The Daily Gopher

Hate Bowl : Second Quarter

GopherNation — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:30:05 -0000

Unbeknownst to most readers, the real Iowa-Minnesota football game won't be at the Metrodome this weekend; it has already been played. After an agreement by Governors Chet Culver and Tim Pawlenty, the two states agreed to take part in an epic gridiron battle. Unlike its NCAA counterpart, this game pits the entire two states against each other; anyone who is even tangentially related to either state is eligible to play for it, whether they be current or former athletes, celebrities, politicians, or even fictional characters. It is THE HATE BOWL.

First Quarter summary can be found here.

Iowa - 15
Minnesota - 0

15:00 - The Gophers begin the quarter with a couple of key offensive subsitutions. Offensive line play has plagued the Gophers all season and this game has been no exception. Head coach Hayden Fox benches former Gopher great LT-Matt Anderle as he was being dominated on nearly every play by Iowa's RE-Rosanne Barr. This move proved prudent as new LT-Jim Shikenjanski showed far more toughness and tenacity in neutralizing Barr and finally allowed the Gopher offense to move the ball.

Defensive coordinator, Tony Dungy also gets into the offensive action as he leaves the coaches box, puts on a helmet and starts the quarter at QB.

14:40 - The changes pay immediate dividends. On the first play of the quarter the Gophers line up the Hanson brothers trips left and Randy Moss wide right. Dungy fakes the dive to Adrian Peterson getting LB- Chad Greenway to bite, fakes the end around to Moss which consumes Bob Sanders, the Hanson brothers take out the rest of the Hawkeye defense and Dungy hits TE-Betty Crocker who goes the distance and puts the Gophers on the board.

14:40 - Special Teams coach, Jim Wacker is no fool. It only took him a quarter to figure out that Rhys Lloyd is kicking for both teams so he decides to go for two. The Gophers bring KG over to the offensive side of the ball. He runs a fade to the corner of the endzone and Iowa corner, Corp. "Radar" O'Reilly stood no chance agianst the 7' Garnett. The score is 8-15.

12:20 - A quick three and out by the Hawkeyes gives the Gophers ball back inside their own 20.

11:07 - Even with a deep pool of talent to choose from the Gophers are having trouble getting enough players on the field. Gopher recruiting coordinator, Glen Mason continues to ignore players from Minnesota but comes through for the Gophers going back to his roots and grabbing former Ohio State running back Robert Smith.

7:43 - after a long methodical drive the Gophers score again. On 4th and goal from the one the Gophers lineup Kirby Pucket at FB. He clears a huge hole for Smith and the Gophers get their second TD of the quarter. After the extra point was converted by Dan Nystrom the game is now tied.

7:35 - Iowa brings in Kurt Warner to try and ignite the offense. Warner is effective getting a couple first downs but has to yeild to Reggie Roby who pins the Gophers deep once again. The Hawkeye's are really dominating special teams.

7:30 - Minnesota comes out to start this drive with their famous Lipstick Formation. Split wide left is Jessica Biel and Kelly Carlson. In the backfield is Winona Ryder and Rachel Leigh Cook. Gopher fans know this but the Hawkeye defense seems unprepared for this formation of distraction. They drive down the field scoring on a 27 yard reception. Jessical Biel beats Iowa corner Kate Austin on a post and the Gophers take a 22-15 lead (ed note: I am really good at editing photos!).

7:30 - On the ensuing kickoff Iowa's return man Ronnie Harmon fumbles the ball, Minnesota recovers.

5:49 - Minnesota appears headed for another TD when Paul Krause picks off a pass in the endzone giving Iowa the ball back.

5:33 - On the first play, Iowa RB-Ronnie Harmon fumbles again giving the ball right back to the Gophers.

3:12 - Struggling to move the ball the Gophers decide to use a little razzle dazzle. Billy Cockerham (two time victor over Iowa) drops back to pass, looks for Judy Garland over the rainbow middle...WAIT its the Statue of Liberty play. Cockerham hands off to the Pillsbury Dough Boy who rolls over Nile Kinnick on his way to the end zone. The extra point is once again a little shakey for the Gophers. Jessica Biel holds for Cockerham, juggles the ball but Cockerham rams it through the uprights. That is 29 unanswered points for Minnesota and the score as we near halftime is 29-15.

3:03 - Iowa starts their final drive the half trying to regain some momentum before half time.

2:40 - Ronnie Harmon fumbes (again) but the Hawkeyes recover. Is Harmon throwing the game?

1:55 - 2nd and 2 Iowa hands the ball off to Capt. Kirk. He is met in the backfield by former Viking (and Hawkeye) LB-Wally Hilgenberg in what would appear to be a 4 yard loss. But Capt. Kirk disappears and then reappears 7 yards downfield for a first down. No flags on the play but the officials warn coach Reagan that beaming up will no longer be allowed.

0:09 - 4th and 4 from the Minnesota 43. Iowa runs one final play before halftime.

0:08 - The cameras take us away from the game and focus on Kurt Warner's wife.

0:00 - that's the end of the first half with the score 29-22. I have no idea how Iowa scored as the camera remained on Mrs. Warner so we could see her reaction the last second touchdown.

A real back and forth barn burner. The battle for Floyd of Rosedale has never been so fascinating.

29-22 Minnesota leads, be sure to check out Black Heart, Gold Pants for the start of the second half.

Golden Nuggets for 11.19.08

GopherNation — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:00:06 -0000

People have been fairly hard on the Gophers lately and I believe that at this moment the negativity is unwarranted. In a sports town with the Timberwolves and the inevitable crumbling of the Vikings this current Gopher team should offer some reason for optimism.

Obviously being a Minnesota sports fan will lead a person to the absolute brink of insanity, but I have been sent on a mission to teach moderation in expectations when it comes to being a sports fan.

I couldn't agree with Insight News more. I don't want to get too excited, not too low or too high, but this team gives reason for tempered enthusiasm. Are we good enough to win the Big Ten this year? Not a chance, but is this team vastly improved with a foundation for future success.

So as far as the Gophers go, give Happy Brewster a chance. Sure they have had a tough stretch at the end of the season, but they certainly are a lot better than anyone thought they would be. To jump on Brewster and the Boys now, would be like jumping on Barack Obama in 2010 because he had only fixed the economy and housing, but there weren't enough cars on the road that use corn fuel. Hope springs eternal, but common sense and patience spring sanity. Also keep in mind that 'fan' is short for 'fanatical'.

Kirk Ferentz interview. Some typical coach quotes during game week. Last week we played good and beat another team that played good. This week's opponent good, my team good, should be good game.
The Hopkins Royals are currently ranked #22 in the USA Today top 25. Hopkins is relevant for a couple reasons. One, it is where I currently reside and two, the Royals are led by future Gopher Royce White (you may have known this).
This little nugget gleaned from the end of Kent Youngblood's Gridiron Gold blog is absolutely priceless. He first notes that Tim Brewster was here for the Gopher's very first game in the Metrodome as a member of the Illini. That is an interesting tid bit on it's own. Then? The big finish...

