jdub27

So in order to make your point, you have to put USD's second best win against NDSU's top win and then claim that a ~12 point difference is actually a wash. No wonder you don't have a clue.

Considering the "bad" teams they have beaten aren't as bad as the "bad" teams NDSU has beaten, then yes, they should. Knowing that, I'm not sure how you can objectively say that NDSU has a better resume. This adjusts for where the game was. The only comparison NDSU wins is the first one by half a point. USD NDSU @WIU = @YSU (YSU by 0.5) YSU > @EWU (YSU by 10.2) @BGU > MSU (BGU by 21.9) @UND > @ISU (UND by 11.2) ISU > RMU (ISU by 7.4) Drake > MVSU (Drake by 16.8)

They get more credit for beating poor teams even though they have a harder schedule? Seriously, step back and be objective. USD has played a harder schedule and to this point has a better resume. It's OK to admit. This year only SOS: USD - #160 (49.93) NDSU - #230 (36.66) USD's schedule is even harder when looking at that. Winning at YSU and WIU is basically a wash. Beating YSU is still better than winning at EWU. Beating Bowling Green is still significantly better than Missouri State. Advantage USD. I'm not saying that USD is going to beat NDSU. The point was made that they have a better resume to date and you took exception with it based on nothing but your eye test.

You're completely ignoring some other factors, including bias from previous seasons. By your "eye test" you claim NDSU has better wins but there are no objective numbers that bear that out. I also showed where it places USD ahead of NDSU using this season's results only, so how do you explain that outside of leaning on human polls and voters who slot vote and won't move NDSU down unless they lose.....?

There's some truth in this....

Ah, now I get how you're going to get around it. I brought up Sagarin because it's an objective measure of SOS, which shows USD with the same record as NDSU but a harder schedule. You are the one who brought individual rankings into it, which I then showed that rankings that only go off of this season have USD as above NDSU. Remember, you're the one who made the claim that NDSU has a better resume but I've yet to see an objective measure that proves that.....

You're right, Sagarin is currently assigning roughly 2.07/2.20 points for home field advantage this year. Since YSU is USD's second best win, you need to compare them correctly: Winning @WIU is better than winning @YSU (both team's best win) and beating YSU at home is better than winning @EWU (both team's second best win). Advantage USD. When are you going to acknowledge the part where the rankings that only take into account this season show USD as better than NDSU?

I see you not surprisingly completely ignored my 2nd point, but you made up for it by making things up with your last sentence... Best two wins on NDSU's schedule: YSU - 85 (64.03)EWU - 117 (57.71) Best two wins on USD's schedule: WIU - 48 (64.71)YSU - 85 (64.03) USD's third and fourth wins are also better than NDSU's third. But I digress.

Both teams are 6-0. One has played a harder schedule. Seems pretty simple to decide who, to this point in time, has a better resume. Also, if you use only results from this year, USD is rated #39 (76.65) and NDSU is #46 at (74.83). The main rankings are still showing bias from outside this season. What's going to be your excuse for that?

Both teams are 6-0. Sagarin currently has NDSU rated as a better team. Sagarin currently has USD with a significantly harder schedule to date (10+ points/game). Resume is based on wins vs. the schedule you've play. Just because NDSU is rated better does not mean they currently have a better resume, the Sagarin algorithm is more complex than that. While there is definitely some correlation between the two, it is not mutually exclusive despite what you may think.

What in the hell does that have to do with who currently has a better resume? More like you completely missed the point.

Opponent ranks per Sagarin: USD WIU - 48 (64.71) YSU - 85 (64.03) Bowling Green - 135 (53.25) UND - 163 (42.97) ISU - 228 (37.67) Drake - 234 (26.65) NDSU YSU - 85 (64.03) EWU - 117 (57.71) MSU - 204 (39.36) ISU - 228 (37.67) Robert Morris - 230 (27.54) MSVU - 238 (8.35) Sagarin has EWU as a whopping 4 points better than the Bowling Green team you claim ins't a good win. Why does it always have to be "Me! Me! Me!" with NDSU fans?

Sagarin SOS rankings: NDSU - 219 USD - 159 Difference in opponent quality is over 10 points/game.

I mean, it doesn't sound all that different than Cam Hunt, a RFr who has been playing pretty damn well at middle linebacker. Slated to be a back-up and he has two picks in his first two games since healing up enough to get on the field, even though he's still not 100%. There's a huge difference between plugging and playing a handful of guys, which still gives the other starters the ability to cover up some of the deficiencies. But when you have over half of your starting roster in street clothes and 3rd stringers who were supposed to be getting a handful of snaps a game vs. playing every single down, you lose the ability to cover up some of the drop off that every single roster would have.

