(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

If there is a team in need of an upset, it is head coach Tim Brewster's Minnesota Golden Gophers.  No upset this year and Brewster will be on the hot seat at the start of the 2010 campaign.

No upset and the team with arguably the best wide receiver in college football is looking at spending the holiday season in San Antonio, Detroit or...at home. 

The good news for the Gophers is that they can bag a big upset as they play three teams in the Top 20.  Minnesota plays No. 14 Penn State, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 11 Iowa.  The bad news for the Gophers is that all three games are on the road and each team believes they have a chance to play for a national championship. 

When he was hired in January of 2007, coach Brewster fired up Gopher Nation talking about making trips to Pasadena.   The alumni liked Brewster’s message, as they had grown weary of going to Tennessee and the Music City Bowl.

Not everyone was on board, as Brewster’s resume was devoid of any head coaching experience.   However, no one doubted his ability to recruit, given how he delivered several top recruits to Texas, most notably Vince Young. 

The recipe was clear.  Surround the young coach with quality coordinators, allow him to recruit, and the Gophers will be right back among the elite teams in the Big Ten. 

Instead, growing pains occurred.  In his first year, Minnesota took a step back, going 1-11 and 0-8 in the Big Ten.   The losses for Minnesota were bad; take your pick—Florida Atlantic 41-39 or North Dakota State 27-21.

In-state recruiting suffered as the Gophers were not able to get the cream of Minnesota to stay home.  The biggest loss was not having a legitimate shot at WR sensation Michael Floyd, who decided to attend Notre Dame.

Grumblings started on campus, but the faithful were reassured to be patient, as good things were on the horizon.  Specifically, the Gophers returned DE William VanDeSteeg, WR Eric Decker, and QB Adam Weber.

At the beginning of the eighth week of the season, Coach Brewster looked like a genius.  The Gophers were ranked No. 20 and had 7-1 record, with its only loss being to No. 13 Ohio State, 34-21, on the road. 

Four games later, Coach Brewster looked incompetent as the Gophers lost to Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa.  The Iowa loss was especially embarrassing, as the Gophers lost 55-0.  The score does not reflect how lopsided the game was for Iowa.

The Gophers accepted a bowl invitation to play in the Insight Bowl, but were soundly beaten by the Kansas Jayhawks 42-21.  All the goodwill created with the 7-1 start was dissipated by the 0-5 tumble at the end.

Gopher Nation began to grumble again.  Coach Brewster turned up the charm, reminding the fan base that the Gophers would be playing in a beautiful outdoor stadium, that he had 19 of his 22 starters returning, and most importantly, the Gophers had the best pass catching combo in the conference.  

Decker’s 2008 numbers were 84 catches, seven touchdowns and 1,074 receiving yards; he also had 11 carries, 87 yards, and one touchdown running the ball.  Weber’s 2008 numbers were 2,761 yards, 15 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a completion rate of 62.2 percent. 

Gopher fans were cautiously optimistic for 2009 with Decker and Weber returning. 

The optimism was short lived, as the Gophers played inconsistently and needed overtime to beat Syracuse 23-20 in the season opener.  The Syracuse game was a harbinger of the first half of the season, as the Gophers have yet to play a solid, consistent game from start to finish.   

While the Gophers stand at 4-2 and 2-1 in the Big Ten, the record does not reflect the shortcomings of the team.

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