It was 1982 the 19th-ranked Gophers were 3-0 entering their home conference opener. The Gophers led 24-20 entering the fourth quarter before losing 42-24 to an Illini team headed to the Rose Bowl. The Gophers didn’t win another home game until 1984.
Who would have guessed it would lead to nearly three decades of similar debacles.
It is basketball season and Rush the Court isn't easing into their favorite season. They are parralleling ESPN's marathon of hoops by live blogging along with them. It began for them 11/17 @ 11:45 pm and Part II ended liks this...

7:56pm — I’m ridiculously tired.

There it is. THE WALL.

The energy drinks have worn off — QUICK. It feels like a bear has wrapped itself around my neck and will not let go. The bear doesn’t want to eat me. He wants me to lay down and watch the TV for about 6 nanoseconds until I fall asleep. I must run from him. Syracuse held on 76-71, by the way.

Someone should head over to jstevrt's house to make sure he is OK before he starts up again.
Finally if you are a proponent of Tim Brewster and want to seem him stick around and establish the Gophers as a destination program, then this is a a bit of good news. The University of Texas has locked up their defensive coordinator, Will Muschamp and more importantly has named him Mack Brown's successor. This is bad news for any school with a coaching vacancy, but is good news for Gopher fans as there is no doubt Brewster would leave Minnesota if he ever had the opportunity to coach the Longhorns.

Who Hates Iowa?

GopherNation — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:30:04 -0000

We hate Iowa! It's not so much that they are so hated, it just kind of rolls off the tongue. Usually this is the forgotten trophy around here. The Jug means something cause it is Michigan. The Axe means something because we all hate Wisconsin. But since we don't have either of those, lets get the one trophy that has spent more time in Minnesota than the rival's trophy case.

To get you all ready for this weekend's showdown for Floyd of Rosedale, I thought we should have a quick history lesson to get us up to speed on some of the finer moments in recent Hawkeye sports history...

(Note: I'd love to string this out into more than one post, but we have real teams outside of football to talk about here.)

2006

Started promising for the always overrated Hawkeyes. The 5-1 start climaxed with a #13 ranking in the AP poll before a trip to Indiana brought the mediocre Hawkeyes back to reality. Drew Tate led the Hawkeyes to a brilliant 2-6 Big Ten record over the final eight games of his senior season. Fortunately for the Hawkeyes, Northern Illinois was mixed into the schedule late to avoid seven game losing streak to end the season. Minnesota handed Iowa one of those losses in a game where Brian Cupito was just too much to handle. Floyd spent the year at home, in Minnesota.

This was the year of stunning collapses from overrated Hawkeye teams as this gem preceded the football collapse...

They have been able to achieve mediocrity in football, but their basketball has always been terrible.

2007

If 2006 was spectacular, 2007 must have been better right? How about

Iowa State-15
Iowa-13

This win for Iowa State, who must have been really good, launched them to a 3-9 record. A classic battle of the titans which was met with a collective yawn from the sports world.

And if a Hawkeye fan starts making fun of the Gophers for losing to a MAC team last year, remind them of this.

Western Michigan - 28
Iowa - 19

Yes, we lost to Bowling Green, but at least they won their conference and went to a Bowl.

On the plus side for Iowa they were able to beat Minnesota during our worst season in school history. And they were able to rack up almost 300 yards and 21 whole points against the worst defense in all of college football (that allowed 500 yds and nearly 30 points per game). The 2007 Gopher team is worthy of making fun of and we were dominated by many teams, Iowa was not one of them.

The facts are often lost on delusional Hawkeye fans

We have a higher win% over Iowa than every other Big Ten team (except Northwestern, but who doesn't).
Floyd of Rosedale started as ours, has usually been ours and will be ours.
Iowa is the most boring state ever. Well, except for Des Moines, they have an terrific nightlife down there.
Time to choose sides...

Vs.

This game means a little something for us here at TDG. A bet has been made with the fine folks soon to be dejected folks at Blackheart, Gold Pants. It is important for all of us that we win this game/bet or you may be forced to look at some gay porn on this upstanding site for 24 hours. (I'm not kidding, they love gay porn).

Golden Nuggets for 11.18.08

GopherNation — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:00:05 -0000

We still have a game remaining but it's never too early to start looking to post season awards. The EE-ES-PEE-EN blogger assigned to the Big Ten is giving his first draft of All-Big Ten first and second teams. This is highly unofficial and doesn't mean anything except look how far we have come. Adam's list includes...

First Team

WR-Eric Decker
DL - Willie VanDeSteeg
CB-Traye Simmons

Second Team

QB-Adam Weber
CB-Marcus Sherels

In case you didn't notice that is three players on first or second team defense! Decker is a given, and Weber has a great shot at second team. But two players on the first team defense? And a walk-on receiver turned corner who is second team All-Big Ten as a junior? Incredible.

There is a great chance that Simmons and Sherels will not sniff first or second team, but the fact that someone who's sole job has been to intently watch Big Ten football has determined that at the very least these guys are worthy of consideration says a lot about how far this defense has come.

Thoughts? Anybody else belong in the conversation?

This was a week ago but the Denver Post did a story on Brewster. His ties to some former coaching greats like Mack Brown, Marty Schottenheimer (who would be a great replacement for Childress by the way) and Mike Shanahan have given him a pretty extensive network of people to go to.

Brewsters' three greatest mentors have been Texas coach Mack Brown, whom he assisted at North Carolina and Texas; Marty Schottenheimer, whom he assisted at the San Diego Chargers; and Shanahan.
Shanahan taught Brewster everything from how to dissect film to the atmosphere you create. I don't see much Shanahan in Brewster. Shanahan is corporate and calculating; Brewster is fire and brimstone. Talk to Brewster for 10 minutes and suddenly you want to winterCreate Story: SB Nation: The Daily Gopher in International Falls.

It is way too early to know much about Brewster other than he is passionate and a very good recruiter. If he truly picked up things from the guys listed above he also stands a chance to be a very good football coach.
The Star Trib's Rachel Blount has done a really good article on the Iowa / Minnesota rivalry. The story behind Floyd of Rosedale is intriguing and the animosity between the two fan bases is certainly different today than it was in mid-30s.
On what I believe was the first play of the fourth quarter, Willie VanDeSteeg set a school record for career tackles for loss. After a very disappoining junior season it is nice to see WVDS bounce back and have a genuinely strong senior season.

