Dairy Queen Baseball Classic

Friday afternoon will begin this year's Dairy Queen Classic. The Gopher baseball team annually hosts this nationally competitive tournament in the Metrodome. This year's talent is as good as it gets. (And stay tuned as I tie the Dairy Queen Classic to Pamela Anderson.)

Pepperdine
TCU
#18-Tulane
Minnesota

All but Tulane were NCAA Tournament participants a year ago and they are undefeated this season and #18 in the Baseball America poll. Pepperdine is ranked in some polls and TCU is among the teams on the verge of being ranked. Since my knowledge of Gopher baseball is limited at best and I know even less about the participating teams, I have called a new friend to Gopher Nation. Brian at the College Baseball Blog was kind enough to give us a little insight into the participating teams and a little about the Gopher's chances this year.

1. Before we get to looking ahead let's look back. Minnesota walked into what we all knew would be a tough 3-game series with #4 Mississippi, but I don't think anybody expected it to be quite as bad as it was (losing a combined 45-10). How good is Mississippi and should this series really be used as an accurate barometer?

tCBB - Ole Miss is picked to finish by the coaches of the SEC to grab the Western Division title over Mississippi State. Lance Lynn is one of the top pitchers in the nation in 2008 and should be a first round pick barring any major injuries. The results should be looked at by Gopher baseball fans as a barometer that this team needs to step up their game to be a National contender again.

2. Now let's just pretend that series didn't happen. Coming into the lion's den that is the HHH Metrodome are three very good teams. #30-Pepperdine, TCU were both NCAA Tournament teams a year ago and #18-Tulane is having a very good season. The first question is, can Minnesota get a win out of this weekend?

tCBB - Minnesota can always get a win out of this weekend as they can catch a pitcher on an off-day or just hit great on that day. It is baseball and anything can happen. Do I expect them to sweep those three schools? Absolutely not and would be surprised if they won 2 games in the tourney.

3. If fans head down to the Dome to watch some quality college baseball who are some players that we should pay attention to for the visiting teams?

tCBB - The best player in the tournament this weekend is Brett Hunter out of Pepperdine. He is a 6-4 right handed pitcher who has been throwing high 90's during spring workouts and should be a contender for National Pitcher of the Year awards. He is the real deal and when he is expected to start is a must see for the Gopher fans even if the Gophers are not playing in that game. TCU is expected to continue to dominate the Mountain West conference and Tulane has become a national power in Conference USA. TCU is coming off a series against Cal-State Fullerton in which they lost 2 out of 3 but picked up a victory on Tuesday over Dallas Baptist University to even their record at 2-2. Tulane enters with a perfect 4-0 record with a 3 game sweep over UIC and a single game victory over SE Louisiana.

4. As Minnesota gets into the Big Ten season, where do you see them finishing? Can they compete with Michigan or is it a fight for second place?

tCBB - Second place for Minnesota? I don't think so. I see Minnesota in a battle for third place in the Big Ten. Ohio State and Michigan are on a separate tier when compared to the rest of the conference. Ohio State had one of the best recruiting classes in the country in the last few years and the student athletes are starting to get involved in the everyday lineup. Purdue went down to Baylor and gave them a run for the money with three straight one run games.

5. Based on your expertise, is this an NCAA Tournament team? Would a second place Big Ten finish and an 8th consecutive appearance in the B10 Tourney title game be enough to get them into the Field?

tCBB - This Minnesota team is about a year away from competing for a conference title. Michigan just played the Mets on Tuesday where they tied 4-4. We don't even have to bring up the fact that Michigan qualified for a Super Regional last year and Ohio State had an excellent team which qualified for the Texas AM Regional.

6. I know the staff at The College Baseball Blog get out and see a lot of games throughout the season, can we expect to see you visiting Seibert Field? Maybe May 9-11 when we host Michigan?

tCBB - I would love to come out for that series but we are trying to develop some great advertising on my site to make this a full-time job for me. I will see what I can do about making that big series in frigid Minnesota.

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** If that isn't enough to get you to go, there is a chance that you may catch a Pamela Anderson sighting at the Dome this weekend. You read it right, apparently Pam is a huge supporter of the Waves.

