There were several upsets yesterday, can the Gophers add to the list of double-digit seeds winning?  It is pretty interesting when you look all over the internet there is a distinct split between who picks the Gophers to win and who is suggesting Xavier will win.

Virtually every prediction by a human (columnist, blogger, President, etc) is picking Xavier to win.  While basically every computer model or statistical prediction has the Gophers winning or at least ranked higher than the Muskateers.  Kind of an interesting difference.  I guess Xavier passes the "eye test", whatever that means.

I'm not going to spent too much time getting into his game in depth.  We know that Minnesota is playing better over the last couple weeks.  But we are still not exactly consistent, nobody knows which Gopher team will show up.  I'm peacefully confident as I sit here thinking about the game.  I know that Xavier is very good and they are used to the NCAA Tournament.  I know they are balanced and talented.  I know they shoot the three well and they rebound well.  And I know we typically struggle struggle defending the three and rebounding.  But I still feel OK about this game.

Keys to the Game

1. And I used #1 for a reason.  This is the big one.  Get Blake Hoffarber going.  When he scores 11 points or more we are undefeated this year, 14-0 by my count (20-1 if you go back to last year).  That stat is hard to ignore and it's not a coincidence.  When he is shooting the ball well defenses have to focus on him.  And when they do then things are a little bit easier for Lawrence Westbrook, Devoe Joseph and Ralph Sampson.  Hoffarber hasn't had a good game in several games so hopefully Xavier is spending more time gameplanning for the rest of our backcourt and The Hoff will get several good looks.  I also know the Muskateers play good team defense and nothing will come easy.  But the one thing that is very clear to me is that Hoffarber needs some open looks and he needs to hit them.
2. Defend Jordan Crawford!  Duh, right?  Slow down the guy who scores 19 points per game, BRILLIANT!  But so very true.  Crawford may get quite a few points but he needs to really earn them.  Make him work for everything.  
3. Establish the Paint.  Sampson and Colten Iverson need to be physical and dominate the paint.  Xavier's Jason Love is a big guy.  At 6-9, 265 lbs expect Love to really by physical with our big men.  I'm not as concerned about our centers scoring, but we need to rebound and we need to defend.  Don't let Love control the boards or have his way offensively in the lane.  He is a load and we need to be prepared for him.
   
4. Defend the Three.  Xavier shoots the three well, we often go in stretches where we choose to not defend shooters.  If we don't get out and get a hand in the face of every shooter, we will get run out of the gym.  This is non-negotiable.
   

So if I list enough keys to the game I'm sure at least a couple of them will be right.  I'm excited for the game.  According to FanMatch, which used 23 psychological and emotional factors to determine the best games to watch, we are the game to watch tomorrow.

I'm not sure if this will work in the Mpls market but her is the link to watch the game through CBS MMOD.

Launch Player

Below you should see the CBS March Madness on Demand Widget.  Choose your game and let's enjoy watching the field.  24 hours till the Gophers play but there will be plenty to watch before then.

Click LAUNCH  PLAYER for pop up player.

Launch Player

enjoy...

More photos » Darron Cummings - AP

Minnesota coach Tubby Smith. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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West Region
Milwaukee pod - Bradley Center
Friday game
11:35 AM tipoff
Limited ticket information HERE (only season tickets holders need apply)

The Golden Gophers were awarded one of the last remaining at-large bids into the 2010 NCAA Tournament.  This roller-coaster season saw us ranked, then unranked, in the tournament, then out, then on the bubble, then out of the picture, then back on the bubble and finally back in.  When all was said and done the Gophers played their way into the tournament by finishing 7-3 in their last 10 games beating Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State along the way.  So what is our NCAA Tournament destination?  An 11 seed, a trip to beautiful Milwaukee and a first round game and a matchup with the Muskateers of Xavier.  Here are my initial impressions...

