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.