** What I want to know is why did we invite TCU? We have the Waves of Pepperdine, the Green Wave from Tulane and then the Horned Frogs? No, no, no, we should cancel their flight and bring in Florida Atlantic and the Blue Wave! Now THAT would have made for a tournament.

** HERE is the GopherSports.com preview of the participating teams.

** To get your Tulane fix, check out Wave Sports.

** Finally, I'd like to make a motion that the tournament be moved to Pepperdine. The Barn is cool, the Dome is functional, but playing baseball with palm trees just beyond the fences and a view of the Pacific in left field? Wow!

Basketball Blog Poll

My posting of the Basketball Blog Poll has been spotty at best, but below is the composite poll for week 16.

LINK to everyone's vote.

1	Tennessee (8)
2	Memphis
3	North Carolina (2)
4	Texas (1)
5	UCLA
6	Duke
7	Kansas
8	Xavier
9	Stanford
10	Louisville
11	Georgetown
12	Wisconsin
13	Drake
14	Indiana
15	Notre Dame
16	UConn
17	Butler
18	Purdue
19	Washington St.
20	Michigan St.
21	Marquette
22	Vanderbilt
23	Clemson
24	St. Mary's
25	Gonzaga

Others receiving votes: Kansas State, Miami, Kent State, West Virginia, New Mexico, Pittsburgh, Davidson

Breaking Down the Box - Purdue

Boilermakers put the Gophers on their heels en route to a 12 point win at home.

Minnesota -53
Purdue -65
BOX SCORE



The Boilermaker defense was impressive. And I could end the game review with that sentence. The pressure that they put on the Gophers was impressive and allowed them to dictate for about 35 of the 40 minutes. Minnesota ended the first half on a decent 15-2 run, until Keaton Grant drained a half-court shot as time ran out.

But the second half was all Purdue and Minnesota was never able to get into an offensive rhythm and was never able to execute on the offensive end. Those of you with the Big Ten Network got to see a lot of Gophers standing with the ball over their head and back on their heels.

Purdue coach Matt Painter summed it up well...

"I thought our pressure was good tonight. I thought we did a good job defensively; they finally just drove right at us and stopped trying to run stuff. For the most part I was pleased with the effort. We were able to put pressure on the ball throughout the game"

I for one was hopeful that an eight day lay off after a disappointing loss @Indiana would have made for a sluggish start for the Boilermakers. Not so as they applied some of the best on the ball pressure I have seen all year and jumped to a quick 3-13 start.

The Purdue pressure caused a ton of turnovers and kept the Gopher shooting percentage down. Tubby Smith didn't mince words when asked about his ball handler's ability to turn the ball over.

"Al Nolen is usually a better ball handler than he was tonight; Lawerence Westbrook has had trouble all year handling the ball. I guess the pressure got to us and we couldn't handle it."

Player of the Game - E'Twaun Moore

22 - pnts
3 - threes
5 - reb
2 - steals

I was looking forward to a Nolen / Moore match up but he was too hard to guard tonight. And I don't what that ref was thinking, photographic evidence above shows it was clearly all ball.

Tempo-Free Zone


32.2% turnovers, that was the biggest difference in the game.

Up Next - Ohio State

Three games left and have to win them all to get into bubble talk, but that is crazy. This game is kind of meaningless. There is a chance that Minnesota could steal the 5 seed in the conference tournament which would mean a bye. I guess that is something.

This game is winable. Ohio State hasn't been playing their best basketball lately and playing at home always gives us a chance to win.

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On a side note here is some totally shocking information from Big Ten Tonight...

** Gene Keady predicts Purdue will come out on top of the menage-a-trois that is the Big Ten standings.

** Jimmy Jackson thinks Indiana will win. Why? Because they score points.

** I've been a fan of Wisconsin's bid to win it all year because they play so well together and play defense. I may end up being wrong as Purdue has the easiest remaining schedule.

Big Ten Power Poll - Week 8

Maybe it is because the conference has kind of sorted it self out, or maybe it is because discussing the draft position of Jake Long is so important but the Big Ten Bloggers Basketball Power Poll is dying a slow death. We have set a Big Ten Bloggers record for a low in participants.

None the less, the Poll must go on.

Indiana moved past Wisconsin and Purdue's grip on 1st place is tenuous at best. Other than that there wasn't much action. My educated guess is that this is the last week you'll see Purdue atop the standings.

