NCAA Football FanHouse

The FanHouse Walk: Giving Football the Old College Handshake

Brian Grummell — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:24:00 EST

Filed under: Florida, Washington, Wisconsin, Pac 10, SEC, Coaching, Division II, FCS

Every week during college football's endless offseason, The FanHouse Walk will put last week's stories to bed and deliver the essentials to bridge that agonizing space between now and September.

Good Cop Bad Cop -- The American Football Coaches Association is trying to inject some sportsmanship into an opening week pregame near you. The AFCA has put forth a non-binding proposal that teams shake hands en masse before each Week 1 game, roughly four minutes before spending the next four hours in violent, competitive, collision-heavy contact.

Kudos, I guess. It's well-meaning and doesn't necessarily do any harm, but this seems more for show than sincerity given the necessarily violent nature of the game. As AFCA honcho Grant Teaff says, "It is symbolic, but it is, we think, a very important initiative." Meanwhile, the NCAA rules committee has cooked up its own, much more dangerous plan to counter unsportsmanlike play.

Remember this play (1:19 in)?

If a proposal eventually gets its way through the committee, such on-field taunts might be considered a live penalty, effectively erasing a touchdown that was otherwise unaided by any other penalty. As it is, such actions warrant an easy unsportsmanlike conduct, docking the offending team after the conclusion of the play. That is the way it should be.

On-field taunts are unfortunate but there are already procedures in place to punish such actions. The rules committee is clearly trying to take things a step further and pre-empt any further incidents. Says Southeastern Conference coordinator of football officials Rogers Redding, "I think the sense is it would stop it in a heartbeat."

No doy.

Regardless, if a touchdown is accomplished without the aid of a hold or any other assisting penalties, it needs to stand. Period. Slippery slopes and such. See Redding again, telling USA Today: "The line gets crossed when there's taunting and inciting."

The endless on-field banter is in itself its own form of taunting and inciting that often leads to more visible taunts like the one above. Either everything gets thrown in that boat or almost nothing does. The rules in place work, occasional crossing of the lines is going to happen and there's more than a few repercussions from the dead ball penalty to the player getting chewed out or benched by his coach, team conduct penalties during the week that we don't see, and so on.

Taking away the most exciting and difficult to execute plays in football is asinine, backwards and counterproductive in erasing only a handful of the most egregious transgressions while also taking away the element of the game most fans and competitors are there for. Stop the madness.

We've Got Plenty -- Heather Dinich and the ESPN college football blog crew have been busy today listing their top villains in college football. No. 3 on her list and certainly near the top of mine: Congress. I love Dinich because she speaks her mind efficiently and brutally. Quoth the ACC writer:

It doesn't belong in college football. It wasted taxpayers' money -- twice. And it doesn't understand the BCS. But give Utah's biggest fan a national stage, and Sen. Orrin Hatch suddenly has his own column on SI.com.

Heh.

The NCAA rules committee is inching up my list after the above plus their horrendous cave-in to broadcast networks with rule 3-2-5-e from a few years back. The NCAA is like the reverse Midas, where everything it touches turns something on the opposite end of the spectrum from gold.

History -- Florida is the second team of this decade to attempt to corner three championships in a brief span.

Everyone's obviously pointing to the 2005 USC team that gave out just 19 seconds from history. Regardless Florida deserves high marks for getting this far, it ain't easy and the pressure builds with each game. Their schedule is relatively light but math, science and the season-wrecking Gods of college football will do their darndest to align against the Gators this year.

Now wouldn't be ironic if USC was the team to put the brakes on the Gators' own charge at history? Ask me again in a few weeks but that's actually my view of how this season will play out as we cruise through the middle of August.

Stereotypin' -- Vegas Insider checks in with the returning offensive and defensive starters for each FBS college football team. Make note that seven SEC teams have eight or more returning defensive starters. Contrast that with the Pac-10 and its five teams with eight or more returning offensive starters.

Stereotypes are stereotypes but sometimes there's a bit of truth behind them.

In The Age of Political Correctness -- Nicholls State retired an offensive 'white-bearded, gray-uniformed mascot' in 2004 that conjured up Civil War images. In its place a new mascot has finally arrived, and folks are rightly not taking to it.

I'll let the people do the talking:

"Menacing."

