So, I've seen at least a little bit of all the other B10 teams and of course the Gophers. Because of the unbalanced scheduling in the conference I wanted to take a look at how the Gopher schedule stacked up and what might be the keys to making a run at the NCAA bubble. Here are my thoughts.

I think there are fairly clearly 3 tiers of teams in the B10 this year. (Kenpom rankings in parentheses)

NCAA Locks: Indiana (16), Purdue (12), Wisconsin (8) and Michigan St. (38)

MSU has struggled a little early with a very, very difficult schedule but assuming Miles Bridges gets healthy they will compete for the B10 title.

Bottom Feeders: Rutgers (139), Penn St (99), Iowa (87), Nebraska (75)

Nebraska isn't bad and easily the best of this group. They could eek up to the middle tier and I still think they are probably in this group but they could surprise this year. Iowa is young and could get better as the season goes on but they are so bad defensively.

The rest of the teams fall in the middle in almost any order. I think probably 2-3 of these teams will make the NCAA some way.

Battling for tourney: Michigan (28), Ohio St. (33), Northwestern (43), Minnesota (55), Maryland (63), Illinois (71).

So it really comes down to how these middle 6 teams perform so I wanted to take a look at their schedules and see how many times each team plays the top 4 teams and the bottom 4 teams. So to rank their strength of schedule I'd rank them this way.


So Maryland and Illinois luck out with the schedule this year. Illinois is a fragile team. Our game with them will be important although it's on the road.

So what is Minnesota's road to the tourney. I think here is my map.


That should do it. There you go. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

UT Arlington leads #12 St Mary's on the road by 11 midway thru 2nd half

This would help elevate our win over UT-A

all over the potential of our football program. All of that TV revenue and Claeys is still forced to fight tooth and nail and he may not even get the linemen facility we need.

So, WTF do we the fanbase do?

I have no idea what to do, so I'm throwing ideas against the wall and hoping either something sticks, or one of my fellow posters has better ideas than the ones I've thrown up here.

--A petition by season ticket holders to prioritize football
--contact the BOR so often that they feel the pressure and capitulate
--Change the makeup of the BOR in order to better reflect our priorities.
--An overt protest at a BOR meeting complete with news coverage?

This school has wasted money propping up the non-revenue sports for too long.

Revenue from football operations belongs in the AD's budget, not the general fund.

We gotta reclaim our University.

Georgia Southern is a team that I thought could be a possible trap game for the Gophers.. They are only 4-4 but they took North Carolina State deep into the game before losing.... THE THING THAT STANDS OUT ABOUT GEORGIA SOUTHERN IS THEIR YOUTH.....They were the youngest team in the D1 last year.... They return all 5 starters from last year and NONE are seniors so they all return next year, as well. As a matter of fact, their only 2 seniors on the team are walk-ons that have only gotten cameo appearances. They returned 8 of the 9 in their rotation, and as I said, they will return everyone next year. This is a team that, if they recruit a solid big in the future, will make all the difference in the world for the better.. They are that ONE BIG away from really causing havoc in the South.

They are led by their backcourt and a junior wing.. Their backcourt is made up of 2 sophomores who are very good.. Ike Smith and Tookie Brown are the sophomore guards and Mike Hughes is the junior wing.. They are all double digit scores led by Smith with over 21 a game. Brown is their PG and he averages almost 15 a game. Hughes averages about 11 a game.... The thing that Georgia Southern does NOT have is a shot blocking presence or even a big that is scary... They have run into problems where they go stretches of a game that they cant get stops.... I think Minnesota would be smart to try to get Jordan Murphy some post touches early in this game, for confidence sake if nothing else. Just cant let those sophomores take over the game.. Nate Mason needs a good outing like against NJIT.. If Springs plays similar to the NJIT game, all the better. Those guys can have big games again.

Georgia Southern had a huge deficit in their last game against Florida Gulf Coast that they came back from, to get within 3 points... Those 3 guys I mentioned are the ones that have to play well if they will compete with the Gophers. None of the guys is tall. The backcourt will be 4 year starters together, in all probability so this is a program on the rise.. They need bigs so we have the huge advantage in that department. for this game.

