ND STATE SLATE: Down with Lagomorphs

It’s a big day here at Bring on the Bison World Headquarters, because today will be the last time we get to see our beloved head coach Chris Klieman lead our Bison out onto the turf at the Fargodome. And if they don’t emerge with a victory, it’ll be the last time period since those guys down in Kansas that we beat a few years ago stole him away from us with their filthy television money.

There’s big news here in Fargo we have to get to first, though. While Coach Klieman is remaining with the Bison part-time through the end of the season — be that closing time tonight or later in January — we now know who will be replacing him. That’d be the guy who replaced Klieman as defensive coordinator when Coach was promoted, Matt Entz. That’s good news, because we’d rather have Coach Entz stay here than follow Klieman to Manhattan to take over there.

We’ve been paying attention to the news down there in the tropical paradise of Manhattan, and they sure are talking a lot about Coach. The Kansas City Star has a couple of bits; a video piece from Bo Rader on Coach Klieman’s introduction to his new fanbase (which will never love him like we do), and an article by a guy named Kellis Robinett — we’re not sure how you pronounce that — reporting on how Coach will be spending his time over the next month.

Avery Osen of the Associated Press, via the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, writes about the challenge facing Klieman in Manhattan, and Corbin McGuire introduces Klieman to the Wildcat faithful in yesterday’s edition of their athletic department’s daily Sports Extra offering.

There’s some previews for tonight’s game against South Dakota State to share with you. jrwillis at our sister site Underdog Dynasty predicts a close win for the Bison, Matt Zimmer of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader previews the game but doesn’t have the guts to pick a side, and via NCAA.com Dave Kolpack of the Associated Press also offers a preview of the latest edition of this great rivalry.

Speaking of rivals, there’s news coming out of Sioux Falls that an old rival is itching to come back to being one. When the Bison and Jackrabbits left Division II and all but killed the North Central Conference, the shake-up left everyone scattered. North Dakota and South Dakota eventually joined the party in Division I, and so did Nebraska-Omaha although they dropped football like a bunch of idiots. Minnesota State-Mankato, Saint Cloud State, and Augustana all stayed in Division II, though, joining the Northern Sun.

But at the Argus Leader, Zimmer has another story: Augustana’s board of trustees has approved a transition to Division I. Of course, the Vikings will have to find a conference to take them in for the move to be approved by the NCAA. There would seem to be little reason for the Summit League to decline, but the MVFC might be more resistant. We’ll have to wait and see.

In honor of Coach Klieman’s new destination, we thought we’d share some random news bits from his new employer:

Greg Woods of the Manhattan Mercury discusses the recent struggles of K-State‘s basketball team ahead of tomorrow’s contest against Georgia State.

As for their women, they’ll be in La Crosse, Wis., on Saturday to take on Arizona State in the Battle by the Bluff, played in the relatively tiny confines of Mitchell Hall Gym on the campus of UW-La Crosse. Turns out K-State has five players on its roster who hail from within a three hour drive of La Crosse, and putting this game together was part of the lure K-State used to get Wisconsin native Kayla Goth to pick Manhattan according to today’s Sports Extra.

That’ll do it for today. Stay warm, and get ready to skin some rabbits tonight!