'"'It looked like a Nazi soldier -- a very angry Nazi soldier"

" The new image seems evil, faceless and inhuman."

"It comes down to one word: propaganda."

See where this is going? I'm trying to understand what they were trying to do, but the logo came out wrong. The propaganda thing is dead-on, it looks like the 'Colonel' jumped out of a Stalin-era propaganda poster (although some of that same imagery revived itself with those creepy two-tone Obama posters in the recent election) and into a Louisiana university. If we're going to be snarky, it actually strongly reminded me of the M. Bison character from the 'Street Fighter' video games.

Folks have set up some Facebook pages in protest, but so far the University is sticking with its logo. It's so strange as to maybe work in a few years once people figure out to not take it seriously and it becomes a running joke among the student body. Maybe.

Beer Isn't The Only Thing Brewing In Madison -- Wisconsin recently suspended two players indefinitely for violating team rules. This stuff happens all the time but things are about to get real ugly as both players' fathers are now involved claiming the program mishandled the situation as they attempt to clear their sons' names.

Transfers have to be imminent when stuff like this from Aubrey Pleasant's father hits the papers:

"I hate to say this, but you just can't treat people any old way. I think that is what he is used to doing. Maybe this is how they do things at Iowa.

"And I hate to say that... but I hope the guy comes to his senses. Lawyers have been contacted, and we just want the kids' names cleared."

After a smooth start, it's been downhill for Badgers' coach Bret Bielema. This only adds to the trouble after athletic director and legendary Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez didn't exactly give him the ringingest of endorsements recently.

Overtime, Ball on the 25

-- Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer has signed on to be a studio analyst for CBS College Sports. He'll do great there, and I'm shocked ESPN didn't swoop in and grab him as a potential centerpiece to their growing SEC coverage. The man is still obviously itching to coach, but I'd have taken the risk of having him for only a year as an informed and surprisingly gregarious broadcast voice.

-- Speaking of unsportsmanlike, Washington is unabashedly coaching its linemen to cut block this season under first-year coach Steve Sarkisian. Judging by the quotes the players don't much have the stomach for it but are following orders

-- Phil Steele projects Cal a big winner over Maryland this year and looks at the sneaky good Illinois/Missouri rivalry game as well.

-- A UCLA football commit and brother of USC defensive end Malik Jackson wore a UCLA shirt and matching socks to a recent USC football practice. He'll pay for that, on the field of course.

-- Football Outsiders looks at college football's best defensive lines from 2008. Not much mention of USC's defensive line, which was part of one of the better defenses of this era last year. Either the numbers need some work or those linebackers and secondary did a surprising amount of the heavy lifting in last year. On defense, success is usually heavily linked to the trenches, so the work the linebackers did behind USC's front four last season was, according to these rankings, all the more impressive.

-- Interesting stance the NCAA is taking on new media as it relates to injury reports and coaches' general efforts to obscure team health matters.

The FanHouse Walk: Giving Football the Old College Handshake originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Minnesota Duluth's Tobias Lemke Chases American Dream With German Accent

Jim Henry — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:01:00 EST

Filed under: Division II

Tobias Lemke, a native of Germany, plans to chase his American Dream one day. But, at the moment, Lemke is dreaming repeat. Make elbow room on the national stage, please. The Florida Gators are not the only college football team chasing consecutive national titles.

Lemke and the defending NCAA Division II football champion Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs open preseason practice Saturday.

"Last season was something I will never forget, especially knowing where we were coming from," Lemke told FanHouse. "It was so much fun. Playing for the national title, being catered to at that level, coming back into town -- this is a big hockey town -- and just seeing how were able to win over the community and the students. I wouldn't mind doing it all over again."

The Bulldogs were one of the nation's best football stories in 2008.

They won their first NCAA Division II championship in any sport, beating Northwest Missouri State 21-14 in Florence, Ala. They were also the first team from Minnesota and the Northern Sun Collegiate Conference to win a Division II football title, this after going 4-6 in the now-defunct North Central Conference in 2007. The conference was forced to disband after two of its seven members, North Dakota and South Dakota, left to go to Division I.

