Dustin

Couple of thoughts on the championship game: Who are people pulling for in this one? Once UND is out of it, I cheer for the team whose school has never won one, or currently in the longest drought. In today’s case, we have guaranteed first time champion, which is good for the game, IMO. I’m glad the neither of the teams playing tonight advanced in the tournament due to a “no contest.” The champion will have to play and win all 4 games. I feel ESPN has stepped up their game with covering the Frozen Four. The championship game is on ESPN (with both semifinals on ESPN2

I don't buy the narratives that NCAA championships are easier to get than conference championships (regular or tournament) or that the best teams don't win the NCAA championship. First of all, you've got to put together a regular season resume worthy of being selected. Then once selected, you've got to win 4 consecutive games against the nation's best competition, with little room for error. Coaches also have to game plan for a new opponent every game, which is different from the 2-games series of the regular season. Yes, a hot team at the end of the season can run the table, but isn't that

Minnesota in the '80s and '90s was like UND in the '00s and early '10s - chance after chance to bring home a title but never over the hump. The one thing that often gets forgotten by demanding fan bases - it's hard to win a championship!

When UND was in their 16 year title "drought," I had to remind myself of these very statistics. Even the most storied programs go long stretches without national titles. What made things so painful is how close we were during those 16 years without getting over the hump. But it definitely made the '16 title very very sweet. Of college hockey's "Big 7," UND's longest title drought (17 years) is the second shortest (only Wisconsin's is shorter, but we'll see for how long...)

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I was reading through the comments to see if someone eventually said it. You hit everything right on the head @siouxfan512

Still surprised a local outlet (i.e. Midco) hasn't been given the rights to broadcast a game only available on ESPN3. Maybe accessing ESPN3 isn't as big of a problem as it used to be, but in the old days, WDAZ or FSN North would get rights when UND was in this situation.

Agreed. I think part of the reason the defense looked bad was because of how much they played, and the offense is to blame for that. I don't why the offense was so anemic on Saturday. It didn't look like we had a very good offensive game plan. I hope Danny's had a chance to clear his head, because up until then, our offense was dictating football games.

I was a little disappointed they started the tear down the week leading up to the NDSU game. It kind of felt symbolic in a way, and now we know why.

Yes, I know we'll know the answer then. But how do feel now? I'm thinking there's quite a bit of hesitation on if we're capable of getting over the hump.

So how are folks feeling about the team's (players and coaches) ability to learn and grow from their first loss?

Sometimes it's hard to convey through written text how you'd actually say something out loud with all of its verbal inflections. I can hear what I think he's trying to convey in my mind. But yes, a straight "We should have won" doesn't really fly given the evidence that proves otherwise.

I don't want to put words in his mouth, but what I think he means is that we should have taken advantage of the situation and performed better to enable us to win. It was a lost opportunity in our minds.

It may not have worked out, as it turned out there were some critical pass plays that complimented your rushing offense. But to force more passing by the Bison QBs would have had a higher chance of UND defense success IMO.

This next week is a good test of whether we've turned the corner. If we have, we beat YSU by double digits.