The Gophers and their fans had thoughts about making the tournament this winter, but an 8-10 regular season conference record and a soft non-conference schedule ranked among the worst in the country kept Minnesota off the final list of invitees.  “One thing they’ve got to do is, they’ve got to upgrade their schedule,” Dutcher said.

Better nonconference opponents could increase respect for the Gophers come tourney selection time and sharpen their play before the Big Ten season begins.  “You can fool yourself if you don’t get tested,” Dutcher said.

The Williams Arena patrons who have paid $30 per game for years to watch the low rent non-conference teams parade by each season would appreciate a schedule that included a few brand names like Marquette, Oregon, Arizona and, gasp, Kentucky. In a big league town, fans expect a product and Dutcher made an observation this season about Gopher basketball and coach Tubby Smith.

“The thing that amazed me was there was not a lot of buzz about Gopher basketball,” he said. “There was buzz about Tubby but not Gopher basketball.”

With fewer games on TV because of the Big Ten Network fiasco, people were less familiar with the team.  Years of losing and disappointment under former coach Dan Monson was another factor.  But with Smith here and a top 25 recruiting class coming, it’s time to fix the home nonconference schedule, too.

In the meantime, try to pick the team that will emerge as national champion on April 7 in San Antonio.

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Former Gustavus tennis star and Rochester native Eric Butorac, along with partner Andy Murray, an outstanding singles player, lost in the second round of doubles on Monday in the Pacific Life Open.  Andy is the brother of James Murray who has been Butorac’s doubles partner in the past.

Coach Don Lucia’s Gopher hockey team, opening play tomorrow night in the WCHA Final Five series with St. Cloud at Xcel Energy Center, had three overtime WCHA playoff games with Minnesota State Mankato last weekend that will long be remembered.  The teams combined to play 262 minutes and eight seconds over the three nights, the equivalent of nearly four and a half games. The Gophers and Mavericks played over 82 minutes of overtime and each put 42 shots on goal in the extra sessions. Total game time for the series was 10 hours, 13 minutes (average of three hours, 24 minutes per game).

The Wild, with only nine games remaining in the regular season to compete for positioning in the Stanley Cup playoffs, plays at San Jose tonight (Wednesday).  Minnesota is 0-2-1 against the Sharks this season and winless in the last six games.  Pavol Demitra leads the Wild in career scoring against San Jose with 26 points in 34 career games.

The Timberwolves, 16-50, play Memphis at home tonight, facing a Grizzlies team that has lost 19 of its last 21 games.  Memphis, also 16-50, never recovered from trading star center Pau Gasol to the Lakers earlier this winter.  The Grizzlies are 3-17 since the trade.

A Wolves spokesman said via e-mail that point guard Sebastian Telfair is making progress with his sprained right ankle but won’t return to game action this week.

The Vikings began off-season conditioning at Winter Park on Monday.  About half of  NFL teams also started conditioning earlier this week, according to Sporting News.

Newly signed Viking free agent wide receiver Bernard Berrian does bring expectations for catching long passes and big plays, but he’s also capable of making difficult catches.  Playing for Chicago last season he had 11 catches between 20 and 40 yards and two receptions beyond 40.  He caught 71 passes, for 951 yards and five touchdowns.  He tied with two other players for the 26^th highest reception total in the league.

The Metrodome will be used for 127 college baseball games in March, including 19 Gopher games, according to Bill Lester, executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.  Lester said many of the games are part of double headers and baseball teams are using the facility from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. The dome is also used for college baseball scrimmages during the month.

St. Thomas and Gustavus lead the MIAC spring sports coaches’ polls.  St. Thomas is the pick to win the conference in baseball and softball.  Gustavus is the choice in men’s and women’s tennis.

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Jot down March 14, 2008 as the date Hoffarber Hysteria spread from Hopkins to Dinkytown.  That’s the date crisis-shooting 19-year-old Blake Hoffarber lofted a left handed semi-hook shot from about 15 feet into the basket as time expired to lift the Gophers to a stunning quarterfinal win over Indiana in the Big Ten Conference Tournament.  The dramatic finish came about three years after Hoffarber had somehow hit a clutch shot in the state tournament for Hopkins High School while sitting on the court, a miracle toss that sent the game into a second overtime and later won him an ESPY when he was barely old enough to drive

The latest sensational shot may mean more to the Gopher basketball program than almost anyone realizes.  The program that has spent much of the new millennium sliding into the low rent district of college basketball because a few individuals in leadership messed up badly, received  a heart transplant last year with the hiring of Tubby Smith.  His coaching, motivation and recruiting have Minnesota positioned for a move to the high rent district and Hoffarber’s shot could be a key stimulus to the recovery.

For one thing, Hoffarber Hysteria just might put the Gophers over the top in selling out Williams Arena next season.  The Gophers, within about 2,000 tickets of selling out this season, will be a hotter ticket next fall, fueled by Smith’s success in taking a 9-22 program, moving it to 20-13, and adding a top 25 recruiting class.  Hoffarber, a hometown kid, was already a crowd favorite but now he’s a bigger hero and another reason to buy tickets and perhaps, just maybe, see another miracle shot during his sophomore, junior or senior seasons.

For another thing, having a player like Hoffarber adds to a team’s confidence.  Everyone knows that late in a game when there’s a big shot opportunity Hoffarber is a solid bet (prayer?).  He won’t make every clutch shot and he could even fumble a play with a poor decision or bad luck.  But you know this: Hoffarber has a special confidence and ability to perform when others aren’t as capable.  That should add some swagger to the Gophers for the next three seasons.

Give Smith and his coaching staff credit, too, for drawing up the play that led to the winning basket.  Although Hoffarber reportedly wasn’t the first option, he went and got the ball.  Made the shot that lifted a program, put a little more gleam in the collective eyes of the Gopher Nation.  And give Smith credit, too, for having the confidence to put a walk-on, seldom used Travis Busch, in the game to heave the ball three-quarters of the way down court to Hoffarber.  (See YouTube, Blake Hoffarber).

The Gophers’ run in the Big Ten Conference tournament ended with Saturday’s 54-50 loss to Illinois.  Now they are headed into tomorrow night’s (Tuesday) home game in the NIT against Maryland and feeling better about themselves than anyone could have predicted after winning two games in the tournament.

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