jdub27

I was surprised when I heard it as well. Then upset because the committee had zero plan in disclosing it but word started leaking out yesterday. UND will have zero recourse and basically was hung out to dry by their conference representative, who conveniently won't communicate with anyone on the matter.

None of that logic was used. You are giving them way too much credit. They appeased the east coast reps by giving HC the #8 seed and tried to make up for it by guaranteeing Weber a home game despite a lower bid, something that has never been done.

Agreed. Get it out in the open. Maybe it didn't happen, but I find it a bit odd that UND's AD went on the radio this morning and say he thinks it did. That is a pretty bold thing to throw out there on a hunch given that the committee is made up of his peers.

Washington St.

No, the MVFC does not kick in any money. And that was something that hadn't been done before. If the committee decides to award a home game to a team regardless of bid, then how exactly would you propose to combat that? Earning a seed is the obvious answer but that isn't going to happen every year (or be awarded even if deserved I guess). If UND puts out a bid that beats everyone (outside of Montana) and still doesn't get selected, what can they actually do? Absolutely get the frustration. But if what everyone is reading between the lines on is close to accurate, there is some real BS going on with the committee.

Nicholls got a bunch of money from the conference that they previous hadn't and their bid was significantly beyond what they would historically bid. That was bad luck. UND's bid was more than competitive. Despite that, everyone understands the importance of a home game. Which is why UND likely had the 2nd highest bid this time around. The problem is "other criteria" is out of anyone's hands when its a group of AD's making a room and have no one to answer. Guidelines are tossed out the window. Like what if the committee didn't want to have 5 western teams seeded (MVFC/Big Sky) but decided that to offset that, they'd just make sure the team who probably deserved to be seeded got a home game in the first round?

6 figures over the minimum bid. Montana (who shouldn't have even made it) and maybe Idaho are the only ones who would have historically beat it (assuming Idaho is showing they are serious about FCS). Not sure how/why Weber went all in, but another draw where UND is in the top 3-4 of all first round bids and ends up in the road because there are no teams in the West. Absolutely sucks. Would have been ideal to get an NEC team and funnel into SDSU but instead they get sent west.

Third highest bid out of 16 first round teams last time. They also changed the rules on hosting after the tent city embarrassment.

This won't get the love it deserves.

-If it SOS considered at all, UND should be fine (and they are on record saying it is). Should end at #2 in the country. -They are taking into account if teams were ranked when you played/beat them. #24 UNI and #7 MSU are good wins there. -Wins against teams under consideration: YSU and ACU help there. -Stats Poll, UND is up to #16. Finally cracked the Coach's Poll so that's at least not a mark against UND. -The MVFC is the top rated conference by Sagarin. Assuming tomorrow doesn't go UND's way, I'm not sure how you possibly end up with 2 seeded teams and no one else? -And I think UND is a legitimate contender for a seed if they win tomorrow. How are the options a)being seeded or b)not making it. That doesn't add up to me. -Not sure who is in the room advocating for UND. Larsen from NDSU actually has a lot of incentive as, if they win tomorrow, UND would be the highest win on their schedule. They are obviously looking to be a #4 or better. Montana's AD could be indirectly fighting for his own team as a bubble candidate, so that's not great. Selection Committee Patriot League - Bucknell AD Jermaine Truax Pioneer Football League -Drake AD Brian Hardin Big South Conference - Robert Morris AD Chris King Big Sky Conference - Montana AD Kent Haslam Southern Conference - Chattanooga AD Mark Wharton Missouri Valley Football Conference - North Dakota State AD Matt Larsen Colonial Athletic Association - Stony Brook AD Shawn Heilbron Southland Conference - Houston Christian AD Steve Moniaci Ohio Valley Conference - Eastern Illinois AD Tom Michael Northeast Conference - CCSU AD Thomas Pincince ASUN-WAC - Eastern Kentucky AD Matt Roan

11 in the game, which would have been to 20% of D1 last year. Good win for a young team. Balked through some tough stretches.