Technically, UMD finished 15-0 shorthanded. While the NCAA allows Division II football programs to have 36 scholarships, the Bulldogs are permitted 24 under their conference rules. And, if that wasn't enough, hockey has seemingly always been the mainstay for collegiate athletics at Minnesota Duluth, a history that tracks to 1930.

In fact, Lemke, the Bulldogs' returning center and one of three senior captains, worked this summer in the school's weight room as a strength coach for youth hockey camps.

"It seems like everybody here plays hockey," said Lemke, 23, who was born and raised in Essen, Germany and --- no -- doesn't play hockey.

"I love this place. Our summers in Germany don't get hot and our winters don't get cold, so I definitely had to get used to the weather. It seems if the snow starts in October and doesn't stop until May. But there's a lot of fun stuff to do and watch - hockey, ice fishing, skating."

Football, too.

Honestly, Lemke never figured his athletic career would include football. He played soccer, volleyball and handball in Germany, where his parents -- mom is a social worker and dad is a chemist -- continue to live. Lemke says he "stumbled across club football" as a 14-year-old and immediately fell in love. Always big and sturdy for his age, Lemke, now at 6 feet 4, 280 pounds, chuckles and says, "The coaches were happy to see me. They took one look and said, OK, offensive line."

Lemke found a new sport -- and a new home.

Lemke attended White Bear Lake (Minn.) High School, north of Saint Paul, in 2002-03 as a foreign exchange student and competed with the Bears junior varsity football team. After Lemke returned to Germany, he finished high school and played with the Dusseldorf Panthers of the German Football League (juniors). That's when Lemke decided he wanted to return to the United States and play college football.

With the help of one of his club coaches, Lemke mailed his highlight tape to a number of Midwest colleges, including Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs were smitten, and Lemke is believed to be the second European to join the Bulldog football program since fellow German Jens Klenner, a linebacker, played in 2000.

German football isn't for slouches.

Sebastian Vollmer was one of the most intriguing stories in the 2009 NFL Draft. Vollmer, who was born in Kaarst, Germany, didn't start playing football until he was 14 years old but sill helped his German prep school win two national championships. He starred at the University of Houston and was a second-round selection of the New England Patriots.

"The league and my coaches really prepared me for college," Lemke said.

Lemke has made the most of his time, too, playing right guard as a freshman in 2006 and working his way into the starting lineup at center the following year as a sophomore. His prowess, however, has not been limited to just the football field.

Lemke was the football team's co-representative on UMD's Athletic Academic Support List for maintaining the best overall grade point average (3.97) of any Bulldog during the 2007-08 school year. He also earned NCC All-Academic Team recognition and a spot on the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V Team.

Lemke will soon earn a double major in political science and criminal justice and his plan is to secure a master's degree in criminology with a future in law enforcement.

"I can always go back to Europe but I want to see if I can make my American Dream come true," Lemke said.

That particular dream will have to wait for the time being.

More than 100 players are expected for the Bulldogs' opening preseason practice Saturday, and Lemke can't wait to get started. UMD, which returns 11 starters and is ranked third nationally in The Sporting News Division II Preseason Top 25, will take the nation's longest winning streak - 16 games over two seasons -- into its opener against rival Concordia University-St. Paul Aug. 29.

"Last year we realized how good we could be when we played together as a team and it never stopped," Lemke said.

"When we got to the championship game, we got together and told each other we had come this far, we might as well win it. It was a great experience. We've had a great summer, too. About 70 guys stayed in town and worked out, so that's going to help. Everyone is getting antsy to get started. We have some gaps to fill but we also bring a lot of experience back on the line.

"It's going to be fun to see if we can do it all over again."

Minnesota Duluth's Tobias Lemke Chases American Dream With German Accent originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pittsburg State's Joe Windscheffel Out for Season After Zebra Attack

Bruce Ciskie — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:15:00 EST

Filed under: Injuries, Division II

Division II football players like Pittsburg State's Joe Windscheffel don't always have it as easy as major college players are perceived to. Many of them hold down jobs, in addition to their full-time school schedule and a practice schedule that isn't a whole lot different from their big-time brethren.

In the case of Windscheffel, the need to get some work done off the football field has cost him any chance of playing this season.

Windscheffel is a redshirt freshman defensive back/linebacker for the Gorillas of Pittsburg (Kan.) State University, a powerhouse program in Division II that annually produces All-American players and makes regular appearances in the Division II playoffs.

