F Rodney Williams JR - Oto Osenieks FR - Chris Halvorsen SO

F Trevor Mbakwe SR - Dominique Dawson SO

C Ralph Sampson III SR - Colton Iverson SR - Maurice Walker SO - Elliott Eliason FR

G Austin Hollins SO - Joe Coleman FR - Chip Armelin SO

G Andre Hollins FR - Julian Welch JR - Maverick Ahanmisi SO

That's 3 SR - 2 JR - 6 SO - 4 FR on the roster.

15 players instead of 9 (available to play) for last 6 weeks of 2011 season.

I'm willing to bet that over the course of the lifetime of everyone reading this Gopher football and basketball has been broadcast on WCCO.  Beginning this fall that is all changing.

The agreements, which both commence with the 2011-12 athletic season, will see Gopher football broadcast on Clear Channel’s KFAN Sports Radio 1130 AM and KTLK 100.3 FM, while Gopher men’s and women’s basketball and men’s hockey will air on Hubbard Broadcasting’s 1500 AM ESPN Radio.

"Moving our sports coverage to these stations positions Gopher Athletics to harness the combined power of the Twin Cities’ two all-sports formatted radio stations and is a strategic step in our effort to combine great radio coverage for Gopher fans with the very best promotional opportunities for our football, men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s hockey teams," said Director of Athletics Joel Maturi. "We evaluated all of our broadcast options based upon many factors, including financial commitment, marketing support, listener demographics, and ancillary programming, and we believe these partnerships represent the best overall platforms for Gophers sports on radio."

That is pretty big news and a big change.  For those who have complained about KFAN largely ignoring or providing lazy coverage of Gopher sports that may also be changing.

In addition to play-by-play coverage of all Gopher football games, related football programming, including the weekly coach’s show with Jerry Kill, as well as a one-hour weekly show dedicated to Gopher Athletics, will be broadcast on KFAN Sports Radio 1130 AM.  Clear Channel will also leverage its new Gopher partnership through its outdoor billboards, social media, and related communications and marketing outlets across its multiple radio station platforms.

"To have an affiliation with the University of Minnesota sports and the football program is something we at Clear Channel and KFAN have always wanted," said Michael Crusham, President/Market Manager Clear Channel Radio. "I am extremely pleased that we are going to be partners."

Should be an interesting change.  More info can be found here at GopherSports.com.

Does anyone here know if the Gopher/Northwestern game will be on TV or radio. The Big Ten Network apparently isn't broadcasting it. At least I can't find it on their schedule. Is any other TV  network broadcasting it? How about ESPN3? I know WCCO radio will broadcast it but I can't get it here it in North Carolina without paying a fee through the Gophers Network, and that's high priced for only one game. What to do? Any thoughts? I'd sure like to see or hear the game if at all possible.

Blake Hoffarber and Trevor Mbakwe are currently tied for the team lead in points scored.  Each has scored 388 points this season having played in 28 games. 

Hoffarber has played more minutes and taken more shots than Mbakwe but he gets his points primarily from behind the arc so he has actually made fewer shots but when 73 of those are worth three points it is easy to rack up the points. 

Mbakwe is shooting 59.3% from the field (2nd in Big Ten), but they are all twos.  He really makes up ground on Hoffarber from the charity stripe where he has earned 175 shots.

This is all completely meaningless but considering they are our two best players, perfectly equal in points this year and get their points in two very different ways it might make for a good poll question.

Chip Armelin and Austin Hollins are tied as well but that debate didn't seem nearly as interesting.

So who will finish the season with more points?

At BT Powerhouse, SB Nation's NEW Big Ten Basketball blog, we are looking to improve the overall site experience and content. We are looking for talented, quality writers, who know about and love Big Ten basketball. If you are interested, please don't hesitate to send an email to bigtenpowerhouse@gmail.com . Also, if you have ideas for a feature or any other post that we could do, feel free to send an email. 

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This post originally bemoaned the Gophers getting roughed up,14-1, on February 18th by St. John's in the season opener for both teams, at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in Clearwater, Florida. But then a fan commented about the Gophers coming back in their second game to beat Connecticut, and the road trip thread was on.

It's "the longest baseball road trip EVER," because the collapse of the Metrodome's roof caused the Gophers to extend their away games schedule with games originally scheduled at home. The team will play 23 straight road games in Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and California, returning on April 1st to open its conference season against Purdue at the Twins' Target Field, where they will play their 12 Big Ten home games this season. Three non-conference home games will be played at Siebert Field.

During the epic cross-country journey, I encourage fans to stop by this thread to comment about the triumphs and travails of Gopher baseball.