What do you mean left? He's sticking around to be a tenured professor, teaching Modern College Presidency and also History of Higher Education.

Blame Lindenwood.

While I understand that those on the committee must leave the room when their team is being discussed, not a huge fan of Montana's AD being on the committee. They've played their tough games close but their wins have come over teams with records of 2-8, 1-9, 1-9, 4-6, 2-8, 3-7, 4-6 with South Dakota being their best win. If they win the Brawl on Saturday, they should obviously be in. If they lose, I don't see how their resume is any better than UND's, unless style points in quality losses is back in play (and maybe both have a case to be in).

Wait, I thought we didn't want to play that many??

And then they get here and aren't what you expected? Then what? There's a reason a lot of those kids are in the portal. I'm not saying that transfers can't work out, UND has plenty of success (and failures) with it. But it isn't guaranteed to fix the problems and can end up with even more.

Size-wise? Yes. Skillset? No. I don't think Williams can come out of the backfield or line up in different spots like Luepke can. Wasn't Williams banged up earlier in the year as well? He's gotten between 9-13 carries 4 of the last 5 games after only getting 2-5 the first 5 games. Can he handle a full game worth of carries as the lead back? He had a few with 15-18 touches last year.

I thought UND was rotating more than they actually were before I took a deeper look. Turns out I was wrong on that and they are already a lot closer to doing then what you are yelling that they aren't. Its going to be a process when you lose your one or two best young players every year. I disagree that the transfer portal is the sole way to do that. Prefer not to go through the locker room issues that were here a few years ago. I think Sather has the ability to figure it out. And I think we can all agree that it hopefully comes sooner than later.

LOL. Wake me up when we're somewhere in the top 10% of college basketball and are constantly bringing in blue chips that makes it a little more clear on who should and shouldn't be on the court. UND played 8 guys double digit minutes against IWU. Two more played a handful of minutes, including one they see as a potential huge piece of the future who they are slowly immersing into the college game. 3 of those 10 are true freshman seeing their first college action. Last night, despite the game mostly being out of hand the 2nd half, it was pretty similar. 9 guys played double digit minutes. Sueker played a bit less than normal, trying to get him back into game shape with getting him reinjured so Mathews got a little more run. Gave a few other guys a handful of minutes. So UND is pretty much already doing what you're screaming about outside of a few token minutes here or there. On top of that, it is tough to get an accurate read on it when 3 of the 4 games they have played have ended with point differentials of 30 or more.

Maybe, but I don't think its going to be quite as easy for them without Luepke. They should have kept him bubble-wrapped until the playoffs. I do think that the cushion our defense gives the opposing WR's plays pretty well into Mattress Miller's strengths. Might have to get a little more aggressive and see if they can't force them to take some deep shots? Anyone want to predict the probability of the back-up QB for each team throwing a pass when they come in for their short yardage plays?

And I can assure you that almost every college basketball team in the nation is playing 10-12 guys right now, trying to dial in their rotation to get it down to 8-9 core guys.

How would you actually know what that rotation should be without running different combinations in OOC games? It isn't going to be in practice....

The handshake lasted longer than I anticipated. Apparently USD didn't even have an OC for most of the season. Nielson took over play calling duties after USD scored 7 points total against Kansas State and Montana. The coach who was the OC/QB coach stayed on staff for another month before leaving the team.

Sagarin and Massey exist for this reason. But it is a little tougher to connect with fewer games. And it is inconvenient for some of the east coast conferences to find out the numbers don't agree they are quite as good as they think.

He averages 2 catches and 30 yards per game. Using him as a deep threat isn't going to be what beats UND. It is keeping it at 3rd and manageable and let their game manager QB have short yardage for conversions to keep their offense on the field. He's no Tommy Gun, but he's pretty efficient and does what's needed. I called it 2 months ago, not surprised that Luepke is dinged up and will likely miss the game. Helpful for UND but Williams is a very good back. Really hoping Roehl spends all week in his own head trying to scheme up an unnecessary gameplan.