Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster looks at basketball’s early signing period (now through November 21) and advocates two signing periods for college football.  He has made that suggestion before his Big Ten Conference colleagues and believes an early signing period will relieve pressure on football recruits, just like it does in basketball. Brewster said it might make sense to have an early signing period in May when high school juniors could make commitments, and not have to wait until the following February as they do now.

What about Gopher recruiting for next year?  Brewster told Sports Headliners that he’s convinced his 2008 recruiting class will be impressive.  It will include some junior college players, but primarily high school athletes.

Regarding next season, Brewster predicts continued parity in the conference.  Going into tomorrow’s final games, every team in the Big Ten has at least one conference loss.  Asked about who might be the best teams, Brewster singled out with some hesitation Ohio State, Illinois and Michigan.

“I think we’re going to make a big jump,” he said.  “I think we’ll be tremendously improved.”

The Gophers, based on their depth chart for last weekend’s game at Iowa, will return eight starters on offense and eight on defense.  Tomorrow against Wisconsin at the Metrodome the roster will list 16 seniors who hope to avoid making history.  If the Gophers lose their 11^th game, it will be a school record.

Wisconsin has won 10 of the last 12 games against the Gophers.  Minnesota won in Minneapolis in 2003 but hasn’t defeated the Badgers in Madison since 1994.

Wisconsin, by the way, has a 25-1 record in Madison since the start of the 2004 season, the nation’s best home record.  The Badgers are working on 14 straight wins, the third longest home winning streak in school history.

At 10 p.m. tonight the Gophers will hold a pep rally at Williams Arena.  Admission to the Border Battle Pep Fest is free.  Much of the crowd is expected to come from fans who attended the men’s hockey game or women’s basketball game on campus.  Brewster and the team will be in attendance.

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Congratulations to Dave and Linda Mona on the birth of their first grandchild, Camden Mona, a boy, born on Sunday to son Kirk and wife Chelsey.  Dave is the color commentator for Gopher football games on WCCO Radio. The Minnesota football staff sent flowers with a note asking for first recruitment rights.

A broadcast industry source said when local TV stations buy tickets to help sellout the Vikings home games, they pay face value.  NFL revenue sharing policy among teams doesn’t allow for discounting the tickets.  The inventory for local commercials on Vikings home telecasts is about 15 ads, perhaps worth $200,000 or more to a local station.  Rather than face a TV blackout because a game isn’t sold-out, stations can be willing to help buy remaining tickets.

Oakland Raiders coach and Bloomington native Lane Kiffin, 32, was mentioned as a candidate for the Gopher head coaching position before Brewster was hired.  If Kiffin had been hired by the Gophers, the Big Ten Conference would have listed the youngest threesome of head coaches in memory.  Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald is 32 and Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema is 37.  Kiffin, who was an assistant coach at Southern Cal prior to becoming Oakland’s coach earlier this year, brings a Raiders team that is 2-7 to town for Sunday’s game with the Vikings.  The Raiders were 2-14 last season.

The Vikings offense is leading the NFL in rushing yards with an average of 172.3 yards per game, while the Raiders defense is 29th in the league against the run, giving up an average of 144.2 yards per game.

With one punt of 50-plus yards, Chris Kluwe of the Vikings can break the team’s all-time single season record of over 50 yard kicks.  Kluwe and Mitch Berger share the record now at 22.

Although he has been a part-time starter, former Viking Daunte Culpepper leads Oakland in passing yards with 817, ranking 30^th in the NFL.  Culpepper has started four games and played in five, throwing four touchdowns and four interceptions.  He’s expected to start on Sunday.

The last time the Raiders and Vikings played was 2003 in Oakland.  The Raiders won 28-18 and Culpepper threw for 396 yards and a touchdown, completing 27 of 49 passes. He also rushed for 42 yards and one touchdown.

David Gilreath, a freshman from New Hope, set a Wisconsin record for kickoff return yards this season, 756.  He averaged 22.9 yards per kickoff return and 11.2 yards per punt return, both big improvements for the Badgers over 2006 averages of 15 and 6.6.

In addition to Gilreath, the Badgers have five other Minnesotans on their roster including starting center Marcus Coleman of Plymouth.  Reserves are wide receiver Isaac Anderson of Minneapolis, defensive lineman Brandon Hoey of Shoreview, defensive back Kim Royston of Minneapolis and linebacker Blake Sorenson of Eden Prairie.

