Dustin

My question - where was the Mitch Wilmer of the last two games during the entire season?! Maybe it was better that teams in the tourney weren't prepared at all for his kind of production of the last two games.

Ok, thanks. So probably a little better competition in the CBI? Still think they could combine and get some great FBS conf. vs. FCS conf. matchups. I know for certain I will be at any post-season game that UND would host. (Actually, my wife and I drove to Colorado Springs in 2011 to see UND take on Air Force, and if it weren't for my grandma dying in March 2012, we probably would have gone to Des Moines, as well, to see them play Drake)

So what exactly is the difference between the CBI and CIT? Seems like they should just combine - could be a field of 48, or be a real solid field of 32.

I went to Midco Sports Net facebook page the other day and asked if their HD equipment was coming to GF this weekend, but no one responded.

For what it's worth, Midco wants to be picked up by the satellites. Perhaps they haven't considered a loss of customers.

Just make sure you're emailing DirecTV or Dish while you're not holding your breath.

According to Schlossman, it is on 626. WEEKEND VIEWING: Both games will be on MidcoSN and Fox College Sports Central. There is NO DirecTV tonight. There IS DirecTV on Saturday (626). There IS a webcast for purchase at www.undsports.com and there WILL BE live chats that be tons of fun so come join.

That's why Midco needs our help. I know many that frequent this forum, including myself (even though I'm a Midco customer), have emailed either DirecTV or Dish. Doing so won't hurt anything, and can only help the matter.

What all DirecTV and Dish viewers need to do now is email your provder in support of picking up Midco Sports Network. Midco is presenting to both DirecTV and Dish this August to be carried. See the following thread: http://forum.siouxsports.com/topic/18034-impact-of-new-conference-on-tv-broadcast/page__st__180

Awesome 2nd half by our team, and good confidence builder heading into tonight. Wilmer was on a mission last night!

If Northern Arizona wins, the Lumberjacks will the No. 6 seed, and our opponent on Thursday. But, that will be a tough win to come by since they are playing in Missoula tonight. If NAU loses, which would be likely, there would be 3 teams at 8-12. If EWU also would happen to win (against Weber St.), there would be 4 teams at 8-12. Anybody know who holds the tiebreakers?

Yeah, I know. I've been hoping that when we were elegible, we'd be good enough to host in the first couple years. I had long term goals!

I ABSOLUTELY hope that the Betty will be used. Otherwise, it is not home court advantage. I know it's the smallest of the three, but the team deserves their home floor.

ESPN is the X-factor, though. In 2004, there wasn't a TV network controlling the schedule, albeit one game.

On the Big Sky Championship manual http://bigskyconf.com/documents/2012/8/29/MBB.pdf it states "The host team shall always play the last game of the session." But right below there it also states "Starting times for all games shall be determined by the host institution and approved by the conference office, with ESPN setting the championship game time." Say if the BB team were playing the semi-final on Friday, it may be possible to AD to have UND's game start a couple hours before the hockey game (perhaps BB at 6pm, hockey at 8 pm), but then, if UND plays in the championship (where the time would be set by ESPN), hockey would have to be moved to Sunday. Perhaps Sat/Sun afternoon, with Monday night if necessary is the best solution. Would be an absolute great "problem" to have!

I have been hoping for this for a couple years now. If it's not the goal of the team and coaches, it should be, because I think it is attainable.

SUU plays Monday at home, Thursday at UNC, and Saturday in Grand Forks. All the while, UND is off until next Saturday. We should have no excuse not to win against SUU and grab that No. 3 seed, which would be ideal for an extended postseason. BTW, are the Big Sky postseason games on Big Sky TV? I don't see why they wouldn't be, since they take place in a Big Sky venue, and since they're the most important games of the year.

Since we've already been alluding to next season (2013-14), it got me to thinking about how the athletic department would handle hosting a Big Sky basketball tournament and 1st round hockey playoffs on the same weekend, if that "problem" arose. I know the BB championship game time would be set by ESPN (currently Saturday night before Selection Sunday, @ 8 pm CT - it used to be mid-week like the Summit League, which would actually be better for UND's situation). Do you really think the AD would want games to overlap?

Even playing for the Big Sky Championship should generate some really good interest for next year. I think that is a realistic goal for this team this year.

I don't think Montana is a lock to host the tournament. IMO, UND's best chance to play in the Big Sky Championship game would be in Provo. UND would need to get the #3 seed, beat #6, and then beat a Cherry-less, Ward-less, played-the-day-before Montana team in the semifinals on a neutral court. Just for icing on the cake, the #4/5 winner upsets Weber St., and UND beats #4/5 winner, which again, would be on a neutral court. Maybe not this year. But I'm pulling for a Grand Forks hosted Big Sky conference MBB tourney in 2014.

I think Jones has done a pretty good job with the juniors to get them to this point. While things may not always be as rosy as the early '90s D-II heyday that gets regaled on this site, this group will (hopefully) be team that makes Men's BB at UND relevant again. Since this group were Freshmen, they've gone from being a poor free throw shooting team to a good free throw shooting team. They've gone from a team that couldn't win on the road, to a team that can and does win on the road. They've gone from a team that was usually on the losing end of tight games to often on the winning end of tight games. While this year's team has the pieces to put together some post-season heroics, I think it's safe to say that next year is the year that we've been waiting for. With all the optimism surrounding this group of players since they arrived here, I am to the point now that I'm concerned about what happens when these guys graduate. With the exception of Quinton Hooker, I am not aware of any recruits that will advance the program as a whole past next season. Where Jones is really going to prove his mettle is putting together a team for 2014-15.

The fact the hockey national title game is NOT on at 12 noon on a Saturday (anymore) says something about D1 hockey being more popular than FCS football. But..........let's not get too hung up on the D1 hockey vs. FCS football debate, because we all would like to see UND playing the FCS title game before too long.

Response from DirecTV after my sending an email to them: "Thank you for writing about Midco Sports Network. I understand that this channel is important to you. While we are unable to comment on future programming decisions, we are always reviewing our programming options to make sure we bring you the best possible TV experience. We value your opinions about our programming, so your comments have been forwarded to DIRECTV management. We often make changes based on customer feedback like yours." Keep at it people!

I think it is because it would not be broadcast on a "national" network. It just so happens that a DirecTV subscriber could add a sports package that includes regional networks like Midco (hopefully!!). Think of it as Fox Sports Dakota. Who knows, it may even be part of normal regional programming in this area, kind of like getting your local networks or Fox Sports North.

I call BS on this one. UND played Minnesota at the Xcel in last year's regional, and attendance was only 10,974.