Last year; Craig Bohl stopped by the Video Blog studios; this year Jeff and I went and visited the head coach; here’s part one of our interview with the head coach; talking about injuries; depth chart changes; three-peating and his thoughts
on Georgia Southern and App State.
Tag Archives: FCS
FCS Pick ‘Em – Week 2
The upset bug was all over FCS last week, four of the former 1-AAs won with the headliner being Youngstown State’s two touchdown win at Pittsburgh; Indiana State and Northern Iowa also nearly joined that party from the Missouri Valley. As for our picks, led by wins by Indiana and Maryland, Jeff has an early two game lead in our series, but some interesting games to choose from this week; including a battle between two of the FCS powerhouses. Our NDSU-Colorado State pick will be in Saturday’s Forum, along with the Bison PreGame Show on WDAY.com tomorrow. Enjoy!
SEASON RECORDS: Jeff (9-2) Dom (7-4)
DOM JEFF
- (12) New Hampshire at Minnesota UM Minnesota
- Southern Illinois at Miami (OH) Miami Miami
- (19) Illinois State at Eastern Michigan Illinois St Eastern
- Quincy at Indiana State Indiana St Indiana St
- Southern Utah at California Cal Cal
- Colgate at South Dakota USD USD
- Missouri State at Louisville Louisville Louisville
- Valparaiso at (10) Youngstown State YSU YSU
- Portland State at North Dakota Portland St Portland St
- (4) Montana State at Drake Montana St Montana St
- SDSU at SE Louisiana SDSU SDSU
- (11) Eastern Was. at Washington St EWU Washington St
- (3) Georgia Southern at Citadel Georgia So. Georgia So.
FCS Highlight Game Of Week (On a side note, I think teams should schedule like this every year, NDSU starts next year when Montana State comes to Fargo)
- (9) Montana at (8) Appalachian State Montana Appalachian
The First Poll of 2012
There will be many, and we’ll lose track eventually, but the guys over at Any Given Saturday have released the first poll for the 2012 FCS season. It is based on fan voting for the upcoming year. My thoughts, Northern Iowa is ranked way too high with how tough its first 5 games are, and watch for Youngstown State, my sleeper pick to make a major move in 2012.
1 North Dakota State Bison 2722 94
2 Sam Houston State Bearkats 2441 9
3 Georgia Southern Eagles 2401 4
4 Montana State Bobcats 2041 0
5 Appalachian State Mountaineers 1883 0
6 Northern Iowa Panthers 1794 0
7 Old Dominion Monarchs 1695 0
8 Montana Grizzlies 1679 0
9 James Madison Dukes 1573 0
10 Towson Tigers 1521 0
11 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 1433 0
12 Maine Black Bears 1327 0
13 Wofford Terriers 1296 0
14 New Hampshire Wildcats 1184 0
15 Stony Brook Seawolves 1042 0
16 Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 1035 0
17 Central Arkansas Bears 751 0
18 Eastern Washington Eagles 701 0
19 Illinois State Redbirds 546 0
20 Youngstown State Penguins 509 0
21 Cal Poly Mustangs 430 0
22 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 394 0
23 Indiana State Sycamores 392 0
24 Liberty Flames 383 0
25 Chattanooga Mocs 377 0
26 Harvard Crimson 372
27 Norfolk State Spartans 361
28 Furman Paladins 359
29 Albany Great Danes 305
30 William & Mary Tribe 263
31 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 213
32 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 211
33 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 148
34 North Dakota Fighting Sioux 146
35 Southern Illinois Salukis 123
36 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 98
37T Villanova Wildcats 82
37T McNeese State Cowboys 82
39 Jackson State Tigers 80
40 Richmond Spiders 79
Georgia Southern Is Going For It
I’d like to say that Jeff and I are always on the front lines of what happens in the world of FCS, but this move even surpises me. Late last night, the Statesboro Herald reported that Georgia Southern will move its football program to the FBS. Two parts to this story... Here are the two links to the story.