NABC Classic Post-Mortem

PJS — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:00:06 -0000

It wasn't always a sight to behold, but Tubby Smith's 2008-09 Gophers got the job done and left the NABC Classic with a 3-0 mark. Lawrence Westbrook deservedly was named tournament MVP.

We some preseason storylines take shape. Devron Bostick looks a bit lost on the floor. Paul Carter, as had been reported, is full of confidence. Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson showed spurts of potential. We learned that it's going to be Westbrook who will be responsible for the bulk of Minnesota's offense. After three games, he's the only Gopher averaging double-digits in points (16).

The Gophers struggled some on the glass. They were outrebounded by Georgia State and allowed far too many offensive rebounds aginst Bowling Green. Some of this can be explained by the fact that Damian Johnson and Jonathan Williams were both out of the lineup due to injury. With RSIII and Iverson as the only true bigs, oftentimes the Gophers were playing a four guard lineup. I'm not going to worry too much about rebounding yet.

What concerned me most was the team's pace of play. Ken Pomeroy's tempo free stats indicate the Gophers are averaging 66.3 possessions per 40 minutes, or roughly at about the same pace the Gophers played at last season. For a team like Wisconsin, a methodical pace of play is fine and dandy. But for the Gophers, a team that is still in search of an offensive identity, a slower pace equals fewer chances to score. For comparison, North Carolina, a team that gets up and down, averaged 74 possessions per game last season.

I bring this up simply because it was my hope that with an infllux of athleticism--Bostick, Carter and Joseph speficially--that the Gophers would be able to get out in transition more often. That wasn't the case this weekend. The Gophers rarely applied full-court pressure and even more sparingly applied half-court trapping pressure, a staple of the team's success a season ago. It's my guess that this will change as the newcomers learn to effectively apply full-court pressure.

But the pace of play also should tell us a bit about Coach Smith. On more than one occasion Tubby yanked one of his touted new players for taking an open shot early in a possession. Without an obvious go-to scorer, the Gophers need to take open shots when they have them. I'd like to see Tubby embrace the quick and quality shot when it's available. A quick hook for a Joseph or Carter sends the wrong message, in my opinion. We want them to be aggressive.

Other items to note:

Blake Hoffarber was cold from the perimeter all weekend. He shot 28 percent (4-14) from beyond the arc. I imagine he'll shoot a higher percentage, but I wonder if the extra distance has his shot off a bit?
On Saturday night it was Iverson who was in during crunch time. He deserved it he was having a nice game defensively (9 blocks.) On Sunday, it was RSIII who was in down the stretch. RSIII showed increased aggression and awareness on Sunday, a sign that the game at the college level started to slow down for him.
Hoffarber is the team's leading rebounder after three games with 17. Al Nolen (16) is tied for second. That should demonstrate how well we were rebounding!
The three new wing players didn't show us much offensively. Joseph shot 20 percent from the floor and didn't drive to the basket playing primarily point guard. Carter shot 22 percent from the floor and was mostly content taking jumpers. Same for Bostick who shot 50 percent in the most limited action of the three.
Kevin Payton played in just one game and as was the case last year looked extremely hesitant.

For another take on the weekend, Down with Goldy has his thoughts up as well.

Blog Poll v.12.1

GopherNation — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:30:05 -0000

The top half is exactly as it was a week ago and the bottom half is completely different.

Some thoughts:

I didn't drop LSU very far but I wanted them to sit right behind Ball State, I figured that was punishment enough for needing 30 points in the 4th quarter to beat Troy.

Big Ten love for Northwestern and Iowa. The Iowa vote serves two purposes. One, I think they are playing really well right now with a very good defense and Shonn Greene being the best back you've never heard of. They may finish 5th in conference but they are the fourth best team that will come out of the Big Ten. Secondly I'm hoping getting some votes will serve as a jinx of some sort so they will fail miserably to the Gophers on Saturday night.

I want so badly for Oregon State to win their last two games and earn the Pac 10 Champs berth into the Rose Bowl. Don't let USC get another championship outright.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas Tech	--
2	Alabama	--
3	Texas	--
4	Florida	--
5	Southern Cal	--
6	Oklahoma	--
7	Penn State	--
8	Ohio State	--
9	Georgia	--
10	Oklahoma State	--
11	Missouri	--
12	Utah	--
13	Boise State	--
14	Michigan State	1
15	Ball State	1
16	LSU	2
17	Pittsburgh	1
18	Oregon State	4
19	TCU	2
20	Cincinnati	3
21	Oregon	5
22	Northwestern	4
23	Iowa	3
24	Maryland	2
25	Miami (Florida)	1

Dropped Out: North Carolina (#17), Florida State (#19), California (#20), South Carolina (#24), Virginia Tech (#25).

Your thoughts and criticism are welcome.

Notice the giant button below. Click on it to be taken to SBN's BCS home where you can get the latest links to other fine SBN blogs and their thoughts on the BCS rankings and games of the week.

- Show quoted text -

Gopher Non-Revenue Sports update

GopherNation — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:45:04 -0000

Basketball kicked off this weekend with men going 3-0, Football lost a tough game in Madison but the non-revenue Gopher teams had the best weekend of program. We won't spend too much blog space on the minor sports but there are some teams that deserve some recognition today.

Women's Soccer made history by winning their frist two games in the NCAA Tournament and making their first ever apperance in the Sweet 16. The team is 22-3 finishing as Big Ten runner-ups and hosting an NCAA first round regional. Up next is #1 seed, Notre Dame on Friday. This would be a remarkable upset, but regardless of the outcome this has been an outstanding season for the lady Gopher soccer club.

The team is balanced in experience and talent as they are led by five senior starters and also start five talented sophomores. Senior goal keeper, Lindsey Dare, led the Big Ten in Goals Against AVG, Save Percentage and recorded a dominating 16 shutouts.

Women's Cross Country has already won the Big Ten for the second consecutive year but they have not also successfully defended their NCAA Regional crown. They have won the Midwest Regional by placing five runners in the top 20 and will now send their #7 ranked team to the NCAA Championships hoping to improve upon last year's 12th place finish. This team is led by Megan Duwell, a junior who finished 4th in both the Big Ten and NCAA Midwest Regional. The team is experienced and should be solid next year as well with five of their top seven runners returning in 2009.

Men's Cross Country was not able to win their Midwest regional, but they did finish second after runners Hassan Mead and Chris Rombough finished first and second to carry themselves and the team to next Monday's NCAA Championships. The 14th ranked men finished 8th last year in the NCAA's and will ride the legs of Mead and Rombrough this year in hopes of another top 10 finish.

Mead should be looking greatly improve on his 43rd place finish last year. The Sophomore was the Gopher's first ever freshman All-American and will look to add to his trophy case on Monday at the NCAA Championships.