Mark Byington is their coach.. He was a long time lead assistant to Bobby Cremins at College of Charleston. A good college player at UNC Wimington..His very young Eagles team was one of the top dozen teams in the NCAA in turnover margin last year, despite that youth..Coaching staff did a good job with those players.

This is a game that the Gopher bigs should be able to dominate and get some confidence. We are one of the top teams in the nation in FG % defense and Reggie Lynch is one of the top shot blockers in the nation.. Play our game and we win.. But we have to treat this opponent with respect or risk a huge letdown... Limit their perimeter play and get our bigs the ball early and play strong on both ends of the floor is the strategy in this game, I would think. Gophers go 9-1 after this one but this is a scary talented team in the backcourt that will mature into a solid NCAA team before these guys graduate.

OLB Bryson Jackson from Mansfield (Texas) Lake Ridge told me that he will be in Boulder this weekend for an official visit. He's already visited Minnesota and Boise State. Interest in Jackson is definitely trending up with Nebraska and Texas keeping tabs on Jackson.

https://n.rivals.com/news/lots-of-new-interest-for-jackson-upcoming-official-visit

Signed to Vikings practice squad. With H. Smith injured, wonder if he'll be activated for next game.

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Cedar Grove-Belgium (Wis.) wide receiver Reid Hilbelink accepted a PWO offer today. I believe O'Brien may have been in to see him today.

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Ok, so Zaire is visiting wisconsin and North Carolina during the next 2 weeks.

The one dual threat JUCO we are after may or may not be visiting.

The 2 newest JUCO's on the board are more pro-style than dual-threat.

Our coach says he wants more of a dual threat QB.

Croft is more of a pocket passer. And even then, from all accounts, he struggles mightily.

Green is way more of a runner than a passer but he has no experience.

Mitch regressed his senior year.


Can someone make any sense out of our QB recruiting and development ?

I think the 2018 class is a key class in that we ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO recruit bigs and multiple ones at that.. I know that we dont know who is leaving before then in our program so recruiting in the class could easily be affected to change the circumstance.. But if Nate Mason, Reggie Lynch, Bakary Konate, and Gaston Diedhou stay the course, my ideal recruiting class would be as follows:

For Lynch, Konate, and Gaston - we would recruit Moses Brown, Daniel Oturu, and Race Thompson

For Nate Mason - we recruit Markquis Nowell(who listed in Rivals as high interest for Minnesota) unless Tre Jones shows Gopher interest where in that case I would take him instead.

I know that the bigs are going to have schools that give Minnesota stiff competition and we may not have the lead on any of those kids..... Race Thompson would be a legacy recruit... Oturu said he wants to play close to home... I am guessing all the high majors needing a big will recruit Moses Brown but having Washington and Harris hopefully helps us in that recruiting as well as Kimani Young.

MY QUESTION IS "HOW LIKELY DO YOU GUYS FEEL THAT THIS CLASS WILL LOOK CLOSE TO THIS, FOR THE GOPHERS??" Is there any other guys that you know about, right now, that factor in?? There is a wing from New York named Bryce Willis that I would love to see in a Gopher uniform if a current Gopher wing transfers out. .I know Sid Wilson would be in the fray if he showed some interest in the Gophers. Nowell is a bit small but I watched some video and he looks to be a good floor general from NYC. It always worries me when we have to play young bigs right away but I know that a graduate transfer may factor in at the bigs or maybe another transfer. This is a CRUCIAL recruiting class for the Gophers, in many ways.

How can Green Party gal, Jill Stein, get a recount in WI? Looks like she has raised the money to do it and the state is prepping for it. I wonder what she was promised from the Dems to be the one to ask for it? I LOL at the Dems thinking the votes were hacked, they just can't accept that people are tired of their BS

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/lo...cle_87dae9e3-76ad-5ecb-973a-51006668ab74.html

Minnesota may host a defensive line visitor that's not on the visit list. I can't give his name, but it's someone we've mentioned before.

I'm still not confident Ryan Glover flips, but it's worth noting that one of his friends and high school teammates just decommitted.

Malik Zaire may visit Wisconsin on Wednesday and has legitimate interest in Pitt, North Carolina, Auburn, and maybe some more. Even with his girlfriend here, there seems to be little to not interest from Zaire. I haven't heard anything about interest being reciprocated.

