A Twitter-ese response to yesterday's recruiting news might look something like this: "Glen Mason << Tim Brewster <<<<< Jerry Kill"

Remember how much of a priority Tim Brewster said closing up Minnesota's borders and keeping the states best players at home was? And we were ecstatic because it looked like he was doing it. His first full recruiting class locked up 4 of the top 10 recruits in Minnesota, followed by a 7 out of the top 10 class, and then a complete drop-off locking up only 2 of the top 10 in 2010.

Closing up the border is important because it means that your program makes a difference to the youngsters of the state. But it's not the full story. While Brewster landed 7 of 10 in 2009, only one of those, Ed Olson, has had a real and consistent impact. Ra'shede Hageman began to have in impact on the defensive side of the ball in 2011, despite being recruited as a TE.

Here we are again with the Golden Gopher program getting 7 of the top 10 in the state. This is huge for obvious reasons, but it also shuts everyone up who said that Kill couldn't recruit. As FrothyGopher so eloquently stated on Twitter last night by quoting Glengarry Glen Ross...

But here's what's different about this class of 7 Minnesota recruits that we couldn't say about the 2009 class... these guys actually fit what Jerry Kill is trying to do.

I'm not going to break each of these guys down, you'll get plenty of that next week, but the way this group of youngsters fits what we need is almost uncanny.

You want an athletic QB with good feet and a strong arm? The 3rd best recruit in the state fits that description.

You need a physical WR who can bang in the middle but also has the ability to stretch the field? Sounds like the guy who did some flip-flopping, but announced last night he's staying home.

You need maulers to make sure we can back-fill the O-line when the current group starts graduating? We've got one, two of those guys in our top 10.

How about a linebacker who has a nose for the ball? Yep, we got one of those too.

Coach Kill and Staff got a group of really good, home-grown players who fit the needs of the team. Hopefully this is a sign of continued good things to come.

ESPN's Myron Medcalf has a very good profile on Royce White. The former Gopher beat writer is profiling the former Gopher and his struggles with anxiety.

Unlike most athletes, White's anxiety disorder has been a constant challenge, one he's learned to manage with professional help and medication.

"I'm never at 100 percent because my anxiety is going to take me down 25 percent before the game starts," he said. "Before the game, I'm still feeling sick to my stomach because I want us to win so bad that my adrenaline is getting going before the game even starts. It's hard to do it in front of 20,000 people. But I've trained my mind to deal with it."

He doesn't always escape the tension.

He wakes up three to four times every night. Sometimes, he spends an hour in Hoiberg's office discussing a dilemma. He makes middle-of-the-night phone calls to his mother just to clear his head.

It is a very interesting read and helps to gain some insight into the enigmatic kid.

• Another great ESPN profile on Illinois's Meyers Leonard and what he has had to deal with. Leonard's issues are more about the incredible responsibility on his broad shoulders for taking care of his family. I bring this profile up only because we will be playing Leonard and the Illini on Saturday.
  
• I'm sure you heard that Tom Izzo won his 400th game on Wed night.
• The Minnesota D1 hockey programs have come up with a Minnesota Cup which is a tournament of Minnesota teams that will begin next year. I'm not a huge hockey guy, but this is a great idea.
• Speaking of Gopher Hockey, will the Gophers ever be able to solve their Friday night problems? Nick Bjugstad thinks so, but of course he is going to think so.

So we've got nothing today (sorry). Work or life or lack of blogger motivation or a combination of all three is hitting the staff here at TDG. So I'll give a few points you guys talk amongst yourselves...

• Football Recruiting - National Signing Day is next week. The Gophers are trying to land Hopkins WR, Andre McDonald. He may make his decision today or tomorrow amongst Minnesota, UCLA and possibly Vanderbilt. Are we going to land him?
• Trevor Mbakwe - Appealed to the NCAA for a rare 6th year of eligibility. He missed quite a few games due to injury as a freshman and then again as a senior, which might help his case. He also has graduated, which is always a good thing. To his debit, he did have to miss a year due to some pretty serious legal allegations. Will Mbakwe get his 6th year and if he does will he come back?
• Gopher Basketball - The loss to Michigan State really isn't a big deal. But the next three games are hosting Illinois, at Iowa and at Nebraska. Can the Gophers put together another three-game winning streak before the schedule gets really tough?

The Gophers are looking for their first win in East Lansing since 1997. Can they break the losing-streak tonight? Can they get back to .500 in the Big Ten?

