Proving Ground

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Just wanted to amplify what Jeff wrote yesterday about the importance of tonight’s NDSU game with Akron; going beyond the TV impact; which can’t be ignored; I remember talking to the three standouts of this team when they verbally committed to the Bison(Wright; Braun and Bjorklund) all of them mentioned seeing NDSU playing Kansas in the NCAA Tournament as being a major factor of why they chose to come to Fargo. I’m not comparing the impact of tonight’s BracketBuster with that game, but for future recruits this is a big deal, there are not many games on tonight and for NDSU to get one of those games, it’s a big deal. It’s also a potential big weekend for the Summit League, getting 2 national TV games, this is a chance perhaps to push the needle for the conference against other leagues that 1) are on TV all the time and 2) have had NCAA tourney success. The Summit has multiple matchups with some solid mid-major leagues this weekend; 2 against the MAC(NDSU-Akron; Bowling Green-IPFW) ; 3 against the Ohio Valley (SDSU-Murray State; Oakland-Morehead State; UMKC-Tennessee Tech) and 2 against the Horizon (IUPUI-Milwaukee; Western Illinois-Cleveland State); take a look at some numbers of these leagues:

 MAC (Since 2009); 3 NCAA Tournament Wins

Ohio Valley: 4 NCAA Tournament Wins

Horizon League: 14 NCAA Tournament Wins (This number is skewed by Butler of course)

Summit League: 0 NCAA Tournament Wins (Last was 2005)

Now I know some would point to how poorly the Summit has been seeded in the NCAA Tournament; but take a look at this:

NCAA Tournament Seeds:

                 Summit League                     MAC                      Ohio Valley                 

2009          NDSU (14)                          Akron (13)            Morehead St (16)

2010          Oakland (14)                     Ohio  (14)              Murray State (13)

2011          Oakland (13)                     Akron (15)            Morehead St.(13)

2012          SDSU    (14)                      Ohio (13)              Murray State (6)

This is a major chance for both NDSU and SDSU this weekend to put the Summit out there; not only for themselves; but for the league and the tournament committees(NCAA and NIT) to get them into bigger tournaments come next season and beyond.

19 thoughts on “Proving Ground”

  1. Agreed! Tonight could be a big first step in strengthening the image of Summit League basketball.

  2. Sure wish we had Braun for tonight’s game. I’m not liking our chances without him. We will need big games from Wright and Bjorkland, and Brown needs to step up his game for us to beat Akron. GO BISON!!!

  3. If we can score more than 12 points in a half, I think we have a pretty good chance. This team frustrates the heck out of me, but I hold out hope every time they take the floor. Bring Billy Turner with this game to knock around the big 7 footer a little. One of the biggest things that have contributed towards the last few losses is our shooting. Felt, LA and Travon and Zastrow and the absence of Braun in the three point shooting has been key. Felt is most notable. I have not checked his % but following the away games on line, the gametracker looked like an electrical meter at our house, with Felt missing jumper, Felt missing 3 pointer and on and on. Make those shots and Bjorkland will have a chuck e cheese party in the lane. Go Bison

  4. I give NDSU a 20% chance of winning this game. I just don’t see it happening, on the road with out Bruan and against a top 50 team. I just want it to be close.

  5. Isn’t it great that the Summit League has all of these quality brackbuster games and ESPN exposure for a couple of the matchups including the Bison?

  6. NDSU basketball is more important that fcs football, sorry thats the truth. NDSU needs to have a successful basketball team and a fbs football team then they will be the Gonzaga/Boise State of the upper midwest. NDSU basketball needs their head coach to open the game up and maybe have some set offensive plays other than 3 guards dribbling around the top of the key.

    marshall b is a great downlow guy and should be getting 15 shots a game, not 5-6. Make it happen tonight NDSU !

  7. awaiting moderation?

    ps- cant ndsu just ANNOUNCE the shac already? what are they waiting for, where are the fundraiser’s? its absolutely pathetic that this isnt up and running already.

  8. Akron favored by 7.5, the Bison are 7-6 on the road and Akron is 13-0 at home this year, with a 17 game win streak going on. Bison will need their “A” game tonight and it certainly can be done. Even without Braun, if the Bison defense can be frustrating to Akron, and the Bison need to make their shots and not go 10% from 3 point range, they have a chance. I like matchup better for Akron being in a Conference that always gets brought up for the Bison to look at getting in. I am not a fan of the MAC, but you got to do what you got to do . I enjoy the Summit League but it has been crazy on teams entering and leaving. I still wish the Bison could schedule Oral Roberts one game a year and alternate who hosts the game year by year. Good luck Bison, this is certainly a game that can be won.

  9. I just dont see how this is a playoff team. No rebounding, throwing up air balls, missing easy shots. Nope just dont see it.

    • I disagree. Yes, the Bison didn’t play very good tonight, and all of the freshmen were gun shy. But they get all conference Braun back on Monday and the Summit tournament isn’t in Akron, its in Sioux Falls. The Bison sure do have a good chance to be playing on ESPN again in early March.

  11. Speaking of the offense, can someone explain it to me? I don’t understand having the forwards way out away from the basket setting screens like crazy with no chance to score or rebound offensively.

  12. i can’t imagine anyone who isn’t a fan of either the zips or the bison watched that game passed 3 minutes into the second half. it was a disappointing performance to say the least.

  13. I saw Taylor Braun still had the walking boot on his foot. I hope he can go from walking boot on Friday to playing (without re injuring it) on Tuesday. I’m not sure how he can get ready to play if he hasn’t been out of the boot.

  14. Braun might just have the boot on as a cautionary measure to protect his foot. I wouldn’t worry too much about that. When I sprained an ankle once, they had me on crutches until the day of the game and I still played.