March is now in play for NDSU

In four seasons of Division I basketball, North Dakota State has gained a reputation as a team that major programs should leave off of their nonconference schedules. Just ask Marquette and Wisconsin, which the Bison defeated on the road in 2006 when the teams were ranked No. 8 and No. 15, respectively.

North Dakota State has had to settle for moral victories. The program hasn't been eligible for the NCAA tournament because of NCAA rules that require a five-year waiting period before a team becomes a full-fledged Division I member. The Bison have reached that status this season.

"You don't hang a banner for knocking off a top-20 team," said North Dakota State head coach Saul Phillips, whose team is 2-1 and faces the Gophers this afternoon at Williams Arena.

Led by Minnesota natives and seniors Ben Woodside and Brett Winkelman, the Bison are expected to give last season's Summit representative, Oral Roberts, a run for the conference's automatic NCAA bid this season. Phillips said he already senses a different energy level on a team that's seeking its first NCAA tourney bid since losing to Fort Hays State in the 1997 Division II playoffs.

"You could sense it from the first individual workout from the beginning of the year," he said. "We've really tried not to talk about what's going to happen down the road. We really tried to not focus on that but at the same time, I'd be lying to you if I said there wasn't a different level of intensity. The guys know that they're playing for something that is bigger than anything they've played for to this point."

Woodside, of Albert Lea, and Winkelman, of Morris, have one more chance to defeat their home state's Gophers, a team that both hoped to play for out of high school. And with seven Minnesota natives, North Dakota State figures to have some fan support, as it seeks its first victory over Minnesota since 1936.

"It's a huge game for our guys, even though I don't know how readily they'd admit it," Phillips said. "I think the majority of our team grew up Gophers fans. I don't think it's a secret. And you know, I think in their perfect world, they probably dreamed of playing in Williams Arena."

With Paul Carter and Jonathan Williams out for today's game because of injuries and numerous other players nursing other ailments, the Bison might have their best chance in a while to pull off an upset. Winkelman and Woodside lead a group of five scorers who have averaged double figures this season. They said they're trying to avoid the hype about their first year of being eligible for the NCAA tournament. But they also know that they don't have much time left.

"I don't' think there's pressure, I think there's just a realization that we have to play and this is our one shot for us seniors," said Winkelman, who is averaging 17 points per game. "And so we realize the importance of not letting this opportunity slide."

Said Woodside, averaging 22 points per game: "We redshirted our freshman year to allow us to have this opportunity as seniors, and we're definitely looking forward to it."

But if there were ever any delusions about what it will take for the Bison to achieve their goal of an NCAA bid, a loss to Idaho last Saturday re-emphasized the importance of the "one game at a time" attitude. That attitude has helped NDSU achieve at least 16 victories a year since making the transition to Division I in the 2004-05 season (2003-04 was an exploratory year), Woodside said.

Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said he's not convinced that last season's 32-point victory over a Bison squad that returns all five starters will mean a whole lot today.

"That's over, forgotten, done," Smith said Friday. "I don't even look at the game from last year because it's a whole different team -- a whole different set of circumstances."

That is exactly how the Bison feel about their season.