Volleyball is yet to enter post season play, but the women are ranked 15th nationally and are gearing up for a run in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament. The Big Ten is being dominated by defending nation champs, Penn State who is 28-0 without having lost even one game. But Minnesota owns second place in the standings and with a #4 RPI ranking are ready to make a run in the NCAAs next month.

The Gophers are led by sophomores Lauren Gibbemeyer and Brook Dieter (both pictured right) who are seventh and eigth respectively in the Big Ten for points (formula of kills, aces, blocks and blocks against).

All four of the fall minor sports teams are doing great at the national level. The football has struggled the last month but should be going to a bowl game over the holidays. All in all a solid season for Gopher sports and the winter teams should be highly competitive as well with both hockey teams and both basketball teams ready to compete with just about anybody. Wrestling is always a top 10 program. Swimming and Diving are both ranked in the top 10 in the early part of their season.

As I mentioned above we obviously focus on football, basketball and a spattering of hockey here but these kids are collegiate student athletes in every sense of the term and they deserve a little recognition for their accomplishments this year.

Golden Nuggets for 11.17.08

PJS — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:00:06 -0000

At the time, I said Tim Brewster made the right call. It was the end of the first half. The Gophers were up 21-7. We had just recovered a fumble to stymie a Wisconsin drive. As Brewster was running out the clock, some in the game thread questioned the move. They suggested we should try and set up a field goal to end the half.

I instead was thinking about how aggression at the end of a half hurt the Gophers against Northwestern. I imagine that's what Brewster was thinking too. I can see both points of view, but hindsight being what it is, I'm inclined to say my initial call was wrong and so was Brewster's.

Having to read a Wisconsin fan state the following hurts:

As distasteful as it may be to say, Jefferson’s scary injury seems now to have been the turning point of the game, perhaps sucking some life out of Minnesota and providing Wisconsin with a rallying point. Consider this: The result of the play that injured Jefferson was a fumble recovered by Minnesota, giving them the ball on their own 21-yard-line with 2:05 remaining on the clock and two time outs. Instead of attempting to score — and the Gophers were at that point having about as much trouble moving the ball on Wisconsin as John Madden has trouble inhaling a tender and juicy turducken — Gopher coach Tim Brewster, either feeling overconfident with his 14-point lead or thinking it unsavory to score again on a team that just had one of its players leave on a stretcher, ran out the clock.

What do you think? Was it the right call Brewster made?

Without giving any justification or telling us where he went to speak to a soothsayer, Charley Walters tells us that Paul Carter will lead the Gophers in scoring this year. I'd be willing to bet Shooter that Lawrence Westbrook leads the team in scoring.
Sticking with the PiPress, Phil Miller opines that the "Colton Iverson era of Gopher basketball" has begun. Iverson did have a very nice game defensively Saturday night with nine blocks against BGSU. But the Iverson era?
Proof anything is possible: Pat Reusse has a somewhat positive article about Gophers football.
I know this is just some random blog, but this is why I harp on the negative perception around Tubby Smith's recruiting ability. "Tubby was a good in-game coach, but not a recruiter." I'm so sick of hearing this. Do UK fans realize Smith's 2008 and 2009 classes have arguably been superior to UK's?
Good news for those that want that bronzed pig. Eric Decker is expected to play against Iowa.
Don Lucia's boys kept their undefeated streak a live with a win and a tie this weekend against Michigan Tech. Gopher Puck Live has more on Alex Kangas' first shutout of the year on Sunday.

NABC Classic Game Thread: Georgia St. at Minnesota

PJS — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:30:05 -0000

Tip is 6 p.m. central time. Free streaming video should be available here.

As we prepare for the game, a few observations from last night's 68-61 closer-than-it-should've-been win over Bowling Green Saturday night.

As was the case last year, the Gophers struggled offensively, especially during the second half when Bowling Green came back. When the team isn't creating turnovers and easy baskets the offense gets ugly.
During its second half comeback, Bowling Green incessantly ran a simple pick and roll at the top of the arc. Minnesota struggled the entire second half defending this. I expect Tubby to spend some time in practice working on defending the pick and roll.
The Gophers can block shots! They blocked 17 last night, a school record. Colton Iverson was a big part of that. He had nine blocks. He played 28 minutes compared to 12 for Ralph Sampson III. Iverson is obviously more ready to play at this point.
Lawrence Westbrook was relatively cold last night (6-14) but he kept looking for his shot and led the team with 20 points. I'd like to see the Gophers run him off of screens more often.
The Gophers barely outrebounded BGSU 41-38 but the second half it felt like BGSU won the battle on the boards. The Gophers are undersized right now, but they have to do a better job boxing out.
Jamal Abu-Shamla hit two key shots last night when BGSU cut the lead to 5 and 3 points last night. I'm not a huge fan of JAS, but if he can provide some calm senior leadership then he can play a big role on this team.
Devron Bostick, Paul Carter and Devoe Joseph are still getting comfortable. Joseph specifically found himself with a Tubby Smith in his ear after at least one ill-advised quick shot.

So, we escaped a late run from Bowling Green, what should we look for tonight.

Shooting percentage: Three games in three days isn't fun for anyone. Is the team in good physical condition. If it's not, we'll see that show up with the jump shooters tonight. Last night the Gophers shot 48 percent in the first half before tailing off to 36 percent in the second.
Rebounding: The game last night would have been comfortably in the double digits had we not given BGSU 17 offensive rebounds. That's too many second chance points.
Carter, Bostick, Joseph: Which one is going to be the first to step up with a big game. My money is on Bostick tonight. Just a gut feeling.
Al Nolen: The Gophers have been best through two games when he has looked for his shot. He did in game one and not so much in game two, though he did lead the team with 9 assists last night.

That's it for now. If you're around feel free to chat about the game in the thread below.

Minnesota drops a heart breaker in Wisconsin

GopherNation — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:00:05 -0000

The Gophers are 7-4 but this really feels like an 0-3 team and I think that is unfortunate. This team just isn't good enough to win games like this unless they make far fewer mistake but they are markedly better than a year ago. We aren't a BCS Bowl team but we are better and we are competitive. This may not be enough for some, but we are taking steps and getting back to being competitive is where this program is currently at.

Let's not get too carried away after these last three losses. It was exciting to be 7-1 when they were playing better and more importantly making far fewer mistakes. But this team isn't nearly good enough to win games like this when they commit 10 penalties, fumble three times and give two safeties.

It is interesting how high the expectations were af it was. They aren't. What they are is a competitive team what is learning as they go. Youth isn't a crutch to lean on when they need an excuse but they are sending a lot of freshmen and sophomores up against Big Ten defenses with much more experience. When Brewster was asked about his young offensive weapons he said...

"Those guys gotta be sophomores, I'm looking forward to them being juniors. The offensive line needs to continue to grow, get bigger and stronger. And continue to become a more physical offensive football team"

He's right. They are talented but this team needs to grow and it is hard to compete at the Big Ten level with freshmen and sophomores throughout your offense.

