The guys (finally) reunite and take a deep dive into spring football with receivers coach Danny Freund and safeties coach Joel Schwenzfeier. They’ll talk position battles, the magnitude of Deion Harris’ return to health, what the staff reevaluated after a spate of injuries in 2017, players learning new positions, the difficulties of evaluating quarterbacks during non-contact practices, a renewed emphasis on recruiting quality depth, why they loved spring football as players, why they hated spring football as players, why recruits and their families are excited for the move to the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and even some recruiting stories from their own playing days.

It’s time for one final Road to Reno as the Big Sky Basketball Tournaments are upon us. Mitch Wigness and Ryan Powell cornered Paul Ralston, the radio voice of UND’s men’s team, and Jon Oglesby, who will be handling webcasts for the first three days on both sides for Pluto TV, and we break it all down. Who is the toughest out? Current format— goods and bads? Best matchups for UND? Least ideal matchup? Who is the next NBA guy in the Big Sky? What did Powell get his kids on a 12-day road trip? Paul’s favorite road stop? Answers to all these questions and much, much more on this basketball-bloated pod.

Last week, Grand Forks Herald hockey writer Brad Schlossman attended Super Bowl Media Day last week and ended up breaking NFL MVP news, sending the sports Twitter world into a tizzy. This week, he joins the guy to discuss how it all went down, how Twitter may have literally broken his phone, what the Super Bowl Media Day experience was like, why entertainment reporters are the worst, and which donuts are (or aren’t?) Justin Timberlake’s favorite. The conversation then switches to hockey and Schlossman assesses the stretch run for North Dakota and discusses several UND alums doing their thing in the NHL. As a bonus, he also gives us his prediction on who will be the starting quarterback in 2018 for his beloved Minnesota Vikings.

On this episode of Sit Down and Cheer, Junior Varsity fill-ins Ryan Powell and Kyle Doperalski fill in for Jayson and Mitch as they sat down with newly-hired athletics director Bill Chaves. The J.V.-squad touched on a number of topics with their new boss ranging from what made him a sports junkie to how his time at Eastern Washington is going to help keep the UND athletic department moving forward.

Chaves also discusses how a kid who grew up with an affinity for most New England professional teams wound up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and who he thinks will take home the championships in the five major sports.

Part two (Fais 2?) of our conversation with retiring UND Athletics Director Brian Faison, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings. We go in depth on the recent sport cuts at UND, what went on behind the scenes and what was reassessed in the aftermath of those announcements. The guys touch on a number of topics from there, including the opening of the High Performance Center, the future of Memorial Stadium, the move from the Big Sky to The Summit League, Cost of Attendance for student-athletes and whether it impacted the sport cuts, the most challenging and rewarding moments of Faison’s tenure, and even his latest book recommendations. An episode UND fans will not want to miss!

Finally reunited after a hectic fall schedule, Mitch and Jayson sit down with UND Athletics Director Brian Faison, who announced his impending retirement in October. In Part I of their conversation, Faison discusses the early challenges he faced at UND, why former UND President Robert Kelley was so instrumental in those first days, the future landscape of conference affiliation and how it may affect UND, what drove him to create the NCHC, the secret hotel meeting that got the NCHC ball rolling, why he made the volleyball program one of his top priorities, behind the scenes of the Dave Hakstol-to-Brad Berry transition and so much more. An insightful conversation that just begins to scratch the surface of Faison’s decade-long tenure in Grand Forks.

With Mitch on the road again, Jayson goes it alone with UND Athletics’ version of the Most Interesting Man in the World, Mark Poolman. The longtime athletic trainer and strength coach for the men’s hockey program, Poolman is also father to Colton and Tucker Poolman, both of whom developed into standout defenseman at North Dakota. We ask Mark about his new life as an NHL dad, how Tucker almost gave up the hockey dream along the way, and how he separates “Dad” from “Coach” around the rink. We also discuss his own collegiate career as a receiver for the UND football team, how he accidentally got recruited, the downtown brawl between the hockey and football teams that led to his first job as a Zamboni driver, and why he wanted Coach Roger Thomas to be meaner – and why he was wrong about that. Finally, Mark talks about his career as an athletic trainer, the evolution of treating head injuries, the situations involving Travis Roy, Robbie Bina, Chay Genoway, and the relationship between trainer and coach. A fascinating conversation that just might require a follow-up visit from the trainer!

We’re talkin’ hockey this week with venerable UND radio voice Tim Hennessy. The 1986-87 NCAA championship team will be honored on Saturday night and Tim shares his many memories of that history-making squad. Hear his tales of future NHLers Ed Belfour and Tony Hrkac, Murray Baron’s appetite, Brent Bobyck’s grooming habits(?), which UND coaches he had to once step between on the racquetball court, the time Cary Eades received a bill from Wisconsin, and so much more. He also recaps last weekend’s road trip to Alaska, looks ahead to the upcoming visits from St. Lawrence and Minnesota and talks about Tucker Poolman’s NHL debut.

Legendary college hockey writer Virg Foss joins the pod and we try to cram an entire 50-year career into one episode. Find out who converted Virg from a Minnesota fan to a North Dakota fan, the college hockey record Virg may or may or may not own from his playing days, which UND hockey coach he lived with while on the beat, the time Dean Blais blew up at him, which player he covered seemed destined to become a coach, the infamous “Water Bottle Incident,” which recruit changed the program forever, and so darn much more!

Presented by Buffalo Wild Wings. Football season is upon us and we preview the UND football season and the upcoming tilt with Utah with Midco Sports Network play-by-play man Alex Heinert. We get into the position battles, who has looked good in fall camp, some of the personalities on the team, and how the schedule shapes up for UND and the rest of the Big Sky Conference. We also chat about Alex's second year behind the mic calling UND games, some advice he got from savvy broadcast veteran Jake Brandt, why Ryan Kasowski needed to shut his mouth, how Alex prepped to call hockey games and some of the guys' favorite broadcasters. It's all in this here episode.