#-1: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -3). It's a weird survey in that the two teams this screening week won't even sniff an NCAA title. But they had impressive performances over the past two days when other squads who have higher ceilings noticeably slipped, so I should recognize these two teams this survey.
And I will give the nod for the top spot to the grapplers. On Super Bowl Sunday afternoon at Maturi, the U. won its fourth Dual in a row, ripping Purdue, 24-11, by winning seven of the ten matches. But don't let the 12-2 record fool you. They have a relatively easy end of the schedule, which will continue with a road Dual Friday versus Nebraska and a home one Sunday afternoon against Maryland. But they got their asses beat by 14 to Oklahoma St. and Iowa -- those are the two schools that will contend for the NCAA championship. Minnesota won't be even close. Sorry.
#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -8). Meanwhile, it looks as though Coach Whalen may have learned to adjust. I was extremely down (and sarcastic) on this team, predicting that its losing streak will extend to six. But although neither Northwestern nor Rutgers is Wisconsin, Minnesota beat both teams. Moreover, Rutgers was ranked, and instead of wilting, the Golden Gophers actually improved in the Second Half, cruising to a 60-46 win Super Bowl Sunday late afternoon.
The key to these two victories may have been a lineup change. Whalen has started the game going smaller; she has put in Jasmine Brunson into the starting lineup while Annalese Lamke, who had been starting but platooning with Brunson, has been eased onto the bench. (Note the box score against the Scarlet Knights; Whalen basically played the game with five players.)
Could this be the key to turning around the season? Maybe. But the other night I looked up Charlie Creme's bracketology on ESPN.com and ... nope, nothing. Man, from being a 5-seed to nowhere ... it's going to be a monumental climb back into The Big Dance. The obstacles this week: At Indiana Wednesday, home to Northwestern Sunday.
#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). Oh, fuck. The Gophers lost to Minnesota-Duluth Saturday in Overtime, 3-2. Sure, they came back the next afternoon to beat the Bulldogs, 5-3. But that was enough to ... um, rise up to #1 in the polls because Wisconsin lost a game at Bemidji St. Oh, OK. They have a bye week.
#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -4). Avenged a humiliating loss earlier in the year by beating Illinois at Williams Wednesday by 11, but choked on a Second Half lead at Purdue Super Bowl Sunday early afternoon and lost by ten. Still a 9-seed in Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology. But they will be sorely tested this screening week with contests versus Wisconsin Wednesday at The Barn and Michigan St. Saturday afternoon in East Lansing.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -6). Outlasted Memphis by two in Overtime Wednesday, but failed to come back and lost by one to Denver Saturday. Once again, Andrew Wiggins was just there. Once again, Karl-Anthony Towns put his imprint on the game ... and whined to the refs late in the game whenever he didn't get a call. And somehow, with Jeff Teague, Robert Covington and Tyus Jones still out, Jerryd Bayless is putting in crucial yeoman's work; he led the Woofs with 19 Points in the win over The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies. But they're still three Games out of the final playoff spot in the West.
The team goes from an easy screening week to a busy one. It starts with a three-game road trip to Memphis, Orlando and New Orleans, the last two of which is an arduous back-to-back. They then come home Monday to face the Clippers ... who are the team that currently holds the final playoff spot in the West.
#-6: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -7). Split vs. Michigan at 3M. These Goofers rank 26th in the PairWise. Ah, yeah. A pair at Penn St. this weekend.
#-7: Wild (Last Week: -2). Not a good time to slip into a Wild Card spot with a pair of losses, played back-to-back, to The Bastard North Stars (which supplanted Minnesota for a division playoff spot) and Chicago. This is where the rollercoaster goes down. Meanwhile, General Manager Paul Fenton continues to tweak the edges of the team, placing J. T. Brown and (to my surprise) Nate Prosser on waivers and then sent them to Iowa while bringing up Luke Kunin and Kyle Rau. This week the squad is busy af: At Buffalo tonight/Tuesday, home to Edmonton Thursday, then back-to-back weekend afternoon tilts at New Jersey and the Islanders over the weekend.
#-Infinity: Gopher softball (Re-Entry!). Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait -- Kendyl Lindaman transferred to Florida?! And she did it around Thanksgiving?!?!?! Holy fucking shit!! WHY?????????????? She had it so good here! And she could have built something stronger!! Instead she needed to go down to Florida for her career?!?! She couldn't show how good she is in a Northern state?!?!?! Fuck that!!!
Forget that I got totally blindsided by this news two months late. This need to go where all the attention is -- and for softball, that will always be in Southern states where it's hot all year round -- is, no joke, warping the concept of competitive college sports against blue states in the north and, I mean this too, the west, favoring backward red states in the south. Good luck to Lindaman, but to me, this sounds like she's jumping into a big pond where she'll be a fish equally little to all the others. And this surely will damage the Gopher softball team and, I mean this, the program. Again, we'll see what happens this season, but what would have been a Super Regional contender now looks like a club that may win the conference -- may -- but will be a permanent afterthought in College Softball Nation. That is the damage Lindaman has done by transferring.
