USTBench

Lol...even with all the Californians I'd still pick Bozeman.

Andrew McElroy but he was in the TP for about .5 seconds before NIU snatched him up. Our game against USD was an open tryout for a LB named Jonathan Bunce apparently. Lol. Seth Bullard was an ILB that transferred to SFA. Shawn Shipman landed at WIU. Anyone UND would want is already spoken for, it seems.

Tampering! Just kidding fellas. Great hire for my second favorite FCS team.

I don't see the gulf between SDSU and UND being as wide as it is between Minnesota and Ohio State/Michigan. UND seems to be stifled by the antiquated thinking of the old guard and a reluctance to court the Gen Xers/Millennials as alums/potential donors/coaches/fans, etc. I believe I even read a few pages back someone intimate UND should have never left DII. WHAT??? UND has the facilities, the donors, and as I drive down Columbia, I can't think of too many mid-majors that have anything broaching what UND will have for football. There's a little brother/loser mentality here that Grand Forks and UND needs to shake, but believe me, you've got a sleeping giant at the FCS level. One guy in the big chair can make that happen inside of 2 years.

Your choices are a guy that retired from coaching over 25 years ago and a HS coach/financial advisor that makes 5x what UND can pay him at Bell Bank.

Probably as good as they could have hoped for playing FBS football in Laramie, Wyoming.

You'd be a bottom-feeder in our league.

Lol. I think there's a misconception that this was Tommy's decision amongst those who don't quite get how managing 63 scholarships and the egos of a full QB room works.

Unheralded, no D1 offers, yet came in (at the last second) and manned the ship for 3 1/2 seasons. 9,000+ yards, 63 TDs, aided in beating the Bison, and no doubt showed Feeney and Kaminski a thing or two about leadership (especially when looking at some of the recent debacles, like the Otis Weah situation). Everyone on this board should be grateful that kid was here to right the ship and he should be considered a UND legend, full stop. That said, no, Tommy doesn't have big arm talent, he has had his run, and is probably not the guy to get UND over the hump of being slightly above-average, and putting them in the Frisco conversation. You have the Minnesota and Wisconsin POYs waiting in the wings. Feeney will not be a "young guy" next year, he'll be in his 3rd year of this offense, and Kaminski is a real talent as well, and by all accounts will push Feeney for QB1. If Danny and/or Bubba didn't have "the talk" with Tommy, you'd lose one or both of your big recruits, and after spring ball, you still may lose one to the TP, regardless. It was time to turn the page. As for Romfo, he's an 11A kid from ND and will probably never get a real true shot at QB1 in an upper tier FCS program no matter what he shows in practice. I'm getting Brock Boltman vibes out of him.

I agree that an interview would be wortheless, but a subpoena to testify in front of ND's state legistlature's higher education committee would have some teeth. It would ultimately yield the same responses, but a few b-holes would pucker at NDSU and possibly amongst the selection committee, and a message would be sent that these types of shennanigans cannot be swept under the rug. Montana getting to play a home playoff game on ESPN 2, and now getting to play at NDSU is exposure you cannot buy. UND was screwed out of that potential opportunity and has only been met with obfuscation. UND desperately needs to stop being a passive milquetoast school on the FCS landscape because it's horrible for the brand. UND needs to flagship a second sport, and the hood ornament of any university is its football program.

After watching this selection committee debacle I would say it'd be interesting if UND was to lead the pack from an unconventional position. Sort of an "attack a liberal from the left, attack a conservative from the right" approach, in which UND hard-charges toward FBS. This will make NDSU fans scoff but will also force NDSU's hand to explore that avenue with UND. I find it hard to believe Matt Larsen lobbied for UND at all and I suspect he failed in his fiduciary duty to advocate for the MVFC, and if that's the case, and it certainly looks like it is, you can't trust the organization or level you're in, and UND should call that out. That said, Larsen's stacking the deck in NDSU's favor in a "down year", shows that either NDSU has to maintain this level of success in perpetuity or the brass will face serious consequences, or, they have find a group of committed peer institutions to explore a move up together. It sounds like the G-5 is angling to be "FCS on steroids" and with the expanded 12-team CFP starting soon, I suspect the CFP will consistently be 10/11 P5 schools and 1 10+ win G5 school. I suspect that format, whether people like-it-or-not will be hugely successful and eventually the G5 will follow suit and craft their own playoff, essentially creating a subdivision between FCS and FBS. It's getting increasingly obvious to me that FCS will soon look like the abandoned tire plant that is D2 and UND needs to jump off that sinking ship. The "15,000" average attendance thing is a complete joke, and always has been. I've been to concrete monolith that is Rice Stadium in which about 500 people watched 120 points scored between ECU and Rice. I've watched "MACtion" and if Eastern Michigan is outdrawing most D3 schools I'd be suprised. I see a lot of complaints about the Alerus gameday experience on here, but it is exponentially better than what is being offered at several G5 FBS schools. Also, Sam Houston is going to FBS without a stadium that even holds 15,000 and their average attendance is less than 8,000. I'm not saying a 6th Group conference could be formed, but UND, NDSU, SDSU, USD, Montana, Montana State, Idaho (previously FBS), and a few other financially solvent major state universities could explore creating their own football conference or joining a pre-existing one now that the remaining Mountain West schools will be lobbying the PAC-12 to replace USC/UCLA and get into that coveted P5 conference. Maybe (probably) nothing comes of it, but it could force the FCS to get their act together. The Sun Belt has gone from a laughing stock to a formiddable conference in a very short period of time, and I look at those schools and (some) of the MWC schools more like peer football institutions moreso than Mercer, Campbell, Samford, Holy Cross, etc. I don't think anyone on here is particularly enamored with the MAC, and I think you could have a better conference almost overnight with the schools I previously mentioned. Full send, loco crazy, but fun to think about. UND is making a major financial commitment to football with Phase 2 it seems. So, probably time to stop acting like little brother, and they'll probably stop being treated like little-brother.

Pretty damn good D-II schools, though.

If you're serious Judy's might have moved to the top of the list.

Yeah, that's what I've narrowed it down to. I kind of want to hate watch Richmond/Davidson as well, but I can follow that on my phone.

Best place to watch the game in GF? I'll hang up and listen.