For those that missed our discussion last week, Jeff and I talked about Georgia Southern moving up, fast forward to about 8 minutes in.
- GSU President believes moving from FCS to FBS makes school more national than regional university.
- Soaring to Victory Campaign; it’s an 8 year, 36.6 million dollar campaign to ensure future athletic success, with 5 phases, the most expensive going towards Stabilizing the Program (15.5 mill) that’s towards recruiting advantages and paying their coaches, to upgrading facilites, the centerpiece is the Football Operations Center, a 57,000 square foot building that will cost 10 million dollars, the school believes can transform the program.
- 5.1 million dollars has already been raised, if GSU gets the necessary 10 million, they believe construction can begin in 12-18 months, they have not yet begun a marketing campaign to raise the remaining money.
- GSU’s Athletic Budget is 12 million dollars, the school says they’d need a minimum addition of 4.4 million annually to cover everything from travel costs to more scholarships (going from 63 to 85)
- Georgia Southern’s budget ranks 95th out of 125 schools in FCS
- Part of the expansion project would be to expand Paulson Stadium from it’s current 18,000 seats to nearly 25,000 and a new scoreboard.
- Interesting comments from the President, saying “Locker Rooms are atrocious, don’t show it to recruits” also went on to say, “No one gets excited about FCS, no one knows where Frisco, Texas is and who plays in the Championship Game”
- No Conference lined up yet, several in discussion
My initial thoughts are stunned and surprised, if I thought one member of the Southern Conference would leave it would be Appalachian State, which entertained thoughts right around this time last year. The article reads that GSU is not moving up to one-up Georgia State, which just moved up to the Sun Belt earlier this month. If GSU leaves, it’s a huge blow to the FCS, losing a 6-time champ. It also begs two questions, why leave as a top member of one division to be a lower level school at the top division? The second and more pressing to this blog, if Georgia Southern is moving up, should NDSU be considering it?
Much more on this topic in the coming days, working on having GSU Athletic Director Sam Baker join Dizzo’s Den, he was on during the week of the NDSU-GSU playoff game and much more from the Bison end.
Be Careful Moving Up
Another FCS team is on its way up to FBS, Georgia State made the announcement yesterday they will leave the Colonial (before they even play a down in the league) and head to the Sun Belt in 2013. Georgia State just started playing football in 2010, they hired former Alabama and Kentucky head coach Bill Curry to jump-start the team, the Panthers play in the Georgia Dome, and was their intention once the team was created to play at the FBS level, much like North Carolina-Charlotte, which will start playing football at the FCS level next year with an eye towards FBS in 2015. It’s a road that’s proven to be VERY difficult for nearly everyone in the last 10 years. I looked at the six most recent schools that I could find that made the transition and the best way to describe the results are mixed.
- Connecticut: Moved up to 1-A or FBS in 2000, after some initial struggles, Huskies have turned themselves into a contender in the Big East, making a BCS Bowl Game two years ago.
- Troy: School that most fans in this part of the world are familiar with, the Trojans beat NDSU 18-17 for the 1984 Division 2 National Championship. Troy had some initial success, still playing a majority of FCS teams, but since they moved into the Sun Belt, they’ve become a very solid program, making five bowl games since 2004.
- South Florida: The Bulls moved up to FBS in 2001 and have developed a terrific program, based in Tampa, Jim Leavitt had USF ranked in the top 10 just a few years ago, they have a 81-52 record since moving up, but consider the area they play in and also underwent an off-field scandal with Leavitt reportedly hitting players and was fired.
- Florida Atlantic: The Owls made the transition in 2005, Howard Schellenberger has been the only coach they’ve ever known until this year, Carl Pelini has taken this job, FAU’s record is not impressive 58-74; most fans will remember they beat the Gophers in 2007, and went to a bowl game that year, the fastest ever a program made a bowl game in just it’s 7th year.
