Minnesota is a program with five College World Series appearances and three national titles, but hasn't made a trip to Omaha since the 1977 season.

Perhaps the Golden Gophers are due for a return trip.

The Gophers certainly haven't had issues being in the hunt for an NCAA regional appearance the past few seasons. In the eyes of many, they somewhat deserved to host a regional last season. As it stood, though, they traveled to the Baton Rouge Regional and played eventual champion LSU in the title game.

After making some noise in '09, the Gophers once again will have a team capable of making some noise in the postseason.

They welcome back a plethora of key offensive cogs even without three excellent hitters. They also welcome back a plethora of talented relievers, but must replace some key starting pitchers.

The Gophers have a shot at the Big Ten title if the starting pitching and offense outside of their top three hitters rises to the occasion.

It's time to dissect the Gophers.

Minnesota's five keys

1. Build off last season -- The Golden Gophers have made some noise the past few seasons and played LSU for the Baton Rouge Regional title in their last campaign. Now the Gophers need to realize how close they were to advancing to a super regional and build off that. There are few northern programs that have established as much respect as the Gophers the past few seasons. Sure, they had a tough '08 campaign, but they also have reached an NCAA regional two of the last three seasons. Now it's time for the program to take a step forward. We'll see if the players are up to challenge.

2. Replace McCallum, Nohelty and Decker -- The Golden Gophers have the tough chore of replacing All-American Derek McCallum, Matt Nohelty and Eric Decker. McCallum had an amazing '09 campaign at the plate. He batted .409 with 17 doubles, three triples, 18 homers and 86 RBIs. He also slugged .741 and had a .484 on-base percentage. Nohelty batted .337 with 31 RBIs and finished the season with a .433 on-base percentage. He also was a speed demon on base paths, going 26-for-31 in stolen bases. Decker, a two-way star, announced a couple months ago he likely wouldn't play baseball in the spring. An injury during football season solidifies that point.

3. Rise to the occasion at the plate -- The Golden Gophers finished last season with an impressive .314 batting average and hopes to emulate that number in the spring. That could be tough without McCallum, Nohelty and Decker, but it's certainly not impossible. The Gophers are led at the plate by AJ Pettersen, Michael Kvasnicka and Justin Gominsky. Pettersen batted .353 with two homers and 45 RBIs last season. Kvasnicka batted .341 with 10 homers and 65 RBIs and Gominsky batted .338 with three homers and 25 RBIs. He also was 11-of-11 in stolen bases. Other key returning hitters include Kyle Knudson and Nick O'Shea. Also keep an eye on Kyle Geason, Kurt Schlangen and Brooks Albrecht.

4. Figure out the weekend rotation -- The weekend rotation is the most glaring concern entering the spring. They must find a way to replace starting pitchers Tom Buske and Chauncy Handran. Buske started 15 games last season and had a 3.57 ERA in 95 2/3 innings. He also struck out 75 and walked 26 and limited teams to a .223 batting average. Handran, meanwhile, started 15 games and had a 4.69 ERA in 96 innings. He also struck out 57 and walked 34 and teams hit .295 off him. Seth Rosin is the lone returning starter. He started 15 games last season and had a 4.21 ERA in 77 innings. He also struck out 65 and walked 16 and he limited teams to a .274 batting average. It'll be interesting to see which relievers make the move to the rotation in a couple months.

5. Bullpen must meet expectations -- The Gophers finished last season with a 4.85 ERA mainly because a few relievers failed to hold up their end of the bargain. Still, the Gophers should have a solid bullpen in the spring. They welcome back several key relievers, including leading arms Scott Matyas, Luke Rasmussen, Tim Ryan and Austin Lubinsky. Matyas made 23 appearances last season and had a 2.22 ERA in 28 1/3 innings. He also finished the season with 15 saves. Rasmussen made 22 appearances and had a 3.99 ERA in 29 1/3 innings, Ryan made 16 appearances and had a 4.06 ERA and Lubinsky made 15 appearances and had a 4.78 ERA in 37 2/3 innings. Other relievers to watch include Cullen Sexton, Scott Fern and newcomers Billy Soule and Alex Tukey. Minnesota's bullpen will be one of the Big Ten's best.