Game Time: 7:30
TV: BTN

This is a good Michigan State lineup that executes very well on both ends of the floor. Overall it isn't as intimidating of a lineup as we have seen in the past but Draymond Green is a great power forward and one of the most fun kids in the Big Ten to watch. He is a double-double machine, much like our own Trevor Mbakwe. But he has a motor, he plays with passion and he has fun out on the court; easily one of my favorite Big Ten players. But putting my Draymond love aside, he is a beast and how we will defend him concerns me.

Rodney Williams is a great match-up for us when he is guarding slighter power forwards, but he does not seem to fare well in the paint against big and strong forwards. Can he create a mismatch by pulling Green out to the perimeter? Yes, on offense. But defending the larger yet nimble Green is going to be a mismatch in favor of the Spartans.

After that match-up the one I'm most intrigued with is what will Tom Izzo do with Joe Coleman? He has been hot over the last few games and you know that Izzo will find a way to keep Coleman out of the paint and away from the free throw line. It might be up to others tonight to draw some attention before Joe can get into an offensive rhythm.

Statistically this is an awful matchup for us. Sometimes systems and coaches do not match-up very well. I believe there is a reason why Izzo is 9-1 against Tubby and it is more than just a talent differential. On the other side of the coin I think we have a favorable system match-up with Wisconsin (3-3 record in Tubby era). But Michigan State is a team that is too patient as they execute their offense, they rebound better than anyone in the conference and they play sound defense not giving up very many easy baskets. If there is one area where Izzo teams tend to struggle it can be with turnovers. Over the last few years the Gophers have not done a great job of forcing Spartan turnovers but it can be an issue that bites them.

I do not think this game is unwinable, but we will have to control the boards and force some turnovers that lead to baskets. Michigan State has lost two of their last three but those were road losses and they have been playing very well at home.

I wouldn't say that I'm confident we will win this game but with the way we have been playing for two weeks I do expect that this will be a very good game. Can we pull out another road upset over a ranked team?

The Gopher news most talked about today is the appeal by Trevor Mbakwe and the Gophers with the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.

"It's going to be a tough waiver to kind of get through. The biggest question is going to be the year that I sat out when I first got here. That's probably going to be what the NCAA is going to look at as the determining factor if I'm able to get it or not. I'm just praying that I'm blessed with the ability to come back if I wanted to."

That last phrase, "if I wanted to." is the key one. Gaining a 6th year can be challenging but it did recently happen for Gopher athletics with Kim Royston receiving the extra season. Considering Mbakwe missed a year because of legal issues, his might be harder to get through the NCAA. But we will see.

• Today marks the 40th anniversary of the NCAA Basketb-Brawl between the Gophers and Ohio State. Hardball Times is a baseball site but because of the involvement of Dave Winfield he remembers the ugly incident (with link to youtube of the event). Not a proud moment for the Gophers.
  
• Dennis Brackin has a good article on the decline of football for the city schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul. "Gophers coach Tim Brewster got four players in a single recruiting class out of Dallas Skyline High School -- or one more than the Gophers have gotten out of Minneapolis the past 15 years."
• ESPN B1G Blog takes a look at the number of returning starters for each of the Big Ten teams. They also look at the remaining recruiting needs for the teams in the Legends Division.

Welcome to the season of overreaction that is Gopher Basketball 2011-12, and yes I fully recognize that I am less a part of the solution and more part of the problem. But I'm going to go forward with this post anyway.

With the three-game win streak the Gophers have put themselves back into the conversation for the NCAA Tournament. Believe it or not folks but this team can start worrying about their resume. We are not in position to worry about seeding, it is just a matter of getting in right now. But according to Lunardi, we are in as an 11 seed. According to the Bracket Matrix, we are in as a 12 seed (before the NU win). And according to StatJunkie, we were in last week (before the NU win). So let's take a look at our actual resume, the upcoming schedule (both short-term and long-term) and then what is it going to actually take to get in.

The Resume (RPI and SOS info from CBSSports.com)

RPI: 47
Strength of Schedule: 49
Record vs. top 100: 5-4
Big Wins: @Indiana (RPI-20), Northwestern (RPI-37)
Bad Losses: Iowa (RPI-113)

The overall resume isn't all that impressive, but our RPI and our SOS is very solid. The actual resume is still being built out with a ton of opportunities to build it up and mail it in with a nice cover letter to the NCAA Selection Committee or send it to plan B in New York hoping the NIT would take us this year. There are still so many games to be played that the resume as it stands right now isn't a huge deal. The upcoming schedule is what will determine our fate.

