'll be done, because the conversation is getting circular. I watched every playoff team last year, based on what I saw and where they ended up in the rankings, I am not sure what to base my opinion on other than what my eyes saw, but I don't think UND was on the same level as ANY of the playoff teams last year. I feel like UND's record was vastly inflated due to the strength of schedule. I also believe there are many UND fans who feel the same way and know that UND had some serious weaknesses last year. Lastly, 7 wins doesn't necessarily get you into the playoffs. This will be even more true in the future with the playoffs expanding, there will be many 7 win teams sitting home in December.

Not to nitpick, and maybe my link isn't correct, but I don't see Harvard or Liberty between 16-25. Ohio Valley definately isn't a top conference and the MEAC is very poor, but the SWAC doesn't participate in the playoffs. Stony Brook was a damn good team last year, did you watch them play? I wouldn't guarantee a UND victory against Norfolk State. But I agree that conference is weak. I failed to mention Tennessee Tech was also a playoff team last year. My point isn't to diminish what UND accomplished. My point is that unless UND was a playoff caliber team last year, they shouldn't have been in the top 25 because 16-25 includes a lot of playoff teams.

What on earth does that possibly contribute to the conversation. I didn't say it wasn't a big deal. Winning your conference is better than losing your conference regardless of the competition. But some football fans are discerning enough to know when they are watching good football, maybe you just aren't one of them. If UND wasn't spending all it's money fighting the never ending fight maybe they would have had the funds to reward the players for coming to UND without having a chance at the postseason the way NDSU did.

So even if you aren't saying it overtly, basically you are saying that you think UND or Cal Poly were playoff caliber teams last year. http://www.collegesp...top-25-rankings Stony Brook, Norfolk St. and JMU were all playoff teams last year. You would feel pretty confident against them based on what?

Remind me where I said that it used to be better. Are you of the opinion that conferences have exactly the same level of play each year? Or is it possible for a conference to have a down year?

I don't think the winner of the Great West should be automatically ranked no. I think we can look at each conference on a year to year basis and determine if the quality of play within the conference is at a high enough level to warrant a certain ranking. Last year, no, and believe it or not it has nothing to do with my opinion on UND. There were no playoff teams out of the Great West last year, even if UND and USD were eligible they still wouldn't have made the playoffs. So, no, I don't think that last year the Great West was playing football at a high level.

Don't flatter yourself, it's the offseason and there is nothing else to do.

Well I wonder why that would be Darell? Could it be that NDSU fans don't really care about USD and they do care about UND?

You can think whatever you would like to about my motives, but go ahead and check the resumes of the teams ranked 24-18 at the end of last year. UND doesn't match up at all. 24-18 gets you a number of playoff teams or teams that at least beat a playoff team. UND didn't even play a playoff team. USD didn't deserve to be ranked either.

I don't care one way or another and it doesn't bother me. Most people have conversations all of the time about things that don't bother them or things they don't have a say in. I am just having a conversation about football during a reaaaaaaaaally long offseason.

I agree. 5-3 is a fair way to look at your season. But who were those 5 wins against? Drake Southern Utah Northern Colorado Davis South Dakota Scheduling during transition is very tough I understand. And you can only play the teams on the schedule, I get it. That doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day UND still IMO didn't have a schedule and a record that warranted a ranking. I think an unbiased person would not be impressed enough with those 5 wins to put UND in the top 25. Southern Utah at the time seemed like a good win and it is easily the most impressive on that list, but they turned out to be a dog too. Take away the fact that you are a UND fan for a second. Do those 5 wins impress you enough to crack a ranking?

Are you of the opinion that with UND's record and schedule that UND deserved to be in the top 25? If you are admitting that UND most likely cracked the top 25 due to a mistake then the rest of the season is skewed and you know it. Pollsters tend to not move a team very far unless they have a dramatic win or loss. I couldn't care less from NDSU's standpoint I am just saying from my perspective that's how poll voting works at the 15-25 range. Nobody pays a whole lot of attention and will just look at where they were last week and if they didn't do anything earth shattering won't move a team very far either way. http://www.fightingsioux.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=58644&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500&Q_SEASON=2011 I am all for giving credit where credit is due, but if you say that after the fresno state game it was likely a mistake to put UND in the top 25, tell me where in the rest of the season UND proved they should be there? Southern Utah is the only impressive win on the schedule.

Great, what do you propose we do about that? More legislation? More laws that will only lead to discrimination against whites? IMO inacting laws/rules like the Rooney rule in the NFL are an insult to black people.

How do these people not realize they are perpetuating the issue they claim they want eradicated? The only way racism will ever go away is to stop talking about race. What possible end-game could these people have in mind that doesn't end in discrimination of the "white people"? So they would advocate trading discrimination of minorities for discrimination of "white people"?

Well from an outsiders perspective, I would be extremely impressed with a 7-4 season with that schedule in UND's first year of eligibility.

Not saying there is anything wrong with having high expectations, but to expect what in reality amounts to 8-3 with that schedule is pretty lofty IMO.

I should have phrased that differently I suppose. I would consider 5-6 pretty darn good, 6-5 is the most likely with that schedule, and everything better than that would be considered a great success.