- Florida International: The Panthers have had a tough time in the big boy division, and to be honest they weren’t all that good at the FCS level, playing three years between 2002-04 and the most games they won was two. FIU is located in Miami, best remembered for the on-field brawl they had with Miami a few years ago, when they moved up in 2005, they were the fastest program to move up to the highest level and it hasn’t been pretty.
- Western Kentucky: It hasn’t been pretty for the Hilltoppers either, perhaps next to FIU, the biggest case against moving up to FBS. WKU moved up in 2008, and the first three years they played FBS had 2 wins, zero wins and 2 wins. Western finally had a breakthru season this year in 2011, going 7-5, but one of the five losses was to FCS member Indiana State.
There are also a couple themes I noticed here, nearly every team here underwent a coaching change two or three years into the transition, and also four of these teams moved into the Sun Belt (Troy, WKU, FIU and FAU) The Sun Belt is a fine league, but we’re not talking about the cream of the crop of FBS football. There are four other test cases everyone should look at this year that are moving from FCS to FBS:
- South Alabama (Sun Belt)
- Texas State (WAC)
- Texas-San Antonio (WAC)
- Massachusetts (MAC)
Two of the teams I’ve mentioned (Georgia State and UMass) play in NFL stadiums, those you know will be empty a majority of the time, South Florida plays in Tampa’s stadium but has had success to at least draw a respectable crowd. I have not even mentioned money at all during this topic, which we know would be a massive increase to fund a FBS team, it’s a dangerous road, one that’s seen much more losing than success.
Just A Theory
Yes, I know full well what I’m starting here and what I’m getting myself into, but it’s something that is a possibility and it’s a pretty good blog topic. As you read this I implore everyone just to breath and think clearly before you comment on what I’m writing here.
NDSU and UND could possibly play as early as 2013. It will take some manuerving, some egos massaged and some money, but it could happen. Follow me here; because the NCAA allows FCS teams to play 12 regular season games in 2013.
NDSU: Currently, the Bison have 11 games scheduled for 2013, opening at Kansas State that year, then Montana State coming to Fargo on September 7th, followed by Western Carolina on September 21st before the league schedule. NDSU has two open dates listed September 14th and November 2nd. Remember that.
UND: Currently, the Sioux have 11 games scheduled for 2013, opening with 3 straight home games against Valparaiso, South Dakota State and Montana. That final game is where things get interesting. Due to a previous home and home contract UND and Montana agreed to in 2009, the Sioux traveled to Missoula in 2010, with the Grizzlies coming back to Grand Forks in 2013. Now things really got complicated once UND was accepted into the Big Sky, meaning UND and Montana became conference rivals. Montana now is scheduled to play in Grand Forks in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The ’12 and ’14 games are conference games, the 2013 is non-conference. I cannot see Montana coming to Grand Forks three straight years. While it would be great for FCS fans in the state to watch a perennial powerhouse like Montana, to get the Grizz to travel anywhere is a feat, and if they don’t have to, I don’t believe they will.
THE RESULT: Montana will buy out of the game at UND on September 14th. That leaves NDSU and UND both with September 14th as an open date. I believe the game gets done that way. NDSU will then play 12 games, and have it’s bye week on November 2nd. As for UND, the Sioux still can schedule one more game if they choose(maybe FBS, they don’t have one on their schedule now) and chose to have their bye week either September 21st or November 23rd. Now this is just a theory and this could be all thrown out the window if Montana decides to honor the contract (working on finding buyout number for that game) but it seems that if this game wants to happen before 2015 this might be the best way. Now the detractors will say why play a 12th game? It seems it’s a formality that the FCS playoff field will expand to 24 teams that season and if you have a chance at another D-1 win then I think teams will take that chance. Craig Bohl and Gene Taylor have both seem to be more open to playing a 12th game in the recent talks Jeff and I have had with them than in the past three years. It may not happen, but it sure seems like an opening.
