sports

Love/Hate: Dead Week

My goodness where has the semester gone? I guess if I add up all the hours that I’ve spent at The Turf drooling over greasy food and 10-page papers, it makes sense that the fall semester is about to end soon.

This is my last love/hate article that will be published in the newspaper this year, but throughout Christmas break I hope to post one of these articles every Monday online, so keep an eye out for that.

Speaking about Christmas break — my favorite holiday if anyone was wondering — but seriously is there anything better than milk and cookies at 2 a.m.? Honestly, no there isn’t.

My favorite part of Christmas is faking excitement about a gift that I just hate, but I love that the fact that my family cares about me.

And I love the fact that there are North Dakota State athletics happening this week, so come on, jump on my red sleigh and let’s fly to the north pole and talk to Santa about Bison sports.

What I love 

One of my favorite weeks of the year is this week. Why? Because both NDSU men’s and women’s basketball squads play the University of North Dakota on Friday and Saturday.

I love that the teams play the Fighting Hawks on back-to-back days. Hopefully, the Bison fans make the short trip north and cheer on the green and gold. The UND men are 4-4 this season, and sixth in the Big Sky conference. And the UND women are 2-5 on the season. I like to think the odds are in NDSU’s favor.

What I hate 

I hate that NDSU has to square off against the University of Northern Iowa 11 a.m. Saturday, with the winner moving on to the semifinals. Again, NDSU has another rematch in the quarterfinals.

These two teams played on Oct. 10, and the Bison barely sneaked out the conference win. However, that time it was Carson Wentz directing traffic, not redshirt freshman Easton Stick. NDSU has had the tendency to give up the “big plays” throughout this season, and UNI torched the Bison defense for a few that game.

You may remember Sawyer Kollmorgen’s 67-yard pass for the Panthers, about a minute into the game. And you may remember Aaron Bailey’s 83-yard dart to the end zone late in the fourth quarter. In the end the Bison won the game 31-28, but UNI’s duel-threat quarterback scares me, and the Panthers have won seven in a row.

I hate this match up, especially in the FCS quarterfinals.

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