Westside

I just took a peak at SDSU's playoff history... Made the FCS playoffs 5 times so far. Played opening weekend all 5 times. Have only hosted 1 playoff game in Brookings, a 2009 game against E. Illinois that drew 4,367 in 33 degree temps. This year obviously changes things with their shiny new, revamped stadium, and I'd guess they would put in a healthy bid. But I wouldn't say they would be a lock to host if they end up outside of the top 8.

For those that will be scoreboard & game watching Saturday during UND's bye.... Looks like UCA @ SHSU is 2:30 on espn3. SDSU @ UNI 4:00 on espn3.

I fully realize that #9 - #24 depend on bids to host... My point was if we happen to finish #9 (instead of #8 w/ bye & guaranteed home game) then UND, as an athletic department, should have the means to put in a bid that ensures we host. Simple as that. 16 teams can submit bids for Round 1. Looking at Haley's bracket projection from yesterday, UND should have/does have the resources to put in a bid to beat most of those schools, other than Montana & maybe SDSU, Liberty draws very well too. But, we should be well in the top half or likely higher in bids submitted. Like fightingsioux4life said, this football program should be rewarded for its great season with a home game & let it be know that UND is now a serious contender in the FCS football world. Attendance has been up (not where it needs to be, but still up), fan interest is up, I imagine football donations are up, no reason why we can't put in a bid that is near the top of teams #9 - #24. That being said, I'm still holding out that Central Ark. will lose, UND moves up into a Top 8 seed, rendering everything I just typed moot.

Touché... Absolutely no reason for UND as a #9 seed to play anywhere other than the Alerus for 1st round. We should have the means to put in a significant bid.

Anybody give a listen???

With a likely loss to North Carolina, does current #6 The Citadel drop out of top 8? They would be 10-1 with loss to UNC... hard to see them penalized much with a loss to a pretty good FBS team in last week.

Yep. Last year UND held ndsu to 2.7 yds per carry. Other than 35 yd run by Frazier, the gains were pretty minimal. Wentz picked UND apart for 262 & 4 TDs. Our secondary is vastly improved this year as well. not saying we'd win, but it would have the makings of a much closer game this year.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Chip Kelly end up back at Oregon. Pretty tough for FCS coaches to move up to a P5 job. Can't think of any to make that move in the recent past. With all the success Bohl had (albeit with plenty of baggage) he didn't land a P5 job. Baldwin may move on, but it won't be for a P5 head job immediately.

Hmmm.... Sounds a lot like this game... http://www.espn.com/college-football/matchup?gameId=400869746 Good thing your coaching staff is "building up a running game" after pounding out 71 yards against Cal Poly.

SFI just posted a replay of the play...

Quality win, quality loss... Tomato, tomahto...

Did Jeffrey mention that he doesn't like UND's gray pants as well???

Chattanooga lost to Wofford, 28-36

They'd have 5 conference losses if they would've played UND.

Streveler throws a pick with 11 sec left. sdsu 28 - usd 21 & its over

Just saw on ESPN College Football Daily show that UND is now #10 in the FCS playoff committee ranking.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs/fcs-coaches-poll UND up to #10 in FCS Coaches Poll

What happened to Stockwell? Coe at LT & Blair has been in at RT for quite awhile

I understand your points... attendance has been sporadic & definitely follows the trend of better attendance at beginning of the year & less at end of the season, no matter how successful the team has been. Looking at geaux_sioux's post, we all know the 4-letter word for the drop-off in attendance in the FCS era... M-U-S-S. Nice to see Bubba's staff & a now successful UND program working it's way out of that hole. BUT... This years USD game (11,477) has been by far the highest-attended game of the season. AND the highest attended in the Alerus since a 2009 game with... you guessed it... USD. I get that it was home opener, Potato Bowl & a 4pm start, but it outdrew conference matchups versus #16 Poly by 1.4k, Homecoming featuring a #18 UND versus a just-outside the top 25 Southern Utah by almost 1k & a battle of two unbeaten conference teams in a just-outside the top 25 Weber versus #12 UND by almost 2.8k. Personally, I'm a 6yr season ticket-holder, intently follow the team every day, so I would be considered a "die-hard" fan like yourself & most posters on here. Beginning of the year, the home game I most looked forward to was USD... I guess I just appreciate the history of the matchup. Remember, SDSU was terrible most of their D2 years... I'm guessing their current perennial top-15 FCS program would be a pretty big draw coming into the Alerus, along with NDSU and a up & coming USD program. Btw, the SDSU game was the highest attended game in the 2013 season & the only time UND went over 10k since 2010 to this season. I also think some hard-nosed battles with a historically tough UNI team would fill some seats up too. Home NDSU games would be a guaranteed sellout & have always been historically the best attended game of the year. That's a no-brainer. I haven't seen too many Big Sky teams move the needle for attendance (other than maybe Montana). It is too bad we didn't get Montana or EWU at home this year just to see how attendance would be. Not trying to start a Big Sky versus MVFC debate at all. Just stating my opinion, doesn't mean either one of us is right or wrong. So, the only 2 official sellouts in the history of the Alerus are against "former" conference & regional rivals???? Hmmm...

I'd think games with SDSU, USD and even UNI would also greatly boost attendance at the Alerus. In the Big Sky we've only seen the Montana games boost attendance numbers. We haven't hosted EWU since '13 (Muss's last year & one of the lowest points of UND football) so not sure how we'd draw against them when both teams are having success. I see 3 teams in the Big Sky (UM, MSU, EWU) that could possibly increase attendance & 4 from the MVFC (NDSU, USD, SDSU, UNI)... the rest from both conferences don't do much for the average fan.

http://athlonsports.com/college-football/fcs-football-best-games-and-predictions-week-9-2016 Craig Haley continues to pick the Hawks. Smart man.

Greer did play against ISU

Parker Rickert from Edina. http://www.hudl.com/athlete/178921/parker-rickert

Yeah, I saw a tweet (probably from Tom Miller or SFI... don't remember) but it did say UND was 3rd in attendance. I assume behind Montana & Montana State. UND has averaged 10,693 per game, while EWU has average 10,258 in their 3 home games, so they must be just behind UND.