A Different Perspective
Couple thoughts before we dive into the latest topic, disappointing loss for the Bison men’s basketball team tonight against IUPUI. The Jags came in hot I know, but sat in 7th in the league standings, with just two road wins. NDSU played sloppy in the first half, but still had chances to get back into the game, at several points cutting the lead to three. Alex Young got big shots when he needed to and now with the loss, NDSU drops out of the 3 seed. Some may say no big deal, but it totally changes the setup for the Summit League Tournament. As the 3 seed, NDSU would play the 6 seed, which is Southern Utah, a squad NDSU swept during the regular season. If the Bison finish 4th, then it could be Western Illinois, a team NDSU lost to by 4 in Macomb and will wrap up the season with on Saturday. To lock down the 3 seed, NDSU needs some help now, Bison must beat Western Illinois and have Oakland lose at South Dakota. We’ll see, but after the red hot 6-0 start, the Bison are just 11-11 since.
Now onto my favorite topic lately, football scheduling! Idaho State got a healthy payday from Nebraska today to fill out it’s schedule, the Bengals just the latest team to be playing 2 FBS schools in 2012. Now that leads to a school that’s also playing 2 FBS teams in 2012, Northern Iowa. Most that read the blog know of the Panthers financial issues, more details came out Thursday, which you can read here. I had a chance to visit with UNI Athletic Director Troy Dannen earlier this week about a range of topics, everything from playing 2 FBS schools yearly, to how NDSU has affected getting FCS games at home and how much you have to pay for them, and lastly how does NDSU fit into the long-range plans of the Missouri Valley Conference? All that and more, click here. Love to hear some comments after you listen..thanks!
The Schedule Situation
It’s the hottest talker right now surrounding the Bison football team thanks to Mr. Kolpack, wrapping up the schedule for the 2012 season. Now I know Florida State, Oklahoma, Michigan State and Pittsburgh are all sexy options and the fans would love to see how NDSU would stack up against the upper echelon competition. But I hate to throw cold water on these thoughts, but it’s NOT a good idea. Craig Bohl and Gene Taylor have stressed to me and Jeff over the past couple of years they want to play FBS games against teams they feel they have a chance to compete. (And beat in my opinion) As impressive as NDSU’s wins over Minnesota, Central Michigan, Ball State and Kansas are, these are not Florida State, Michigan State and Oklahoma. I’m not against NDSU playing one of those schools once every five years or so, but here are the potential downsides of playing an upper-echelon FBS School:
- Injuries (I know you can get hurt in any football game, but the chance certaintly goes up playing against most of the time bigger and sometimes quicker athletes)
- Potential Mental Injury – If NDSU loses say 47-7 to Oklahoma or Florida State, what does that do to the pysche of the team? Could it carry over to a game against a FCS or MVFC opponent and lose to a team that they should beat? Could ruin a potential great season.
- Leads to my third point, I firmly believe NDSU thinks they have the potential of another national championship with this class, either 2012 or 2013 and a loss to a team like a Nebraska, Wisconsin or FSU could de-rail some of those hopes.
Now I did a little research on five other Missouri Valley Schools and they’re FBS matchups, because the detractors to this post will point at SDSU and USD.
SDSU USD
- 2010 – at Nebraska - at Minnesota
- 2011 – at Illinois – at Air Force, at Wisconsin
- 2012 – at Kansas – at Northwestern
- 2013 – at Nebraka - at Kansas
- 2014 – at Missouri TBD
- 2015 – at Minnesota – at Kansas State
My opinion (and mine alone) looks at SDSU and USD and says those two schools are in a way different boat than NDSU. SDSU is trying to fund money to renovate it’s football stadium and a couple of big paydays at Nebraska and Missouri can certaintly help in that way; and facing regional schools near it’s backyard. NDSU fans would argue that Nebraska isn’t far away either, but I believe that Bohl just doesn’t want that game. South Dakota is wrapping up it’s D-1 transition and multiple games against FBS is a common trend (think 2007, NDSU played Central Michigan and Minnesota; a strategy Bohl and Taylor said he would NOT go back to) Now there a couple teams on these schedules that could/should appeal to NDSU; Illinois and Northwestern. Both are bowl teams (most years) and Illinois is an area NDSU in the past loved to hit for recruiting. Both also are matchups that NDSU can certaintly think heading into the matchup that they have a solid shot of winning the football game.
