I think we all can agree there are a variety of opinions regarding future scheduling for NDSU and UND and it appears that game will not happen in 2013; so everyone can aim the pitchforks somewhere else!
1) Wanted to follow up on Jeff’s last post on NDSU’s decision to play just 11 games for this coming season, which already has produced some interesting comments; Gene Taylor told me that he and Craig Bohl would prefer to play 11 this season especially after the grind of the last 3 seasons, some forget NDSU played 14 games in 2010, that’s a total of 44 games over the last three years, if you take the average 6-5 team over that same time span, NDSU has played an entire season (11) more games than the average FCS team over that same time span. When viewed thru that spectrum, that’s a heck of a lot of football. I was in the camp that favored playing 12 games this season, and as schedules continue to finalize, more FCS teams are heading that route, as of today; 24 teams are playing 12 games in 2013. Taylor added “playing 12 games isn’t out completely; if someone approaches us about a home and home, that’s something we’d take a look at.” The only reason why 12 games is such a lightning rod this year coincides with the FCS playoff field expanding to 24. The Selection Committee is going to have it’s work cut out for them when trying to determine at-large teams just look at this example of blank resumes:
TEAM A TEAM B
- 9-3 Record 8-3 Record
- No FBS or D-2 Wins No FBS or D-2 Wins
- Finished 3rd In Big Sky Conference Finished 2nd in MVFC
This is where I believe the rub lies with the committee, and why playing 12 could be an advantage over playing 11; now this argument is moot if this team is from the Big South, Northeast or Ohio Valley, I think the 8-3 team gets in. This argument would apply to teams from the Big 3 leagues (Colonial, Big Sky and the Valley). Now the Bison fans are going to flip out on me and say “Dom, no way NDSU will lose 3 games next season!” but it’s just something to look at it as the season develops next fall. If you do look at some of the teams playing 12 games next season (Montana for example; they are not playing a FBS game and ARE playing a D-2 game; something I know NDSU would not do).
2) Update on the BSA renovation; Taylor said the goal is still be ready to move forward come April, the governor’s budget will be approved in April and on the budget is the BSA renovation project, once that is signed off; Taylor said they need to have the necessary 36 million raised so that the project can begin by starting with the bidding process. The new indoor track facility has already drastically changed how things look on the north side, the BSA would take it to a whole new level.
3) Also spoke with Taylor on NDSU women’s basketball coach Caroyln DeHoff, I have received numerous tweets and emails over the past year and a half about when NDSU will start looking for a new coach, for the record; DeHoff still has a year left on her contract after this season. The Bison sit at 7-13 on the year, 3-5 in the Summit League; tied for 5th, but with Omaha ineligble for postseason, in reality it’s 4th. There have been plenty of ugly moments this year, most notably the 20 point loss to D-2 Alaska-Anchorage, but also take into account, the Bison are down perhaps their best player in Janae Burich for the season, lost another critical player in Hannah Linz; Taylor told me he knows and respects the challenges that have been thrown at DeHoff this season; basically playing with just 7 scholarship players; the Bison did knock off IUPUI two weeks ago, the Jags then went and beat SDSU in Brookings; Taylor added he’s “seen positive signs and encouraged by the progress.” The Bison have road trips to Vermillion, Macomb and Indianapolis and the season finale against South Dakota State; couple nice bright spots have been the freshmen Marena Whittle and Holly Johnson, and I’ve heard good things about the transfer from Southern Illinois in Brooke LeMar. We’ll be live tomorrow night at the BSA with Saul Phillips previewing the NDSU-UMKC matchup at 6:20 on Channel 6!
Boring !
Excellent comment.
Let’s see: Looking beyond the record, I’ll go Team B every time. How about you?
Sagarin Ratings:
1 MVFC FCS 61.53 (Team B)
MWC FBS 60.97
2 SoCon FCS 56.15
3 OH Val FCS 54.83
4 Big Fluf FCS 53.89 (Team A)
5 SoLand FCS 52.40
Sagarin ratings are not the only thing the committee would look at, so your argument is really dumb.
Dom,
Do you have an update on TrayVonn Wright’s status for Thursday’s game?
Last checked in with Saul yesterday they were not going to take the boot off until later today and then see where the strength in his foot was, Phillips thought a decision would be made about 2 hours before gametime tomorrow.
Thanks Dom. I hope he has healed up.
How close is NDSU to having the money for the BSA? Is the $2 million figure still there or have they moved past that? Or do they need more than that?
How is there not a oil company millionaire or a NDSU farmer that’s getting oil money that will step up FEB 1. Not April and cut the check and give the basketball program some momentum this month, heck might give them a shot in the arm to win the summit tourney !
You’re very good at deciding what other people should spend their money on. How much did you donate?
Also, how would someone donating money now help them win the Summit tourney?
No one supports this university. 15,000 could fund a trip to Frisco, but it’s taken how long to raise a measley $2million to complete the funding for BSA?? $2million/15,000 fans = $133 a piece. pa. thet. ic.
A “shot in the arm” is probably a bad metaphor. I hope our student athletes aren’t taking steroids.
The 11 vs 12 game debate doesn’t just apply to who gets in the playoffs, it also applies to how teams are seeded and awared byes. The bye week is a big deal the week of Thanksgiving because you get an extra week of rest anda a guaranteed home game the next week since they’ll start seeding 8 teams. Say you have a 9-2 or 10-1 NDSU team being compared against a 10-2 or 11-1 team from the CAA or SOCON… how does the committee seed those teams?