• Xavier - pronounced (zay-vee-ur ), do not try to put an X sound in there.  
• The first name to remember - Jordan Crawford.  Former Indiana guard who transferred after the Sampson debacle.  Crawford averages just under 20 ppg!  As a freshman at IU he averaged 9.7 ppg and averaged 11.5 ppg against Minnesota that year.  He is 6-4 and shoots 39% from the three-point line. Crawford led the A10 in scoring and was named to the league's 1st team All-Conference.
  
• The next name to remember - Jason Love.  Love is the man in the middle for Xavier and expect this wide-body to be a very physical presence.  He averages 11.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, but what concerns me most is the fact that Love is 6-9 and 265 pounds!  Our big men do not typically play great against big, physical centers.  Earned third team All-Conference.
  
• Xavier is very balanced.  According to KenPom stats this team ranks in the top 50 in Off points per possession, Def points per possession, effective FG%, defensive effective FG% and defensive rebounding.  So they play good defense, execute efficiently on offense and they rebound well.  Sounds like a very good tournament team.
• Xavier is experienced.  Actually they have only one senior on the team but this is their fifth straight NCAA Tournament so do not expect the Atlantic 10 member to be in awe of the NCAA Tournament.
• Xavier is also close to Milwaukee.  The Muskateers are located in Cincinnati which is about a 6 hour driver. Their alumni base is not as large as Minnesota's but they should travel well and be well represented. 
  
• Common Opponents this year?  Butler is the only common opponent.  Xavier lost on the road by a point, we won on a neutral court by 9.
• I love that we are playing in Milwaukee.  Gopher fans should turn out in full force to support this gutsy team.
  

Worthy links to get started with your Xavier prep.

• Cincinnati Enquirer's initial thoughts.
• SB Nation's West bracket preview.
• Burnt Orange Nation gives you the KenPom rankings of all 65 teams.

DON'T FORGET - Beginning Thursday you can come to TDG and watch live games with NCAA® March Madness on Demand®">CBS's MMOD widget, which will be embedded here.  For those of you stuck at work Friday afternoon, come here to watch the game and comment all at the same time.

Here is your chance to talk about our seed, our oppononent or lack of a seed and opponent.  We did an awful lot to play our way into the Tournament, but didn't grab the automatic bid.  It was probably enough but we'll find out very soon.

Michael Conroy - AP

Ohio State's Evan Turner. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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The Gophers are playing for a banner as they are participating in their first ever Big Ten Championship! 

Most of us are satisfied that an NCAA Tournament bid is nearly secured, but really we are playing for more.  This is actually an opportunity to earn a banner to hang in The Barn.  This has been a good run but a win today would make this a GREAT run.

Can the Gophers beat all three Big Ten champs in three consecutive days?  Repeat after me Gopher fans...YES WE CAN.  Though it won't be easy.

Why we can't win?  Evan Turner.  He is outstanding and unguardable. I look forward to him as a Timberwolf next season.

Why we can win?  Ohio State is playing their third game in three days.  Now before you point out that we are playing our fourth game in four days remember that we go 10 deep.  Ohio State goes just six, maybe seven, deep.  And our bench has been outstanding in this tournament.  Guys like Devron Bostick, Paul Carter, Justin Cobbs and Colten Iverson have been playing incredible.  Add to that, the fact that Blake Hoffarber has had good games against Ohio State and this game may not be the slam dunk for Ohio State that everyone thinks it is.

Should be fun, might be awesome.

(PJS Update: Some pregame links) ...

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, who has done a great job blogging the BTT Tournament,with a quick conference championship game preview.

Updated bubble watch and bracketology from ESPN. Bubble watch notes numerous times that Minnesota likely gets in and Illinois doesn't. That has to kill Illini fans, but it's the right call. Minnesota's beaten more top 50 RPI teams, has a better record against the likely NCAA field, beat Illinois on the road and is playing more consistently well down the stretch.

Patrick Reusse feels like being negative.

Know the opponent: Buckeye Battle Cry and Eleven Warriors has a nice preview up.

Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News says "Minnesota is together now."

The GopherHole's Selection Sunday, who has been very accurate predicting the at-large teams in the past, has the Gophers comfortably in and Illinois in if Mississippi State can't pull the upset against Kentucky. 

Finally, something to think positively about. While Ohio State is the favorite today, they will be coming back from a double overtime game. Thad Matta's short bench meant that yesterday Evan Turner played 49 minutes. David Lighty and William Buford played 50. Jon Diebler played 42 minutes. Contrast that with Minnesota, which was able to rest players. Devoe Joseph played 22 minutes. Blake Hoffarber led the team with 26. 

For much of the late afternoon and early evening I have been pretty content.  By most accounts we have already played our way into the Tournament.  It has been an outstanding weekend after beating Penn State, edging past Michigan State and then total domination over Purdue. 

But now we are playing for so much more.  I'm getting greedy and I want a conference championship.  I want a banner.  The story that will be told about this 2009-10 Gopher team is on the line.  If we can beat Ohio State, this season wasn't the season of suspensions, it wasn't the season of finishing 6th in conference, it wasn't the season of sneaking into the NCAA Tournament with a fun little run through the Big Ten Tournament.  A win today marks this season as the season we won a Big Ten Tournament Title.  A win today means a banner that will hang in the Barn for decades. 

Maybe I'm being over dramatic, but beating Ohio State would make this season one we won't soon forget.

Jim Mone - AP

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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This game would certainly get us into the Tournament but we have to actually win it.  How could they keep a team out who has a win over Butler, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue (and Illinois for that matter)?  But looking ahead does us absolutely no good, we absolutely have to earn this win.

Minnesota is becoming a team with some buzz, and they should be after a domination of Penn State and a clutch win over Michigan State.  Watching College Game Day this morning, all three of their national analysts picked Minnesota to win.  The common theme was that Robbie Hummel is out for the Boilermakers.  But I'm not convinced that will be enough.

We are playing our third game in three days.  Add that to the fact that Purdue plays the best team defense in the conference.  We are going to have to work hard on each and every offensive possession and I'm afraid that will catch up to us.  To counter-act that we need to get several easy baskets whether that comes in transition off a steal or some quality inside/out offense to get some open shots for Blake Hoffarber, Devoe Joseph or Lawrence Westbrook.

Ralph Sampson III had a breakout game last time we faced Purdue.  His 21 points and 7 rebounds will not likely be duplicated but one of our big men needs to out-muscle Purdue's JaJuan Johnson and you know that is what we try to do early offensively.

My pick for player of the game is Damian Johnson.  DJ Swat has been playing well this tournament and for the first time he will not be faced with defending Hummel.  Johnson will have more room to be an offensive weapon and should be more effective defensively.

Jeff Wheeler - AP

Minnesota's Ralph Sampson III. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Jeff Wheeler)

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Bring on the Chris Allen less Spartans.  Step one is complete, now it is on to step two of world domination the quest for respect in the Big Ten tournament.  The 21 point win over Penn State was nice but I don't think it turned any heads nor did it earn them any respect.  Damian Johnson had a nice game but if he wants to prove anything then stopping Raymar Morgan from another 17 pt and 6 reb game might get it done.  If Lawrence Westbrook wants to continue to prove that the Big Ten coaches should have recognized him with their end of season awards then go out and have another turnover-less game and keep Kalin Lucas to under 20 points. 

The Gophers are capable but they need to play well, play together and play hard (anyone remember that from the Clem days?).  Rebounding is always a key against the Spartans and more than anything else I'm looking for our interior to really play great tonight.  I'd love to see both bigs get into double figures tonight and see Sampson really establish himself and that sweet baby-hook in the paint.

Finally, if this team wants to earn more respect and get themselves back into the NCAA Tournament then this is the game to do it.  Penn State was nice, but let's get another signature neutral court win and at least make things hard on the selection committee.