As EJ said earlier, Ta'amu is visiting Ole Miss this weekend, and I think he may commit at the end of the weekend. Ole Miss thinks they have him in the bag, unfortunately. The interest in Nick Johns and other quarterbacks is related to Ta'amu.

Bart Miller is visiting Jimmie Terry today. Yesterday, he visited two-star Mt. Prospect (Ill.) tackle Alex Palczewski (Hudl), who holds offers from Illinois, Syracuse, and Vanderbilt. Here's what Palczewski told me about Miller's visit: "We just talked a bit about the school, but a lot about here because he went to Elk Grove which is ten minutes from Prospect. And my head wrestling coache was his coach for football when he was playing. I'm pretty interested in Minnesota. I just have to learn more about it, like what majors it has and just the university overall."

Tomorrow Miller is visiting two-star Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School guard Gage Blackston (Hudl) tomorrow.

Reeves visited top high school tight end target Jake Paulson yesterday. Remember, Paulson's visiting this weekend. There's interest in Katy (Texas) tight end Parker Eichenberger (Hudl), a Houston commit. Reeves visited him last Wednesday and is calling tonight.

Another new target that's received some contact from Anderson is Lexington (Ky.) Tates Creek wide receiver Jackson Beerman (Hudl). Anderson visited Terry Wright yesterday and is visiting Grant Walker Thursday morning.

Claeys, Poore, and Phelps all visited Joshua Croslen last night.

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Phelps will do another in-home visit with Kendrick Green tonight.

Either O’Brien or Sawvel will visit Madison (Fla.) defensive tackle Kelvin Kegler (Hudl), a USF commit, today.

Sherels and maybe Claeys will be in-home with Kyrei Fisher tonight. I think Fisher is back firmly in Minnesota's hands, as the Gophers have had some great conversations with him and the Hawg Sports writer tells me he thinks Arkansas has backed off. Arkansas only wants one more linebacker and is pursuing Thomas Johnston really hard.

Minnesota offered Kittanning (Pa.) Armstrong running back Zane Dudek (Hudl) a preferred walk-on spot.

Andover's Jacob Paul picked up a preferred walk-on offer tonight.

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In Ohio, Cincinnati St Xavier won the Division 1(BIG SCHOOL) state championship when they beat perennial state power Cleveland St Ignatius in 3 overtimes.... What is interesting is that Cincinnait St Xavier entered the state playoffs with a 5-5 record, which is the worst record ever to eventually win a state title in Ohio.. Then they ran off a string of 5 state playoff wins to get the state title..... What is funny is that during the regular season, St Xavier was 4 plays away from losing 4 more regular season games. They could have easily been 1-9, had those plays not went in St Xavier's favor, and not made the state playoffs.. 4 plays were the difference between state championship and a 1-9 record.

Same is true in other sports.... Coach K had a declining and LOSING record at Army when he took the Duke job in basketball, then weathered a bad start where they were talking about firing him after his first couple years... Now, he is an institution in the college basketball game. In college football, I know that Dave Clawson at Wake Forest and Matt Campbell at Iowa State are at dead end jobs, historically..Both are great guys and I feel are great coaches. They may surprise and have winning records at those schools but those places, HISTORICALLY, have burnt out some good coaches over the years. At Iowa State, Dan McCarney has the wins record for the school at 57 and it took him 11 years coaching to do it. If either Clawson or Campbell make it past 7 years at those respective universities, I will be completely shocked. I will be incredibly impressed if they can get a record that is .500 or better... Regardless, those guys are great coaches and worthy of being looked at by bigger schools than they are at now. Coaches cant just wave a magic wand and recruit as well as Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, or whoever. Especially if there are no resources to support the program(not just money). I say that if Minnesota is looking for a coach down the line or not.. The difference between championships and losing records is not always that great of a difference.

I've decided to give-up on thinking about the instant dream big-money hire. It was just a dream from a long-suffering Gopher FB fan. Venting too. But the Regents' actions and comments (and just who they are) has snapped me back to reality. And I'm tired of being negative. So my ideas will be focused within a $2.5M budget for a head coach.