And I will give the nod for the top spot to the grapplers. On Super Bowl Sunday afternoon at Maturi, the U. won its fourth Dual in a row, ripping Purdue, 24-11, by winning seven of the ten matches. But don't let the 12-2 record fool you. They have a relatively easy end of the schedule, which will continue with a road Dual Friday versus Nebraska and a home one Sunday afternoon against Maryland. But they got their asses beat by 14 to Oklahoma St. and Iowa -- those are the two schools that will contend for the NCAA championship. Minnesota won't be even close. Sorry.
#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -8). Meanwhile, it looks as though Coach Whalen may have learned to adjust. I was extremely down (and sarcastic) on this team, predicting that its losing streak will extend to six. But although neither Northwestern nor Rutgers is Wisconsin, Minnesota beat both teams. Moreover, Rutgers was ranked, and instead of wilting, the Golden Gophers actually improved in the Second Half, cruising to a 60-46 win Super Bowl Sunday late afternoon.
The key to these two victories may have been a lineup change. Whalen has started the game going smaller; she has put in Jasmine Brunson into the starting lineup while Annalese Lamke, who had been starting but platooning with Brunson, has been eased onto the bench. (Note the box score against the Scarlet Knights; Whalen basically played the game with five players.)
Could this be the key to turning around the season? Maybe. But the other night I looked up Charlie Creme's bracketology on ESPN.com and ... nope, nothing. Man, from being a 5-seed to nowhere ... it's going to be a monumental climb back into The Big Dance. The obstacles this week: At Indiana Wednesday, home to Northwestern Sunday.
#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). Oh, fuck. The Gophers lost to Minnesota-Duluth Saturday in Overtime, 3-2. Sure, they came back the next afternoon to beat the Bulldogs, 5-3. But that was enough to ... um, rise up to #1 in the polls because Wisconsin lost a game at Bemidji St. Oh, OK. They have a bye week.
#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -4). Avenged a humiliating loss earlier in the year by beating Illinois at Williams Wednesday by 11, but choked on a Second Half lead at Purdue Super Bowl Sunday early afternoon and lost by ten. Still a 9-seed in Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology. But they will be sorely tested this screening week with contests versus Wisconsin Wednesday at The Barn and Michigan St. Saturday afternoon in East Lansing.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -6). Outlasted Memphis by two in Overtime Wednesday, but failed to come back and lost by one to Denver Saturday. Once again, Andrew Wiggins was just there. Once again, Karl-Anthony Towns put his imprint on the game ... and whined to the refs late in the game whenever he didn't get a call. And somehow, with Jeff Teague, Robert Covington and Tyus Jones still out, Jerryd Bayless is putting in crucial yeoman's work; he led the Woofs with 19 Points in the win over The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies. But they're still three Games out of the final playoff spot in the West.
The team goes from an easy screening week to a busy one. It starts with a three-game road trip to Memphis, Orlando and New Orleans, the last two of which is an arduous back-to-back. They then come home Monday to face the Clippers ... who are the team that currently holds the final playoff spot in the West.
#-6: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -7). Split vs. Michigan at 3M. These Goofers rank 26th in the PairWise. Ah, yeah. A pair at Penn St. this weekend.
#-7: Wild (Last Week: -2). Not a good time to slip into a Wild Card spot with a pair of losses, played back-to-back, to The Bastard North Stars (which supplanted Minnesota for a division playoff spot) and Chicago. This is where the rollercoaster goes down. Meanwhile, General Manager Paul Fenton continues to tweak the edges of the team, placing J. T. Brown and (to my surprise) Nate Prosser on waivers and then sent them to Iowa while bringing up Luke Kunin and Kyle Rau. This week the squad is busy af: At Buffalo tonight/Tuesday, home to Edmonton Thursday, then back-to-back weekend afternoon tilts at New Jersey and the Islanders over the weekend.
#-Infinity: Gopher softball (Re-Entry!). Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait -- Kendyl Lindaman transferred to Florida?! And she did it around Thanksgiving?!?!?! Holy fucking shit!! WHY?????????????? She had it so good here! And she could have built something stronger!! Instead she needed to go down to Florida for her career?!?! She couldn't show how good she is in a Northern state?!?!?! Fuck that!!!
Forget that I got totally blindsided by this news two months late. This need to go where all the attention is -- and for softball, that will always be in Southern states where it's hot all year round -- is, no joke, warping the concept of competitive college sports against blue states in the north and, I mean this too, the west, favoring backward red states in the south. Good luck to Lindaman, but to me, this sounds like she's jumping into a big pond where she'll be a fish equally little to all the others. And this surely will damage the Gopher softball team and, I mean this, the program. Again, we'll see what happens this season, but what would have been a Super Regional contender now looks like a club that may win the conference -- may -- but will be a permanent afterthought in College Softball Nation. That is the damage Lindaman has done by transferring.
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