All of us who follow college baseball know that aluminum bats generate more raw power than wooden ones. This is the result of the properties of the metal, as well as the hollow core. Average hitters, who have generated better than average stats with metal bats, are in for a big letdown this season, as college baseball replaces the old bats with new ones, still metal, but de-tuned to NCAA certified specifications to behave more like wood. Tests indicate that the 22 inch sweet spot on the old bats has been reduced to 5 inches, so batting averages are likely to fall as hits propelled by contact nearly anywhere on the old bats turn into easy outs off the new bats. On the other hand, hits generated by the skills of the best players -- who can put that 5 inch sweet spot on the ball -- will continue.

In addition to making the college game more like the majors, where players use traditional wooden bats, the new bats will also make the game safer for players, coaches, and fans. I think the new bats will favor teams that can play small ball well -- making contact to put the ball in play, bunting earlier and more often in games, running the bases aggressively, putting pressure on the defense to make plays. Teams that have thrived off of long ball hitting, will have to rethink their offense, or suffer a lot more losses than they're used to.

Oregon's coach George Horton, whose Cal State Fullerton Titans won the 2004 College World Series, says, “I think it’s going to change the complexion of college baseball. We’ve been using it in BP and scrimmages, and I can tell you it’s made a big difference. . . . Some of those big, strong guys have gotten into some balls pretty good, and they’re not going over the fence.”

Overall, college baseball's balance of power on the field of play will shift a bit more from hitting to pitching. Adding another strong arm could make a bigger difference in a team's win-loss record than adding a long-ball hitter. Some will say that's the way it's always been in baseball, but while that may be true of baseball played with wooden bats, I don't think it's been true of the metal-bat-dominated college game until this season.

How will the new bats affect 2011 Gopher baseball? Vote in the poll below, and add your comments.

Note: I posted a similar fanpost on the Oregon State University sports blog, Building the Dam.

I've always paid attention to Sidney Lowe, probably because I followed his time with the Timberwolves. 

I saw this today at Rush the Court, my favorite college hoops site.

It must have been rough for you this past week, Sidney. Whenever UNC-Duke get together right in your own backyard it has to remind you how irrelevant your program is not just on a national level but also within the state of North Carolina. But it’s tough to feel sorry for SidneyLowe; he pretty much built the fire underneath his current hot seat with his lousy coaching. Lowe has yet to win more than six games in the ACC in a season, and it doesn’t look like he’s breaking that trend this year given N.C. State’s current 3-7 record in conference. This season is especially disappointing considering the highly touted recruiting class that Lowe reeled in during the offseason. All the losing combined with the general lack of buzz around the program equals a probable pink slip for Lowe at the end of the season. Lowe’s eventual firing will certainly please a large contingent of Wolfpack faithful, but N.C. State fans should do a little soul searching before their next hire. Are the expectations that N.C. State can compete with UNC and Duke on a yearly basis reasonable? We hear at TWTW don’t think so. If fans can temper their expectations and be content with a program that occasionally rises up to place in the top three of the ACC, then the next coach should find a work environment in which he can succeed.  

 

We played hard and fought for rebounds tonight at least so effort was not the problem, but...................

Offensively, I imagine watching this team would be like dating the hottest chic at school, but she sleeps with all of your friends instead of you.  Incredibly frustrating, embarrassingly painful, and it pisses you off so much that you want to pull your fucking hair out.  If you saw the game, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

No this analogy isn't from personal experience, unfortunately I've never dated the hottest chic at school.

With no home field to host games, unranked in the preseason coaches poll despite winning the Big Ten last year, unable to warrant even a column inch of coverage in The Daily Gopher on the eve of the new season, the University of Minnesota baseball team is climbing aboard the bus and leaving town. Word on the street is that they're heading for Florida, then to North Carolina, then Arizona, and if the gas money holds up, it'll be on to California for an indeterminate time period (the Cal Poly games may have to be moved from the Metrodome to SLO, and then who knows, maybe the games with Bakersfield will have to be played in California, as well).

If they have a winning record on the road-trip-to-end-all-road-trips, they'll return to Minnesota in April as conquering heroes, ranked in all the polls, their victories lauded in the press, full of confidence as they take the field, under a new roof and sparkling lights, before cheering throngs of fair weather fans, to defend their conference title. If their road record is undistinguished, their efforts will be unappreciated, their return will be unheralded, and they will play in a near-empty dome. This isn't southern California, where college baseball fans turn out in droves to soak up the rays and breathe in the salt-scented breeze off the ocean, while applying tanning lotion and picking jalapeño peppers out of their nachos, no matter what the records of their Trojans, Bruins, or Titans may be.