Windscheffel is hardly small, standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 225 pounds, but he was no match for a zebra.

Yes, a zebra.

Windscheffel, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker/safety from Smith Center, recently had to move three female and a male zebra to paint a fence along a pasture line.

But the male charged him, bit his arm and would not let go. The animal was dragging Windscheffel by his arm when two of his fellow farm hands finally freed him.

... He was left with a compound fracture on his forearm that required a plate and six pins.

Sounds like Windscheffel might be a bit injury-prone, as he missed the 2008 season with an Achilles' injury.

As for the zebra, which is obviously a fan of rival Northwest Missouri State, there's no word on if Bill Snyder would like to know more about its athletic background.

(Pat on the butt: Deadspin)

Pittsburg State's Joe Windscheffel Out for Season After Zebra Attack originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trev Alberts Returns to Nebraska

Chas Rich — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:25:00 EST

Filed under: Nebraska, Media Watch, Division II

It is never easy for Division II sports programs to make news without a major criminal investigation or a tragedy. Bringing on a "name" hire is the one exception, meaning the University of Nebraska-Omaha stands a chance of making SportsCenter with the hiring of Trev Alberts as its new athletic director.

The former Nebraska Cornhusker star and college football analyst was the obvious front-runner. Alberts was the only candidate for the position brought to Omaha to meet with the public and media the week before the hiring.

Alberts was the highest profile candidate among the finalists, a list that included Sunshine State Conference commissioner Mike Marcil, Dana College athletic director and football coach Bill Danenhauer, and Millard South High School athletic director Nolan Beyer.

The Mavericks athletic program is trying to raise the school's profile in the Omaha community. The first big test for the new AD will be with the hockey program. The hockey coach is on the hot seat. Plus Alberts has to decide whether to pursue moving up from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association , and joining the Western Collegiate Hockey Association that is considering expanding to a 12th team.

Trev Alberts Returns to Nebraska originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trev Alberts Nearing Division II

Chas Rich — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:26:00 EST

Filed under: Nebraska, Media Watch, Division II

The former ESPN talking head currently in the witness protection program known as being a college football analyst on the CBS College Sports channel, is looking to make a career move. Trev Alberts is the leading candidate to become the athletic director at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Alberts is the only candidate invited to come to the school and meet with the public and media to this point. The former Nebraska star would be a name hire. The Mavericks play Division II sports and is primarily known as a commuter school. The UN-O chancellor, John Christensen, is eager to hire someone who would be able to make a splash in the Omaha community and be able to raise funds.
During his open meeting, Alberts admitted to not knowing the ins-and-outs of running an athletic department. Instead stating that he would be sure to surround himself with people who do know what they are doing and could educate him.

He denied that this was the first step in a master plan to eventually become the Nebraska athletic director, the position presently held by his former coach Tom Osborne. There was no claiming that this job was his destination or dream job, though.

Trev Alberts Nearing Division II originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:26:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sour Times For Josh Portis

Ian Cohen — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:26:00 EST

Filed under: Florida, Maryland, ACC, SEC, Prospects, Division II

Because nobody loves him, it's true. Not like his mom does, at least. And hey, a Third joke! As in, he's about to quarterback his third team in five years after bolting from Florida to Maryland to California...of Pennsylvania. Thanks to fellow Fanhouser Bruce Ciskie, I now recognize them as the team that got worked something terrible in the D-II playoffs by Minnesota-Duluth. Before then, I knew it as the very same school that Virginia's own exiled QB, Kevin McCabe, shuffled off to after an unceremonious benching during the 2006 season.

And while McCabe got in Al Groh's doghouse during a rebuilding year for a couple of INT's (resulting in a longer leash down the line for turnover machine Marc Verica in the same situation?), Portis was basically a weapon that the Terps couldn't seem to find a use for, in spite of his rave-worthy athleticism. Even with Ralph Friedgen's rep as an offensive innovator, the steadier, if not somewhat uninspiring Chris Turner's progression led to a diminished need for the potential for Portis gadget plays. Portis attempted three passes all year and ran 36 times. Somewhere down the road, it's not unthinkable that his huge upside could land him in the "sleeper" territory in 2010's mock draft (similar to Rhett Bomar), but as for now, it's somewhat disappointing that a rare talent in quarterbacking didn't pan out in a conference that really needs it.

