2019 Week 11 - Western Illinois at North Dakota State

[ST_Lawson]

AT
Western Illinois at North Dakota State
Saturday, November 9 at 2:30 PM (Central)

Radio: Leatherneck Sports Network
TV : ESPN+

Game Notes
Coming Soon

History: WIU and NDSU have played 10 times starting in 2007, with the Bison holding a 8-2 series lead. WIU won the matchups in '08 and '10, but NDSU has won the last 6 meetings.
WIU in 2018 - 5-6 overall, 4-4 in the MVFC
WIU in 2019 - 1-8 overall, 1-4 in the MVFC
NDSU in 2018 - 15-0 overall, 8-0 in the MVFC, won the FCS championship.
NDSU in 2019 - 9-0 overall, 5-0 in the MVFC

Location: Fargodome, Fargo, ND
Weather Prediction: Game is in a dome, so it doesn't matter unless you're going to the game and maybe tailgating, but currently projected to be cloudy, high of 30, 25% chance of snow showers, ~12 mph winds. Be careful if you're driving up there because there's a decent chance of snow in the morning.

Odds:
Massey Ratings - 0% chance of WIU win, with a predicted score of 48-3 for the Bison
Sagarin Ratings - NDSU 98% chance of victory

I'm glad we were able to get a win against South Dakota last week to stave off a winless season, but this week could get ugly pretty quickly. Sagarin has NDSU at 37th in all of DI, just behind Missouri. I hate to treat a conference game like this, but really this is like an FBS game for us. We've got nothing to lose, so give it everything we've got until the game is out of hand, but let's just get out of there with no injuries.

[rocki]

Yeah. Apparently we are more depleted by injuries than I realized, so for me the main thing is to get out of the dome without any more.

We all know NDSU's program is miles above every other FCS school, and we're having a rough year (to say the least!), so staying healthy is the main priority.

[sealhall74]

In many endeavors in life, you really only get better when you compete against someone better than you. True here as well. The biggest thing we (players, coaches, fans, administrators, etc.) could come away with after this weekend is a deeper understanding of just what it takes to get to the level that the Bison are at. Some things are simple. E.G., shut down tailgating a half hour before game starts so everyone is in their seat (STANDING NOT SITTING) for kickoff. And when the game is in progress, STANDING IS THE NORM. You only sit during the breaks in the action. When the other team is on offense, you yell your ass off to disrupt communication and intimidate. When your team is on offense calling the play signals, you are deftly quiet until the snap. It's what they do better than anyone I have seen.

[rocki]

In many endeavors in life, you really only get better when you compete against someone better than you. True here as well. The biggest thing we (players, coaches, fans, administrators, etc.) could come away with after this weekend is a deeper understanding of just what it takes to get to the level that the Bison are at. Some things are simple. E.G., shut down tailgating a half hour before game starts so everyone is in their seat (STANDING NOT SITTING) for kickoff. And when the game is in progress, STANDING IS THE NORM. You only sit during the breaks in the action. When the other team is on offense, you yell your ass off to disrupt communication and intimidate. When your team is on offense calling the play signals, you are deftly quiet until the snap. It's what they do better than anyone I have seen.

And they travel really well, too!

[rocki]

Joking aside, it is very impressive how their whole football program operates. I could very well be incorrect in this, but it seems that they tend to bring in kids and develop them from the get-go rather than having to recruit transfers; and they do a fantastic job of developing these kids into great football players. The fact that they lost their head coach and are still beating the crap out of everyone also shows how dedicated the team, coaches, and fans are.

It would be something to aspire to, but they are more like the U of I or Northwestern of North Dakota. I don't know how many schools there are in N Dakota, but it looks like everyone follows the Bison. Here in IL (besides the fact that the state is broke) there are lots of different D1 schools that people are loyal to - in other words, ISU, SIU, EIU, WIU, NIU, U of I, Northwestern......way more schools dividing the "pie".

[wiu712]

I don't know how many schools there are in North Dakota, but it looks like everyone follows the Bison.