That being said....I will kick-off my new-found attitude with an outside-the-box idea. Let's say I'm Coyle, I want to win, but I'm being hamstrung by the budget. What could I possibly do?? I have an idea. Find the son (age 20-30) of the best coach possible. Maybe Saban or Meyer has a son. I don't even care if he's in coaching. I'd make a secret deal with Claeys. I'd tell him to hire this kid as an assistant. I'd tell Claeys that we're grooming him. In return, I'd promise Claeys to go to bat for him and keep him a few extra years longer than he'd normally be here. Fight for an extra contract and money for him. But he has to groom this kid....and help spread propaganda that this kid is dynamite.

I think it's a good idea. With teamwork, it might work even better than the Pitino hire. I'm willing to wait, as long as there's a good plan in place. Note: I highly doubt this will happen either. But at least it's something different to think about.

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=16008589011

This is pretty cool....Amazon go

Link: Mafe talks top two

Not only the toughest SOB on the team, he's Academic-All Big10 with an undergrad in Civil-Engineering. Impressive! 1 of 27 football players to earn Academic All Conference. Well done boys!

We play 3 NYC area teams before we enter the Big 10 competition in men's basketball.. LIU Brooklyn is coming up and we played St Johns and NJIT. We will play Rutgers during the Big 10 season as well.. DO you think that is on-purpose or coincidental,in regards to preconference games?? Lots of exposure to people in the NYC area. Maybe some of the fans will tell others in the city how great that Gopher team is now and going to be better... Dupree McBrayer starting this with Isaiah Washington and Jamal Harris on the way.. Will this be a help in recruiting the area, all the more?? Just thought this was interesting for this year.

This is the list from this website. Any hope that one or two could commit to the Gophers? Mafe? Paulsen?


2017 Minnesota
Football Visit Dates
share:

Name Pos Stars RR Ht Wt Visit Date School
Brett Kitrell OG
5.4 6'4" 280 12/9/16
Minnesota
Dominik London APB
5.4 5'9" 191 12/9/16
Minnesota
Eric Abojei OT
5.5 6'5" 310 12/9/16
Minnesota
Jakyle Holmes RB
5.5 5'10" 195 12/9/16
List
Jordan Ulmer S
5.4 6'2" 185 12/9/16
List
Boye Mafe WDE
5.4 6'4" 225 12/9/16
List
Javan Hawes WR
5.5 6'0" 182 12/9/16
Minnesota
Grant Ryerse K
5.3 6'3" 215 12/9/16
Minnesota
Jake Paulson TE
5.6 6'5" 245 12/9/16
List
Tito Windham CB
5.5 6'0" 189 12/9/16
Memphis
Blaise Andries OT
5.7 6'6" 290 12/9/16
Minnesota
Brock Annexstad

Pitino went small last night in the 2nd half for a significant stretch.. I think it was a good strategy, especially since Murphy was in foul trouble. He had Lynch on the floor with ball handlers and good scoring options.. He had his best scorers in the game together, which forced NJIT to play guys straight up. NJIT could not get a help defender on the ball, that way. Dupree, Amir, Akeem, and Nate are all scoring threats with the ball in their hands and Reggie gave us our size and backline defense as well as rebounding. WE CANT GET AWAY WITH DOING THAT EVERY GAME, but NJIT lacked size so it was very effective in this game. When the defense of our opponent has to 'play honest' against us, that keeps the passing and driving lanes open. Game was still close but I dont think Pitino had another choice with Murphy in foul trouble/fouled out. Springs and Mason had good nights shooting the ball and Amir is so smart in that he finds ways to help the team at all times.

Not projecting forward but just in light of this game, we got a win and that is important. We played a team with some decent upperclassmen though Lynn struggled a lot with his shooting. That is the type of shots he takes so shot selection for him was no different than normal except he has made a lot more of them in past games. We bothered the shots of Lynn and Coleman with our length and athleticism. NJIT forwards were another matter.. They looked pretty good at times, Okawuba played very well and Tarke has a chance to be a decent ballplayer down the line. Lewis gave them some decent minutes as well.