		Avg Pts	Tot Pnts
1.	Purdue (3)	10.00	80
2.	Indiana (2)	9.75	78
3.	Wisconsin (3)	9.00	72
4.	Michigan State	8.00	64
5.	Ohio State	7.75	62
6.	Minnesota	6.50	52
7.	Michigan	5.00	40
8.	Iowa	3.75	30
9.	Penn State	3.13	25
10.	Illinois	1.88	15
11.	Northwestern	1.25	10

PARTICIPATING BLOGS
Big Ten Chronicle - Big 10
Hoopraker - Big 10
Hoosier Report - Ind
Hoosier Fun Ball - Ind
Black Heart Gold Pants - Iowa
Maize n Brew - Mich
MSU Sparty - Mich St
Enlightened Spartan - Mich St
From the Barn - Minn
Gopher Nation - Minn
Down With Goldy - Minn
Paging Jim Shikenjanski - Minn
Lake the Posts - NW
Around the Oval - Ohio St
Eleven Warriors - Ohio St
Buckeye Battle Cry - Ohio St
Black Shoes Diary - Penn St
Nittany White Out - Penn St
Off the Tracks - Pur

Breaking Down the Box - Penn State (part 2)

Penn State - 68
Minnesota - 76
BOX SCORE


Basketball is a game of runs and Sunday's afternoon tilt proved just that.

Minnesota jumped to an early 10-7 lead only to let it slip into a 13 point hole after a Penn State run of 8-24. This run spanned 8:46 and saw Minnesota start 0-11 during the first 5:01 of the run. You read that right, we went a span of five minutes making zero shots in 11 attempts, 4/16 overall.

Fortunately the three point line is still only 19'9" away and the 13 point deficit was quickly cut in half after back to back threes by Johnson and the Hoff. Minnesota used a 17-4 run to tie the game with 0:44 left in the half.

Down two to start the half, Minnesota made the first run this time and started with a 15-1 run which ate up 5:13 and gave them a comfortable 12 point lead with less than 15:00 left.

But maybe it was too comfortable. Just when it felt like the Gophers were going to run away with the game Penn State had one run left in them to cut the Gopher lead to just two. With 4:42 remaining and a 13 point gopher lead Penn State turned over Minnesota and used a 1-12 run to make it a one possession game (2 points) with just 2:37 to go.

Then Westbrook said enough was enough and he scored six of the gophers last 7 points to seal the deal.

Player of the Game - Lawrence Westbrook

Nobody really stood out on Sunday but Westbrook had an outstanding second half.

Second Half Stats...
Pts - 10 (15 total)
Reb - 5 (6 total)
Ast - 3 (4 total)
Stl - 2 (2 total)
Turnovers - 0 (1 total)

Tempo Free Zone -the tempo stats tell us a lot about this game. The Gophers rebounded well (62% Def Reb%) and turned PSU over (forcing 26.5%). Effective FG% was fairly even as was points per possession so the fact that we ended their possessions and turned them over is what won the game for us.




Up Next - @Purdue

Before you sream, YIKES, I think this game will at a minimum be competitive and is ripe to steal (don't tell the Boilermakers). Don't get me wrong, I think Matt Painter has been outstanding this year and I love that Purdue has been such a great story. But there is opportunity here and I think our match-ups are OK.

HERE is a good comparison of player stats.

There are two key match ups for Thursday.

E'twaun Moore vs. Al Nolen
Calassan / J.Johnson vs. Tollackson

I'll get into this all more with an actual preview but I think we can make a game of this. Unfortunately I fear this will be another close lose, moral victory or whatever you want to call a positive spin on a loss. So I don't know if we can pull this out but I think we can make it closer than a 7-7 should against a 12-2 home team.

I think I broke my ERA Coach

Gopher baseball post #2.

Gopher have lost two straight to #4 Ole Miss, which isn't surprising but game 1 and game 2 have been brutal.

Game 1
Minnesota - 1
Ole Miss - 8

** 21 gopher batters struck out including the first 8 batters.
** freshman Mike Kvasnicka with the Gopher's only RBI

Game 2
Minnesota - 5
Ole Miss - 22

** 22 runs given up requires no further notes. There were 4 errors so ONLY 17 of those runs were earned.
** McCallum 2 hits and Nohelty with 2 stolen bases.