11 of North Dakota State's 12 football games are televised state-wide on the 5 television stations that make up NBC North Dakota. The only game not covered was their recent game at Youngstown State.

[ST_Lawson]

This is all pretty much correct. Yes, North Dakota is much smaller population-wise than Illinois, but they've pretty much cornered the college football market in ND and northeastern Minnesota.
Imagine how much more support/interest we'd get if nearly every WIU football game was aired live statewide on NBC every Saturday.

With regards to how many schools there are in ND...for DI, there's 2 (NDSU and UND) and NDSU has had a HUGE amount more success at football than UND has had over the last 50 years. In the last 55 years, they've had 3 losing seasons.
Three....losing...seasons.....in 55 years.

UND, on the other hand, is kinda the Villanova of college hockey. FCS level football...sometimes decent (they did win a couple of DII championships)...sometimes not so much, but hockey...one of the best in the country (with the arena to match). 22 Frozen Four appearances since 1958, 8 NCAA championships (and remember, they didn't move all their athletics up to DI until the last ~10 years).

Those two are the only "research institutions" in ND. They also have 4 smaller "regional" universities: Dickinson State, Mayville State, Minot State, Valley City State. There is also a handful of Tribal institutions, and private universities. Of those, only two have NCAA athletics: Public DII Minot State and Private DII University of Mary.

In terms of the scale of things, NDSU and UND are like the U of Illinois of ND.

[tjbison]

This is all pretty much correct. Yes, North Dakota is much smaller population-wise than Illinois, but they've pretty much cornered the college football market in ND and northeastern Minnesota.
Imagine how much more support/interest we'd get if nearly every WIU football game was aired live statewide on NBC every Saturday.

With regards to how many schools there are in ND...for DI, there's 2 (NDSU and UND) and NDSU has had a HUGE amount more success at football than UND has had over the last 50 years. In the last 55 years, they've had 3 losing seasons.
Three....losing...seasons.....in 55 years.

UND, on the other hand, is kinda the Villanova of college hockey. FCS level football...sometimes decent (they did win a couple of DII championships)...sometimes not so much, but hockey...one of the best in the country (with the arena to match). 22 Frozen Four appearances since 1958, 8 NCAA championships (and remember, they didn't move all their athletics up to DI until the last ~10 years).

Those two are the only "research institutions" in ND. They also have 4 smaller "regional" universities: Dickinson State, Mayville State, Minot State, Valley City State. There is also a handful of Tribal institutions, and private universities. Of those, only two have NCAA athletics: Public DII Minot State and Private DII University of Mary.

In terms of the scale of things, NDSU and UND are like the U of Illinois of ND.

State schools of Higher Ed in ND- 11
Private higher ED- 2

Fargo-moorhead alone has a school in each the DI, DII and DIII levels
NDSU
Minnesota State University-Moorhead
Concordia College-Moorhead

Our Radio network spans from Eastern MT to Wisconsin, central SD into Manitoba and Saskatchewan Canada. Yes there re stations in Minneapolis that broadcast NDSU games.

[Neckfan]

Go necks go. Lets make it 2 in a row. Good time for a upset. Dont say it cant be done because it can. Lets ruin their weekend.

[ST_Lawson]

State schools of Higher Ed in ND- 11
Private higher ED- 2

Fargo-moorhead alone has a school in each the DI, DII and DIII levels
NDSU
Minnesota State University-Moorhead
Concordia College-Moorhead

Our Radio network spans from Eastern MT to Wisconsin, central SD into Manitoba and Saskatchewan Canada. Yes there re stations in Minneapolis that broadcast NDSU games.

Well, yes, but 5 of those 11 schools are community colleges, so I wasn't actually counting those. There's 6 4-year universities in North Dakota, of which NDSU and UND are by far the largest.
It's great that NDSU can get coverage like that...I'm sure that and the TV network contribute greatly to the view that people have of NDSU athletics.

Meanwhile, you get 2 hours away from Macomb in pretty much any direction and you won't get a signal that carries Leatherneck sports.