Retrospectively, I dont know what is up with the inconsistency with Jordan Murphy... He will have good games with double doubles, then games like last night where he just was not in the game, mentally. Jordan is not a good ballhandler or shooter and I really believe he is best as a 3rd or 4th option player on the floor, in the half court.. That way, he can free lance more aggressively where he can move into open areas of a defense near the bucket or be aggressive on offensive rebounds.. He will only move up as an 'option' if he can get a consistent move where he can get a score. He was in foul trouble last night, of course. Regardless, we need Jordan to get double figures on most nights if we want to be competitive in the conference. I DO WONDER WHEN JORDAN HAS A "PROBLEM" that now we have Reggie Lynch bringing his defender down low, which creates more traffic under the basket. NOT AS EASY FOR JORDAN TO OPERATE DOWN LOW. Last year, with Bakary and Joey, they were setting high screens and then either working towards the basket(Bakary) or flaring to the wing/spotting up(Joey), so there was more room to operate near the basket for Jordan.

Maybe it is just me, but it seems like the staff has been more aggressive in offering juniors (2018) than in previous years. Yes? Maybe a change in recruiting strategy?

Springs:
-If we take every game as an opportunity to get better as a team to get prepared for conference play. They need to think each game is one that can help put the team on the map.
-Personal best for me, but didn't feel good during the game because the team didn't play their best game. It's the details that allow the team to be successful. Good to have a close game, but not the best he has felt with the team.
-Didn't underestimate the opponent at all, they have been through it last year. Good to have a close game because it will make the team hungrier in practice.
-Tomorrow will be big, we need to come in hungry, it's all about how we respond to this and try to get better.

Mason:
-Akeem made big plays, making box outs or hitting big shots, he also showed great leadership in the huddle.
-Last year is in the past, just trying to get better and win every game. Not thinking about last year at all.
-Numbers were good (shooting) but we turned the ball over 14 times. We guarded the three-point line well and forced them into taking tough shots.
-They ran a Princeton style offense and it threw off our bigs, but we were just trying to communicate as best as we could and try to get through screens to help our big guys.

Pitino:
-A lot of teaching moments, thought they guarded well. They shot just 25% from the three-point line. Need to clean up the turnovers and gave up too many offensive rebounds.
-You can lose to anyone, and you try to tell your guys every night that they can be beaten.
-Happy to be 8-1, we were able to get enough stops at the end and found a way to win.
-Good teams fight the urge to overlook teams. Need to find a way to use this month to collectively get better while also winning games. We only had one day of preparation, which was Sunday, but we just didn't play our best tonight.
-We had good energy today in huddles, but not leading up to the game. Our approach leading up needs to be better, you have to be obsessed with individually getting better and doing anything you can to help the team get better. Tonight was a good wake up call.
-How do you respond to the elements that go on throughout the course of the game? You need to respond to foul trouble, turnovers, etc. Need to get a better offensive flow.
-Akeem is starting to figure out how he can really impact this team. 19 pts and I loved the 7 rebounds.
-Mason played great defense on Lynn, he was 2/15 from three. Mason also hit a big shot the end of the game. He came up big time.
-No second unit, we are one team. Bakary Konate played well, except the illegal screens are driving me insane. It's disappointing because he is playing really well.
-Curry wasn't great today, I think he can give us more. But the key is we just need to keep getting him better.
-Proud of Bakary because he has never once mentioned playing time or role, and he is always celebrating teammates successes. We just need to get him to set legal screens.
-It's good we are finding a way to win close games. We hit big free throws and got stops when we needed to down the stretch. Reggie has been big because when we mess up on defense Reggie can clean up some of those mistakes by blocking shots. Bakary has improved blocking shots as well.

players that red-shirted this year play in the bowl game?

10 Coaching jobs discussed here. Was pretty surprised at where ex-Boise State and Colorado Head Coach Hawkins is at now. His alma mater, Cal Davis.

Ex-Colorado coach Hawkins now at UC Davis
UC Davis officially introduced former Boise State and Colorado coach Dan Hawkins as its new football coach.

Hawkins said that going back to his alma mater was the right fit. Hawkins played for the Aggies in 1981-82 and later served as an assistant coach under Jim Sochor from 1983-85.

Hawkins had his most success as a coach at Boise State. He took over the program in 2001 and led the Broncos to a 53-11 record in five seasons before moving on to Colorado. He had a 19-39 record in five seasons with the Buffaloes before being fired in 2010.

Hawkins had been serving as an analyst at ESPN in recent years.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2016/11/28/college-football-coach-tracker/94544910/