UND-FB-FAN

The factor not to be ignored is the hype. UND has this game circled, and although that may be cliche and an excuse for NDSU if they lose, it is what it is. Expect a close game. UND will go all out and NDSU will be making sure not to lose a game that could absolutely damage their state perception.

At this point in time, I would like to think there are a lot of unknowns to both teams. Yes, at the surface it appears North Dakota State will have a very good offense and North Dakota will have a very good defense, but nothing is for sure. I would like to reserve a true prediction until after North Dakota has started the season against Wyoming and Drake. North Dakota State will likely have a good defense but there still are a lot of ?'s. North Dakota will likely have a suspect offense, but there still are ?'s there too and they could be better than suspected.

Last time: no one said UND is going to get where NDSU is now. Just loosen up and have some fun. UND will be a top FCS program and that's okay with most UND fans for now.

There are many factors that go into being successful at the D1 level. Obviously, success at the DII level is an important one, but by no means is it the only factor. I don't feel like going in circles with you trolls so I'm going to make this concise and straightforward: there is no reason UND fans should not be optimistic about the future of UND football. UND has the facilities, fanbase size, and academic institution to produce a perennial top FCS program. It's not all about NDSU and the present.

Compare their facilities, fan base size, and academic institution to UND; there's your difference. It's easy to find an outlier, but probability is what needs to be focused on here.

If you're not full of it, this will be interesting to follow.

Again, misread on your part. "Like NDSU" implies top FCS school (e.g., Montana, Montana State, Northern Iowa, etc.) and not multi-national titles. NDSU was successful in DII and now is successful at FCS. UND was successful in DII and will eventually also will be successful at FCS. To what degree remains to be seen.

Thanks for the pointless clarification. No one is attempting to oversell the DI accomplishments of UND. The emphasis is on the future; UND will be a top FCS football school - like NDSU - within 5 years. Just let it soak in and stop being so difficult.

https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmcollege/doug-fullerton-look-out-for-the-fcs-in-the-next-4-5-years Conversation with BSC commissioner Fullerton. Topics include graduate students transferring up in light of the Vernon Adams situation and the status of the FCS moving forward. Interesting comments in that Fullerton believes the upper FCS teams, which include the BSC teams and the University of North Dakota, will likely be merging with the bottom 5 FBS conferences in the next 4-5 years. Essentially, the way it stands now, I agree with him. Every season the top 10 FCS teams could easily play night in and night out with the likes of the MAC, Sun Belt, etc.

http://www.undsports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?PALBID=1542158&DB_OEM_ID=1350 Phase I of UND's High Performance Center is nearing completion. This facility with help the football program immensely, both in recruiting and obviously practice scheduling. Exciting times ahead for Bubba's UND football program!!!

http://www.undsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&SPID=6399&SPSID=58644 9 of 11 games on the 2015 schedule have kickoff times set. Looks like Cal Poly is going to go with the late start; kickoff with be 10:05 PM CT time - that could be tricky business for Bubba's squad.

Homecoming game set for October 10 should be a good one against Idaho State. My expectations for this season are quite simple: be competitive on the road and win-out at home. With that, UND will have wins against Montana State and Idaho State and chances against top teams like FBS Wyoming and FCS No.1 NDSU. Bubba continues to push this thing in the right direction with a winning season in 2015. Playoffs this season would just be extra, but nothing wrong with that!

