Minnesota Gophers
Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball Tickets - Win Over Louisville Draws Attention
The Golden Gophers have surprised a few college basketball experts by rushing out to the front of the Big Ten basketball standings. Their will over No. 9 Louisville made national headlines. Let's face it: Gophers are hot right now. If you were mulling over the idea of getting some Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball tickets at http://www.stubhub.com/minnesota-golden-gophers-basketball-tickets, you've past the point where it's good to continue to think. You are now in a time of action. Just in case you missed out on learning about the Golden Gophers, here's the low-down.
---Record as of December 22, 2008---
10-0 (first place in Big Ten Conference)
---Key Victories So Far---
Colorado State, Virginia, Louisville
The Gophers are digging their way to the AP Top 25 with key wins over quality programs, the biggest and best of which was the win over Louisville, which also contained the Tubby Smith-Rick Pitino rivalry. According to an article by Marcus Fuller at http://TwinCities.com, Tubby said this concerning the matchup with Pitino:
"It's always bittersweet when you're playing against friends. Any time you play against your mentor or a great coach like (Pitino), you've hoped you communicated to your team that you have to raise your level of play. You have to play with energy and enthusiasm, but you have to stay composed. I thought our guys exemplified that extremely well."
Minnesota has performed brilliantly versus some good teams, and the win over the cardinals wasn't the only time they looked like a sure bet for the NCAA Tournament. Fans who purchased Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball tickets at StubHub for their game against Virginia, saw that freshman Colton Iverson was dominant in the paint. There will be more challenges coming soon, which leads us to...
---Big Games Coming Up---
Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State
Unfortunately for Gophers fans, the schedule will get really tough really quickly. They start in on the conference portion of the schedule on December 31st when they play the Michigan State Spartans at home. Michigan State is 19th in the latest AP Top 25 poll, Ohio State is 17th, and Penn State is unranked, but working on a nice 10-2 record.
---Future Prediction---
Finish in the top three of the Big Ten. Go to the Tourney. First Round elimination.
According to Yahoo! Team Report's Quote to Note, Coach Tubby Smith has said, about the difference between last year and this year:
"There is usually a holdover or a group of players that had to learn a new system. They now understand that system, they've had a year of indoctrination and the new players you're bringing in, there isn't that learning curve. They're getting on the court and off the court tutoring from the returning players ... that's very beneficial to the newcomers we have."
Basically, the Gophers are buying into Tubby's game plan, and that's got to be a good thing. What a difference a year makes, huh? But it's still too early to say this team can last the whole season, through to the Tournament. They might get to the NCAA's with some solid play against the Big Ten, which is a nice place to be right now, but don't bet on anything more than a first round elimination. The future looks bright for this team, and in another year or so when Iverson develops and gets talent around him they could be Final Four material.
BIO:
About the Author
Written by Brent Warnken.
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