The balance of talent and inexperience of this team what makes this so frustrating.

The Good?

The defense held Wisconsin to 116 yards rushing.
Freshmen receivers really stepped up in the absence of All-American candidate, Eric Decker
Weber's moxy and determination to lead a drive down 11 to get us to within three.
The offensive line played better than they had in recent weeks.

The Bad?

Two fumbles, the first directly led to a touchdown.
Losing Lee Campbell and Kyle Theret in the second half.
Two safeties really killed us and put so much momentum on the Wisconsin sideline.
10 penalties for 89 yards, including three personal fouls. This team just cannot win on the road against a good team with that many mistakes.

It was a fun game to witness. There were some massive momentum swings, big plays and a little fire from both sidelines. In the end, just too many mistakes made by the team in maroon and gold.

This loss was a painful one for the coaches and players. It really struck me how much this one hurt. Even Ruesse commented to me about how there were times during Brewster's post game comments that were genuine.

Coach Brewster - "You can see we've got some outstanding young talent on out team. It's such a disappointing loss because we had an opportunity to come in here and do something special today and we didn't get it done. And that's a tough pill to swallow."

Simoni Lawrence - "This hurts, this hurts me the most."

Willie VanDeSteeg - "This the only game I didn't win for a trophy game. This one is going to stick with me for a little bit."

Those look like just quotes on your computer screen but being there you could really see how this one was hard to take. The last question asked of Brewster was about Weber

"He's a tough kid, he's a hell of a kid, he keeps competing all the time and you know, you know, I've got big admiration for Adam and... He hits Green (on 4th and 17) for the big play down the middle of the field..."

And he then paused for a good five seconds looking like he was about to break down because he hurt for Weber. At that moment the hurt he felt for his quarterback and his team was evident in his eyes. This was one of those moments you don't get reading the paper or analyzing the box score. This game HURT, this coach hurt for his players.

"We are going to lay on the sword for the next couple days, we are going to bleed this one out. This one's gonna be tough to let go, but we're gonna fight like crazy to get ready to go and play Iowa and finish as an 8-4 football team."

One week left then likely a trip to a worthless bowl game. The destination and the outcome is meaningless but the extra month of practice would be valuable for this team and the vast majority of starters who will be returning.

NABC Classic Game Thread: Bowling Green at Minnesota

PJS — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:30:05 -0000

Game two brings Bowling Green of the MAC into Williams Arena for the second game of the NABC Classic's round robin.Tip is tentative for 8 p.m. central time. Free streaming video is available here.

On BGSU. ...The BGSU Falcons returned every player from last year's team that went 13-17 and found itself in the middle of the pack in the MAC. Point guard Joe Jakubowski led the Falcons Friday night with 24 points against Georgia State. Guard Brian Moten and forward Erik Marschall had 19 and 17 respectively last night.

According to ESPN Insider, BGSU coach Louis Orr (in his second year) brings a defensive mindset.

More from last night. ... The Minnesota Daiily says Al Nolen was the leader Friday night.

Other reading. .... Our friends at Hoopraker announce they too have love for Damian Johnson.

Breathe. .... If you thought last night was ugly, it really wasn't. Calm down. You could be a Kentucky fan who watched your team lose to the VMI Keydets on opening night.

Keys for tonight:

Finding an offensive identity. If the Gophers don't score on the fast break and get easy baskets, this could be close.
Turnovers. Nolen and Devoe Joseph need to protect the ball.
Shot selection: Quick shots are fine if they are good shots. Bostick and Carter need to let the game come to them.
Rebounding! We got away with small ball against Concordia. We won't against most teams. Ralph Sampson III and Colt Iverson need to play minutes and contribute on the boards.

Minnesota @ Wisconsin - official game thread

GopherNation — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:30:05 -0000

HALFTIME UPDATE:

Minnesota - 21
Wisconsin - 7

First of all the first half game ball has to go to the offensive line. They are giving Weber all kinds of time and he's been able to find his freshmen receivers to make some big plays. Watch for the Badgers to start blitzing to get through to Weber, we'll see how ready we are for that.

Defensively we have stopped the run and gotten great pressure on Sherer (who is terrible btw). When this game began with a Gopher fumble at the 10 things had a chance to get way out of hand in a hurry. But these guys are playing with some toughness and confidence that we haven't seen in several weeks.

Plenty of mistakes on both sides but plenty of big plays as well to make this an entertaining game. Second half should be a lot of fun as The Axe is on the line.

----------

We are live from the Camp Randall pressbox. Game thread will likely be maintained by you the readers/commenters. PJS and I may be in and out but no official moderation.

The band is on the field, we are less than 20 min from kickoff. Here are some keys or questions to be answered today if the Gophers are to win.

1. Win special teams. Troy Stoudermire told me last week that he would house a kick off today. Getting a special team's TD, great coverage and no missed kicks (easy ones at least) will be vital if we are going to win in Madison for the first time since 1994.

2. How disciplined will our linebackers be. The weakside guy has to stay at home and not get beat on the cutback. Then the guys in the middle have to stuff anything between the tackles.

3. Three and Outs. We cannot have them on offense and we need to force several of them on defense.

4. Third and longs! Get them in third and long, make them pass, then let the secondary make a huge play.

We'll see how it plays out.

Gophers Basketball Game One: What We Learned

PJS — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:34:22 -0000

It wasn't always pretty, but the Gophers led throughout in the season opener last night against Concordia-St. Paul. Here are my shotgun thoughts of the game.

Al Nolen has more confidence with his shot. He had 17 points on 7-11 shooting include 3-5 from three. He made defenders pay when they gave him room to shoot and he showed a willingness to drive to the basket and finish or dish. All around improvement from Nolen.
Anomaly of the night: Blake Hoffarber grabbed 12 rebounds. Don't expect that to continue. But Hoffarber also didn't make a three point shot (0-4). I wouldn't expect that to continue either.
Both Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson got in early foul trouble. With Damian Johnson and Jon Williams out, this is something that could hurt the Gophers. They're young and this is going to happen, but at least one of Iverson's fouls--near midcourt--was inexcusable, even if it came because of effort.
RSIII looked a bit hesitant. This was expected. I'm not overly concerned. He has to adjust and get comfortable.
Devron Bostick looked nervous. This was expected. I'm not overly concerned. He has to adjust and get comfortable!
Paul Carter looked very confident even shooting 2-8. I like the confidence and think he has the capability of being a difference maker. I eagerly awaiy seeing him and Damian Johnson on the floor together.
The Gophers didn't apply full-court pressure, at least not much. I wonder if Tubby Smith didn't want to show his hand against Concordia or if the newcomers weren't ready.
Devoe Joseph only played at point and never at shooting guard. For the most part he did fine running the point and pushing tempo. There was a stretch in the second half when he had trouble getting the Gophers into their offense. I'd like to see Joseph, Nolen and Westbrook on the floor together at some point. Devoe didn't look for his shot (0-2). I'm sure he would more often if he wasn't the floor general.
That was more observations than I thought. You notice anything else?

