Somewhat interesting this is being brought up.  I had actually heard maybe 2 or 3 years ago St. Thomas was looking into moving to DIV 1.  I do have to say that I feel like Minnesota needs another Div. 1 school.  If Iowa can have 4 and Wisconsin can have 5 we should probably have more then 1.  (not sure if my numbers are exact but they are close).  I do not know if St. Thomas is the best school, none the less it would be great for someone to make the jump.

Question..What are the rules on sports?  Can you have only Div. 1 basketball and the rest something else?  Can everything be Div. 1 except hockey?  What are the guidelines that would need to be followed?

the fans will be very scarce ( did i spell that right?) for the SJU tommie game due to long weekend!!

I overheard that SJU is on long break this weekend and may have minimal fans??  This could hurt home court advantage!

I believe Brady also makes it onto the FG% at 10th place which is a catagory you missed him for.  Therefore he is the all out winner!!!!

Assuming the tommies do not lose going into the last game of the year vs SJU do they need to play all that hard or could the tommies rest players if they wanted too??

Drake I would have to say your post is very accurate but I would like to argue the fact Linz is playing with this one statement

"Both play with a far more talented/experienced core of players than Linz, who has carried the team more so than the others. He does it all—scores, rebounds, defends, heck, he even brings the ball up...THAT'S how much the Cobbers depend on him."

The other starting 4 for SJU just are not that good.  Ryan Lieser is just not playing good. 2nd on team in turnovers behind only the PG, shooting a not good percentage and is getting his points Allen Iverson style with more shot attempts equals more points. The worst part is he really is the teams only other scoring option.  People can argue the freshman shwartz is a scorer but if coaches realized all he does is shoot threes ( over half his total attempts this year are three pointers) he would almost never score.  He does not drive to the line or anything.  The rest of the startes and bench are non-factors offensively so my arguement would be without brink SJU would have maybe half the wins they do now if not less.  Linz has the same arguement so it will be fun to see who gets MVP.

ps..  Anybody going to the tommies johnnies game?  I will be there!!

Brink..17 pts, 10 boards, 3 assits, 3 blocks, 4 steals???  Kid does everything!!!  Just a pure gamer on both ends of the floor!  Followed by the fact one of the nicest kids I have ever met!!   Does anybody want to take the challenege and guess the playoff pairings??

The corhusker "N" is clearly a top five worst tattoo in my book.  I also recently saw a guy at an open gym in his mid thirties with a huge minnesota twins tattoo on his arm.  I understand you may like the twins but to put a huge tattoo on your arm....doesnt do a whole lot for me.

Columbia...not to burst your bubble but that is not the truth on the leiser thing!!

He is NOW in his last semester at school.  But an athlete needs 24 credits per every two semesters so LAST SPRING and THIS FALL have to equal 24 and because they may have not added up to that this is the semester he would sit for it!!

Maybe more will come out about it, maybe it wont but I will not be the one going into the whole deal just like VOJ.  I have some good connects up there and personally have no desire to lose them.  As for both ryan and the basketball program I hope everything works out in the positive but....if it does not work out I would say all blame could be put on one person   

I am hinting I guess and like VOJ i know and have known everything for about 2 weeks now but not at liberty to say anything for many reasons.  I would assume that is why VOJ is keeping hush hush as well.  I am interested in who the insider 2 is because he seems to know some gossip as well!!!

I have recently been told the coaches are not fond of Cole Issets defense but now that he may be forced into the lime light with the leiser deal maybe he will come to play!!!

SJU coaching staff and adding more??  Even if they do not add more..there are a few they should let go i can surely say that much!!!

I agree that he lacks the drive to play defense at all times.  I have seen him play some very good defense at times but may "rest" at other times which is very unfortunate because he is surprisngly athletic with a long wingspan.  Hopefully getting more playing time will add to his motivation.

I am not saying Smith can get anything changed or even if he would try, I am saying with his lengthy term as coach along with always being in good standing with everyone this would be the time to use that card.  Lets be honest coach's at any level including d3 can still pull some strings for athletes when situations arrive.  Again though the newspaper does not shed much light on the whole situation    so it will be interesting to see if any more "reports" come out!!!

I am certainly glad some word of leiser has come out.  Now personally I would have to say that the blog and newspaper article are a little vague on all the truth behind this but...we wont go there.  On a basketball topic, although ryan is not playing all that well or consistent this year, he is still there best and pretty much only option at the 2 guard.  The Johnnies bench is very weak and lacks any scoring at all.  Ive seen Cole play for two years and I think he has what it takes to be a solic 10-12 points a game player, coaches do not like him much and he lacks desire to play hard consistently.  With that being said Jim Smith better be pulling some strings with his seniority to get leiser back on the floor if they want a chance at making the play-offs!!!

Brink without a question.  Not only is he going to score, he will board, block shots, get steals and anything else a coach asks while shooting 50% from the field!!!

If leiser is out for the year look for the Johnnies to drop out of the playoff race fast.  They would be stuck starting 2 freshman, a senior pg who is not a scorer, and a sophmore post who is very RAW (although he did have an ok game last night) I would not expect to see that every night or maybe ever again!!   Brady is a great player but to carry a starting lineup like that is almost impossible in the Miac !!

A) i have never said madsen was a bad player.  I think he is a stellar player but has more around with him laugen and moberg then Brady does with lieser (playing as bad as he can right now..other then the fact he is not playing and fogt who was been out the whole season basically).

B) I am glad you pulled last years playoff because you could almost make a case that Brady could be most improved player.  Last year he averaged 5.5 rebounds a game and 7.9 pts a game.  He has more then doubled his pts per game and rebounds has increased greatly as well.

C) lot different last year when you have Ohme, Westman, and Schaefer on your team.  Brady did not have to put the team on his back like this year!!

D) Any word on why lieser did not play?