#0: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -3). I was at the Sports Pavilion for Saturday's dual against Oklahoma St. Glad I did; the Gophers avenged their home loss to the Cowboys two years ago by a score of 19-15. There was a blip in the rankings advantage the U. enjoyed when the Gophers' Sam Brancale, ranked 18th in the country at 125, didn't just get beat but got pinned by unranked Eddie Klimara. That tied the match at 9 going into halftime, but in the second half the U. had a grappler ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and the decisions they racked up glided the Gophs to a solid win. And they maintained their #1 overall ranking.
There is this thing called the Cliff Keen Invitational this weekend. It seems like a special tournament and not a dual, so I don't think I'm going to write about them next week.
#-1: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -5). Didn't know that the U. had a huge lead against St. John's Wednesday night -- not just at halftime, but with about four minutes left to go. Then the Red Storm stole a ball at the Goofs' defensive zone, and some guy had this thunderdunk, posterizing some guy. That apparently sparked St. John's to the win. If I had known that, I would've sunk this team even lower in last week's WMNSS.
Saying that, the team has bounced back quite well, beating two BcS teams this week. First they took out Georgia 66-62 in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Then they beat Wake Forest (at Winston-Salem, N.C.) by 15 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Those are two victories over names that should boost the RPI, and they're two wins that will come in very handy when the NCAA Committee has to compare bubble teams, which the U. definitely will be.
They start a six-game homestand against some really cupcakes. They begin with Western Carolina and North Dakota.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). Went to Princeton over Thanksgiving Weekend and swept the Tigers by scores of 2-1 and 5-2. I don't have anything else to say. Sorry, my parents just came home, and the entire household is going down the shitter, because my Mother is yelling at me and I'm just about to murder her. They have a huge winter break after this weekend's series against St. Cloud St. at Ridder Arena.
#-3: Vikings (Last Week: -7). I don't know if you can call this progress. After all, Teddy Bridgewater passed only for, lik, 127 yards. I don't even know if you call the Vikings an improving team after they beat the Carolina Panthers. (I can say that the Panthers are a bad team, and Ron Rivera is in danger of being fired a year after leading the team to a division title.) At least you can say that it was a very unique game. The offense was, er, competent, and the defense was OK, but the game was carried by the special teams, which blocked two punts and returned both for touchdowns -- only the fifth time in the history of the NFL that has happened.
They have a possibility, believe it or not, of reaching 7-9. Sunday's home game against the New York Jets has to be a gimme win ... right?
#-4: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2). Well, they aren't going to go undefeated after they got kind of crushed by Vanderbilt in the first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase. But they turned it around in the round-robin (?) tournament, first blitzing College of Charleston and then outlasting Georgia Tech. And then they went on the road and won their ACC/Big Ten Challenge game over N.C. St. tonight (Wednesday night), 60-55. Those wins over the Yellow Jackets and Wolfpack should help come tournament time, just like the men. And I don't know about you, but I have to think that this team will be better just because they changed coaches. They host Butler Sunday.
#-5: Wild (Last Week: -4). They got their asses kicked by the Kings last Wednesday, but this Wednesday they wound up a 2-2 week by beating Montreal, 2-1. Had a shootout loss (like the Kings, also at home) against St. Louis. But in their only road game, they went to Dallas and beat The Team That Was Stolen From Us in overtime, 5-4. Not a bad week, even if they sit only ninth in the Western Conference. They finish a four-game homestand with games against Anaheim and the New York Islanders.
#-6: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -Infinity). Went to the Boston area over the weekend and beat Boston College 6-2 but lost to Northeastern 3-2. Northeastern isn't even ranked. Guess that's why they've slipped in the USCHO poll from 3rd to 6th. Have nothing else to say; parents and all. Like the ladies, the men's Gopher hockey team has one final weekend series before being done for the rest of the year. They begin conference play at Michigan St.
#-7: Timberwolves (Last Week: -6). A 1-4 week. But that last loss, Wednesday night (tonight), happened to a team that was winless in the NBA, and one defeat away from tying the 2009-10 Brooklyn Nets for the worst losing streak to begin a season. That was the team that the Woofie Dogs just lost to, and comfortably, 85-77, shooting, like, 35% from the field in what has to be the most shameful defeat in recent Wolves history. Squeaking by the Lakers in Los Angeles is utterly worthless when compared to the loss to the 76ers. Oh, and they lost to Milwaukee, Portland and the Clippers, too.
The NBA's Slumpbuster hosts Houston, visits San Antonio, then plays Golden State at Target Center.
#-Infinity (tie): Gopher football and Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0 and Positive Numbers, respectively). Well, they had their chance. But in the end, Wisconsin was slightly more two-dimensional than Minnesota. Specifically, Joel (?) Stave was able to pass a little more than Mitch Leidner, and that's kind of the reason why they were able to give Jerry Kill his first loss after leading at halftime. That's not to say that this defeat ruins everything that's happened over the year. But while the defense acquitted themselves nicely, there remains a noticeable gap between Minnesota and the powers of the B1G, although it's safe to say that gap has closed.
They await the bowl exhibition, so they are done. So are the U. volleyballers, although they shouldn't, and it's incredibly, incredibly rare. In fact, for the first time in 16 years, Minnesota has failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. Worse yet, this was a year where they are hosting a regional. In volleyball, if you're in the tournament, you're bracketed so that you will play in front of your home crowd if you make it to regionals. Instead, the seeded teams going through the Sports Pavilion are Texas, North Carolina, Oregon and Colorado St. (The fact that no Big Ten teams were placed in this regional is a puzzling question in and of itself.)
I still am not satisfied as to how the fuck this program, one which perennially reaches the tourney (and wins) didn't qualify for the postseason for the first time since my senior year in college. Guess that season-ending sweep of Indiana at home wasn't enough. Maybe they should've sealed the deal at Ohio St. the game before instead of losing in five. Or maybe their fates were sealed with those back-to-back sweeps at Illinois and Northwestern. Regardless, I am kind of shocked that there isn't more outrage over this streak being broken, or that there isn't a front-page story in either of our newspapers asking what the hell is going on. That will put a fire under Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. At the very least the guy who once coached the women's Olympic team has to be on the hot seat. How the fuck can you not be after this abortion of a season?
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