Apparently when your team is not participating in a bowl game, objectivity can reign supreme.  The final standings saw three Michigan bloggers take big jumps in the standings.  Michigan Sports Center and Maize & Blue Nation picked a perfect bowl season and Maize'n Brew missed just one. 

The perfection allowed MSC to lock down first place in the final standings.  Congratulations to Sean for besting the best of the Big Ten.

Yours truly was dominating the competition for much of the season but like our favorite football team I faltered down the stretch.  But in an effort to tweak things to make myself look awesome I have put the two year combined standings where I am, in fact, dominating!  :)  Below is the top 10 through two seasons...

So within a few hours we lose Mike Dunbar and Ted Roof.  The guy who was one of Brewster's first hires and the guy who was given credit for saving the defense in 2008 are now unemployed and moving to Auburn respectively.

On their own neither of these losses will keep me up at night.  But when viewed collectively along with the job change of Withers last year this is alarming.  Brewster has churned through three coordinators in two seasons.  Maybe all of these should be viewed on their own merit and it is just bad luck that Brewster is losing his most important assistants every year.  Or maybe there is something going on behind the scenes that is prompting them to leave or at least take jobs that come their way.

Either way this is really tough for a program to endure.  Many other Big Ten programs have coordinators who have been in place for several seasons which creates continuity for the staffs and removes any surprises for the athletes.  Kids get into the program and know year in and year out what to expect. When you have an experienced team you can really expand your playbooks because you have already put the time into teaching the core.  But when you hire new coordinators every couple years you are taking a step back every time.

I realized that Brewster has been with the program all of two years so he has not had time to build up a cohesive staff that is loyal and has shown longevity.  But this is just too much.  Look at this progression on the offensive during Brewster's tenure.  After wasting 2007 to adjusting to the spread and then spending 2008 teaching it to young wide receivers and linemen we get to start over again in 2009.  Whoever is brought in will likely be a "spread guy" but the spread is a vague term and beyond formation everything could be different.  His system could be drastically different and much of what has been learned under Dunbar will be wasted.  I'm sure guys like Weber and Decker will pick things up quickly as they seem to be prettty savvy and it isn't like they are switching to the wish bone, but as a whole this unit will be staring over in spring practic.

Defensively we will have our third coordinator in three seasons of Brewster (really fourth in four years for the upper classmen).  There is more talent now than in years past but once again it will be new philosophies and schemes.  The players will spend the spring learning a new system and hopefully will be able to execute it by late August. Idealy these guys could be in position to make more plays next year as theoretically they'd be thinking less and playing more.

With a team returning most of it's starters on both sides of the ball, what would have been ideal is the opportunity to build on what was learned in 2008. 

Brewster is promising a splash, especially with the offensive new hire.  There are plenty of names floating around out there on message boards.  Guys like Dana Holgorsen of Houston or Tony Franklin of Auburn who are spread gurus all the way to names like Mike Shanahan or Tony Dungy or even David Lockwood :).  But rather than a couple of sexy hires of guys who will not be here for long I'd love to see someone who knows what they are doing but is lkely to be in the TCF coach's box for a few seasons and is committed to building this program.

An the hits keep coming for Gopher football today.  A couple sources are reporting that Ted Roof is leaving to be the defensive cordinator at Auburn. 

Roof has received a ton of credit for turning what was an embarrassing defense into something that was respectable.  Clearly he did receive an upgrade in talent at some key positions but you cannot deny that he had a hand in turning the defense around.

While I am somewhat concerned that we are losing Roof, what bothers me the most is that Brewster has gone through three cordinators in two seasons.  For various reasons guys are leaving at an alarming rate.  There absolutely has to be some consistency at these assistant positions and the next guys hired need a reason to stick around.

Let the searches begin for two vitally imporatant assistant coaching positions and keep an eye on how this affects recruiting in the last month before signing day.

I'm sitting here watching Ohio State try to give the Big Ten some of it's dignity back after a brutal bowl season.  Unfortunately a close loss is still a loss and a loss does nothing for the Big Ten's image.  For the record, Minnesota scored more on this Ohio State defense than any team on their schedule, except USC and Texas.  Come back tomorrow for more meaningless stats and useless analysis. 

Since it is still bowl season lets take a look at a few football related stories to start.

• Incoming four-star, running back Hasan Lipscomb finished the season ranked as the #42nd best player in the state of Texas according to the Austin American Statesman.  This is up three spots from his #45 ranking to begin the season.
• Although the Gophers lost out on a couple big recruits this past weekend, they did secure a four-star, JUCO cornerback.  Taikwon Paige committed to Brewster and staff.  Worst case he gets buried on the depth chart, best case he comes in and earns a starting spot (ala Tramain Brock or Traye Simmons), most likely he should provide depth to the secondary.
• Maybe we jumpstarted another Big Twelve team to the top of their conference with an Insight Bowl loss. The Kansas City Star thinks the Jayhawks may be the early favorites in the Big 12 North for 2009 (don't tell that to Nebraska).
• Penn State lost a huge game on January 1st as the Gopher women's basketball team beat Penn State.  Take THAT BSD!!
• Finally the most recent Bracketology has the Gopher hoops team up to a six seed facing Stanford in the West Region.  He also has Kentucky as an 11 seed in the Midwest Region.  What Mr. Lunardi is not recognizing here is that if the Gophers and Kentucky are anywhere near seeds that would play each other, expect that the committee will make that happen.