Sour Times For Josh Portis originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:26:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Follow the Dotted Lines: Florida and Oklahoma Have Already Lost to Real National Champs

Mark Hasty — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:46:00 EST

Filed under: Florida, Oklahoma, BCS, General CFB Insanity, Division II, FCS

It's a good thing the transitive property doesn't work in football. You might remember that property from a math class somewhere in your past. What the transitive property states is, if a > b and b > c, then a > c. It's a good thing that doesn't work in football, because if it did, tonight's BCS Championship Game wouldn't matter. Both Florida and Oklahoma have already been transitively defeated by the champions of ~~Division I-AA~~ the Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III, and the NAIA. I kid you not. Fasten your seat belts, Chuckles; this is going to get strange.

We'll start with the FCS champions, the Richmond Spiders. The Spiders beat Montana, who beat Cal Poly, who beat San Diego State, who beat Wyoming, who beat Tennessee, who beat Vanderbilt, who beat Ole Miss, who beat Texas Tech, who beat Texas, who beat Oklahoma. And, of course, Ole Miss beat Florida outright. So we've established that as long as we can get to Cal Poly from a given team, they've transitively defeated both the Sooners and the Gators. Do you still doubt that all the other national champs who won the playoffs we can't have beat them? See you after the jump.

The Division II title was won by Minnesota-Duluth, who beat North Alabama, who beat Valdosta State, who beat Newberry, who beat Wingate, who beat UNC-Pembroke, who beat Jacksonville, who beat Dayton, who beat San Diego, who beat UC-Davis, who beat Portland State, who beat Eastern Washington, who beat Weber State, who beat Cal Poly, and thus the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs have also transitively defeated both participants in tonight's game.

Gotta be harder for Division III, right? Not really. Mount Union beat Wisconsin-Whitewater, who beat Mary Hardin-Baylor, who beat Sul Ross State, who beat Southwestern Assemblies of God, who beat Austin College, who beat Birmingham Southern, who beat Campbell, who beat Carthage, who beat Illinois Wesleyan, who beat Elmhurst, who beat Wheaton, who beat Franklin, who beat Butler, who beat Morehead State, who beat Dayton, and if you follow the Division II line above, then Mount Union has also transitively defeated both Florida and Oklahoma.

Thus, the Gators and Sooners have transitively lost to every other NCAA football champion. But surely they couldn't lose to the NAIA champ, right?

Wrong. Look at the Division III line again. Southwestern Assemblies of God is an NAIA school. If we can get to them from the NAIA champion Sioux Falls Cougars, we're home free. That's not hard at all. The Cougars beat Langston University, who beat Southwestern Assemblies of God, and from there, it's already established. So I don't see what's so great about tonight's game. How can any team be a true national champion if they've already been transitively defeated by the champions of every other NCAA division plus the NAIA?

(Thanks to Chris Bellomy, a proud alumnus of Austin College, who did much of the legwork for this post by using My Team Is Better Than Your Team.)

Follow the Dotted Lines: Florida and Oklahoma Have Already Lost to Real National Champs originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Terry Bowden Ends Running Joke by Finally Getting a Coaching Job

Chas Rich — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:43:00 EST

Filed under: Coaching, Division II

It's been an amusing little sidebar for the past couple years of the annual coaching carousel. A job would open up in Division 1-A and Terry Bowden would do what he could to get an interview or be considered for the job. Even if he didn't know a thing about the job or the region.

Now that is over with Terry Bowden assuming the reigns at North Alabama in Division II. One of the more successful D-II programs over the past few years. Bowden takes over from Mark Hudspeth who left to become an assistant coach at Mississippi State. Hudspeth had been the coach of the Lions for the past seven years, and the past four years North Alabama made the D-II playoffs and won at least 10 games.

Bowden has attributed his open pursuit of just about any job, to a burning desire to get back to coaching. Realizing how much he had missed it after being out of it since 1998. It probably didn't hurt that the money in college coaching has gotten much larger.

