I have updated this thread to be a bowl pick'em. Post your picks in this thread.

Ground rules

• You will get 1 point for each correct bowl winner pick
• For the championship game, you will get 1 point for each team you correctly identify being in the championship and another point for selecting the correct national champion - include the score of the championship game for the tiebreaker
• You have until midnight Friday night to make your picks (any edited picks after midnight will invalidate your picks)

Bowl games are listed below. Good luck.

Saturday, December 16

• Celebration Bowl, 12 p.m on ABC: Grambling vs. North Carolina A&T
• New Orleans Bowl, 1 p.m. on ESPN: Troy vs. North Texas
• Cure Bowl, 2:30 p.m. on CBSSN: Georgia State vs. Western Kentucky
• Las Vegas Bowl, 3:30 p.m. on ABC: Boise State vs. Oregon
• New Mexico Bowl, 4:30 p.m. on ESPN: Marshall vs. Colorado State
• Camellia Bowl, 8 p.m. on ESPN: Arkansas State vs. Middle Tennessee

Tuesday, December 19

• Boca Raton Bowl, 7 p.m. on ESPN: FAU vs. Akron

Wednesday, December 20

• Frisco Bowl, 8 p.m. on ESPN: SMU vs. Louisiana Tech

Thursday, December 21

• Gasparilla Bowl, 8 p.m. on ESPN: FIU vs. Temple

Friday, December 22

• Bahamas Bowl, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN: Ohio vs. UAB
• Potato Bowl, 4 p.m. on ESPN: CMU vs. Wyoming

Saturday, December 23

• Birmingham Bowl, 12 p.m. on ESPN: USF vs. Texas Tech
• Armed Forces Bowl, 3:30 p.m. on ESPN: Army vs. San Diego State
• Dollar General Bowl, 7 p.m. on ESPN: Appalachian State vs. Toledo

Sunday, December 24

• Hawaii Bowl, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN: Fresno State vs. Houston

Tuesday, December 26

• Heart of Dallas Bowl, 1:30 p.m on ESPN: Utah vs. West Virginia
• Quick Lane Bowl, 5:15 p.m. on ESPN: Duke vs. NIU
• Cactus Bowl, 9 p.m. on ESPN: Kansas State vs. UCLA

Wednesday, December 27

• Independence Bowl, 1:30 p.m. on ESPN: Florida State vs. Southern Miss
• Pinstripe Bowl, 5:15 p.m. on ESPN: Boston College vs. Iowa
• Foster Farms Bowl, 8:30 p.m. on FOX: Arizona vs. Purdue
• Texas Bowl, 9 p.m. on ESPN: Texas vs. Missouri

Thursday, December 28

• Military Bowl, 1:30 p.m. on ESPN: Virginia vs. Navy
• Camping World Bowl, 5:15 p.m. on ESPN: Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech
• Holiday Bowl, 9 p.m. on FS1: Michigan State vs. Washington State
• Alamo Bowl, 9 p.m. on ESPN: Stanford vs. TCU

Friday, December 29

• Belk Bowl, 1 p.m. on ESPN: Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M
• Sun Bowl, 3 p.m. on CBS: Arizona State vs. NC State
• Music City Bowl, 4:30 p.m. on ESPN: Kentucky vs. Northwestern
• Arizona Bowl, 5:30 p.m. on CBSSN: New Mexico State vs. Utah State
• Cotton Bowl, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN: Ohio State vs. USC

Saturday, December 30

• TaxSlayer Bowl, 12 p.m. on ESPN: Mississippi State vs. Louisville
• Liberty Bowl, 12:30 p.m. on ABC: Memphis vs. Iowa State
• Fiesta Bowl, 4 p.m. on ESPN: Penn State vs. Washington
• Orange Bowl, 8 p.m. on ESPN: Miami vs. Wisconsin

Monday, January 1

• Outback Bowl, 12 p.m. on ESPN2: Michigan vs. South Carolina
• Peach Bowl, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN: Auburn vs. UCF
• Citrus Bowl, 1 p.m. on ABC: Notre Dame vs. LSU
• Rose Bowl Playoff semifinal, 5 p.m. on ESPN: Oklahoma vs. Georgia
• Sugar Bowl Playoff semifinal, 8:45 p.m. on ESPN: Clemson vs. Alabama

Monday, January 8

• Playoff National Championship, 8 p.m. on ESPN: Rose winner vs. Sugar winner

Dusty Rychart, age 39, one of my all-time favorite "lunchpail" Gopher hoopsters, who played at MN 1998-2002, is in his 16th year of professional basketball in Australia, playing for the Brisbane Capitals. He's been his team's MVP 4 of the past 5 seasons.