Game 3 on Sunday

** we've got'em right where we want 'em.
** coming into game 3, MN team ERA is 12.38

This isn't unexpected as Ole Miss is VERY good. How good? Well I don't have any clue but they are ranked #4 and that means something. Giving up 22 runs is alarming but there is no need to get carried away here.

There were some position battles heading into the season and I'm going to assume the game 1 lineup should be your typical line up

(line up changes from game 2 in parenthesis)

1. Nohelty - CF
2. Chlan - 2B
3. McCallum - SS
4. Hanson - 3B
5. DeSmidt - DH (Handran in game 2)
6. Knudsen - C
7. Kvasnicka - RF
8. Hummel - LF (Decker in game 2)
9. Steidel - 1B (Maciej in game 2)

Game 1 SP - Buske
Game 2 SP - Carr

Wonka, Wonka, Wonka

Rivals.com poster, GopherJim used his super talents to develop this new gopher animation...


HINT: click on it to view the animation

Breaking Down the Box - Michigan

Michigan - 60
Minnesota - 69
BOX SCORE


Michigan's record aside, this was a very nice win for the Gophers. If you've paid attention to Big Ten basketball you know that Michigan has been a hot team in the league with a 3 game win streak, including a 10 point win over Ohio State.

The Gophers seemed to be sliding a little and content with their likely NIT fate. While I am pleased they sealed this win, the fact is they did everything they could to allow Michigan to steal this one on the road.

• Allowed 23 offensive rebounds
• Gave Michigan 23 additional shots
• -4 in turnovers
• Shot 52.4% at the free throw line

IF they box out, they win by 16+
IF they make free throws, they win by 12+

IF Lawrence McKenzie doesn't give a 26 point night we lose
IF Jon Williams doesn't have 7 rebounds in the second half, we lose

I don't want to be too hard on the Gophs, in all fairness our half court defense in the second half is what truly won the game for them. Because of our defense and Michigan shot selection we held them to 26.3% shooting in the second half. That is very good.

Two sequences allowed us to retain tempo and then sealed the game...

Tempo Grabbing Moment - Tollackson hurts something and sits. Enter Jon Williams and the Gophers go back to man-to-man. Simply, moving back to man and Williams' ability to rebound gave us momentum and ended the Michigan possessions.

Nail in the Coffin - Hoffarber enters the line up during a time out and drains a three to give us an 11 point lead with 2:37 left. On the ensuing defensive possession the Gophers force a shot clock violation. We take a double digit lead then force a turnover after 0:35 tick off the clock.

Player of the Game - Lawrence McKenzie

Pts - 26
no other stats mattered

I was tempted to give POG to Williams as his second half effort of 7 rebounds and 5 points were more significant I can accurately describe. But I can't overlook McKenzie's best game of the year. The 26 was balanced (13 in each half), several baskets were well timed to get us back into the game and most importantly they were good shots (for the most part). This is the kind of results we have desired and expected of McKenzie all year.

Lawrence should find a way to play Michigan more often, season averages vs...

Michigan - 22.5
Wisconsin - 6.5
Northwestern - 10.5
Illinois - 5

Tempo-Free Zone - If you are sqeemish, I don't recommend looking at these numbers.



Statistically there is no reason we should have won this game. Michigan rebounded nearly 50% of their own misses! Add that to the fact that we turned the ball over on 27.6% of our own possessions and we should thank DeShawn Sims and his 2/11 from behind the arc.

I like simple math truths and tonight here is your mathematical answer to why we won...

eFG% > Def-Reb% + Off TO%

I will take a W any way you want to add it up.

Up Next - Penn State

Another must win. The only thing that worries me is looking past Penn State.

Beating Penn State would get us back to .500 in Big Ten play heading into our final 4 games. Really none of these wins mean much unless you get really hot and does something crazy like win 3 of our last 4; but lets not get carried away.

@Pur - L
OSU - maybe, but likely L
@Ind - L
@Ill - maybe, but likely L

I'll be happy winning 1 of those, ecstatic with 2-2. NIT is our fate unless a miracle happens. NCAA hopes would rely on winning @Pur and @Ind then you have to win one of the other two games and two in the Big Ten Tourney. This team is capable of pulling off an upset, but stringing a few of them together is just too much to expect.

