Although Gopher seniors Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson may emerge as Big Ten Conference stars this season, the biggest storyline for 2007-08 will be new head coach Tubby Smith.  The Minnesota “triplets” are beyond comparison as the team’s best players.  But Smith, the former NCAA champion coach at Kentucky, is a national story now that he’s in Minneapolis.

The Gopher season starts next week with a home exhibition game against Minnesota State University Mankato on Thursday.   Last season the Gophers were 9-22 overall, 3-13 in the Big Ten and lost their last nine games.  If the Gophers make improvements, Smith will be lauded.  A poor season will be explained away by most observers as not Smith’s fault because the roster lacks talent and depth.

Wanting to embrace Smith, this town is impressed by his 1998 national title, four elite eight NCAA teams, three national coach of the year awards, five SEC regular season championships and 14 consecutive 20-win seasons.  The Smith personality endears him to people quickly, too. Particularly one-on-one, Smith is friendly, engaging and more like a next door neighbor than a high powered college basketball coach.

But talking to the media earlier this week Smith provided a glimpse of the intensity and determination that his players see everyday in practice.  “There’s a lot of question marks about what we’re capable of doing but I expect us to be very competitive,” he said.

Make no mistake, Smith is in charge of the Gophers and he expects his players to be disciplined and grateful.  He said players who are too questioning of how they fit in as individuals will receive a direct answer. “Be grateful” to be on the team because there are others on the outside who want the opportunity.

Smith wasn’t specific about predicting wins and losses for the coming season, and offered some humor on the subject. “I am not Nostradamus,” he said.

His team is sorting out who the starters will be beyond the “triplets.”  Most challenging is the point guard position where McKenzie, freshman Al Nolen, and sophomore Kevin Payton are candidates.  Ball handling is a top priority, Smith said, as the Gophers work on limiting turnovers that helped spoil their last season.

The “triplets” are the highest returning scoring trio in the Big Ten.  McKenzie averaged 14.9 points per game, Coleman 14.2 and Tollackson 12.0.  McKenzie and Coleman made honorable mention all-conference, but there’s plenty of potential for improvement from all three as they try to help the Gophers to the post-season world of the NCAA or even NIT.

Smith wants McKenzie, more a shooter than a playmaker, to make his teammates better, too.  He refers to Coleman as a “workaholic” and mentioned that his 6-9 forward arrives at practice 30 minutes early to start work.  Smith said Tollackson, the 6-9 center, has a “ton of talent” and is a leader.

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The Vikings, 2-4, play six of their last 10 games at home, starting with Sunday’s noon game with Philadelphia.  Three of the next four games are here, with the only road date in Green Bay on November 11.

Vikings’ coach Brad Childress spent seven seasons with the Eagles, including four as offensive coordinator.  Vikings’ defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was the defensive backfield coach for the Eagles from 1999-2002.  Former Gophers’ fullback Thomas Tapeh, now with the Eagles, has rushed 12 times for 42 yards this season.

Speculation is that Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb could end up in the NFC North next year, either with Chicago or the Vikings.

Adrian Peterson not only leads the NFL in rushing yards with 670, but his 6.2 yards per attempt is best in the league.

The Vikings’ defense is tied for first in takeaways (16) with Detroit, Seattle and Tennessee.

Gophers’ basketball coach Tubby Smith wants a practice facility other than Williams Arena.  Athletic director Joel Maturi told Sports Headliners the project must wait until fundraising is completed for the new TCF Bank Stadium.  The facility’s cost is unknown since details of the building plan haven’t started.

Hockey coach Don Lucia is interested in facility enhancements, too, including a players’ lounge at Mariucci Arena.  Maturi said an alumni lounge is another possibility and that expanding the team’s training table to beyond once per week is desirable.  Maturi also said both the basketball and hockey enhancements must be paid for through fundraising rather than the athletic department budget.

There’s been talk about expanding the Big Ten Conference football schedule from eight to nine games but Maturi said he doesn’t think it will happen.  There are “too many” issues with an unbalanced schedule.

Nothing has changed so far amidst speculation that the Twins won’t have the budget to sign both Johan Santana and Torii Hunter to new contracts.

It was 30 years ago this fall that the Gophers beat then No. 1 ranked Michigan 16-0 at Memorial Stadium.  Tomorrow the Gophers are at Michigan and they have defeated the Wolverines only twice (1986 and 2005) since their dramatic win in 1977.

The defending national champion Gopher wrestling team begins its season on Saturday, November 10 at the Bison Open in Fargo.  Seven times Big Ten Coach of the Year J Robinson has outstanding returnees including two-time national champion and potential Olympian Cole Konrad.

St. Thomas tries for its first win in Collegeville since 1986 when the Tommies play at Saint John’s on Saturday.  An overflow Clemens Stadium crowd of more than 10,000 (capacity 7,500) is expected to watch one of small college football’s better rivalries.  The Tommies (2-5 overall, 2-3 in the MIAC) haven’t defeated the Johnnies (8-0 and 6-0) and legendary coach John Gagliardi since 1997 in the Metrodome.  Two Rocori High School grads start at quarterback, SJU senior Alex Kofoed and Tommie junior David Sauer.

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The next Gopher football recruiting class will be “one of the best in school history.” Coach Tim Brewster, who according to NCAA rules can’t talk specifically about recruits at this time, said at his weekly news conference yesterday that the response by prospective players to Minnesota is outstanding.  The Gophers have 16 verbal commitments for 2008, including three players rated four out of five stars, according to rivals.com.

The players with the four star rating are wide receivers Brandon Green of Chicago and Vincent  Hill of New Berlin, New York, and linebacker Sam Maresh of Champlin, Minnesota.  The Gophers, of course, will continue to recruit beyond the 16 players until signing day next winter.  While Brewster has generated a lot of attention with his spread offense, he made it clear yesterday the Gophers will emphasize defensive recruits and that the way to championships is built with great defensive players.

Brewster said yesterday he “loves to recruit” and he’s assembled much of the staff in his image.  Asked what elements are appealing to recruits so far, Brewster launched into praise of the present and future facilities at the University including the new TCF Bank Stadium scheduled to open in 2009.  He identified the stadium as the only such completely new facility built in the last “50 to 60 years” on a college campus.  “We’re re-connecting with our past history and tradition and getting back on campus,” he said.

Brewster also spoke about the academic opportunities at the University and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. “The Twin Cities is one of the amazing sells in the Big Ten,” he said.  “We’re not out in the middle of the corn field. We’re in a beautiful city environment here with so many things to offer. There are 20 Fortune 500 companies here within a 20 mile radius of this University. That’s better than any college in America. …”

With the Gophers 1-7 and lacking talent and depth at various positions, there are opportunities for new players to play soon.  Brewster called that factor a “tremendous selling point.”

If Brewster and his staff come up with a top 25 rated recruiting class it will be the first within memory at Minnesota.  It won’t hurt the rankings that people like Brewster including media who specialize in recruiting information.

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