fightingsioux4life

Like I have said before, this is going to be a long, cold winter for MBB in Grand Forks.

I doubt 2018 will feature the same level of carnage that we saw in 2017. I have never seen anything like it before.

Another factor is FCS programs moving up to FBS and thus weakening FCS. Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Marshall and other schools used to be big-time players in FCS. That has left a void, a void I would like UND to help fill.

That is fine. I just don't want to get into the thinking that finishing 6-5 most years is good enough and all we can expect. That is why Gopher FB has been mediocre to average for 50 years and can't raise enough money to upgrade their facilities.

2016 was an obvious exception.

Yep, but the other side of the bracket is brutal. SDSU vs. JMU will be an absolute classic.

The ultimate goal for this program has to be contending for and winning FCS titles. FB was one of the main reasons we moved up in the first place, so we better give it the attention it needs.

Not bad. I do hope we can get into the top 4 and get one of those #1 seeds.

So we should stick with an easier conference because we will never be able to compete with South Dakota schools? Yeah, that's the ticket. I look forward to a time when we expect to beat SDSU, not just "hang with them for most of the game".

Good to see some positive news on this thread.

The Panthers are a desperate team who cannot afford many more losses if they want to make the playoffs. The Vikings were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next week they are home against the Bungles. Should be a W and another NFC North title.

We are playing a tough NCHC team on the road and we are holding our own. What did you expect? A pair of 5-0 wins.

I think SDSU's facilities have undergone the most improvement over the past 15 years. Their stadium was an absolute dump in 2002 when I was there. Now it looks almost like an FBS stadium.

Being in the NFC East this year almost guarantees having a weak schedule.

Or some NHL legend's kid wanted to be on the team.

We won the freaking game. Let it freaking go. Mods, please lock this thread down.

Given that NDSU isn't all that good either, I think beating them is very possible.

Probably a good move. Kent State is one of the small fish of DI FBS G5, while USD has the potential to become a contender in DI FCS. The grass isn't always greener on the FBS side of the fence. Even if there is a lot of that grass ($$$$$).

This is going to be a long, cold winter for MBB.

That is one of the oldest excuses in the book. Rocky "Knucklehead" Hager loves to bring that one up.

I think 8 would be perfect. It would settle a lot of the arguments going on right now.

That is what people said about having any playoff. It has been proven false......by a country mile. There are 130 FBS teams total. The NCAA standard for size of playoff fields is 25% of the total number of schools sponsoring the sport. That would make 32 the cut-off for FBS. So even a 16 team playoff would be well below the threshhold. Even if it is easier to get in, teams are still going to fight for the best seed they can possibly get. What really degrades the almighty regular season is having 40+ bowl games and running out of 6 win teams to put in them.

Justin Gaard is a toolbox.

It should have started with 8 teams. This year is proof of that.

This is why I am predicting a big bounce-back next year.