Zero. That’s the number of Gophers who made the 20 individual watch lists for college football awards.  Wisconsin running back John Clay, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, will be among the most followed players in the conference.  He’s on the watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell and Doak Walker awards.

The Badgers are the last Big Ten team to play this weekend.  Wisconsin has a Minneapolis 10 p.m. start time on Saturday in Las Vegas against the Rebels.  The game can be seen on Versus.

KARE 11 anchor Mike Pomeranz will host Tim Brewster’s football show each Wednesday starting at 6 p.m. on Fox Sports North.  Pomeranz, a Bloomington native who once played pro baseball, also has worked for FSN on Twins telecasts.

The Vikings media guide devotes 13 pages to amazing Brett Favre.  The 40-year-old Vikings quarterback, who holds a lengthy list of NFL passing records, has started a league record 285 regular season games.  If his health holds, Favre will start No. 300 on December 26 in Philadelphia against the Eagles.

In its annual valuations of NFL teams Forbes ranks the Vikings at No. 30, with a worth of $774 million, behind only Oakland and Jacksonville.  Forbes also issues this warning: “Vikings owner Zygmunt Wilf’s biggest asset is the termination of his lease at the Metrodome, which expires after the 2011 season. If Wilf does not have an agreement for a new stadium in Minnesota he will probably move the franchise to Los Angeles, where two separate groups want to build new stadiums. …” https://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/30/football-valuations-10_Minnesota-Vikings_309201.html

Kevin Love’s potential as a rebounder is intriguing.  Love, who turns 22 on Tuesday, has been impressive rebounding for the U.S. team in the FIBA World Championships. He averaged 14.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game during his second season with the Timberwolves last season.  Love averaged 15.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in his 22 starts, while also leading the team in rebounding in 35 games.  Orlando’s Dwight Howard led the NBA with a 13.2 average last year.

What do you consider the greatest game in the Wild’s 10 year history?  The team’s 2003 overtime 3-2 Western Conference quarterfinal win over Colorado was chosen No. 1 in voting by fans.  No. 2 was the first ever game between the Wild and Dallas (once the North Stars franchise) in 2000.  A DVD celebrating those two games is available for purchase at $19 and on sale at all Hockey Lodge locations and the Wild’s state fair locale.  Proceeds benefit the Wild Foundation.

The Wild would welcome more offensive production next season from Martin Havlat.  In his first season with the Wild he had 18 goals and 36 assists, after totals of 29 and 48 the season prior in Chicago.

Marilyn Dutcher, wife of former Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher, passed away on Monday.  Condolences to the Dutcher family.  https://www.edenprairienews.com/news/deaths/funeral-notice-marilyn-r-dutcher-108

Twins home attendance has increased a major league best 37.1 percent through August, according to MLB.com’s Baseball Daily News.  The Twins, playing their first season at Target Field, averaged 100.6 percent of capacity through games ending August 31.

The Twins won 18 games in August, the most in the American League.  More of the same in September might enable them to finish with the best overall record in the league and earn home field advantage in the playoffs.  The Twins will need that kind of edge against better teams like the Yankees and Rays.

Among the reasons the Twins have to be thinking about bringing back 40-year-old Jim Thome next season is he’s hitting .280 (7-25) as a pinch-hitter.

Twins third baseman Danny Valencia is hitting .446 in games at Target Field.  He has hit safely in 24 of 28 games there during his rookie season.

Although St. John’s has won the last three MIAC titles and been the conference’s marquee football name for decades, it’s St. Thomas that received the most votes from league coaches in a preseason poll. The Tommies received seven of nine first place votes and 63 total points to lead the preseason poll followed by Saint John’s, Bethel, Concordia (Moorhead), St. Olaf, Gustavus Adolphus, Augsburg, Carleton and Hamline.

St. Thomas third-year coach Glenn Caruso has three All-Americans back from last year including wide receiver Fritz Waldvogel, the MIAC’s 2009 MVP.  The others are center Josh Ostrue and running back Ben Wartman.

The journey to the Gophers best basketball season in more than a decade might begin tomorrow night in British Columbia when Minnesota plays the first of three late summer exhibition games.

Last season the Gophers were 21-14 overall, 9-9 during the Big Ten season, and won three of four in the conference tournament to earn their way into the NCAA tourney for a second consecutive year under coach Tubby Smith.  Off-season news included the transfers of guard Justin Cobbs and forwards Paul Carter and Royce White to other schools but the return of two talented ineligible players last winter has shifted momentum to the positive for 2010-11.

Senior point guard Al Nolen and junior power forward Trevor Mbakwe have skills that are the envy of many college players.  Nolen’s on-the-ball defense could make him one of the nation’s leaders in steals, while Mbakwe brings shot blocking, interior defense and rebounding that will draw attention next winter.

A long time ago legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire said: “You win with your seniors.”  The Gophers are likely to have two senior starters in Nolen, 21, and forward Blake Hoffarber, 22.  Mbakwe, a junior college transfer who started his post-high school career at Marquette, is 21 and a mature player.  Nolen was a regular last season before becoming academically ineligible and along with Hoffarber, junior guard Devoe Joseph and junior centers Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson, the Gophers have five experienced players who have been starters at Minnesota.

Smith spoke about experience recently on the Gophers website.  “We’ve got a good nucleus of veteran players that I think can compete with anybody in the country,” he said in a web interview. https://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=204980619

The Gophers haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since the 1997 team went to the Final Four.  The 2010-11 team will be experienced and accomplished defensively.  Smith said in the web interview he will be looking for improved rebounding and passing on the trip to Canada.  The Gophers have games tomorrow night, Friday evening and Sunday against Canadian university teams.

The NCAA allows a program to make a foreign trip every four years and the Gophers have been given 10 days of practice they otherwise wouldn’t have received in the summer.  The three games, along with the practices, are a bonus for a team that could be headed for a big season.