Byline: Sid Hartman; Staff Writer
Madison, Wis. -- If you think the coaches, the media and the fans are puzzled that the Gophers football team have now lost four of its past five games, how about the oddsmakers?
It's a billion-dollar business in Las Vegas, and the people who make those odds are about 80 percent correct.
But not when it comes to the Gophers.
The oddsmakers started the game with the Badgers being a 7-point favorite, and then when the Minnesota money came in, they cut it to 6 1/2.
Go back to the Michigan game, played at Ann Arbor, and the oddsmakers were so confident Minnesota had a chance to win, the Wolverines were only a three-point favorite. The score was 27-24 as the oddsmakers picked, with the Gophers having a good chance to win. They led with 31[/2 minutes to go and Michigan on its own 13-yard line.
The oddsmakers still liked the Gophers after the Michigan loss and made them a 10- point favorite at Michigan State. The Gophers lost 51-16.
Then came Indiana. Minnesota, a 171[/2-point favorite lost to the Hoosiers 30-21.
Finally, the Badgers were a 61[/2 point favorite Saturday, but led the game 31-0 at halftime before winning 38-14.
Check the odds that appear in our paper every day and you will find that these oddsmakers are pretty sharp.
Make a call to oddsmakers at Vegas and they will tell you this Gophers team has fooled them more than any recent college football team.
Tough to figure
The Gophers are tough to figure out. Going into Saturday's game, they were ninth in the country offensively, and the Badgers were 85th.
The Badgers wound up with 525 total yards to the Gophers' 331. In the first half, it was the Badgers with 363 yards and the Gophers with 155.
Wisconsin was 39th in the country in rushing and the Gophers were fourth. But the Gophers rushed for only 73 yards. Gopher running back Laurence Maroney was held to 57 yards - 31 on one touchdown run- - an Marion Barber had only 34 yards. The Badgers rushed for 228 yards.
The Gophers ranked 75th in passing and the Badgers 104th. Wisconsin hadn't passed for more than 211 yards this season, but it had 241 at halftime and 297 for the game. The Gophers finished with 258 after having 134 in the first half. The Badgers passed for only 116 yards against Penn State, 99 against Illinois, and 160 at Ohio State.
No doubt Minnesota didn't expect the Badgers to come out throwing on the basis of what they had done before. Badgers quarterback John Stocco completed 19 of 26 passes for the 297 yards, and the Holy Angels graduate rushed for two touchdowns.
Defensively, the Badgers were ranked second in the country and the Gophers 87th. The Badgers proved how tough their defense can be by limiting the Gophers to 155 yards the first half and a total of 331 for the game, most in the second half when the game was already decided.
Well the one thing you can say for the Gophers is that they didn't fold their tent in the second half after trailing 31-7 at halftime, and challenged the Badgers in the second half when each team scored one touchdown
Now the Gophers play Iowa at home next week.
And if the Gophers want go to almost any bowl game, they better win this game and wind up with a 7-4 record. The one-sided losses to Michigan State, Indiana and Wisconsin aren't going to help the Gophers' chances when it comes to picking the bowl participants.
12 want to play
Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders whose team beat the Hornets 99-92 on Saturday night at Target Center to improve to 2-1, says he will have tough time finding playing time for his players, since all of them are healthy.
'You know why it's difficult? I like all 12 of those guys,' he said. 'I wish I could play all those guys 40 minutes. When guys come in and bust their butts for you every day at practice, and they're doing everything you ask, you want to reward those guys as far as playing time.
'Ultimately our guys understand we want to win and so some guys will step up other times and that is difficult.
'That right now is the most challenging thing, and so until we actually get in to some type of a rhythm, it's going to take a little bit of time.
'There's going to have to be patience from my standpoint to have guys go out there and get into a little bit of a rhythm - and patience from their standpoint - and they're going to have to be always ready because at any time, no matter what the situation, they might get called upon to come in and try and produce for us.'
Praises Pohlad
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, in the Twin Cities to speak at the ALC benefit honoring Carl Pohlad on Thursday night at the Depot, described the owner of the Twins 'as the current statesman of baseball. We had a great owner of the Tigers at one time named John Fetzer, who people called the statesman of baseball. Carl now deserves that title.'
Selig called the 2004 season one of the greatest in baseball. The wild card, the interleague play and other different things that Selig has added to baseball have put the sport in position to get the best television contract in the sport's history.
Regarding a new baseball park in the Twin Cities, Selig said: 'I will do anything in my power to help get a ball park here. No doubt this franchise is going to be in financial trouble in the future without a new stadium.'
Jottings
Look for Rick Rickert to pass up a chance to make more money in Europe and to sign with Sioux Falls of the Continental Basketball Associations. He could have former Gopher John Thomas and former Wisconsin-River Falls star Rich Melzer as teammates with the CBA team. People keep thinking Rickert is going to sue Kevin Garnett for the recent fracas they had while scrimmaging, now that the Wolves have released Rickert. 'Why would I sue him?' said Rickert, who can't understand how the rumor got started.
The Twins might believe that Corey Koskie is injury prone and for that reason might not consider signing the free agent third baseman. But Koskie said his agent has heard from seven teams who will be interest once other teams than the Twins can talk to him. Koskie would take less money to stay here. The Twins will make a big mistake not keeping Koskie, who is not only a great player but a big plus in the clubhouse.
Twin free agent pitcher Brad Radke might want to look at the situation of Yankees pitcher Jon Lieber. Lieber was 14-8 for the Yankees last year, pitching great at the end of the season, and despite that, the Yankees refused to exercise an option of $8 million for next year and bought Lieber out for $250,000. The Twins' offer to Radke of $17 million for two years might be pretty good in this market
Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO 830-AM at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. He is at shartman@startribune.com.