I don’t like the 11 extra games excuse over the last 3 years, even with that we’re talking about 44 game days in the 1000+ days over the last 3 years. These are college kids that train basically all year to play the game, they’ll be fine.
That’s not what the NCAA thinks. They think its too much for FBS teams to play more than 12 to 13 games per year. A playoff would just be too much for them. If the Bison play 12 regular season games next year and have to play in the first round of the playoffs, it would take 17 games to win a championship.
We could play and win only our 8 conference games and still win the championship next year. Good think we got KState on our scheduleto actually challenge us. FBS needs to be done and done soon.
The MVFC already challenges us more than enough. NDSU was good this last year. They had to gut out quite a few conference games, not to mention playoff games, but that’s what good teams do. There’s a lot more that goes into consideration than winning games when you start thinking about FBS. You don’t even need to be a good program to move up. You just have to have the finances and a conference invite.
The 9-3 vs. 8-3 argument is worthless because we know the Committee will put a 7-4 CAA team in there every time anyway. I can’t believe Montana is playing a D-2 school, that is embarassing for that program and my how the mighty have fallen, they should have a little more pride than that. I’m fine with the Bison playing on 11 games for now, because I am banking their losses will be minimal around 2. Yea it could get hairy when you lose 3-4 games, but I don’t see that from this team right now, but injuries could change everything.
Last year Towson was 7-4 (with 2 FBS losses) and Richmond was 8-3, both being 6-2 in the CAA, and were left out of the playoffs. The CAA isn’t powerhouse it used to be.
To add to that; Lehigh was 10-1 this past season and left out of the playoffs; Northern Arizona had an FBS win and left home; the committee decisions are going to be great to watch this November.
Do you suppose, Dom, that the selection committee would give the 2 time defending national champion a little more leeway, than, say another school with a similar record?
I agree with the 11 games this year. The main reason is injuries. The Bison squeeked in at 7-4, 3 years ago and could possibly be a bad review play away from a 3 peat. I also think with the expansion we could almost be 7-4 again and still have a strong seed going into the playoffs next year. I would hope we are not 7-4 but I just believe the selection committee now know they proved themselves right by selecting them 3 years ago and also know we are back as “the program”. Going back to the injuries, it appears that the game is not gettting any less physical and unless we have a cabinet full of deer antler spray, those injuries can take a serious toll.
Sorry; still on the NDSU vs. UND bandwagon for next year.
How can these two let this opportunity pass them by????????
It might not happen again for quite a while.
Isn’t it enough for you that the possibility exists that they might meet in the playoffs? Come one, GT, get that last game scheduled so all this talk will cease, at least for a year.
Next year is going to be our easiest path the another national championship that we’ve had. No one in the conference is going to test our defense and our offense is going to be so much better with a couple WR to throw the ball to.
I heard that the amount needed to get the shovel in the ground is now over $5 million and counting not $2 million.
Wouldn’t you think with all the money in Western ND oil that some big oil company would be willing to kick in $2 million or even $5 million if that is what it takes to finish the BSA? It will be interesting in the future, maybe 5 to 10 years from now, when the Bison need a bigger football stadium. I would have believed that there would be oil money to help at least expand the Fargodome($150 million), now I am not so sure it would happen. With the future growth of F-M and assuming that Bison football will continue to grow 19,000 seats isn’t even close to big enough. The dome needs to be expanded to at least 35,000. 40,000 would be better.Go Bison!
Yes, because they have such a great, deep connection to North Dakota. They are here making their money, then sending it home to their families. They do spend on food, gas, and shelter, though. But as soon as they market isn’t there for ND oil, they’ll be gone. Why would they want to donate money to a University that is all the way across the state? The Williston area and Fargo only have the name of the state they are in as a common denominator. Other than that, its two different worlds.
you need to think deeper, dude. Bison Jeff is probably referring to the landowners that are making millions by leasing out their mineral rights-some of them no doubt are farmers, ranchers, went to ndsu for ag education, etc. He’s not talking about the out of state workers-sheesh.
Oh, I’m sorry. I thought by “big oil company” he meant big oil company. I should have put some thought into it, like you did, and realized that by “big oil company”, what he really meant was the farmers and ranchers that no doubt went to NDSU for ag education etc. because after looking at BisonJeff’s post, that’s clear. Sheesh.
With a 3 point lead in some those games, the W was a lock. The 3 points felt like 30 when we were grinding out 1st downs or punting it deep and playing D. Some of those one score wins were not in doubt, and we were content to play D for the W.
Dom, I would include the Southern Conference in your list of Power Conferences (Big 4 Leagues), for what it’s worth. Great write up and I appreciate the basketball coverage.
i agree, BisonJeff. whether it’s 2 or 5 million, it’s taking way too long to raise. and like you said, if 2 or 5 million can’t be raised in a few years, how the heck will enough ever be raised to fund a better/bigger football venue? und just completed their “spirit campaign” or whatever it’s called- $300 million was raised univeristy-wide for various educational and athletic reasons. 300….yet we can’t scrounge up 5?!?!?!?
A local sporting goods store has made ‘a killing’ off of NDSU winning the last few years, couldn’t/shouldn’t they fund a chunk of it? Yes, they have given in the past, but do the math. Just sayin’. Dom, check if Ralph Engelstad had any long lost relatives attend NDSU.
Couple more commits this morning for NDSU corner from Florida and walkon wr from wisc.
WBB playing with seven players.. so many injuries… Hope they give Dehoff a chance for next season.. Saw a tweet recently from Brooke LeMar how she’s gonna get a ring… I never hear much about practices and the redshirts.. But its refreshing to hear something so positive. Will Burich get another season? Does she want it?