Western Illinois Northern Iowa SIU
- 2010 – at Purdue at Iowa State at Illinois
- 2011 -at Missouri at Iowa State at Mississippi
- 2012 – at Iowa State at Wisconsin, at Iowa at Miami (OH)
- 2013 – at Minnesota at Iowa State at Illinois
- 2014 – at Northwestern at Iowa at Purdue
We know UNI’s situation in terms of funds and the reason they’re playing both Wisconsin and Iowa next season. But you look at Western and SIU and the teams are reasonable in terms of location and skill. And for those poo-pooing NDSU’s future FBS teams a closer look says these squads are pretty good:
2010 – Kansas (Game was announced in June of 2009, NDSU coming off 6-5 season, KU was coming off an Orange Bowl win in 07 and a Insight Bowl win in 08, no reason to think the Jayhawks weren’t going to be pretty good until the Mark Magino blowup in 2009)
2013 - Kansas State ( Wildcats are coming off a 10-3 season in 2012 and a appearance in the Cotton Bowl, one of the oldest bowl games around, losing to Arkansas, I may be the only one in the boat saying this may be the best team NDSU has faced)
2014 - Iowa State ( Paul Rhoades has turned around the Cyclones, enough to beat Nebraska, Texas and this year Oklahoma State, giving OSU it’s only loss of the year, safe to say that’s a pretty good game when NDSU heads to Ames.)
2016 - Iowa ( Normally in the top tier of the Big 10 and almost always playing in a bowl game, you can bet if not Kansas State, then the Hawkeyes take the top spot of toughest team faced yet)
So there you go, definetly sense a Video Blog dedicated to this topic the longer an 11th game is an option! Gene Taylor has told me he wants that 11th game at HOME, the last option to him would be to play an FCS on the road in a home and home series, meaning they’d come to Fargo in 2014 (since 2013 schedule is done) And remember looming for NDSU is a home and home with Montana and Montana State coming to Fargo. Things looked pretty good on the schedule front.
2012 Signing Day Wrap-Up
Well that was fun. I grew up on the East Coast as many of you that read this blog know and college football is not popular in my neck of the woods, so when I got to Fargo and experienced my first signing day in 2007, I didn’t really see what all of the fuss was about. But after going thru this for a couple years, then being able to talk to the prospective athletes on the phone or in person, then see them perform, it’s a pretty neat deal. This by far was my favorite to date, to talk to the recruits that NDSU signed on Wednesday over the past five months has been great, especially the out-of-staters that saw the Bison win the national championship or experienced one of the playoff games. One of the recruits asked me over the phone, “Is it always that loud for home games?” I responded, “It will be from now on.” As for the class of 2012, I’m proud to say that Jeff and I reported on each and every one that ended up signing with the Bison. Now a couple headlines from signing day, also the 2012 Signing Class:
1) Jack Plankers – 6’7, 290 lbs, Offensive Lineman, Kindred, ND
2) Zach Riopelle – 6’2, 215 lbs, Linebacker, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo, MN
3) DeSean Warren – 5’10, 158 lbs, Wide Receiver, Overland Park, KS
4) Zach Johnson – 6’4, 310 lbs, Offensive Guard, Apple Valley, MN
5) Andy Smith – 6’0, 185 lbs, Defensive Back, Sioux Falls, SD
6) M.J. Stumpf – 6’2, 195 lbs, Linebacker, Harvey, ND
7) Bo Liekhus – 6’0, 200 lbs, Safety, Bellevue, NE
8) Derek McGinnis – 6’2, 200 lbs, Quarterback, Crete, NE
9) Carey Woods – 6’0, 180 lbs, Wide Receiver, Bemidji, MN
10) Demetrius Gray – 6’4, 180 lbs, Wide Receiver, Aurora, IL
11) Austin Farnlof – 6’1, 255 lbs, Offensive/Defensive Line, Anthem AZ
12) Chuks Amaechi – 6’2, 202 lbs, Linebacker, Avondale, AZ
13) Brett Pierce – 6’6, 250 lbs, Defensive End, Richfield, MN
14) Jacob Davis – 6’2, 242 lbs, Linebacker, Wichita, KS
15) Sam Hahn – 6’6, 260 lbs, Offensive Tackle, De Witt, NE
16) Landon Lechler – 6’8, 240 lbs, Offensive Lineman, Beach, ND
17) Marcus Brantley – 5’10, 180 lbs, Safety, Mesa, AZ
18) Justin Arp – 6’5, 215 lbs, Defensive End/Tight End, Forman, ND
OTHER HEADLINES
- Craig Bohl told me he sees “five players that could play right away next year” and says as a whole it’s an “exceptional group.”