The Gophers announced the signings yesterday of basketball recruits Devron Bostick, Paul Carter, Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III to National Letters of Intent. They will be eligible to compete during the 2008-09 season for coach Tubby Smith.

Bostick, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Southwestern Illinois College, averaged 19.5 points per game as a freshman for SWIC. He led the team to a 24-8 record and was named the Player of the Year in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference. He was also a second team junior college All-American. The Racine, Wisconsin native has also been named a 2007-2008 preseason All-American. Bostick will have two years of eligibility at Minnesota.

Carter, the son of former NBA player Ron Carter, is a 6-7 freshman forward from Missouri State-West Plains College. He scored 28 points and had 14 rebounds in the Grizzlies’ 83-75 season-opening win over Labette Community College.  His coach, Brian Ostermann, has said Carter could be one of the best junior college players in the country by February.  Carter will have three years of eligibility at Minnesota.

Iverson, a 6-10 forward/center from Yankton, South Dakota, was named first team all-state following his junior season. He averaged 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for the Bucks who won the South Dakota AA Consolation Championship. He spent the summer playing for the South Dakota Heat AAU team and led the Heat to a 30-8 overall record, including the championship of the prestigious Hoosier Shootout AAU Tournament in Indianapolis. Iverson was named MVP of the Hoosier Shootout after scoring 28 points and having 16 rebounds in the title game.

Sampson, the son of former Houston Rockets and University of Virginia star Ralph Sampson, attends Northview High School in Duluth, Georgia.  As a junior, Sampson averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks per game. The 6-11 forward spent the summer playing for the Georgia Stars, one of the top AAU programs in the country.  He’s considered a late developing prep star.

MIAC men’s and women’s conference hockey games begin tonight.  In a pre-season coaches poll the men’s teams are ranked as follows:  Bethel, St. Thomas, Gustavus, Saint John’s and St. Olaf (same number of votes), Augsburg, Saint Mary’s, Hamline and Concordia.  Here’s the pre-season coaches poll results for the women’s teams: Gustavus, St. Thomas, St. Olaf, Hamline, Saint Mary’s, Concordia, Bethel, Augsburg, Saint Benedict and St. Catherine.

A pioneering event in female ice sports in Minnesota, the 15^th annual All-American Girls and Women’s Hockey Tournament started yesterday and continues through Sunday at the Schwan Super Rink at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Seventy-four youth and women’s teams, including 23 from out-of-state, had registered earlier this month to participate in the tournament, the largest and one of the oldest female-only hockey tournaments in North America. Registered teams are from California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and Ontario. Spectator admission prices are $20 for an adult all-tournament pass and $15 for a youth and senior all-tournament pass. Daily passes are $8 for adults and $6 for students and seniors. Children under 10 are admitted free.

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Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi dismissed speculation yesterday that there is a major issue involving basketball coach Tubby Smith’s contract.  Smith has been working for the University since March but his formal multi-year contract hasn’t been signed, leading to talk that there might be a problem.  Maturi told Sports Headliners that details are being finalized by lawyers and he expects the contract to be signed in less than 30 days.  It’s believed that the contract may be for five to seven years, and with incentives compensation could exceed $2 million annually.

It’s been known for awhile that Smith wants a new practice facility, similar to schools that he must recruit against.  Maturi said earlier this fall that such a facility (it might include basketball courts, offices and training areas) won’t move ahead until fund-raising is completed for the new football stadium.  Maturi said the proposed new practice facility isn’t being used as leverage by Smith in contract negotiations.

Smith’s first Gopher team is predicted to finish in the lower half of the Big Ten Conference standings.  If his team exceeds expectations, and maybe even if it doesn’t, other schools are expected to show interest in hiring Smith, the former Kentucky coach who won a national championship and regularly had his teams in the NCAA tournament.

A source told Sports Headliners earlier this week that a major basketball school from the south is already targeting Smith.  He has a national reputation not only for winning, but being highly respected as both a coach and person by his peers.

So far, Smith has probably been all that athletic department officials expected prior to his coming here.  He has impressed with his personality, people skills and willingness to help others.  With his players, he’s demanding and knowledgeable.  After three games, the Gophers look dramatically improved offensively, defensively and in attitude.  Although no-name opponents usually look feistier against Big Ten teams, the Gophers have out- hustled Minnesota State, Southwest Minnesota State and Army in their first three games.

With some promising junior college and high school recruits expected to accept scholarships with the Gophers this week, Smith and his staff are showing they can recruit and coach.

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