Well 2008 ended with a ginormous thud.  Both the men's basketball and football teams proved to be competitive in short stretches but overall were overmatched.  What a negative way to end the year.  Here are some quick thoughts on yesterday's games and what we can look forward to in 2009...

Football - 21-42 loss to Kansas in Insight Bowl

• The defense gave up 42 points (97 in their last two games) and I'll get to them in a second but the offense is frustrating.  With two years as his body of work in Minnesota I have generally been happy with offensive coordinator, Mike Dunbar's game plans.  The offense usually comes out moving the ball well early in games.  But nearly every game the offense stalls when the opposing defense makes adjustments.  A good offseason project would be to see points scored, yards gained and first downs earned by quarter over the last two years.  14 points on the first two possessions and 7 in the next nine.
  
  The offensive line deserves some of the blame but play calling and adjustments to the original game plan have to be part of it.
• It was great to finally see David Pittman involved in the game plan.  That is what I was hoping to see for the last 12 games.  A couple catches and a 75 yard pass to start the game is the X-factor that was sold to us.
• The defense will be very interesting next year.  Overall they need to get much better at every position.  I like many of the guys returning but they all need to get stronger and need to  improve if we want improve our Bowl game status.  I have more complete thoughts on this but I'll save it for a more comprehensive 2008 review of the team.

Basketball - 12 point loss to Michigan State

• PJS has a good preview so I won't belabor his points.
• Michigan State ran a play in their half court set killed us over and over again.  It was frustrating that we were unable to adjust to it, but at the same time it is an effective play that puts the defense in a bad position.
  
  Michigan State puts three guys on the left side of the court, a big man to set a screen for the shooter who has half of the floor to work with.  We consistently went ball side of the screen which allowed Lucas to flare and be wide open for threes.  You can't switch the screen or have your big man help too much or the MSU big is wide open in the lane.  If you trail the screen then Lucas curls it and either has a jumper at the top of the key or drives the lane. 
  
  MSU ran this over and over.  If you watch the BTN highlights you'll see three plays with Lucas shooting an open three, all of them were set up by this

• Kalin Lucas is REALLY good, he might be my favorite Big Ten player to watch.  He does not turn the ball over, is a good shooter and is really quick.  Al Nolen is a very good on the ball defender who did fine yesterday when he wasn't getting hit on the pick and roll, but Lucas is fun to watch.

What do we have to look forward to in 2009

• TCF STADIUM - unless the basketball team makes a Final Four run or something crazy like that, this will undoubtedly  be the highlight of 2009.  I cannot wait.
• Brewster's recruiting class - a nice New Year's present would be Michael Carter and Bryce McNeal verbally committing to Minnesota at Saturday's US Army All-American game.  But early February we will find out what this class will look like.
• The Big Ten Season and the NCAA Tournament - Tubby's boys should be fun to watch through the conference season and hopefully get themselves a ticket into the NCAA tournament in March.
• A toucher non-conference schedule - Syracuse, Cal and Air Force are all upgrades to what we saw in 2008.  Overall the schedule will be tougher and wins may be harder to come by, but we should be more prepared for some Big Ten games.
• Royce White and Rodney Williams - this is a long ways off but next year's hoops team promises to be more athletic and more explosive.
• Eric Decker's senior season - He is in position to break all Minnesota receiving records and get himself into the top 5 of Big Ten receivers for yards and receptions.
• Sam Maresh - coming back from open heart surgery to play LB in the Big Ten!

What else am I missing?  What are you looking forward to in 2009?

And here is your official game thread for the Insight Bowl.

With very few seniors on the roster this game is just a baby step for the 2009 season, imo.  An extra month of practice and more game speed work for the offense to come together. 

There are a few seniors who will be playing their last game as a Gopher.

• DE - Willie VanDeSteeg - all time leader in Tackles for Losses, currently fourth all time in sacks.
• TE - Jack Simmons 
• LB - Deon Hightower
• LB - Steve Davis
• LB - Kevin Mannion
• DT - William Brody
  
• QB - Tony Mortenson
• QB - Mike Maciejowski

I probably shouldn't have started a list because I am going to miss people.  This was a quick list of relatively significant players who will be missed in 2009.

Good luck to the Gophs, this would be a big win that would set the tone and raise the bar for 2009.

** NOTE: GN will be driving through Wisconsin and PJS may or may not be in front of a computer so be good and enjoy the game.

