Bison06

I think you and I have different definitions of trolling.

They almost use it as a way to get more scholarship players on campus to hedge their bet on certain recruits to may not pan out.

What about grey shirts, how does that fit into he equation? Is there a limit on how many of them you can have on your roster? I feel like Alabama really takes advantage of that situation more than other schools. Maybe that's just the perception.

Thanks for the clarification. So can each subdivision still only have a total of 85 student athletes on scholarship?

I have been extremely complimentary of UND and their staff when appropriate. I've stated, as have many others, that given how last season ended for the Hawks it's fair to wonder if they were as good as their record showed. Outside of that I've been impressed with the UND football team and how quickly they've turned things around. As far as Bison negatives, since 2010 what is there to complain about or criticize? Truthfully, what would I say that would be negative about NDSU's football team? The off the field stuff that is years ago at this point, I was very critical of NDSU's players and thought the punishments handed out were appropriate in nearly every case. The only thing I can think of is a lack of breakaway talent at the reciever position. Other than that, they are one of the best coached, most disciplined football teams I have ever watched. I think your hatred for all things NDSU is really clouding your judgement on what I am posting and for sure on how good NDSU's football team really is. In the past two day I've seen you post that NDSU was overrated last year, when it's a provable fact that they were at least one of the best four teams last year(I would argue top 2 and make a strong case). I've also seen you say NDSU is overrated this year with no real reason other than you want them to be rated lower to back up your statement. I'm not trolling, I'm giving my honest assessment of the situations,. Just because you disagree doesn't make me a troll. Whats the fun of a board like this if everyone agrees with everything, there would be no discussion. Boring if you ask me.

Better get used to it, we'll be conference mates again in a couple years. Isn't it great?!?!??

Good luck against MoSt

Eastern Washington? That situation will play itself out this week, but based on their performance they might just be having a down year. I think EWU might miss the playoffs this year. So disagree there. JMU is ranked ahead of NDSU(correctly)so that's a moot point. SDSU you say they beat NDSU and then fail to mention NDSU trounced them when it counts. They may be good this year, we'll see. No reason to rank them ahead of NDSU at this point in the season. youngstown lost a ton, they may not make the playoffs this year. Anyone else?

See how you used the word feel there, like wishing and hoping and praying. Anything can happen, but all indications are that this year's team will be better than last year. Very similar to UND's situation. QB is a year older, key players back from injury. You lost an NFL prospect corner and still feel good about the team, NDSU lost an all American end and still feels good about their team. NDSU "should" be better this year, just as UND "should" be better.

Who would you rank ahead of NDSU?

They may very well be, but I feel like many on here are falling into the same trap that a lot of NDSU fans have fallen into over the years. You see some FCS teams have some success against FBS teams and you get an over-inflated view of how "close" FCS and FBS teams are. Let's not forget, this is a P5 team we are talking about in Mizzou. There is literally, not one player on MoSt's team that wouldn't have taken a scholarship offer to Mizzou if offered. They have a minimum of 22 more scholarship players. That's more than entire recruiting classes sometimes at an FCS school. Maybe I'm different in this thought than most, but it's exceedingly rare for an FCS team to put up a decent fight against P5 schools, look up the numbers, it nearly never happens. As has been said, let's see how it plays out, but color me impressed with MoSt after week 1.

Based on what? I've looked up Mizzou scores, they aren't historically horrific on defense. They certainly aren't dominant, but they're not a sieve. If it makes you guys all feel better to completely dismiss your next opponent's performance against an FBS team as "anyone would have put up 43 against that defense" then you have the right to do so. I watched the link to the game and I came away genuinely impressed with MSU's offense. As I said, I've been watching them play NDSU and following their scores since they were in the same conference as NDSU, that offense looks to be the most potent offense they've had in years. As I said, we'll see how it translates into wins and losses.

Quote my post where I said they were good. You guys just love putting words in people's mouths and then arguing with those false narratives you created. I said I was impressed, that's it. Didn't say they were going to beat UND, didn't say they have somehow arrived as a force in FCS, my words were simply, I was impressed. That's it. If you had been following MSU as closely as I gave for the past 8 years as a conference mate of NDSU's, you'd be impressed they put up 43 on anyone, let alone an SEC team. Give credit where credit is due, if UND would have put up 43 points against Utah I would have been damn impressed.

You're logic leaps never cease to amaze me Darrel.

I'm not saying Mizzou is the '85 bears, but since joining the SEC in 2011 they've only given up 43 or more points 4 other times. I'm not trying to make Missouri state out to be amazing either, but for a team like MSU to put up 43 points on an SEC defense is impressive to me. We'll see how it translates the rest of the season for them.

It's still the SEC man, the level of athlete they have access to exceeds any FCS program by an astronomical amount. Defense isn't all about athleticism, but winning one on one matchups is and sometimes scheme and coaching simply can't overcome a guy that can flat out beat you. 43 points against an SEC team not names Vanderbilt is impressive in my book for an FCS team.

I'm assuming by your name that your a Utah fan. Utah is used to playing P5 teams so it may not seem like much to you, but an FCS team putting up 43 points on an SEC team is impressive regardless of how good that defense is.

Stats definitely don't tell the entire story every time, I figured it was something that wasn't showing up in the stat line that impressed a lot of people who watched the game.

At the risk of sounding like a "hater" or a wet blanket, I've been seeing a lot of posts this week heaping praise on Studsrud for his performance in the Utah game. For the record, I was only able to follow the game on my phone and didn't see him play, but can someone explain to me what about his performance in this game impressed you. Looking at his stat line, he performed well below his season averages from a year ago which was a season that most UND fans felt Studsrud needed to improve upon this year for UND to be successful. As I said, I didn't see the game, but I'm slightly confused as to why his game Thursday night is being viewed as an obvious positive. http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/keaton-studsrud-player-stats

All those UND grads that move down for the good jobs do really bring the narcissism levels up.

Doing my absolute best to be completely objective, on any given year Iowa and Utah are actually very comparable, with Utah likely having a slight advantage in terms of skill position players.

Iowa wasn't a top 15 team, agreed. Bison overrated? Agree to disagree. Lost to the champion in the national semifinals and beat the other team who made it to the championship, I pretty easy argument to make for NDSU being the #2 team in the country last year.

I couldn't agree more, I'm just saying it's way too early to be making any statements like the OP did. For the record I believe that Iowa team was in the top 15 heading into that game if I remember correctly.

I'm not even debating if it's true or not, but there is absolutely no way to know right now how good that Utah team you guys played last night is or will end up. Without letting the season play out any comments like the one I quoted above are strictly self serving and only made to make the OP feel better about a loss. Maybe Utah is a top 10 team, maybe they don't win another game this year. Beating an FCS team by 3 scores isn't proof of anything, can we agree on that? Let the season play out at least a little before saying that Utah team is the best FBS team either NDSU or UND has ever played and would beat the best FCS team of all time(arguably). Fair?