It's win or go home as March madness begins

March Madness has begun officially Tuesday with play in games. The Minnesota Gophers who were once 8^th in the nation finished 9^th in the Big 10 Conference.

The amount of talk should Tubby Smith stay or go will be put aside at least for a while as his Gophers (11^th seed) take on UCLA (6^th seed) Friday at 8:57(CST).

The Gophers are 100-1 for the Championship odds according to Las Vegas. The Gophers are a 3.5 point favorite as well over UCLA.

The Gophers played UCLA back in the 1997 Midwest Regional Final in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday March 22^nd. The Gophers won 80-72 going to the Final Four before losing to Kentucky.

The 2013 version of the Gophers will play UCLA in the first round on Friday March 22^nd in the South Region Austin, Texas.

The Gophers and UCLA play on the same dates (22^nd), different years and both games played in the state of Texas. What a weird coincidence.

Kentucky beat the Gophers before falling to Arizona in the 1997 National Championship game in Indianapolis. Rick Pitino coached Kentucky that year and the next year left the program. Who was the next coach in Kentucky? Yes, Tubby Smith.

It has been a painful end of the regular season. My hope is the team can find a spark and make this state of Minnesota proud of you.

GO GOPHERS!!!

Thanks for reading

Purplestick