The problem for Bowden has been that he was out of coaching for nearly a decade and the fact that he resigned from Auburn in mid-season (though, with the recent insanity at Auburn, his departure has taken a slightly different perspective). His father, Bobby Bowden had recently advised Terry to stop shooting for big jobs, and just find a job that fit best to help rebuild his coaching reputation.

There could be one other reason for Bowden taking the North Alabama job over other possible jobs in D-II or even 1-AA. Bowden spent about five years at Auburn. The Alabama pension system only vests after ten years. If he just left the money there instead of rolling it into a IRA, then he could definitely use a few more years in Alabama (and even if he did roll it over, he likely would be able to buy back the years if he so chose).

Terry Bowden Ends Running Joke by Finally Getting a Coaching Job originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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University of Minnesota-Duluth Wins Its First-Ever Division II Championship

Bruce Ciskie — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:25:00 EST

Filed under: Fans, General CFB Insanity, Division II

Even a Division II playoff run was a journey into the unknown for the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

When UMD went to Allendale, Michigan, three weeks ago and handed Grand Valley State their first home loss since 2004, it became much more than just a "playoff run." The national championship dream was real.

Saturday, the dream was realized.

Minnesota-Duluth won their first Division II championship in any sport, upsetting Northwest Missouri State 21-14. The win caps a 15-0 season for the Bulldogs, who were making their first appearance in the title game. It's UMD's first national title in 76 years of football.

Senior quarterback Ted Schlafke threw a touchdown pass to Tony Doherty late in the second quarter to open the scoring, and UMD's defense forced four Bearcat turnovers. Two of those turnovers were interceptions thrown by senior quarterback Joel Osborn, who had six picks all season entering the game Saturday.

Schlafke led two more scoring drives in the second half, capping the first with a touchdown pass to sophomore running back Issac Odim. Early in the fourth quarter, Odim capped the second scoring drive of the half with a short touchdown run. That gave UMD a 21-0 lead, and after a Northwest Missouri punt, the Bulldogs looked to be in the clear.

However, the Bearcats weren't dead. Aldwin Foster-Rettig picked off a Schlafke pass near midfield and took it untouched into the end zone to get his team on the board. The Bulldogs were able to bleed some time off the clock, but eventually had to punt the ball back to Northwest with around five minutes to play. The Bulldog defense bent and bent on the next drive, but didn't break until the clock was down near 90 seconds. That Osborn touchdown pass made the score 21-14.

There was some controversy on the ensuing onside kick. There was a scramble for the ball, and the official closest to the play almost immediately awarded the ball to UMD. The Bearcats actually came out of the scrum with the ball, but the officials wouldn't change their call. The television replay appeared to show UMD wide receiver Luke Schalekamp recovering the ball while on the ground.

Obviously, as someone who called one UMD game on the radio this year and has followed the program for many years, this is a special moment for the "fan" in me. But UMD is a great story. While the NCAA allows Division II football programs to have 36 scholarships, UMD is allowed just 24 as a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. It's the first time in quite a while that a program that wasn't fully-funded won the national title in football.

Not only that, but UMD was 4-6 a year ago, an also-ran in the now-defunct North Central Conference. That conference was forced to disband after two of its seven members, North Dakota and South Dakota, left to go to Division I.

For Northwest Missouri State, it's a heartbreak all too familiar. The Bearcats have now lost in the national title game four straight years. This was the first time in those four tries that they failed to hold a lead at any point in the game.

University of Minnesota-Duluth Wins Its First-Ever Division II Championship originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Division II Championship Preview: Northwest Missouri State vs. Minnesota-Duluth

Bruce Ciskie — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fans, General CFB Insanity, Division II

The storylines between Northwest Missouri State and the University of Minnesota-Duluth couldn't be any more different heading into the Division II Championship later today in Florence, Ala.

Northwest Missouri State (13-1) is in the title game for the fourth straight year. They have lost the last three, falling twice to Grand Valley State and once to Valdosta State. The Bearcats play in the powerful Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, a league that has placed a team in the Division II football title game ten times in the last 18 years.

Minnesota-Duluth (14-0) is the nation's only unbeaten team at that level, having plowed through the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with only one serious challenge all season. The mere fact that they played in the NSIC, not considered to be one of Division II's stronger leagues, left UM-D as a relative unknown entering the Division II tournament.

They weren't an unknown for long.