2015 UND football schedule (via undsports.com) Sep 05 Wyoming at Laramie, Wyo Sep 12 Drake (50th Annual Potato Bowl USA) Grand Forks, N.D. 5:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Grand Forks, N.D. Sep 19 North Dakota State at Fargo, N.D. 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. at Fargo, N.D. Sat, Sep 26 UC Davis (Family Weekend/Military Appreciation Day) * Grand Forks, N.D. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. Grand Forks, N.D. Oct 03 Portland State * at Portland, Ore. TBA TBA at Portland, Ore. Oct 10 Idaho State (Homecoming) * Grand Forks, N.D. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. Grand Forks, N.D. Oct 17 Weber State * at Ogden, Utah 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. at Ogden, Utah Sat, Oct 24 Montana * at Missoula, Mont. 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. at Missoula, Mont. ROOT Sports Sat, Oct 31 Montana State (Hall of Fame Game/Band Day) * Grand Forks, N.D. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. Grand Forks, N.D. Nov 14 Northern Colorado (Senior Day) * Grand Forks, N.D. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. Grand Forks, N.D. Nov 21 Cal Poly * at San Luis Obispo, Calif. 8:05 p.m. 8:05 p.m. at San Luis Obispo, Calif. Bold = Conference Games The non-conference games, particularly Wyoming and North Dakota State, should toughen up the defense and provide valuable experience for the offense. Although UND will likely go 1-2 in non-conference play, the beginning portion of the conference schedule is quite a difference in terms of opponent difficulty and should offer up some wins. UND will have a legitimate shot at going 4-0 to start conference play, but it will take a couple quality efforts on the road, which is the big question mark at this point in time: how will UND football play on the road? In my opinion, UND will be real tough at home again, but the road games are definitely a toss-up. Remember, UND football lost to a lowly SUU team last fall on the road, yet took a top-10 Montana to the wire in the Alerus. Point is, the combination of crowd noise and competent defense makes the Alerus Center a formidable place to play. Road football games are toss-ups right now considering where UND football is at in year #2 of the Bubba era.

Yes, they appear to really want another CB. Let's hope they find a quality player/student before August. Also, would be nice to find another RB; however, it appears the coaches are content with the group of Arrington, Olivera, and Santiago. I would expect them to also move Iwarri Smith from safety to RB and Kyle Norberg from LB to RB. I guess, with those players, the RB group is not too bad. Will need to add a couple good freshman RBs in the 2016 recruiting class, though.

The lack of grammar and logic in this post affirms the notion that you are in no position to criticize Coach Schweigert and UND's academic programs, which include the nation's top aviation program and a top 3 rural medicine medical school. Lastly, NDSU will not "kick" UND. You epitomize the delusion and lack of sense that most NDSU graduates possess; congrats. Happy Independence Day to you, the 2011 graduates of NDSU.

As I reported earlier, both Estan Tyler and Terel de Rouen will not be returning for 2015-2016.

Phase 2 is important to the football program. It has the kind of coaching offices, locker rooms, and meeting/film rooms that all legitimate DI football programs need. NDSU, for example, has some very nice offices and meeting rooms in the Fargodome. UND and the athletic department need to get phase 2 completed, particularly for the sake of UND football and the goal of winning an FCS championship.

UND football from 2008 - 2013 was misled and lost. UND football's leadership was competent prior to 2008 with Lennon and is again competent now with Bubba. UND will be beating ranked FCS teams on a consistent basis now with Bubba. For example, last year's patchwork team beat a ranked NAU team and easily could've beat #7 Montana. As Bubba compiles top ND, MN, and MB recruits, wins against FCS ranked teams are inevitable.

I'm guessing sometime around the start of fall camp something will come out.

Yes, this one hurts and UND needs to build on ND and MN student-athletes; however, NDSU is yet the top destination in terms of college football in North Dakota. Bubba and UND can work to start to change that in 2015, specifically September 19th.

Coaches are more active on social media, and the camps have been promoted way more than in the past five years. Lastly, the alumni functions have been better attended; to me that indicates that there is more interest in the program due to an increase in local networking (both HS coaches and fans alike).

This is great for the area and, ultimately, UND football. As for UND needing to recruit top QB prospects, this could be the function that officially reveals top QB prospects year in and year out. Another "thumbs up move" for Bubba and his staff. Promotion of UND football is so much better now than when Mussman was at the helm.

Absolutely.

Your predicted score will be incorrect. However, thanks for your interest in the football team of ND's flagship university. Funny, though, that it takes all of the 2011 NDSU graduates to produce a siouxsports.com account and collaborate in order to come up with stuff. Talk about teamwork, I guess.

New coach added to staff. Has connections with current offensive coordinator Paul Rudolph and was an intern for UND last season. http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=210168409