As a Gopher, with less than elite skills and athleticism, he was one of the hardest-working rebounders ever to wear the maroon and gold. Originally a walk-on, from Grand Rapids, in 111 games over 4 years he averaged 11.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game, as an undersized (6'7", 210 lb.) power forward.

Go Army! Beat Navy!

Technically the charge is 'corruption'....stemming from a pedophilia incident in 2012. That's the excuse the Democrats and the media are using to not report the story....while continuing to hammer Roy Moore.

The Ironman tournament is this weekend... Probably the best high school wrestling tournament in the country, just outside Akron, Ohio... Finals are tonight..I wanted to see how the kid from St Paris Graham that is going to Minnesota is wrestling... I think Minnesota high schools have traveling restrictions which prohibits their ability to go to the tournament.

Blair Academy from New Jersey, who is the preseason number 1 team in the nation in high school, is there... All the top Ohio teams are there, of course as well as the top teams from Pennsylvania and Illinois... Florida and California sent teams, I believe.

To demonstrate how tough the tournament is, one year the tournament had 10 STATE CHAMPIONS IN THE SAME WEIGHT CLASS going into the tournament... With 8 placing that means AT LEAST 2 STATE CHAMPIONS WOULD NOT EVEN PLACE!! That does not even count possible upsets by solid wrestlers that did not win state championships.... Saturday morning is usually better than the finals, IMO, because you see the semifnals with 4 wreslers in each class that probably are good enough to win it..

There is a returning champion from this tournament that was seeded 7th this year... Not often in any tournament that a returning champion gets seeded that low.

UNLIMITED, IF YOU DID SEE THE TOURNAMENT, COULD YOU GIVE ME YOUR ANALYSIS??

Preview

Game begins on SEC Network at 5:46 p.m. inside Bud Walton Arena.

Gophers Starters:

Mason, McBrayer, Coffey, Murphy, Lynch.

Arkansas Starters:
Anton Beard, Daryl Macon, Jaylen Barford, Trey Thompson and Dustin Thomas

QB Baldwin that we were looking at from Colorado St. committed to Ohio St. I'll take our current commitments though especially with Vic onboard.

Gary Trent was Duke's leading scorer today in #1 Duke's loss to Boston College. He scored 25 points. He would have looked good in maroon and gold. Is he a "one and done" player for Duke?

Lost to BC. Nebraska beat BC. Nebraska > Duke

When do you think we'll see a new commitment from the weekend visitors?

I saw the video of PJ Fleck in some of the ball drills competing with the players.. He won most of the battles.. My guess is that even though Fleck is not real big, he would probably be more than a handful in a fight. I know the fights that I have seen or been in during my teen years, the big guys just need to hit you a couple times to be effective but I always thought smaller guys could be a lot tougher in a fight because they were quicker. Another example for the older guys is Cliff Harris, former safety for the Dallas Cowboys.. I have older friends from Texas that knew of him and said more than once that a bigger fan, TE, lineman, or LB would try to pick a fight with Harris and when it was all over, Harris was standing and the bigger guy lying on the ground bloodied with missing teeth or a broken jaw. Fleck looks to me like he would have a bit of an 'edge' to him in desiring and showing others he could overcome despite natural circumstances.. Which is a good thing.

That said, I would love to ask him a question about recruiting WRs. He was one himself and again, not a big guy.. Corey Davis wasn't a big guy at Western Michigan.. Mohammed Sanu had a bit of size when Fleck was an assistant out there.. MY POINT IS THAT HE IS RECRUITING A LOT OF MORE SLIGHT BUILT RECEIVERS.. I find that interesting, NOT WRONG, seeing that we don't have a proven QB with good accuracy.

I remember Dan Marino having the 'mighty mites' to throw to in WRs Mark Duper and Mark Clayton at Miami...I still feel that if I had 2 receivers like Jerry Rice and Steve Largent that I would do fine in the passing game in any generation. Rice and Largent weren't necessarily big nor fast.. Though Rice could be as fast as he needed to be at a given time.

