ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, the Golden Bears (7-7, 4-3 NSIC) are going where they have only won once in the history of their program, Mankato and Marshall, Minn. On Friday night, they play the fourth-ranked team in the nation, one of nine unbeatens in the country, Minnesota State University (14-0, 7-0 NSIC) before facing defending NSIC and NCAA Central Region Champion Southwest Minnesota State (9-4, 4-3 NSIC) on Saturday. CU is 0-6 all-time in Mankato and 1-10 all-time in Marshall. It's even more critical for Concordia as they are coming off two 30-plus point wins as they scored 200 total points in their weekend sweep last weekend. They are tied for sixth in the league standings with SMSU and have a shot to knock off the league leader, MSU, before the midway point in NSIC play. PLEASE NOTE, the link to WATCH this weekend's games has changed. WEEKLY RELEASE - WATCH LIVE (new link) - LISTEN LIVE (at MSU) - LISTEN LIVE (at SMSU) - LIVE STATS

This weekend should see intense, physical play as the top-3 rebounding and defensive teams in the Northern Sun will be squaring off. Through seven conference games, SMSU leads the league in rebounding (39.1) with Concordia in second (37.6) and Minnesota State in third (37.3). Each of the three teams also hit the offensive glass hard as well with SMSU leading the charge (14.71), CU in second (14.00) and MSU in third (13.29).

It is not surprising that SMSU leads the league in offensive rebounding with their size and style of play, as well as the fact that they shoot just 42.3% (12th NSIC) from the floor. But for CU and MSU to be in second and third in the league on the offensive glass is impressive given that Concordia shoots 48.1% (5th NSIC) and MSU shoots 50.7% (3rd NSIC) from the field.

Defensively, Concordia leads the league in field goal pct. defense, holding opponents to 42.7% shooting while SMSU (43.1%) and MSU (43.8%) are right on their heels.