New AP and USA Today polls are out.....The Gophers are #21 in both polls. They are still 3 spots below Louisville but 3 above Ohio State.

An ESPN article about the Gopher's recruiting class and the change that Tubby has brought to Minnesota.

The coaches and AD's of the Insight Bowl will be there this morning to open the NASDAQ. You should be able to watch at the link above.

8:30 AM

From an athletics perspective here are all coaches (and Maturi) included in the top 100.

1. Tubby $630,000
5. Brewster $408,000
10. Maturi $336,250
19. Roof $300,000
27. Borton $285,000
37. Dunbar $270,000
62 Lucia $241,196

I would not have guessed that Borton would be making more than Lucia and interesting that Robinson and Jon Anderson didn't make the top 100 (which ended at $220,000).

Former Minnesota passing game coordinator Tony Petersen was fired yesterday by Gene Chizik.

Another incredible website similar to Tubby's we linked to in the Nugz below.

The guys over at the Quad Blog are up for a bloggng sholarship. So I encourage you to go to the link above and vote for Gavin.

The Gopher Women's Soccer team has had a record setting season and will face Purdue this afternoon in the semis of the Big Ten Tournament.

The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Tubby Q & A with PP's Marcus Fuller

Sometimes Don Lucia has an easy job.

Consider recruiting. Jordan Schroeder always wanted to play for the Gophers. Aaron Ness, who was a North Dakota fan as a youngster, started looking at Minnesota as a bantam.

Schroeder and Ness each graduated from high school with 3.8 grade-point averages in three years and, despite other offers, fulfilled their dreams by signing with Minnesota.

They are among 12 freshmen on the Gophers roster, a program high in Lucia's 10th season as coach. Most of the freshmen are expected to play tonight when the team visits St. Cloud State in its season opener.

"I can't wait," Ness said.

Schroeder and Ness are the two youngest freshmen but probably the most ready for Division I hockey. Schroeder turned 18 on Sept. 29, five days before the start of preseason practices. Ness is 4 1/2 months older.

Inside College Hockey rates Schroeder the best forward among all incoming freshmen, Ness the best defenseman. The Gophers' recruiting class was rated second best in the nation by the online magazine, behind NCAA champion Boston College.

"[Schroeder and Ness] obviously are both elite players, one at forward and one at defense," Lucia said. "Neither is the biggest kid in the world, but both are highly skilled. They think the game at another level."

So Lucia decided to pair them up on the power play -- and off the ice. They are roommates.

"They knew each other a little bit," Lucia said. "And, with Aaron, I wanted to make sure his roommate was from the Twin Cities. So if [Aaron] wanted a place to go on Sunday afternoon, if Jordan was going home, he could tag along."