I admit that I like the big receivers like Aaron Hosack, Eric Decker, Drew Wolitarsky, etc. with the large catching radius to mitigate a QB that may not be so accurate..Can muscle the corners for position to move the chains on 3rd down..I am not sure that we have anyone like that on our team now... THE ADVANTAGE of the small guys is if they have good technique, they can make quick cuts and breaks on the ball.. Rather have quick and precise routes that can create separation so I understand the small guys' advantage.

I am NOT SUGGESTING that Fleck has 'NAPOLEON COMPLEX' when it comes to recruiting receivers..Maybe getting guys that are like himself that may need to overcome size with an attitude of showing they have something to prove. Though I am sure when he was going through school himself that he had to prove his abilities against bigger guys..

Chris Bell, Mark Williams(yes he was a QB), Harry Van Dyne, Jornell Manns, Rashod Bateman, Philip Howard are all slighter guys though Van Dyne has some height... Hmielewski and Tyler Johnson arent big guys, either.. I wonder if that is philosophical for Fleck in how he recruits WRs or is that just the playmakers he happened to find in recruiting in the last couple years..

Bigger receivers are more forgiving with the passes but we SURELY know that does not guarantee success on the field.. Examples being Isaiah Gentry, Melvin Holland, Hunter Register and Rashad Still.. None panned out for us.. NOT TRYING TO STIR UP TROUBLE HERE but just think this is interesting though our QB situation hopefully is looking up.

Per Football Scoop.....

Oregon State: Oregon State has parted ways with its entire coaching staff save for interim head coach Cory Hall, according to The Oregonian. The school will honor their contracts, but the staff was told to evacuate the football facility by Tuesday night.

Mariano Sori-Marin:


Strengths:

· Technically sound in his assignments. Providence used him in a few different ways, lining him up as a Will LB and as an edge defender (like Gophers do with Kamal Martin). As a weakside LB he appropriately stays backside of the running back and plays cutback lane very well. As an edge defender, he doesn’t give up ground at the point of attack and sets the edge, not allowing RB’s to bounce outside of him
· Good athlete. Played safety last year for Providence, and played WR for them this year
· Former safety. Understands coverages and plays his zone well, looking up threats


Weaknesses:

· Tends to leave his feet at times when he tackles. That will need to be corrected at the next level
· Straight line speed. While he put on weight from last year, he also seems to have a lost a step. His speed doesn’t pop off on film like it does for Braelen Oliver or Rush.

Sori-Marin, I believe, projects as more of a SAM LB for the Gophers, since he doesn’t give up ground at the point of attack and takes on blocks well. That will allow Oliver/other LB’s to run freely as Mike or Will LB’s. I don’t expect to see any of the linebacker commits playing next year barring injury, but Sori-Marin probably has the best chance since he’s technically sound and physically is the most ready. Should be a solid player for Minnesota down the road.

I keep hearing about the 0-12 to 12-0 performance, so I decided to do some looking. Reality is a bit different.

The year before they went 0-12, they went 9-4-1 under George O'Leary (the year before that they went 12-1), then O'Leary started 0-8 and resigned. An assistant ran the team to another 4 losses. Then Frost takes the team and doesn't go 12-0, but 6-7 in his first year. Then he goes 12-0.

Another point is quality of players. Throughout O'Leary's tenure, he constantly recruited in the top 3 in the conference, with a class average of about 62-3 in the nation. Frost's two classes were only slightly better, at 65th in 2016 and 55th in 2017.

So, Scott Frost is definitely a good coach, and probably a decent recruiter, but I certainly wouldn't put him above PJ Fleck, especially the way the current recruiting class is building.

A little postscript: He tried to steal Grant Norton and Norton declined.

warning: Bible stuff
Got Jesus?
September 23, 2017


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PREVIEW: GOPHERS AT ARKANSAS



Dec. 8, 2017

#14/15 Minnesota (8-2) at Arkansas (6-2)
Date / Time Saturday, Dec. 9 | 5:45 p.m.
Location Bud Walton Arena - Fayetteville, Ark.
Tickets Click Here
TV SEC Network
Live Video WatchESPN
Radio KFAN 100.3 FM
Live Stats Click Here
Live Update Click Here
Game Notes Minnesota | Arkansas
Official Sites Minnesota | Arkansas
Social Media Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, December 9, 2017
Time: 5:45 p.m. CT
Location: Fayetteville, Ark.
Arena: Bud Walton Arena (19,200)
TV/Live Video: SEC Network - Matt Schick (Play-by-Play); Pat Bradley (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/KFAN 100.3 FM - Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 137/XM 190