Gopher Baseball - 2008

Gopher baseball does not get the recognition it deserves in this market. They are a classic example of how U of M programs can get left in the shadow of the four major pro teams in this market. But what coach John Anderson has quietly done is maintain what has been consistently a Big Ten power for decades. The fact that the Gophers have been a participant in the Big Ten Championship game for seven consecutive seasons is incredible. Even after seasons finishing 6th or 4th, they still manage to make their way into the championship game every year.

After a 41 win season the Gophers are looking to continue to keep pace in the Big Ten. Michigan is the unanimous favorite to win the conference. After that Minnesota will be one of the teams battling for second.

The Gophers return the bulk of their infield and much of their starting pitching. What they lost was most of their OF, 1B, C and their bullpen. Here is an educated guess at the lineup.

Position Players - the line up consists of 3 rock solid players who will vie for All Big Ten awards (SS, 3B, CF), 2 experienced seniors (C, 2B) and then a handful of position battles with question marks.

C - Jeff DeSmidt (Sr) - made 27 starts last season while backing up senior Kevin Carlson. DeSmidt will be a solid back stop, Kyle Knudson should get plenty of time as well spelling DeSmidt.

1B - Tom Steidl (Sr) - this position will be a battle between Steidl and Joe Maciej (Sr). Both players played sparingly last season. As last season ended this position looked to be in good hands with junior Bryan Jost expected back, but he was drafted by the Cubs and is no longer a Golden Gopher. Maciej was a successful hitter in his first couple seasons, but was given only 11 at bats as a junior. Neither player should get Gopher Nation too excited but it will be manned by experience.

2B - Jeremy Chlan (Sr) - very good fielder who adds speed when he gets on base. Chlan had a game winning RBI in the Big Ten tournament last season sending the Gophers to the championship game.

SS - Derek McCallum (So) - played 2B primarily as a freshman but moves to SS with the departure of Dan Lyons. McCallum batted .340 as a freshman and will be one of the key players for this year's Gophers.

3B - Nate Hanson (Jr) - Hanson (pictured right) is probably the Gopher's best player and a returning All Big Ten player. As a sophomore Hanson hit .330, 10 HRs, 50 RBIs. The 10 HRs was the most by a Gopher since 2004, he will be a starter in nearly every game batting cleanup.

CF - Matt Nohelty (Jr) - leadoff hitter, very good fielder and is an anchor on this team (along with Hanson and McCallum). Nohelty batted .367 as leadoff and led the team with 24 stolen bases.

LF - Jeff Engle (Sr) - this will be another position battle, but Engle is the likely candidate. Engle transfered from Iowa and took a redshirt year last season because of the glut of talented outfielders we had. Started 24 games as a junior at Iowa and batted .352 in Big Ten games. Engle could be a difference maker who moves the Gophers from 3rd or 4th best in the Big Ten to the clear #2. If anyone takes at bats from Engle it will be Eric Decker (yes the WR) who is giving baseball a shot this year. Decker could end up playing in the field while Engle gets at bats as DH.

RF - Michael Kvasnicka (Fr) - Player of the Year in Minnesota last year and is listed as physically capable of playing right away. Kvasnicka could get at bats as catcher or DH as well.

DH - Jon Hummel (Jr) - Hummell has not seen a lot of at bats in his first two season but gophersports.com says he has good power and is capable of playing 1B or 3B. In my opinion Hummel is another key player who could make or break this season.


Pitchers - Minnesota will give the ball to a group of experienced and talented starters, but will have to rely on youth to replace nearly all of their relief pitching staff.

Starter #1 - Dustin Brabender (Sr) - got better as his junior season wore on and gives the Gophers a solid starter to lead the rotation. 5-2 last year, 1st in innings pitched and 2nd in strikeouts. Brabender's junior season was highlighted by out dueling San Diego's All-American Brian Matusz in the NCAA Regoinal. That outing saw Brabender walk 1, strike out 5 in 8 shutout innings.

Starter #2 - Tom Buske (Jr) - If Brabender is starter #1 then Buske is #1-a. Buske gives the Gophers another talented and experienced starter at the top of the rotation. 5-2 as a sophomore and led all starters in ERA.

