Author: David Shama

This Saturday Big Ten Conference football teams, for a third consecutive weekend, will play only non-conference games.  Opponents include Division I-AA schools Southern Illinois and Youngstown State, plus Eastern Michigan, Ball State and Temple, arguably the worst Division I-A football school in the nation. 

A Big Ten coach’s agent, worried about his client’s job security, finds comfort in opponents like that.  For many fans and media, the slate of foes is far less appealing.   

Major college football schools have increasingly been adding patsies to the schedules in recent years but the trend accelerated in 2006 with the addition of a 12^th game.  Driven by a need to increase athletic department revenues, the 12^th game has sent schedule makers scurrying for opponents, including I-AA foes. 

Not everyone is supportive of scheduling weak opponents and waiting until conference games to stir up excitement and test your team.  The Pac Ten Conference has added a ninth conference game.  Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said recently high expectations at his school likely would preclude ever playing a I-AA team. 

Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said Sunday that Big Ten Conference athletic directors have discussed adding a ninth or 10^th conference game to the schedule.  Playing 10 conference games will create a round robin schedule with each team playing five home and five away games, and will determine a champion who played all conference opponents. 

Maturi said Michigan athletic director Bill Martin has been a leader on the issue and Maturi expects discussion of expanding the Big Ten schedule to continue.  The process involves talks among the conference athletic directors and possibly one day taking a recommendation to the football coaches. “I think we are all (the athletic directors) willing to talk about it,” Maturi said.  “We want to do what’s best for the Big Ten and college football. I think it will be discussed more and more.” 

While it’s unlikely, Maturi said a change could be proposed as early as next May.  He “leans toward doing something” to increase the number of conference games. 

With a 10 game conference schedule, the Big Ten could more dramatically market its product on TV and at the gate while still preserving two games for national flavoring.  That would protect historic rivalries like Notre Dame and Purdue, and also minimize the no-name opponents such as Division I-AA New Hampshire (a surprise winner against Northwestern last week before an announced crowd of less than 21,000 in Evanston, Illinois). 

The Gophers might fill their two non-conference games by choosing from the following menu:  Tulane, Rice, SMU, Houston, Baylor, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Utah State, UNLV, Nevada, Idaho, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse, Iowa State, Missouri, Colorado State, Wyoming, Oregon State, California, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Army, Navy, Air Force, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt.  Reviving a traditional non-conference game such as with Pittsburgh would be appealing and could be scheduled every few years. 

Student-athletes are inspired by playing quality non-conference foes.  Before the Gophers’ game against California last week quarterback Bryan Cupito told the Star Tribune, “I love games like this. …I’ve marked this on the calendar since we first got our schedule.”

WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle program celebrated 25 years of Sid Hartman and Dave Mona as hosts last Sunday before a live audience at the University of Minnesota’s Sports Pavilion.  Celebrity guests included Tom Kelly, Bud Grant, Jerry Burns, Paul Molitor, Tony Oliva, Lou Nanne, Glen Mason and Joel Maturi.  Hartman told the audience it was a mistake not to have included female representation.   

Mona said on Monday the event attendance was 600 to 700.  Most Sundays the Sports Huddle is two hours in duration and Mona recalled that years ago the show was about 30 minutes long and had to leave the air because of a station commitment to air the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  

In an interview Sunday, Grant praised Hartman for his integrity.  “If  you tell Sid something he will never print it or repeat it unless you give him permission to do so,” Grant said.  

Grant and Hartman have been close friends since the late 1940s when Grant was excelling in three sports at the University of Minnesota.  When Grant was asked why he chose Hartman, a sportswriter, to introduce him when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame he said, “Because probably if he (Hartman) listed his close personal friends I think I would be No. 1.”   Later in a conversation Grant added, “I didn’t even think about it.  Sid was the guy.”

The Gopher basketball team begins practice next month without a player who was a regular starter in Big Ten Conference games. The Gophers have no seniors on the roster and will be without Vince Grier who led the team in scoring for two seasons after coming here from a junior college. 

Last year’s team wasn’t successful, finishing 10^th in the Big Ten Conference and had an overall record of 16-15.  Minnesota is hoping for results similar to two seasons ago when the Gophers surprised just about everyone by finishing fourth in the conference and advancing to the NCAA tournament (24-12 overall record).  Team defense was impressive, players shared the basketball on offense and the Gophers became a team that liked and trusted one another. 

Assistant coach Jim Molinari, who says defense is his “passion,” received considerable credit for the 2004-2005 success.  He said the Gophers now are similar to the team of two years ago in that the starting players are yet to be determined. The roster make up is six juniors, six sophomores, and two freshmen.  Eight of the players have never played a game minute for the Gophers. 

Despite the lack of game experience, Molinari said the coaches are expecting to produce a winning team. “I think we have to go in there with the idea we want to be champions this year,” he said.  “And, really, basketball is different from other sports because chemistry really ups your overall product.  … a lack of chemistry really takes down your product. Last year was everyone’s fault.”    

Molinari likes the team’s depth and expects strong competition for starting positions.  He is concerned about who is going to pick up the scoring left by Grier who averaged almost 17 points per game over two seasons.  He is also concerned about perimeter defense and rebounding.   

Transfer guard Lawrence McKenzie, who played two seasons for Oklahoma averaging 8.2 and 9.5 points, may be the most likely player to provide scoring but freshman guard Lawrence Westbrook, who led the nation in scoring as a high school junior at 41 points per game while playing in Arizona, is intriguing.   

Junior big men Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson, both 6-9, started many games last year and will be counted on to rebound along with junior college transfer Engen Nurumbi, 6-7, 230.“I think Dan and Spencer have to be consistent rebounders for this team,” Molinari said.