Sioux earn NCC title with perfect season
Jim Dahl (Send Email)
November 08, 2003

UND's win over the University of South Dakota Coyotes completed an undefeated conference sweep for the Sioux and guaranteed UND the NCC championship. The only loss for the Sioux this season was an overtime loss at Mesa State, a team that has also played a single-loss season to date and is ranked #1 in the Western region.

This marks UND's 22nd NCC title, second only North Dakota State's 26 titles. This marks the 3rd season of the past 5 that UND has won a share of the NCC title. The Sioux have dominated the conference over the past decade, having won at least a share of the conference title 6 times since 1993.

UND has not emerged from conference play undefeated since 1975, an era in which the Sioux schedule featured such opponents as Montana, Minnesota, and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Head coach Jerry Olson led the Sioux to a perfect 9-0 regular season, but the Sioux experience their first loss of the season in the first game of the NCAA playoffs, losing 14-34 to Livingston, Alabama.

UND, currently ranked #1 in the Midwest region, is nearly guaranteed an appearance and a home field advantage in the NCAA Division II Football Tournament. The tournament bracket will be announced November 16 at 12:00pm CT on ESPNews and the first round will begin November 22.

NCC Conference Champions 1993 North Dakota / MSU-Mankato 1994 North Dakota / North Dakota State 1995 North Dakota 1996 Nebraska-Omaha 1997 Northern Colorado 1998 North Colorado / Nebraska-Omaha 1999 North Dakota / Northern Colorado 2000 Nebraska-Omaha 2001 North Dakota 2002 St. Cloud State / Northern Colorado 2003 North Dakota

NCC Championship Breakdown   Outright Titles Shared Titles Total Titles Last Title North Dakota State 17 9 26 1994 North Dakota 14 8 22 2003 South Dakota State 9 5 14 1963 Northern Iowa 6 6 12 1964 South Dakota 3 6 9 1978 Nebraska-Omaha 2 3 5 2000 Northern Colorado 2 3 5 2002 Morningside 2 1 3 1956 MSU-Mankato 1 1 2 1993 Creighton 0 2 2 1927 St. Cloud State 1 1 2 2002 Augustana 1 0 1 1959

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