Game preview is down a couple posts.  Here is the official game thread.  I believe PJS is at the game and GN is at work, those of you with a TV need to keep me informed.

One question I have...does anybody think the 11:00 start time will have any affect on the game?  Is it an advantage for us that we are at least home?  I would think that being on the road and dealing with a weird tip off time could be an issue.  Althought Mich St is used to playing in big games all over the country (at Texas, at Ford Field for UNC, etc) in different venus so it isn't likely to affect them too much.

Go Gophs...

The last day of the year turns out to be one of the biggest for Gopher sports.  Hoops and football with their biggest games of 2008 on the same day and if all goes well we'll all have reason to party into the night and bring in 2009 in style.

Basketball Prospectus gave some good press to the Gopher's hot start and near the end the high praise came flowing for the Gopher's frontcourt.

Freshmen forwards Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson combine with Johnson to give Minnesota one of the strongest interior defenses in the nation. Sampson is 14th in percentage of blocks (11.5) while Iverson is 25th (10.8). Iverson has a 119.5 offensive rating and Sampson's is 111.1

"Those two make our defense very efficient and Iverson has really brought a lot of energy to our team," Smith said. "He does all the little things on both ends of the floor, like diving for loose balls, and he is also very talented. We have a good blend of experienced kids and freshmen and it's worked out well to this point."

Prior to that they stick to their Pomroy ranking guns which points out we are the seventh ranked B10 team and are 50th overall.

• Down With Goldy picks the Gophers to finish #3 in his quick and dirty Big Ten Preview.  As usual he is drinking the kool-aid, wait, I mean as usual he is drink-posting again.
  
• Hoff on Sports, a random blog that is Michigan centric has his Big Ten preview, picking the Gophers to finish fourth.
• Badger Beat of the Capital Times in Madison picks the Gophers sixth.  Not nearly as optimistic as some of us around here but I'm just throwing it out there.
• Spartans Weblog has a couple worthwhile notes.  First of all based on efficiency stats he has his Big Ten preview with Minnesota finishing sixth.  That is followed up with a quick preview of this morning's basketball game.
• The Windy Citizen gave out their pre-season Big Ten Awards and Minnesota received a low blow.  "The New York Mets Award for the team off to a hot start that is most likely to collapse."  The Mets didn't have Tubby Smith and they didn't play defense.
• Kent Youngblood on Matt Stommes' move from back up to starting RT in the Insight Bowl.  Youngblood has been very good with his player backstories this season and this is a worthwhile read as usual.

Enjoy the Gopher games and have a safe New Year's Eve.  If anyone see's PJS roaming the streets of Minneapolis late tonight be sure to say hi to him.

Since we tip toed into the non-conference portion of the schedule, I'm glad that we are cannon-balling into the conference games.  Depending on who you ask Michigan State and Purdue are the Big Ten favorites (although the Boilermakers lost last night), so there is no easing into 2009.  This will be one of the best games at the Barn this season with some great individual match ups and a chance for the home crowd to witness a potential statement game. 

The Facts are These...

Efficiency Stats

The numbers between these two teams are very similar.  Offensive and defensive points per possession and turnover percentages are extremely close.  Minnesota appears to have a slight advantage on both offensive and defensive eFG% but Michigan State is a much better rebounding team on both ends of the floor.  The rebounding may be the key stat if the Gophers want to have a chance at winning.  We were outrebounded by Southeastern Louisiana and barely outrebounded High Point.  That does not bode well for us against a team like Michigan State.

Key Players

The players listed are arguably the most talented and deep players in the conference.  Typically Delvon Roe would start at forward but he is likely out with an ankle injurs so I am guessing that Gray will take his place. 

This lineup is balanced, compliments each other well and is deep.  I am eagerly anticipating two specific match ups.

Matchups to Watch...

Two of the best sophomore point guards will see significant time guarding each other.  Kalin Lucas averaged nearly 15 ppg last year against Minnesota including 5 total threes made and six assists.  Al Nolen did not play the second game but did have seven assists and four steals in this first of many match ups with Lucas.  Both of these guys are quick, play solid defense and are keys to their teams' success.

Secondly I am anxious to watch Damien Johnson defend Raymar Morgan.  Morgan is one of the five best players in the conference and had his best game of the season against MN last year when he scored 31 to go with 10 rebounds.  Johnson is not as physical as Morgan but he could excel by denying him the ball as often as possible and not letting him have anything easy in the paint. 

Our two best defenders on their two best players makes for some great basketball. 

Predictions...

Unfortunately the rest of the Spartans are at the very least more experienced than the Gophers and at some positions more talented.  For the Gophers to win they will need another guy or two to really step up.  Hoffarber and Iverson are the guys who come to mind.  If Hoffarber can get loose and nail a handful of big threes and if Iverson can defend Goran Suton in the paint then we'll be in fine shape to post the upset.

I believe the home court advantage will come into play for the first time in years.  Minnesota plays great D and wins a very close game.

Michigan State - 71
Minnesota - 74