SERIES INFORMATION
Series: Sixth Meeting (2-3)
Series (Away): Second Meeting (0-1)
Current Streak: W-1
Richard Pitino vs. Arkansas: Third Meeting (1-1)
Minnesota vs. SEC: 19-14*
Richard Pitino vs. SEC: 4-1
* - excludes vacated games

STARTING FIVE
• The Minnesota men's basketball returns to the non-conference schedule after a brief foray into Big Ten play, traveling to Arkansas on Saturday. The game is the second of a home-and-home series that began last year in Minneapolis, an 85-71 Gopher win. It is Minnesota's first road game at an SEC school since Dec. 7, 2001 (Georgia 77, Minnesota 55).
• Jordan Murphy is leading the team averaging 19.9 points (B1G: 2nd) and 12.8 rebounds (B1G: 1st/NCAA: 2nd)per game through the first 10 games. Murphy has posted 10 double-doubles (highest in the country) thus far this season, and the three-time Big Ten Player of the Week became the first Gopher to win the award in back-to-back weeks. Murphy is also just the second Gopher to win it three times in the same season. He is additionally leads the country in offensive rebounds (5.6) per game, as of Dec. 7.
• Reggie Lynch leads the country with 4.5 blocks per game, and this week, Lynch moved past Jeff Hagen (2002-05) and Michael Bauer (2000-04) to take sixth on the Gophers' all-time blocked shots list with 159. He needs just six more to tie Joel Przybilla for the most by any Gopher in two or fewer seasons of play in the Maroon and Gold (165).
• On Sunday, the Gophers snapped a four-game losing streak in B1G openers, winning its first since a 76-63 victory against Michigan State on Dec. 31, 2012. Last season, the Gophers dropped a 75-74 overtime decision versus the Spartans, and had previously lost conference-opening tilts at Ohio State, at Purdue during 2014-15, and at home versus Michigan. Since 1980-81, the Gophers are 12-20 in Big Ten openers (excluding vacated seasons).
• Head coach Richard Pitino won his 100th career game on Nov. 25 against Alabama. Pitino is one of five active Division I head coaches who have reached the 100 career victory mark in their sixth season or sooner.

SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
• Arkansas is 6-2 on the season including a perfect 4-0 mark at home. The Razorbacks' two losses came vs. North Carolina (87-68) in the PK80 Invitational in Portland, and at Houston (91-65) a week ago.
• Jaylen Barford leads the five Razorbacks averaging double figures with 19.6 points per game, a figure that ranks third in the SEC.
• Arkansas leads the SEC and ranks 23rd in the nation with a turnover margin of +4.9.

GOPHERS VS. THE SEC
• Minnesota has amassed a record of 19-14 against the current membership of the Southeastern Conference.
• That total includes the following individual opponent records: Alabama (1-2), Arkansas (2-3), Florida (1-1), Georgia (4-1), Kentucky (1-3), Ole Miss (2-0), Missouri (2-0), South Carolina (0-2), Tennessee (0-1), Texas A&M (1-1), Vanderbilt (5-0). Games that were later vacated are excluded from that list.
• The Gophers will face two SEC opponents this year in Alabama (Nov. 25) and Arkansas (Dec. 9). This is the second straight year of facing two SEC foes - prior to that, Minnesota hadn't played two SEC schools in the same year since 1997 (Alabama & Kentucky), results that were later vacated.
• Head coach Richard Pitino is facing a SEC opponent for the sixth time. He is no stranger to the conference, however, spending two seasons on Billy Donovan's staff at Florida.

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Link: Spann-Ford ready to row at eLITe18 Palooza

I was checking the SEC channel to be sure I still had it for the game tomorrow and ran across a show called Bo, Barkley and the Big Hurt. It was a show about Auburn athletes Charles Barkley, Bo Jackson and Frank Thomas who all played there in the 80s. It truly was a special time for a college to have those 3 play in the same decade. The Gophers best decade to try and match these would probably be the 70s with Winfield, McHale and Dungy. They wouldn’t beat the Auburn trio as they are phenomenal but our 3 wouldn’t be bad though Dungy came later as a coach. If I had to choose a football player during that decade it would probably be Rick Upchurch who was just scintillating. FYI the show was very good.

If Schiano were to end up at Tennessee, I wonder if he would try to pilfer some of the Gopher staff members?

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How fast is he, looks really fast on video?

Link: Reigelsperger ready to be a Gopher

Mods,
How many more OL are we taking?

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Daniel Fa'alele