Upcoming Schedule

Opportunities for big wins are on the horizon. The Gophers have yet to play Wisconsin (x2), Michigan State (x2) and Ohio State (x1). And then Indiana has a chance for redemption when they travel to The Barn at the end of February. That is six of our 11 remaining games against teams currently ranked. Fortunately we also have four games against teams currently below us in the standings. There are four winable games in Nebraska (x2), at Iowa and at Northwestern. Unfortunately three of those four are on the road. Then the one other remaining game is Illinois at home.

That is not an easy schedule to navigate. Six games against the best of the Big Ten and then mostly road games against the lower third of the conference which has proven to be no picnic. The good news is that our strength of schedule is going to continue to rise.

The Road to the NCAA Tournament

So if you make the simple assumption that we beat the teams below us, lose to the ranked teams above us that and lets assume a win over Illinois at home; that gives us a Big Ten record of 8-10 with 20 wins overall. I believe that with a strong Big Ten RPI, good Gopher RPI / SOS and a Big Ten Tournament win; that might be enough to get into the NCAA Tournament. I think that many will disagree with me and they may be correct, but it is possible. Getting that 9th Big Ten win really is the key and then I think we are not even on the bubble.

Really there are so many combination of games that we need to win or can't lose or would really help or whatever. Wins over teams above us would be huge and losses to teams below would hurt. For formula is that you need an extra big win for every "bad loss" and ultimately I think the magic number, prior to the Big Ten Tournament, is six. Get to 9-9 in the Big Ten and I think we are safely in. 8-10 might be enough but we'd have work to do in Indianapolis and likely some help from bubble teams losing. The game that keeps me up at night (not really, but you get the point) is that loss at Illinois. When you have a chance to ice a game from the free throw line, you have to do that. If we were 4-3 with three road wins instead of 3-4, I'd be feeling pretty confident that we'd get to nine wins.

Is the NCAA Tournament a possibility? Absolutely, and I'm gaining confidence. Assuming the Gophers we have seen over the last three games are the ones that we see the rest of the season then I think there is not reason we cannot be competitive in every game we play and we'll win plenty. Wisconsin is heating up, but they have looked vulnerable this season (and we tend to matchup well with them anyway). And we get two extra days to prepare for Ohio State, so we've got that going for us. And

We simply cannot afford let downs like the home loss to Iowa. And then stealing a game or two along the way would be really nice. But this team is capable as long as they continue to defend and Joe Coleman keeps leading what needs to be a balanced offense.

Lost a bit amongst all the hoopla with the new jerseys was news that sophomore QB Tom Parish has decided to transfer. Parish was a three star recruit from the heart of Badger country, as he starred at Wisconsin high school power Arrowhead. At 6'3 with an accurate arm and good athleticism, he looked a perfect fit to run Jerry Kill's offense, but got lost in the shuffle as he dropped to third on the depth chart in 2012.

While it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Parish could have fought his way to be MarQueis Gray's backup this year, he would have started the spring as the #3, and with a certain super-duper freshman already on campus, could have potentially slipped further behind. No word on where Parish will transfer to but we wish him the best (as long as it's not the QB needy Badgers, of course).

So with the loss of Parish, what does this do to the Gophers' QB depth chart? No change at the top obviously (or the bottom, for that matter) but there's some battles to be had for the 2-4 spots...

Starter: MarQueis Gray, senior (eligibility as of fall 2012)
Q is the unquestioned leader of the team, and the offense, for the upcoming season. He was far and away the team's most effective and dangerous runner, and that's not likely to change in 2012. Although having someone-or even several someones- step up as a viable option at running back to replace departed senior Duane Bennett is a must for this offense to make some progress. Where Gray needs to show improvement is in the passing game, as he completed only 50.6% of his passes in 2011. Performances like the Michigan State loss, where he completed 19 of 32 passes for 295 yards and 3 TD's, showed the potential is there to be a capable passer, and hopefully another full offseason will help him get there. Q showed last offseason that work ethic won't be an issue, so if the guys around him can put in the same kind of effort, we'll hopefully see the kind of jump in offensive production Jerry Kill's teams usually show from year 1 to year 2. If that happens, Q could be an all-conference quarterback.

Primary Backup: Max Shortell, true sophomore vs. Philip Nelson, true freshman
And here's where things get REALLY interesting...

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