NABC Classic Game Thread: Concordia-St. Paul at Minnesota

PJS — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:08 -0000

The first game of Tubby Smith's second season is upon us!

If you're trying to find the game, it's not on television, it's online. You should be able to find the game from this link. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. central time.

If you're looking for something to pass your time before the tip, Marcus Fuller looks at the five Minnesota newcomers. He notes Paul Carter's team-oriented attitude and Devron Bostick's difficulty adjusting. I'm hoping that latter storyline fades soon. Meanwhile, Myron Medcalf is predicting a starting five of Iverson, Busch, Carter, Westbrook and Nolen. Medcalf's on the scene so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but Busch starting seems to be a bit of a stretch.

Minnesota vs Wisconsin - Official TDG Preview

GopherNation — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:00:07 -0000

Tim Brewster - "All our trophy games are big games, important games. This one is more important than the rest of them."

The Axe is in the wrong hands and it's time to bring it back to the land where Paul Bunyan created 10,000+ lakes with his massive feet (true story). Paul Bunyan's Axe isn't the oldest trophy we have (that belongs to the Jug) but it does represent the most played rivalry in all of college football. Some Madison media likes to propagate incorrect propaganda that Wisconsin leads the all time series...

The annual Wisconsin-Minnesota Border Battle is the longest tenured rivalry in FBS college football. The Badgers are 34-24-3 all-time against the Golden Gophers and have dominated their bitter rivals in recent memory, winning the past four matchups.

This is untrue but don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. The Badgers lead the series 34-24-3 in the years where The Axe has been on the line. But the most played head to head series has more than 61 total games played. Actually Minnesota leads the all time series 59-50-8 but has gone 2-11 over the last 13 meetings to let Wisconsin think they are "winning" this series.

This game is usually fairly heated and fortunately the intensity has been raised with the newly discovered (created?) mutual dislike between Brett Bielema and Tim Brewster. Maybe it is the recruiting wars spilling over onto the football field or maybe it is just two personalities that clash. Or maybe it is just because Bielema is a prick...

After the Hawkeyes dispatched Iowa State, 21-7, during Bielema’s senior season in 1992, he met Cyclones coach Jim Walden during the postgame handshake and said, "You’re a big prick. It’s been a pleasure kicking your ass the last five years."

For whatever reason, these guys seem to genuinely not like each other, which should play out on the field tomorrow. This game is big for fans, for the players, the coaches and recruiting wars that will take place in midwestern living rooms for the next few months. All of that makes tomororows game great, but what about the actual football game?

After a schedule full of taking on spread teams with athletic quarterbacks like Terrell Pryor, Juice Williams, Mike Kafka (I think I just threw up a little inside) and Kellen Lewis; we now enter the smash mouth portion of the schedule. All two games of this portion. This week we take on the Big Ten's best rushing team and next week we get the task of tackling Shonn Greene who dropped 117 and two scores on Penn State. And when you factor in the fact that we are near the bottom of the Big Ten at stopping the run (8th), you realize these games will be challenging.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves here are some numbers for Wisconsin and Minnesota.

	Wisconsin		Minnesota
	Avg	Rank	Avg	Rank
Rush Off	224.4	1	116.4	11
Rush Def	122.4	4	142.4	8
Pass Off	182.6	9	226.8	2
Pass Def	197.2	5	227.6	8
Tot Off	407.0	3	343.2	9
Tot Def	319.6	4	370.0	8
Score Off	27.3	4	24.9	7
Score Def	23.6	7	19.0	4

When Wisconsin has the ball...

We have to stop their two back attack of P.J. Hill (5-11, 236)and John Clay (6-2, 237). Both are big, bruising backs who have combined for over 1,500 yards and nearly 300 carries. By contrast our starting tailback is 5-11 and 190 lbs. As a team they have 1,000 more rushing yards than the Gophers have on the ground. The key to stopping the Badgers is no mystery. Stop the run and make them pass it.

In the Badger's five losses whoever has been under center has thrown an average of 30 times. In thier five wins they have attempted only 20 passes per game. Yards are about the same, regardless of the game's outcome. When the run is being stopped and they are forced into passing, that is not a winning formula for the Badgers. But when the run game is running downhill they can utilize the pass more effectively

and keep the defense off balance.

Keep an eye on guys like Lee Campbell, Garrett Brown, Barret Moen and Kyle Theret. They will have to plug the middle and not get pushed around. If the corners are making a lot of tackles or the Badger running backs are getting past the linebackers we are in big (BIG) trouble. Also keep an eye on the cut back runs as this has killed us.

When Minnesota has the ball...

I don't have any idea what to expect. Our best offensive weapon is likely not playing which means everybody else has to step up their game. Much has been made that Brandon Green, Ben Kuznia, Ralph Spry and other WRs have to step up to replace Decker. But fact is the OL has to step up in a big way, Eskridge has to step things up and Adam Weber better be sharp as well. I'm hoping we see a creative offensive game plan to keep Wisconsin on their heals.

It seems like the Badgers can stop either the run or the pass, but not usually both. Shonn Greene (217) and Beanie Wells (168) racked up huge chunks of yards but the Iowa and Ohio St passing games were weak. But it was the opposite for the Michigan St, Illinois and Penn St games. Hoyer (252), Williams (217) and Clark (244) had big games while the running games couldn't muster more than 60 yards for any one back.

I do not foresee a big running game, but maybe if Wisconsin is so bent on stopping the passing game that maybe Eskridge breaks a few. Our offensive line would have to really surprise me for this to happen though. What I think we'll need to see is screens, options with Stoudermire, swing passes to Eskridge and maybe the use of the tight end in the middle of the field.

I don't know what the successful formula is going to be, but the offense absolutely has to execute better. They have regressed in the last month and now would be the time to find some rhthym again.

Predictions...

On paper this game does not look good for the Golden Gophers. Our offense has been struggling for a few weeks and we then lose our best player. The defense has been solid but I have no idea how they'll react to a power running team, the likes of which we haven't seen this year. With that said I think we are capable of wininng. Wisconsin is 2-5. If we can find some consistency on offense I think we can make this a great game. If the offense is unable to get more than one first down in the first half then we'll get killed.

Minnesota - 17
Wisconsin - 21

PJS

Minnesota - 13
Wisconsin - 24

The Daily Gopher will be bringing our curse to Madison so be sure to check back Saturday for some updates from the pressbox. In Minnesota we are debating whether or not to have alcohol in the stadium, but I'm pretty sure in Wisconsin they'll have beer in the pressbox. I'll let you know!

