UND-FB-FAN

There is no question Montana has played in louder, larger environments than the Alerus Center - it would be foolish to assume otherwise. My previous statement was largely based on the preseason conference coaches poll; thus, I believe Montana and Portland State (and whoever else decided UND was worthy of a 10th place spot) are underestimating UND's ability at home. After this season, UND will get their proper respect because the previously mentioned schools will be playing in the Alerus for the first time. Ultimately, UND won't be voted that low by the coaches very often in the future.

The coaches didn't give SUU much more love; they voted them 8th. All in all, it's just a preseason poll that ultimately won't be the same as the final conference standings. I'm gonna make my bold prediction of the day and say Montana State will not finish first in the conference this season. On paper they are the best team, and I agree with that, but I also feel they will have a target on their back all season and will lose one more game than people expect. For instance, last season SUU was ranked the favorite in the Great West - how'd that turn out for them? Too many variables to accurately predict the standings. Of course, that's why they play the games and I don't think Montana and Portland State know how tough it is to play in the Al. Just ask Cal Poly (2009)....

An indication of a little more Big Sky excitement? Not quite sure what to think of this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Se787Q_s3Y

Yeah, if I was a Big Sky coach and saw film of UND last year against Northern Colorado, Sioux Falls, and UC Davis, I would probably vote into the bottom half also. They certainly were "W's" but they weren't impressive wins by any means. When the top Big Sky teams from a year ago (Montana State and Montana) played the bottom feeders (UNC and Idaho St.) last year, they won by a large margin (exception being 10 pts when MSU played @ UNC).

That's a tough one. Greg Hardin, Braden Hanson, Ross Brenneman, Dominique Bennett, Zeb Miller and maybe a few others all are long shots but have a chance. At least one or two of those guys will be on a training camp roster but whether they are drafted or undrafted free agents is a tough one. I'm gonna have to sell, but I sure hope I am wrong.

Grand Forks to Bozeman: 811.5 miles Cheney, Washington to Bozeman: 416.8 miles Cedar City, Utah to Bozeman: 659.4 miles San Luis Obispo, California to Bozeman: 1,237.7 miles Davis, California to Bozeman: 953.8 miles Portland, Oregon to Bozeman: 752 miles Flagstaff, Arizona to Bozeman: 926.9 miles We’re certainly not the most isolated school in the conference like some make it out to be. I guess UND is east of the mountains though…so at least good creativity!!

2012 Big Sky Poll Lets hope the media knows more than the coaches.......

I'd say the jersey matches the helmet much more than it matches the peas...this should make the helmet/jersey combo appear much improved!

http://www.grandfork...icle/id/240877/ Quote: "The league also is scheduled to unveil its new logo today. Speaking of new, UND will have a different look when the 2012 season begins. New uniforms for UND are scheduled to arrive in approximately two weeks." If anyone was still skeptical of new jerseys becoming a reality, this should put that to rest.

Difference between the colors: new color is on the left, old on the right. Definitely will match the jerseys better, and is a more true kelly green.

1st Team Big Sky All-Conference RB for Northern Arizona will be in town for homecoming, Oct. 13th! and his Walter Payton Award hunt will be taking a hit that day if Ross Brenneman, Devin Benjamin, and company have anything to say about it.....

The Billings Gazette has continued their 2012 Big Sky position ranking series by ranking the top 10 linebackers: http://billingsgazet...1a4bcf887a.html Although UND did not place any names (even though by the end of the year I would expect Mr. Bennett to be on the post-season version of this), the article did feature a real nice picture of the top spot man (Jody Owens of Montana State) .....and yes professional trollers of Ag school nation, we know who won the game.....

Yeah, no kidding.......

The team already has all-black pants (e.g. South Dakota game), so I would guess they just ordered the jerseys and they will wear them with all black pants. Some time ago, SiouxFBInsider mentioned they may be considering wearing the black uniforms for all home games, and I guess that would be the simplest way to fix the "mismatched color problem". Here are the black pants, but you also can easily notice the mismatched helmet-uniform combination I referenced - black home uniforms should fix that.

Sell; I don't think UND would've signed two JUCO safeties if they had any inclination of Butler playing sometime in the future. Aarin Smith's situation also just makes it unlikely.

Anyone of the three WR recruits could end up being really good, but I'll buy Kenny Golladay turning out to be a good one. Of course, it also comes down to how the QB position plays out.

The in-game experience certainly could’ve been better at UND the past few years; however, a lot of it was attributed to the average attendance which will increase this year. Also, UND's athletic marketing and in-game entertainment department has vowed to improve the game time atmosphere and I've heard nothing but good things. For example, here's a tweet from Josh Kotelnicki:

I guess I should've mentioned none of UND's pre-game traditions and activities compare to those of the almighty Ag School of the South

Media guide has most single season and career records. As far as single season sacks, the record is held by Eric Schmidt who picked up 10 sacks during the 2001 season.

Tradition/pre-game activity doesn't get a whole lot better - especially at the FCS level! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvBOuhqdXH0

Yeah, it’s fairly safe to say this year's schedule is the toughest in UND history, but talent-wise this is also one of the better teams in UND football history. Of course, talent alone will not win you games. Team chemistry, coaching, and ultimately execution on the field is what gets it done. Hopefully this year's team can build some unity and do great things together.

Most definitely; as Mussman and/or Jones have success in the Big Sky moving forward, they should receive the appropriate compensation to justify it. I’d agree with the notion that right now they haven't done anything to warrant a significant DI contract, but hopefully that changes in the near future.

Yeah, a Nike deal or even an Under Armour deal would be great; however, I'm wondering how that would affect the hockey team. Would Nike or UA require the hockey team to wear their uniforms also? I'm not even sure if UA makes hockey uniforms but obviously Nike does.

Seems to just point out that UND primarily remains a hockey school.