- NDSU added two more walk-ons that were not on the official release, one name we reported earlier in January, in kicker Tom Barneson out of Eau Claire. The 2nd is also a Wisconsin native, Eric Perkins from Kewaskum, he’s 5’9, 175 pounds, ran for 1,883 yards and 27 touchdowns this past season.
- NDSU did NOT recruit a Running Back in this class. The Bison have 4 on the roster currently, Sam Ojuri, Derrick Lang, Matt Jones and Amos Buehner. Wes Hudson was dismissed from the team during the season, but for the first time to my recollection, Bohl mentioned John Crockett. For those that don’t know Crockett is a member of the sensational 2010 class, but has not yet seen the field, trying to get his grades in order to become eligble. I fully believe that NDSU held off recruiting a running back because they expect Crockett to be on the field come fall camp in August. Crockett was a fantastic high school player at Totino-Grace, an all-state first team selection by the Associated Press, ran for 1,802 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2009. If Crockett becomes eligible, all worries at running back in my mind disappear.
- The one name that WE had on our list that was not announced yesterday was Deveon Dinwiddie. But that doesn’t mean he’s not coming to NDSU. Wednesday, Hutchinson Community College, where Dinwiddie played this past season, sent out a release, saying he’s heading to NDSU. You can read the release here, scroll down halfway to find Dinwiddie’s name. Now nothing is a done deal and the coaches CANNOT comment yet on any player that hasn’t officially signed, we’ll keep you posted.
I looked briefly at South Dakota State’s class which looks pretty good, I see that at least four guys NDSU had offered chose the Jacks, something to keep an eye on. The one bi-product of NDSU winning the national championship is it’s going to raise the bar for all of the Valley teams, especially now the bordering ones in SDSU and USD. That’s all for now, going to take a deep breath from this recruiting frenzy and get ready for the stretch run of the basketball season. Any updates on walk-ons and JUCO’s we’ll pass along as always. For those that missed the live interview with Craig Bohl, this is the link. Also wanted to thank everyone for the kind words over the past few weeks, it’s been fun, we’ll keep it up!