What I'm Watching This Weekend

PJS — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:29:07 -0000

I know Concordia-St. Paul, Bowling Green and Georgia State don't excite. But that doesn't mean we won't be able to glean something about Tubby Smith's maroon and gold as the NABC Classic unfolds Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Here are a five things I'll be watching. And let me know what it is you are looking for.

1) Is Ralph Sampson III learning how to play physical basketball. His highlight reels and scouting reports all said the same thing, that he is still progressing as a basketball player and that he prefers or gravitates towards a finesse game. We saw Tubby Smith last year try and toughen up Dan Coleman to no avail. If the scouting reports on RSIII are true, Tubby surely has been working on him to attack the basket instead of falling away, to play physical underneath etc. Is RSIII going to use his size and play physical? We get our first answers this weekend.

2) Does Devron Bostick look comfortable? Reports coming out of preseason practices suggested that, of the newcomers, the JUCO junior transfer was having the most difficulty adapting specifically to Tubby Smith's coaching. He's supposed to be a scorer and might have the highest expectations because we remember Vincent Grier and Bobby Jackson. When Bostick has the ball, I'll be watching to see if he's forcing shots, or if he's playing tentatively and not taking a lane to the basket when it's presented.

3) Has Blake Hoffarber added an element? He's reportedly bulked up a little bit. Is he capable of backing down a defender? Posting up a smaller guard? Has he improved his quickness with the ball that would allow him to shoot off the dribble? Last year he was basically a catch-and-shoot guy. If he's added an element, watch out.

4) With Jon Williams and Damian Johnson both out with injuries, what will our post rotation look like? How effective will Paul Carter play be at the 4? Is Travis Busch going to play underneath regularly? Whatever the rotation is, it will be important for RSIII and Colton Iverson to play physical ball but stay out of foul trouble.

5) Lastly, one word: Tempo. Compared to the Dan Monson regime that tried to play it safe as a way to hide a lack of talent, Tubby Smith pressured the opposing offense and he pushed tempo most of the time. With this new team that has improved athleticism up front and more depth in the backcourt, how aggressive will they be. How fast will they play? I'll be watching the tempo statistics a lot this season to see how the Gophers are playing.

Golden Nuggets for 11.14.08

PJS — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:00:10 -0000

It's gameday!

Excuse my excitement, but the college basketball season is my favorite time of year. November and December kick off with interesting match-ups all across the country in various tournaments. Then come January, as our lawns glisten with snow, there's nothing better than a Saturday afternoon of college basketball.

Unlike the NBA, in most every game, you see the passion. Many of these kids dreamt of playing college basketball. Many of them are living their dream and you can tell.

The Gophers' 2008-09 journey begins tonight when they open up Williams Arena to the NABC Classic. The opponents are nothing to write home about. But tonight at 8 p.m. central time on BigTenNetwork.com, the Gophers will open their season against Concordia-St. Paul. On Saturday at the same time and same place the Gophers host the MAC's Bowling Green. And the three-game round-robin winds down Sunday at 6 p.m., again online, against Georgia State.

The Gophers are obvious favorites to go 3-0, but I expect some tense moments, more than a few miscues and some nerves among the 5 new Gophers. I can't wait!

GN is heading to Madison tonight to cover the football Gophers tomorrow. I'll be here with a game thread tonight. Since the game is only on BTN online, if you're watching the game you might as well join the conversation here as well.

I'll also be back later this afternoon with some items to watch this weekend. Forgive me if I don't preview Concordia St. Paul!

The Gophers communications team has a breakdown of the participants in the NABC Classic and the new look Gophers here. And this tidbit: Did you know the last time Williams Arena hosted a tournament was the Pillsbury Classic in 1981?
Big Ten speed baby! Apparently all Big Ten basketball teams are going to employ a fast pace of play this season. Big Ten Geeks has all the pertinent links, though Todd Lickliter and Bill Carmody are apparently holding out.
Here's a pretty well done Big Ten basketball preview. We're going to wait on our conference predictions until closer to Big Ten season.
Minnesota wrestling fan? This wrestling forum has good things to say about J. Robinson and notes some things to look at in 2009.
Despite his season tailing in off (in part due to injuries) Tim Brewster remains a candidate for the Tennessee job according to news sources culled by Football Rumor Mill. Texas Tech coach Mike Leach would seem to me to be the most attractive on the list. North Carolina coach Butch Davis has said he's not interested. Meanwhile, David Climer of The Tennessean has this to say about the Vols coaching search: "Personally, I'd gravitate toward Tim Brewster at Minnesota because of his live-wire personality and relentless recruiting style. If you can sign blue-chip recruits at Minnesota, you should be able to one-up that at UT."
Badgercentric tries to answer this question: How good are Brewster's Gophers?
This writer says the Big Ten basketball race is a three team battle with Purdue, Michigan State and Wisconsin. I just want to remind everyone that very few people at this time last year picked Purdue to do much of anything.

Basketball Blog Poll - pre season ballot

GopherNation — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:52:49 -0000

The pre season NCAA Basketball Blog Poll. This one is run by Gabby at STormin the Floor and currently has 20 participants (11 voted in initial ballot). The poll below is sorted by the official pre season top 25 with my votes in the right hand column.

Blog Poll Rank	School	The Daily Gopher Rank
1	North Carolina (11)	1
2	UCLA	4
3	Connecticut	2
4	Louisville	3
5	Pittsburgh	6
6	Michigan State	5
7	Notre Dame	7
8	Texas	8
9	Tennessee	10
10	Gonzaga	13
11	Oklahoma	9
12	Memphis	14
13	Duke	16
14	Purdue	17
15	Arizona State	11
16	Davidson	NR
17	Miami (FL)	12
18	Marquette	21
19	Wake Forest	18
20	Georgetown	24
21	Florida	19
22	Wisconsin	23
23	USC	20
24	Baylor	15
25	Villanova	NR
	Kansas	22
	Siena	25

This one was my final ballot. This is a long season so I'll do my best to vote every week and allow you to critique before I submit my final version. Consider this my rough draft for the season. Who did I miss and challenge me on Baylor being #15 or Davidson not being ranked at all.!

HERE is the link to the compilation ballot to see how everyone else voted.

Golden Nuggets for 11.13.08

PJS — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:00:10 -0000

Via Jerry Tipton's UK basketball blog I learned last night that Tubby Smith will be a featured guest on ESPN's recruiting show on tap for Friday.