Starter #3 - Kyle Carr (Jr) - the only LHP in the starter group was a closer and one of two reliable relief pitchers as a sophomore and is expected to move to the #3 starter role this year. Last season he picked up his first win against #16 Ole Miss and pitched 2.2 shutout innings to get his second win against #9 Pepperdine. I don't think that moving from RP to SP in college is a huge deal and I expect Carr will be a reliable and viable third starter.

Starter #4 - Tyler Oakes (Jr) - made only 2 starts as a sophomore but finished the season with a 3-2 record. Oakes (the son of pitching coach Todd Oakes) will do his best to hold onto the fourth starting spot.

RP - Chauncey Handran (Jr) - JUCO transfer who should help bring some stability and reliability to the RP staff. Handran was 5-1 last season with a 1.37 ERA and held opponents to a .106 batting average as he helped lead his team to the Junior College World Series. Handran also hit 6 home runs last year in a wood bat league.

RP - Allen Bechstein (So) - 2-0 as a freshman with 26 innings pitched, including four starts. Should Carr or Oakes struggle as a starter Bechstein is the likely next starter.

RP - Phil Isaksson (Fr) - LHP - one of the Gophers top pitching recruits this season and should get a chance to pitch this year. May get a spot start in the non-conference season but will probably see most of his innings out of the bullpen.

RP - Scott Matyas (rFr) - was a dominant high school pitcher earning All State honors for three seasons, after his junior season Matyas had Tommy-John surgery. The hope is that he has regained his arm strength by now and is ready to help the Gophers this season. Matyas could end up seeing time as the closer.

RP - Tim Ryan (rFr) - son of former Twins GM Terry Ryan. Will see innings but not likely to be counted on in most key situations.

Closer - Seth Rosin (Fr) - power pitcher who hits 90 mph and was drafted by the Twins out of high school. Rosin was fortunate to play in the Little League World Series as a 14 year old. But he is my pick to land the closer role as a freshman.

Schedule - as usual the baseball team faces an incredibly tough non-conference schedule (football and basketball should take note). They begin the season on Friday with a three game series against #4 Mississippi. Then next weekend they host the Dairy Queen Classic which brings in #29 Pepperdine, Tulane and TCU all of which were NCAA Tournament teams a year ago. Those are your first 6 games to start the season!

This should be a fun season and one where the Gophers should steadily improve heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Ultimately 2008 might be setting the table for 2009 as we will bring back all major pitchers except 1 and we bring back our 3 best position players along with a year of experience for some talented young position players.

GopherSports.com season preview
Big Ten Hardball season preview
Rivals.com preseason NCAA Tourney projections - Gophers in as 3 seed in UCLA regional
Rivals.com season preview
TNABACG season preview - also gives a good rundown of the key NCAA rule changes

And we have a fronterunner for a new Def Cord...

Chip Scoggins is reporting that Ted Roof is the likely front runner for he gopher defensive coordinator position. Scoggins reports that the former Duke head coach was on campus today and I would assume the smart money is on Roof being introduced within hours as your new DC.

Roof as a head coach doesn't exactly wow you with his 1-23 record in the last two seasons (or even his 6-45 overall record). But he did figure out how to beat Northwestern (take that LTP) so at least we have that going for him (us). As an assistant Roof has had some success, which you can read about in Scoggins' story.

Here is Roof's resume (courtesy of Rivals.com)...

current	LB Coach	Louisville
2003-2007	Head Coach	Duke
2002	Def Coord	Duke
1999-2001	Def Coord	Georgia Tech
1997-1998	Def Coord	Western Carolina
1994-1996	Ast. Coach	Massachusetts
1990-1993	OLB Coach	Duke
1989	LB Coach	West Georgia

This seems like a solid hire. Roof is experienced as a head coach and as a defensive coordinator. I'm sure he will be a great fit. Two questions pop up to me...

1-Is he a recruiter? 5 seasons at Duke and it doesn't appear the talent level improved (or even plateaued).

2-Will he leave for another head job soon? He has the experience so another school will conceivably give him another shot. But his record Duke was so bad that he probably won't get another shot until he really proves himself as a Gopher coordinator and that would be good for us.

Nothing is official and we will all know more tomorrow but Roof is here and my gut tells me that he'll be the guy.