jdub27

To the best of my knowledge, it was just one newspaper guy as well. Their AD is Terry Wanless, former UND AD. I don't think he was against UND joining.

Both the SD schools are fans of the Summit since the MBB and WBB conference tournament have more or less been permanently placed in Sioux Falls.

Game story from UNDsports.com:

He's an SDSU fan. Though criticizing UND with this comment after Douple's action's with UND baseball are pretty rich. While not exactly the same, Douple is employed at the will of multiple public institutions, so it is close enough.

When did the Summit add football? And the leagues have been back and forth on who is the better basketball league, but the point has already been made: Both are one bid leagues so it doesn't really matter. Regarding the MVFC, the eastern schools got travel concessions when USD was added. Doubt they'd be jumping for joy at adding UND. And do you see Douple going to bat for UND convincing the MVFC to add them?

Varner seems to have the attention of the coaches as well. I think we see a crowded backfield going into the fall. Knowing that, hopefully that makes them all hungry and gives some motivation to work hard this summer to create separation.

I was thinking along the lines that the baseball clock running out (due to time or further drop in membership) would start the basketball clock, but wasn't 100% sure if that was the case. It appears it is, thanks for clearing it up.

Are they not already in their two year grace period for this? Or are you talking a separate grace period that would effect their basketball autobid?

What benefit did Douple have for being swayed by an outside force? And I know for a fact that there are some overexagerations in your first sentence.

I'm going to disagree with the baseball part. I think that if the Summit offered UND a baseball home, they would have taken it regardless of Douple being the commissioner. Dodson more or less said that is where they wanted to be. And I doubt that Faison and Kelley thought they would have that amount of pull to request something like that. UND wasn't working from a position of leverage (not that the Summit was either). I think pride got in the way and the Summit blew a chance to help stabilize their baseball conference. I also think the WAC helped out UND with its baseball invite and would understand if they would have chosen the Summit had it been offered. Then again, with all the magical power that Kelley supposedly has over the Summit, maybe you're right.

Well, if you want to take Douple's side, you give Kelley a lot of credit for holding that much power over the commissioner of a conference that UND was not a member of. I wonder what Douple's actual bosses think of an outsider holding that kind of sway.

Are you sure that one sport losing its autobid defuncts a conference? I haven't saw the NCAA rule that explains that part, just what is needed to keep an autobid.

ESPN/Grantland's Katie Baker gives UND fans a mention in her latest mailbag:

Pretty bold statement. What is defined as a solid season and who is defining it? And how can you judge a recruiting class? Especially since a)they aren't signed until February and b)most of them won't see the field for 2-3 years. I think it would take a pretty big disaster of a year (winning a handful of games at most) for Mussman to get fired.

I thought you were joking around with that quote. Turns out not.

WR is a tough position when making transition from level to level and Golladay was at a pretty big disadvantage playing as a true freshman last year in that sense. At the spring game he looked a lot thicker than he did last year. Spring prospectus shows he put on 10lbs, I would have actually guessed a little bit more. I agree expectations should be held back, particularly the NFL stuff, but with him being so young and with what he showed last year as a raw freshman, adding in some experience along with the strength and speed he put on over the offseason he has the potential to be a special player. Hopefully he keeps working hard and fulfills that.

They just joined the Summit and are likely looking for a new home anyway. UNC has always been mentioned as a possibility, long before Denver was on the Summit's radar.

Can anyone fill me in why UNC is always mentioned as a possibility for the Summit other than they used to be in the NCC? I can't see them wanting to move their athletics into a midwest based conference. I know they are in the NE corner of Colorado but even so, I don't think their travel gets easier than it would be in the Big Sky.

From the handful of times that I've watched him: He is very good at baiting QB's into making bad throws, which is how he gets many of his INT's, but it also has burned him and I'm not sure it is something he'll be able to rely on at the next level. I think his one-on-one skills are above average, but I've also saw him get beat on a few plays that surprised me. He also appears to be a poor tackler. When he has the ball in his hands, he is one of those guys that you get the feeling he is going to make something happen. I don't know what his speed or strength numbers are, he's going to need to have a good showing on his 40 time to move up in the draft. He'll get drafted but not sure where. Trumaine Johnson from Montana is a recent FCS corner that was highly ranked going into the draft. He was picked 65th (2nd pick, 3rd round) even with some character issues. Johnson also has about 3-4" on Williams, which is a huge size difference at corner. I think Williams is more of a playmaker (returner ability) than Johnson is, so he has that advantage. Those that have watched him play more can feel free to correct me.

Interesting. And unfortunate for UND. I think he would have done well here. Wish him the best.

That would require their minors to be reported and not kept under wraps... For the record, I have no problem with a first offense. It happens. The second one is where the line starts getting blurry. Hak definitely isn't messing around by cutting scholarship money.

I tend to agree with you. My guess is they know there are going to be a lot of people not happy with it. And a lower flood forecast that means less preparing/flood fighting probably won't help them either, though it is good for Fargo.

Can't or intentionally left unanswered?

Not sure how that isn't the first thing that popped into my mind, but yeah, that is likely the most logical solution.

And new turf again.... Wonder if UND could find a use for it and get a deal on the stuff being replaced similar to what NDSU was able to do. Not sure where it could be installed though? Soccer field?