Closing In
UPDATE (9 p.m. Monday): Offensive tackle Sam Hahn (6-6, 260) of Tri County High School in DeWitt, Neb., said he is committing to NDSU and will sign Wednesday. He said Nebraska talked to him about walking on but he told me ”it just didn’t work out.” Hahn took two visits to NDSU, one against Missouri State and another last weekend. His other scholarship options were a couple of D-IIs. (Izzo)
UPDATE (3 p.m. Monday): Talked with Jacob Davis earlier this afternoon and his soft verbal that Dom reportered earlier is now a firm word. He visited Army over the weekend and said “my gut tells me North Dakota State.” This guys looks the part; 6-2 1/2, 238 pounds, benches almost 400 pounds (per HS coach), runs a 4.6 40-yard dash (per his Max Emfinger all-star file) and has a 34-inch verticale jump (Emfinger). High school coach was disappointed Kansas or Kansas State didn’t offer. (Kolpack)
UPDATE (10:15 a.m. Monday): Chris Larson, Sargent Central head coach, says defensive end-tight end Justin Arp has not made a decison. — (Kolpack)
BREAKING (9:55) – Travis Wilson of the Wisconsin Sports Network reports that Milwaukee Tech RB Marcus Horne has committed to Michigan State. Wilson tweeted to me that Horne denied to him ever committing to NDSU, his high school head coach Craig Bevilacqua told me that Horne had given the Bison a “soft verbal”. Here’s the post from back in November. Now NDSU did add a running back on Sunday, according to ESPN, Hutchinson Community College RB Deveon Dinwiddie will transfer to North Dakota State. Dinwiddie is the older brother of current Bison linebacker DeShawn, who played this year as a true freshman. Dinwiddie originally signed with Kansas State two years ago, left, tore his knee up and sat out the 2010 season. Dinwiddie starred for the Blue Dragons(love nickname) going for 143 carries, 806 yards and 12 touchdowns. This to my knowledge is the only running back to date for this Bison class. Craig Bohl will join me LIVE on Wednesday at 6:20 on Channel 6 to talk signing day, also on WDAY.com.
Got to say great conversation on the blog about NDSU and the future, whether it’s the Summit League or the Missouri Valley or wherever. Know we are not the only ones talking about it. But also there are some big time discussions going on at higher levels, meaning the NCAA about what to do with football. And as we found out in the summer of 2010, football is what drives the boat in the NCAA and the disparity between the super-elite (the BCS Schools) and everybody else is growing wider. NDSU finds itself in a unique situation in my mind. I firmly believe that the FCS is where NDSU belongs. But what happens if FCS no longer exists? It’s a question that may become a reality soon. NCAA President Mark Emmert had some interesting comments, you can read them here. Say if the top 50 schools break away and form their own division, what happens to everybody else? I believe the remaining big boys, the Mountain West-Conference USA’s, WACs have a division. That leaves the Sun Belt and the MAC, you take the top 20 teams from the FCS (the NDSUs, UNIs, normally the top 4 teams in the Colonial, 2 from the Big Sky) and there’s your 3rd tier of Division 1 football. I don’t think it will happen exactly like that but it appears this is just the beginning of this discussion.
On to the here and now, the NDSU men got a landmark win yesterday in Oakland. Saul Phillips changed up his starting lineup, inserting the 2 seniors in (Eric Carlson and Drew Lundberg) and it seemed the mojo changed. The Bison had never won at Oakland, gets the all-precious split that teams crave on the road, NDSU maintains 3rd place along in the Summit League with Southern Utah and Oral Roberts coming to town. Everyone will point to the ORU game, but SUU is huge too, the Thunderbirds are just a half-game out of 3rd when they visit Fargo. Also will be the last time these two schools come to the Bison Sports Arena, be nice if somehow a home and home could be worked out with the Golden Eagles, a nice rivalry has been developed there. Now the win over Oakland will help with the RPI for the Bracketbuster game, but I think NDSU is locked into a couple opponents:
NDSU, RPI of 125: Possible opponents – Indiana State (126), UC Santa Barbara (143), Youngstown State (149), Fairfield (148)
SDSU: RPI of 66 (Opponents – UNI (62), Nevada (64), Akron (60), Drexel (87)
Oral Roberts: RPI of 55 (Opponents – Wichita State (33), Long Beach State (37)
Oral Roberts and SDSU both more than likely will be on TV, the selection show is at 5:30 tomorrow night on ESPN U. Plenty of bracketbuster and hoops conversation on Dizzo’s Den, 970 WDAY at 6:30 tomorrow night, NDSU associate head coach Dave Richman joins me, also online at WDAY.com. (Izzo)
