ethanm

Since I mentioned hall of famers in my last post, the SI issue also lists Hall of Famers by state/province. I found it surprising that there are only seven US players in the Hall. There are more non-North Americans enshrined with 11. Ontario has 114 which is more than triple what any US state has enshrined in any one sport.

Alaska's titles are rifle titles. And I was not trying to start any UND/NDSU argument. I just think that North Dakota ranking ahead of so many states is impressive despite having had only one D-I team until UND added women's hockey and NDSU's move up. Washington and South Carolina both have less titles than ND. Iowa has 40 titles but 30 of these are because of wrestling. Bisonfan, I also don't understand your comment on hockey not being a "traditional sport". What does that mean? If you're referring to the number of teams in a particular sport, hockey is not alone with a low number of teams. Wrestling has about 85. The quality of competition can't be that bad when college hockey sends hall of fame caliber players to the NHL.

Sports Illustrated's year-end issue has an interesting map of the US that shows D-I championships won (including I-A & I-AA football). North Dakota ranks ahead of 15 states and Washington, DC due to UND's seven hockey titles (Alaska is tied with ND). I think it's interesting that North Dakota, which until recently had only one D-I team, ranks ahead of so many states with multiple DI schools. For comparison, MN has 20 titles, WI 13, and MT 3. South Dakota and Mississippi are the only states without any titles, but at least, SD has an excuse. Since NDSU is D-I now, maybe someday they might help add to the state's total.

I don't recall seeing Lee on the ice. Although, Lee's bio on the world junior site does have him listed as playing a game. I also don't remember seeing Goligoski on the ice after he let the Russian in on the breakaway that resulted in the penalty shot goal. I'd also like to see the defensemen play the body more like Sutter did on Ovechkin in the 3rd rather than missing a poke check and having the guy get by them and get a shot off.

ESPN has a story with predictions for all the teams. They have the US finishing fourth and Canada winning it. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?id=1952465 The story mentions Brian Lee (apparently from Moorehead High) as a name to know on the US team

Maffin earns NCC co-Player of the Week honors http://www.fightingsioux.com/sports/wbball...RELEASE_ID=3485

I'm sure the fact the Big Sky conference has a TV deal with Altitude Sports network, a new Denver station that carries the Avs & Nuggets, didn't hurt Northern Colorado's chances.

I see that USCHO has created a recruiting section. http://www.uscho.com/news/recruiting.php There is one article on there about early signing period awards that has several UND connections including this one.

I found this article about Crookston's starting QB transferring. The article goes on to state that he would switch positions, likely to WR, at his new school. Simmons transferring

1,800 at Michigan Tech is a lot better than the showing at SCSU when you factor in Houghton has a population around 8,000 compared to 60,000+ in St. Cloud. I could see, in the future, not giving a playoff game to a school like SCSU if they can't draw more fans given the area population, but I don't think schools like MTU should not be given home games just because they happen to be located in the some dinky town.

TD, Bowenkamp to Grossman

ESPN has a list of the ten most bizarre traveling trophies. The Traveling Training Kit, which apparently SCSU & Mankato play for, is number two on the list. What is with the tackle box being female? And do I want to know what they do with it when they take it home? A few other local teams made the list or honorable mention. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...rivalrytrophies

The FB position always gets overlooked. It's probably the only position that gets less recognition than the OL. Look at the NFL, I've never understood how Alstott would always make the Pro Bowl as a FB. He can't block, and he would play HB in short-yardage formations.

I guess my original post came across different that I intended. What I meant to say is if NDSU played someone of a similar seed, that team didn't have much of a chance at getting the game at home since NDSU would offer a much bigger guarantee to the NCAA. A recent example would be the Delta St.-NDSU game. I'm sure that game would have been in Fargo if the system used in the 80's were still used today. Since money doesn't seem so important now, the NCAA went to a 3rd or 4th criteria to give the game to Delta St. Since you mentioned rankings, I wouldn't mind seeing DII national polls eliminated since they don't mean anything anyway. Being that'll never happen, it would nice if all national polls didn't come up until later in the season like the BCS rankings. That would reduce the bias towards the preseason rankings (how else can you explain USC being ranked so much higher than OU or Auburn?).

I don't think you'll see expected attendance factor into playoff hosting anytime soon. The NCAA has shifted away from the bid process that was used in the 80's and has decided, rightfully so, that the higher seed will host provided they have an adequate venue. I thought it was unfair in the 80's when the Bison would basically buy home playoff games, and it would be hypocritical for me to change me mind now that it might benefit UND. I'd rather the Sioux earn their home games rather than buy them.

Found this in this week's WCHA column on USCHO.com

I know it's now basketball, but there is an article about Bagaason and the Fosston volleyball team going to state in the Forum today. Fosston hopes for another chance at title

The University of Minnesota has both NHL and Olympic. The men's team plays in Mariucci Arena (Olympic) and the women's team plays in Ridder Arena (NHL).

I guess they wanted the WCHA schools to knock each other out of the playoffs and give other schools a chance. Not that I've ever seen anything like that before with playoff seedings.

Winona has played UND tough the two times the Sioux played them in the playoffs (2001 & 2003). In 2001, some people questioned why Winona was in the playoffs given the conference they play in. While UND did beat them, Winona scored the most points against the Sioux that year and gave UND problem with the deep ball. Last year, Winona should have won the game but the Sioux pulled out won of their miracle comebacks to win in the last minute.

TWENTY SIX CANDIDATES VIE FOR HILL TROPHY AS NCAA DIVISION II FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR I was surprised to see Treasure from Mankato on the list. I'd have put Jamar Day on the list instead. He's a big reason why Omaha has turned their season around and are in position to win the NCC. Stats from the NCC website RUSHING Team Cl G Att Yds Avg TD Yds/G Long ----------------------------------------------------------- 1. Matt Birkel.......SCSU JR 9 225 1371 6.1 15 152.3 66 2. Jamar Day........UNO JR 10 233 1460 6.3 16 146.0 80 4. Sean Treasure.. MSU JR 10 195 1048 5.4 12 104.8 68

The team plays in the NHL-size rink. The Olympic rink was built so the Sioux could practice on that being there are a few teams in the WCHA with Olympic-sized (or close to it) rinks. The Olympic rink seats a several hundred, I believe. The women's team has played a few games in the Olympic rink in the past, but they now play all their games on the main/NHL-size rink.

Six teams make it from each of the four regions with the top two seeds getting byes. This is the first year with 24 teams. Previously, it was 16 teams total, four from each region.

I doubt GF would ever be given the women's Elite Eight. Non-NCC coaches were complaining when it was in Rochester since that is too close to the NCC schools. I bet that's why Pine Bluff got it for a few years. The NCAA put it somewhere that would be difficult for UND/NDSU fans to get to. Of course, the one problem with this theory is that it would be the first time the NCAA made a decision not based on the almighty dollar. Then they realized nobody came so they put it close to schools that have support (MN), and now (because of complaining?) it's back in Arkansas.

The new SI issue lists the UND-BC game in it's The Week Ahead: What to watch and watch for section. Obviously, the deadline for this article was before the new rankings came out. It's surprising, but nice to see, that they'd mention UND and not BC (there's even a small picture of Zajac).