UMD Bulldogs Earn Top AP Ranking?

Yes boys and girls, you read it right.  The University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs have truly earned the right to be voted No. 1 in the AP poll.  Now you may be asking yourself, “Is this guy crazy?” or you may be asking yourself “Irish, how can that be?”  If you’ve asked yourself the first question, you may as well stop reading now, but if you asked yourself the second question, then free your mind and read on.

I’ve seen here lately that the University of Utah bandwagon is virtually overflowing with new riders, trying to make a case for why Utah should be voted number one in the AP poll.  In response, I’ve built myself a UMD Bulldog bandwagon, and I’ve built it plenty big, so climb on board!

You’re probably already saying to yourself “I’m not very familiar with UMD’s body of work."  So first, allow me to provide a little background to help you understand their achievements this season. 

UMD plays in the always-formidable Northern Sun Conference.  They are led by Head Coach Bob Nielson, who also serves as Athletic Director.  He took over this year in his second stint with the Bulldogs, inheriting a 4-6 team from a year ago. 

The mighty Bulldogs garnered several Northern Sun conference awards during the 2008 season, including Offensive Player of the Year (QB Ted Schlafke), Offensive Newcomer of the Year (WR D.J. Winfield) and Coach of the Year (Bob Nielson).

UMD’s 16 game winning streak is the longest active winning streak in collegiate football, a full two games longer than Utah.

The Bulldogs offense averaged 40.87 ppg, while the defense averaged giving up only 11.5 ppg.  When you compare this to Utah’s numbers 36.92ppg/17.2ppg, Utah’s differential of 19.72 ppg pales in comparison to UMD’s 29.37 ppg differential. 

According to NCAA statistics, UMD had the 10th toughest schedule while Utah’s schedule strength came in at 43rd.  Still reading?  Good.

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