Nestled between national signing day and the beginning of spring practice is a time mostly void of any and all real college football talk, aside from the standard winter strength and conditioning article where every coach in America repeats the "bigger, stronger, faster" mantra. To fill that vacuum left by the absence of college football in your life, FBT will breakdown the roster of your Minnesota Golden Gophers by position group, highlighting the important stats and returning players from 2011 while looking ahead to 2012 and what to expect from the Maroon and Gold.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers entered Big Ten conference play with a stellar record and a strong RPI, but will that translate into an NCAA Tournament bid? In all likelihood – and from the look of the first three Big Ten games – no. FBT columnist Elliot Mann examines when a stellar non-conference record only hides the true shortcomings of a Big Ten team.