Unfortunately that isn't going to make it better. Hard to believe but it is what it is...

Unless the running backs can run through 9 guys, I'll take the under. I'd be happy to be wrong but I don't see a whole lot of success passing the ball today.....

Let's hope a few guys that weren't previously injured can go this week, some dings from last week.

Looks like quite a few $15/$25 tickets left this weekend for those families who couldn't afford tickets (or thought the price was too high) for the Gopher series. Could get the whole family in for less than the price of a Minnesota ticket.

I hadn't realized Bryce Blair had switched numbers and lined up at fullback last game part time. Interesting move, guess it's one way to get him on the field until he can put on a little more weight to handle the wear of playing on the line.

Very possible and you would assume that the schools look at each other as peers rather than down their nose like they aren't worthy of a home/home. I guess the good news is the MVFC will go from having 1 extra team to 2, so maybe that will help out. But again, it still only accounts for 1 game in that whole list.

They are trying to get the best deal for themselves, as is the other team who needs to make it worth their while to travel up to Fargo, which they typically cover their own expenses for. The price for one-off games continues to go up as everyone wants home games and the teams that are willing to play money games within the FCS appear to have more bargaining power now than they previously did. When FBS teams don't want to play you and you are complaining FCS teams want too much money to come to your house, the only real alternative is to schedule home/homes or open up the pocketbook even further. But again, ignoring the reasoning that "no one will play us" is my bigger issue.

I mean, I guess travel is easier for the teams because they are in closer proximity but home/home still requires travel to an FCS school. Maybe it's easier, I guess I'm not sure but I do think the only one on that list that would actually fit under that category would be the MSU/EWU series. The rest were from when teams were in the Great West.

I didn't include all of EWU or Montana's, particularly since EWU's schedule is hard to decipher, but below is the best I was able to put together. I don't think there is a double standard noce you look at the whole list and again, the bigger point is their fans and athletic department representatives aren't publicly complaining "no one will play us". We will see if NDSU will schedule out some home/homes like Montana and EWU have done. Home/homes since 2010 along with future games signed. I also listed total OOC FCS road games played and scheduled since 2010: NDSU Weber State (2014/15) Montana (2014/15) EWU (2016/17) Delaware (2018/19) OOC FCS away games played and scheduled: 3 / 1 Montana North Dakota (2010/13) Cal-Poly (2010/11) Appalachian State (2012/13) South Dakota (2012/13) Liberty (2012/2015) NDSU (2014/15) UNI (2016/18) Liberty (2018/19) WIU (2018/21) South Dakota (2019/22) Missouri State (2020/21) North Dakota (2024/25) OOC FCS away games played and scheduled: 6 / 4 Eastern Washington Southern Utah (2009/10) Cal Poly (2011/12) Sam Houston (2013/14) Montana State (2014/15) UNI (2015/16) NDSU (2016/17) Western Illinois (2020/21) NAU (2018/20) OOC FCS away games played and scheduled: 8 / 2 EWU traveled to USD (2011) and Fordham (2017) with no return trips.

So are you guys saying NDSU fans are full of it and their home field advantage doesn't mean anything? I'm not saying they haven't deserved it, I'm simply asking if all the chest pounding about the great home field advantage means something or the fans are clueless. Simple question, either it has helped them or it hasn't. I agree that it may have, but as we pointed out, NDSU's away record during the playoffs is much worse than their home record. I would argue that SHSU, EWU and UM actually all are playing quite a few stronger non-conference games. UM done home and homes with NDSU, UNI and has USD, Missouri State, WIU and UND(once they leave the Big Sky) already signed. EWU has played NDSU, UNI, SHSU and actually traveled for a money game to Fordham and also have WIU on the future schedule. That's a lot of home and home's signed by the two Big Sky teams you mentioned. . I don't know much about SHSU or JSU (and neither show future schedules) but SHSU has been more than willing to play home and homes with Richmond, EWU in the last few years and UND coming up. NDSU has done home/homes with EWU, UM, Weber and an upcoming one with Delaware with no other ones currently on the horizon. Like I said, teams can schedule however you want, it's the incessant whining about "everyone is scared to play us" rather than "it's hard to find teams willing to play under our demands" that gets old when there is alot more to the story. I should also point out that none of those other schools have fans or athletic department representatives complaining about scheduling issues, NDSU does.

I buy all of that however I think they would have slipped up one or two more times in the playoffs if they would have had to travel during their streak. It is also fair to point out that it isn't an opinion that that since joining the FCS, NDSU's home playoff winning percentage (.947%, 18-1!!) is better than their winning percentage as a true road team (.500%, 1-1). That of course excludes neutral site games.