cpa_guy

37-28 UND on a 18-3 run

No clue as well and I was watching the game. Most of the fouls occurred on the end opposite of the UND bench (near where we were sitting); very few calls were made on our end even though you could see fouls/hear slaps, etc. There was one ref that was responsible for a vast majority of the calls. Since I have no knowledge how the referee system works, I'm unsure whether this was one overzealous referee, or whether duties were split and calls were made inconsistently from end-to-end.

While it is undeniable that the team played considerably better in the first half, the “collapse” on Wednesday wasn’t nearly as bad as the score indicated. At one point, UND held an impressive 40 to 15 point lead. Three factors that stood out to me in the early going: (1) UND had excellent ball movement, (2) ASU looked travel weary for the first ten minutes and (3) whether correct or not, most of the calls were going UND’s way. These factors were completely reversed in the second half: (1) ball movement wasn’t as impressive without Hooker (additionally, de Rouen was hampered by a second-half ankle injury), (2) calls were overwhelmingly going against UND (at one point the fouls were 10 to 1) and (3) the players started playing less aggressively due to the number of calls going against them (Nash went from being a force down low to playing the perimeter). Hopefully the team that showed up in the first half plays a complete game against Utah tonight.

I'm heading out the door right now expecting to see a solid effort tonight. Massey has us as 7 point favorites with a 73% chance of winning.

This game doesn't start for another hour. This doesn't appear to be a Big Sky issue; UNC isn't even able to provide real time stats to ESPN (this is the first time I've seen this in years).

Picture quality is great and the audio is exceptional. It's pretty cool the way that the play by play guy is in the left channel and the arena announcer and band are in the right.channel; with premium speakers it's almost like being there.

It's also supposed to be windy, with a 22 mph wind coming from the southern end-zone. This should be enough to affect passing.

Is Norberg injured?

Yes, the picture is really choppy. All the other games come in fine.

Anyone know why the pass to Ferguson isn't included in the yards total? It seems that the yards would have to be included in order to have a fumble?

The NCAA doesn't update until later in the year. You can sort this link by the volleyball column to get Massey's ranking. Although Massey updates regularly, I'm not sure how up to date this is. http://masseyratings.com/college.php

There are no tv options for this game. The game is being "broadcast" on ESPN3 which is internet only if you have a subscription to a participating internet provider. A link to participating providers can be found on the "WHAT IS WATCHESPN" tab on the watch ESPN website.

bigskyvikes, in the first game, Union is the favored team, as signified by the - (minus) written in front of the 240,while Vermont is the underdog, as designated by the + (plus) in front of the 200. What these numbers mean is that those wishing to bet on the favorite, Union, will have to risk $240 to win $100, while those wanting to wager on the underdog, Vermont, will risk $100 to win $200. North Dakota (-115) is a slight favorite over Wisconsin (-105); therefore, you will need to bet $115 on UND to win $100. The odds for UND to win the tournament are 17/2 or 8.5 to 1. Therefore, you would need to believe that UND has a greater than an 11.76% chance of winning in order to make this a good bet.

My heart says that there is a good possibility of both making it, but realistically I estimate a 4-5% chance (about: 45% for the women / 8% for the men with Weber in the final / 15-20% against anyone else in the final). I could be totally off-base, but based the higher number of “quality” bench players UND has and depending on how things play out, it’s possible that the men could have a considerably higher chance if the championship opponent needs to tap into their bench more than normal due to playing two/three nights in a row (even with UND playing three nights in a row vs. Weber’s two). Despite the odds, if UND plays on Saturday night, I will be cheering like crazy in Ogden for an opportunity to be in attendance while that first trip to the “Big Dance” is earned. If they lose earlier, I will at least get the “consolation prize” of cheering for the baseball team on Friday/Saturday night(s) in Orem.

I will be in Cedar City to support both teams tomorrow night. I am confident that the women will win. This said, Massey gives SUU a 66% chance of winning and makes them a five point favorite.

Does anyone know if BJ Fifita is coming back to UND? I believe he returns from his mission in mid-August.

Speaking of secondary. Does anyone know the status of BJ Fifita? I believe he returns from his mission in mid-August.

I fully expect the defense in this game, and the remainder of the year, to be closer to the one that gave up 86 yards in the second half (excluding the prevent drive) than the defense we have primarily seen so far this season for two reasons: (1) it appeared that a switch flipped-on confidence-wise after the stop on downs in the third quarter and (2) I expect the running game to continually improve in providing sustained drives (hopefully Kleason will be able to return), which will in turn provide a more stable defense. This said, as bad as the defense has been so far, there will likely be sporadic times when they revert back to what we saw earlier in the season. I had to do a double take listening to coach Mussman’s post game interview when he said that “It’s really good to see us play good defense. We played good defense tonight …” after giving up close to 500 yards. Although his comments were subdued during his press conference this week; it was quite apparent that his initial reaction and emotional outtake on the game was that his defense had turned a corner during the second half.

It's free, you just have to "purchase" it first. Make sure that you click on all plug-ins.

Anyone know where the pregame get-together will be in San Diego on Saturday? The San Diego State pregame will be in the End Zone Club inside the stadium. When: 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. PT (Gates open to the public at 3 p.m., Game begins at 5 p.m.) Light hors d’oeuvres will be served and a cash bar will be available.

Dakota Slim (and anyone else that is interested in seating/tickets), There are still over 100 tickets left for $15 or less (a few at $5 and $6) on StubHub; mostly in field level sections 4-7 which are behind UND's bench. I have read (after purchasing my tickets) that field level seats below row 15 may have an obstructed view because of the players, although most of the seats available on StubHub are higher than this row. In regards to UND seat locations, below is an abridgement of an evite from Jim Hollarn of the San Diego Alumni Chapter. "Tickets are available now through StubHub and Vivid at field level behind the UND Bench. Some of us are in Field Section 5. Field Section 4 or 6 are good alternatives behind bench. The 'official' visitor section seating is on the northeast cornerscoreboard end. The Ralph has tickets for the UND - Aztec game. Ticket seats are plaza 1 and plaza 61. Requests can be made by emailing tickets@theralph.com or call UND Ticket Office at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Phone: (877) 917-4689 or (701) 777-4689."

They are actually using North Dakota Fighting Sioux sweaters! If you click on the Fighting Sioux page and then on J. Killion you see the ND on the shoulder of his #24 uniform. At least they are helping UND by contributing royalty income.

FYI, according to the SUU website there is only 360 general admission tickets remaining. Based on 2007's attendance, I was going to wait until Saturday to purchase tickets, but all the attendance hype convinced me to purchase this morning.

For what it's worth, here's my take from a "hockey only" Sioux fan that attended both the UND an NDSU games at UVU (in fact, last night was the first Sioux basketball game that I have ever attended live). UVU holds a tremendous home court advantage when teams from lower altitudes come here. NDSU appeared to rely heavily on jump shooting, and therefore was hampered because it is difficult to have fresh shooting legs in this environment (this was clearly evident two years ago when the Bison were the far superior team but missed numerous non-defended open shots from the start). In addition to very good defense, I believe the Sioux won last night because they primarily drove to the basket (especially Bledsoe) instead of taking jump shots. They dominated on the inside even more the stats show (boards 30 to 24) as UVU had a handful of offensive rebounds that went nowhere because they were defended well. Hopefully this game will be a springboard for the Sioux to close out the season respectfully.

ESPN.com currently has Mankato 3, Denver 1 at the end of 2.