Here's the release:

The ESPNU College Basketball Signing Day Special will be televised Friday, Nov. 14, from 4 - 6 p.m. ET during college basketball’s early signing day period, which begins today (Wednesday, Nov. 12). The program will showcase several men’s college basketball coaches and top basketball recruits from the ESPNU 100 player rankings. ESPNU anchor Lowell Galindo will be joined in studio by ESPN Scouts Inc. basketball recruiting analyst Paul Biancardi, who will provide in-depth analysis of top recruits and recruiting classes from around the country. Special guest players will include No. 1 Xavier Henry, SG (Putnam City H.S., Oklahoma City, Okla.), No. 3 John Henson, PF (Sickles H.S., Tampa Fla.), No. 14 Abdul Gaddy, PG (Bellarmine Preparatory School, Tacoma, Wash.) and No. 30 Michael Snaer, SG (Rancho Verde H.S., Moreno Ranch, Calif.), who will announce his college decision between UCLA, Kansas, Missouri, Florida State and Marquette. Coach Tubby Smith (Minnesota) and coach Jay Wright (Villanova) will also make appearances.

This may seem like a small thing, and maybe it is, but I don't remember the Minnesota basketball program getting this type of national attention, since, well Jan Ganglehoff. This has also got to annoy some of the UK Tubby haters who said he couldn't recruit. Somehow I doubt ESPN would have Tubby on their recruiting show if he couldn't recruit.

And why is Tubby getting this attention? Well, Scout recruiting analyst Paul Biancardi had this to say about Tubby's recruiting class on an ESPN chat.

I love Tubby's class. It's filled with athleticism, size and skill. This is a Top 20 class. I'd be very excited if I was a Gopher fan.

Tim Brewster and Bret Bielema apparently don't like one another very much. Good. Better dead ....
Shocker! Apparently the Gophers need others to step up offensively while Eric Decker is out. This is total crazy talk.
The Wisconsin State Journal (courtesy of the BTN) has more on the emerging dislike between Brewster and Bielema. They article also chronicles all that was last year's trash-talk filled bout.
Myron Medcalf at the STrib put together a feature piece on Minnesota recruit Royce White.
Now this I like to hear. Joel Maturi and company are trying to convince the NCAA to bring the FInal Four to Minneapolis in 2014, 2015 or 2016.

Gopher Basketball schedule breakdown - Non Conference games

GopherNation — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:24:59 -0000

The formula last year was pretty simple. Win a lot in your non-conference games. Beat the Big Ten teams below you and lose to the Big Ten teams above you. No stunning upsets in your favor or against you, until the Big Ten Tournament but it was too late by then.

Fast forward to the 2008-09 seasons and the formula for success will have to remain pretty much the same. The non-conference portion of the schedule sets up very nicely to get 10 or more wins before we hit the Big Ten.

Here is how the schedule breaks down for the 12 games prior to Michigan State on New Year's Eve ...

10 of the twelve games are absolute must wins. These wins will do very little for the NCAA resume, but a loss would be devastating.

Concordia-St. Paul - D2, must win
Bowling Green - returns 5 starters from 13-17 team. Player to watch-Chris Knight.
Georgia State - return 4 starters from 9-21 team, Player to watch-Leonard Mendez
Colorado State - 7-25 a year ago and they were bad. Player to watch-Marcus Walker
Eastern Washington - lost best player from 11 win team. Player to watch-??
North Dakota State - the best of this group of 10 teams, they return a lot of scoring and will be dangerous. Player to watch-Ben Woodside (he is really good).
Virginia - Big10/ACC Challenge more in a minute.
Cornell - returns 9 of top 10 scorers from 22 win team. Cornell will be a solid challenge. Player to watch-Ryan Wittman, son of Wolves coach Randy Wittman.
South Dakota State - Return 4 starters from 8 win team. Player to watch-Kai Williams.
#3 Louisville - more on them below.
Southeastern Louisiana - return three starters from 17-13 team. Player to watch-Kevyn Green who gets the first semester before his eligibility runs out and he is not allowed to finish the season (odd? I think so).
High Point - has just one senior on team, should be a warm up for B10 season.

Cornell and North Dakota State should be competitive teams and I look forward to watching those games. Then the only other two games with any significance are the Virginia and Louisville games.

Virginia - returning starters at SG-Mamadie Diane, SF-Jeff Jones and PF-Mike Scott the biggest question surrounding this team is who replaces Sean Singletary at PG. Junior Calvin Baker should get first crack at starting PG but the likely option to replace Singletary's scoring, although may not play PG, is McDonald's All-American Sylven Landesberg. The 6-6 freshman averaged just under 30 ppg and 11 rpg last year in NYC. Along with Sylven the Cavs bring a couple highly ranked big men in John Brandenberg (6-11) and Assane Sene (7-0).

Virginia will be very similar to the Gophers. A talented young core trying to come together is a more experienced backcourt. The storyline of RSIII playing against the school of his father will be interesting.

This is a winable game for the Gophers. We'll know more after a week or two, but since it is at home and Virginia isn't loaded with a ton of experienced talent this is an opportunity to get a win over a BCS team.

Louisville - currently #3 in the country, 27 wins a year ago and returning four starters. Then they add the #1 center recruit in the country, Samardo Samuels. The Cardinals are experienced, explosive, can defend and should be battling for a #1 seed all year. This game will be on a nuetral court in Arizona so the "atmosphere" should be very interesting.

Chances of winning are slim here. The Gophers are improving and are capable of winning but only if Louisville decides to lay an egg. This will be fun to watch and most importantly it should give us a great gauge as to what we can expect from this team. Can we match up athletically and keep this competitive? We will certainly learn a lot about what to expect in the Big Ten after watching the Gophers in this game.

As I see it there are eight games that you absolutely have to win and win them all comfortably (all but Virg, L'ville, Cornell and NDSU). Because basketball is the way it is you may have a hot shooting team come in and make a game close but if that happens more than once in the eight must-win games then there may be a problem.

Next we have two games that we should win but Cornell and NDSU are experienced and talented. Both have aspirations of winning their conference and making the NCAA tournament. Both should be 20 win teams so they won't be cake walks. But with that said if we want to be an NCAA team we have to take care of these games on our home floor.

Then the two "marquee" games are Virginia at home and Louisville in Arizona. Forget about the L'ville game, they are just too talented for this year's Gophers. Much crazier things have happened but if we played 10 times we'd lose that game eight or nine times. The goal here is to be competitive. The Virginia game isn't going to blow anybody away when the NCAA selection committee sits down to look over our tournament resume. But a home lose to a second tier ACC team doesn't scream that we deserve a chance at a national championship. This is a winable game and since it is on the raised floor of the Barn I'd really like to see a W here.

11-1 in the non-conference is very doable. 10-2 still gives us a fighting chance. 9-3 and we'd have some work to do in the Big Ten.

Hopefully as the Gophers improve in the coming years so will our non-conference schedule. You have to get your fill of guarantee games, but sprinking in another BCS team or two would be a welcome addition. As the expectations grow so should the competitiveness of the schedule.