The Bulldogs took out perennial power Grand Valley State in the quarterfinals, handing GVSU their first home loss since 2004. They intercepted Laker quarterback Brac Iciek three times, matching his 2008 season total entering the game. That defense was on display again last week in California, Pennsylvania, where the Bulldogs dismantled the host Vulcans 45-7.

Those performances give UMD the full attention of Northwest Missouri State entering Saturday's final.

When: 1pm ET, Saturday
Where: Braly Municipal Stadium, Florence, AL
Media: ESPN2, Westwood One Radio
Study up: Minnesota-Duluth game notes, Northwest Missouri State game notes

Who To Watch For

Minnesota-Duluth: He might not be an NFL star in the making, but you won't see a quarterback anywhere smarter than UM-D senior Ted Schlafke. The four-year starter owns pretty much every school passing record, and he was a finalist this year for the Harlon Hill Trophy, given to Division II's top player. Schlafke is the real key to the offense for a couple reasons. He throws a very accurate, catchable ball, and he seldom leads a receiver into trouble. He loves throwing to freshman D.J. Winfield, who has 68 catches and 14 scores.

More importantly, he's so well-versed in the offense that the coaches give him the freedom to call plays at the line. He has a keen understanding of how to attack defenses, and his film study is unparalleled. If he were 6'3'' with a big right arm, he'd be a first-round pick.

UM-D's offense isn't just about the pass. Sophomore running back Issac Odim has a school-record 28 total touchdowns this year, and he accounted for four in UM-D's win last week in Pennsylvania. UM-D ran for over 300 yards last week, and they have 44 rushing touchdowns on the season.

The Bulldogs play a 3-4 defense, and they play it well. Longtime coordinator John Steger is a master at attacking teams where they are weak, and he has befuddled quarterbacks in three straight NCAA playoff games so far. Iciek was clueless, hitting just 13 of 46 passes and looking like he had no clue where the pressure was coming from. Expect UM-D to play a similar aggressive style against Northwest, trying to make their fine quarterback, Joel Osborn, throw before he wants to. His ability to handle the pressure will be a huge factor in this game.

Northwest Missouri State: Osborn is a big part of things for the Bearcats. Unlike UM-D, the Bearcats spread the ball out more, with eight players boasting at least 20 catches on the season. Osborn has hit 67 percent of his throws and has just six picks on the year. When he isn't throwing, there's a good chance he's handing it off to LaRon Council. As impressive as Odim's season has been for UMD, Council has him beat, with over 1,600 yards and 35 rushing touchdowns.

The passing attack is keyed by receivers Kendall Wright and Abe Qaoud, who have combined for over 100 receptions. While they have 29 touchdowns through the air, the key to the offense is Council and the run game, which has a total of 49 touchdowns.

The Bearcat defense looks incredibly tough and balanced. They completely shut down North Alabama last week, holding them to 10 yards in the first quarter. Sean Paddock has six sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Junior free safety Myles Burnsides leads the team with six interceptions, and he's not afraid to stick his nose into the middle and support the run defense. UM-D will also need to be aware of middle linebacker Adam Vondrak, who leads Northwest in tackles.

Because of their tougher schedule, the Bearcats have been involved in some tougher games than UM-D. They got by Missouri Western State 42-35 with a fourth-quarter rally, and their playoff games against Pittsburgh State and Abilene Christian were close. Northwest's wins have been by an average of 42-19. UM-D's wins have come by an average of 42-11.

Etc.

The Bulldogs dominated the NSIC, and only twice during their 11-game regular season used their starters into the fourth quarter of games.

The MIAA is a fully-funded league, with teams allowed 36 scholarships in football. UM-D is allowed 24 as a member of the NSIC, and that disparity is a big reason why the league has never sent a team to the national championship game in football. It's also a big reason why UM-D has been overlooked throughout the ranks of Division II, even after their win over Grand Valley State. Another huge reason for UM-D's underdog status Saturday is the fact that Northwest is appearing in their fourth straight championship game, and they held leads in each of the previous three before falling.

Weather should not be a factor Saturday. It rained throughout the week in Florence, but it's forecast to be dry at gametime with temperatures hovering around 50.

Division II Championship Preview: Northwest Missouri State vs. Minnesota-Duluth originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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