With less than four weeks to go (!) until the season opener, I took a quick look at North Dakota State's stats profile from last season. You'll be surprised to learn NDSU's statistics were quite good.

Yankees seem to do something like this in every game. Sometimes they do multiple somethings like this in a game.

"We're encouraging our fans, we're encouraging anybody who is coming to that game, get out in the elements. Train with us, so on August 30 you bring your best effort.". Today in Fargo, ND, it is partly cloudy, 79° with 47% humidity.

"We will always recruit the high school athlete. the 1st thing we have to do is retain. the 'knob' into a sophomore, a 'knobmore', retain the knobmore into a junior. once we retain them, and we develop them, we're fine.". Current roster has 29 "true" freshmen and 25 RS frosh.

To be honest, I don't think the Sun Belt has much of a chance at landing The Citadel or VMI as new members, but you have to credit the commissioner for his commitment to the league's future growth.

Per this report, the Razorbacks' scheduled 2026 game against Charleston Southern has been canceled. The Buccaneers currently have two scheduled non-conference games listed on their slate for next season, at The Citadel and at Clemson.

RIP Ryne Sandberg. Such a great player. In the spring and summer during the cable-ready 1980s, Ryne Sandberg excelled in the afternoon while Harry Caray cheered. Then at night Dale Murphy would star, with narration by Skip, Pete, and Ernie Sr. Those were good days.

Nothing but the truth.

Sandwiched between Joltin' Joe and The Splendid Splinter. Not bad company.

Also, his nickname is "The Big Amish".

At least Conor Stalions tried to be incognito when he was on Central Michigan's sideline. .

I've seen in person the two greatest brawls in SoCon baseball tournament history, twenty years apart.

The notion of seemingly never-ending eligibility for athletes is off-putting to many people who follow college sports (including a surprising percentage of the media). The traditional model is arguably a core tenet of why people find college sports interesting in the first place.

I like some things the commish has said, but in this he basically advocates for a longer eligibility clock. "The notion of 4 years to complete your degree is not the norm in a lot of places.". It is for several SoCon institutions, though, 2 of which don't even have grad schools.

"We anticipate breaking ground [on the East stands at Johnson Hagood Stadium] immediately following the 2025 football season, to be ready for the 2026 season. Getting that done is a major priority for us.". Better late than never. but frankly, it has been very late in coming.

"22 teams from the Big 10 and SEC weren't nearly enough. We need 30.".

While the SoCon might be a potential landing spot for some of those schools, the issue is that league probably only wants all-sports schools if it decides to expand. It likely wouldn't take a football-only affiliate.

This would put CAA Football at 13 schools. That includes a group of 9 that stretches from Towson to Maine, along with Hampton and 3 schools in North Carolina. At this point, one might suspect the 4 southernmost schools are looking for another league to park their fb programs.

Speaking of history, Drayton mentioned the legendary Thomas Haskins, an all-time league great. Just a reminder that Haskins is not in the SoCon Hall of Fame, as football players who played at military colleges are apparently ineligible for that honor. Hey, I don't make the rules.

His answer to the last question should be played on a loop in the league office, just to get the staff pumped up about the conference and its history.