#-1: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Well, their streak of not dropping a Set to begin their delayed season ended this past weekend at Purdue, a proud program that has not come as close to getting over the hump as Minnesota has, but they nevertheless the Gophers take both Games in West Lafayette. That keeps them on top when it comes to comparing local teams, but I am looking for a reason to knock any Twin Cities club into negative territory at some point in their season -- not every Week can be sunshine and rainbows -- so winning a pair of 3-2 decisions gets them a -1 for this screening Week. They also rise to fifth in the AVCA Top 25, although they are behind two Big Ten squads (#1 Wisconsin and #4 Nebraska) in this weird season where many BcS schools completed their seasons in the fall.
A huge series coming up. Prime nemesis Penn St. comes here for Spring 2021, both tonight/Friday night and tomorrow/Saturday night. Not only can you see this on TV (Big Ten Network), but -- and I didn't know this until recently -- you can now listen to Gopher volleyball Games on the radio, on The Plus, 96.7 FM!
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -6). This team suffered through a three-Game skid that made me think about taking back my belief they were just about a Stone Cold Steve Austin lock for The Big Dance. And they were falling down Joe Lunardi's Bracketology, getting close to "Real Last Four In" status, or worse. So they turned away from the abyss this Week with a pair of important wins at home, over Nebraska by 18 Monday and, probably more importantly, over Purdue by three yesterday/Thursday afternoon.
Liam Robbins and Marcus Carr have become the engine of this team and a formidable inside-outside duo when they're working. But inconsistent Guard play has hampered this team, and opponents have been able to disrupt, if not shut down, their Big Two. Recently they've been undone by horrible starts to their Second Halves. And while I want to credit their team's fortitude in their victory over the Boilermakers, it's accurate to say that they haven't been a consistently clutch team this year, either. It made yesterday's contest an entertaining nailbiter, though; after Purdue's Trevion Williams made a lay-up put his team up 68-66 with 24 Seconds to go, Carr drilled a Three-Pointer with :14 left. Williams then was called for traveling with seven Seconds left, Gabe Kalscheur made both Free Throws after being fouled, and the Gophers escaped with a 71-68 win that should arrest the U.'s slide.
Unfortunately, I now see that the Gophers this screening Week face a pair of B1G schools hanging onto tournament hopes on the road, at which they are still winless. They visit Maryland (the only team to have defeated the Golden Gophers at Williams Arena, and they did so humiliatingly, 63-49) Sunday evening, then travel to Indiana Wednesday.
#-3: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -1). The U. is ranked tenth, and Illinois is ranked 13th. I guess it's, uh, encouraging to see that the Gophers overpowered the Illini at Maturi Friday evening by a 25-13 Dual Score. The U. only won six of the ten matches that count toward the Dual Score (for this season only, teams are allowed to stage extra matches so competitors can rack up records for their personal prospects for NCAA postseason play), but those wins included back-to-back Technical Falls by #6 Brayton Lee at 157 and #15 Andrew Sparks at 165 to take the lead from Illinois and, to add the cherry on top, Heavyweight #1 Gable Steveson's Pin of #6 Luke Luffman just 34 Seconds into their match.
Hmmm, this is odd: They are at Wisconsin this/Friday late morning. The Dual starts at ... 10 a.m.???
#-4: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -2). It looks as though Minnesota and Wisconsin are the two programs that stand out above the rest this season in women's top-flight college hockey. Evidence of that was provided last weekend when the Badgers came to Ridder Arena and split a two-Game series. Each team blew a two-Goal lead and lost, the Gophers Friday on their way to a 4-3 Overtime loss, the Badgers Saturday on their way to a 3-2 Shootout loss. It's a wash when it comes to the WCHA standings: both clubs took two Points in their victory and one in their defeat. But considering that the Goofers traveled to Madison and got swept by a combined score of 11-3, it's fair to say that the Badgers have the leg up this season. That portends bad things in a possible (probable?) tournament matchup, possible in the Frozen Four Final.
Their final home series of the regular season is this/Friday and tomorrow/Saturday afternoon vs. Ohio St., a squad against which they have split a pair of series so far. Friday's tilt can be heard on The Plus.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). Finish this screening Week 1-3. It feels as though they have finished many, many, many screening Weeks 1-3. The Wolves' sole win was the first Game of a two-Game series at Oklahoma City on Friday, squeaking out a 106-103 result as they finally showed some late-Game grit. But they demonstrated a lack of said grit the following night, losing 120-118 the next night, and it has been typically downhill from there. With Wednesday's 119-112 home loss to the Clippers, the Minnesota Timberwolves now have the worst record in the NBA.
I see a few encouraging signs that leads me to rank the Woofie Dogs above two other teams for the week. The road win over The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics is one. Another: Karl-Anthony Towns finally has returned to the team after a month away from the team while fighting COVID-19. Man, a young man in extremely good health like KAT, and just because his genes and that of his family are such a bad matchup with this virus, he was waylaid for that long -- and probably will need at least several Games before he's back to full strength? But hey, at least the squad has its leader back.
Four Games this Week -- at Charlotte (tonight/Friday night) and Tampa (versus Toronto Sunday), then home contests against The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers (Tuesday) and Indiana (Wednesday).
#-6: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -4). A 24-Point loss in Ohio St. Sunday afternoon in which they just had a shitty Third Quarter. That was followed up with a ten-Point win Wednesday versus Illinois. Like the men, thin Guard play has hampered yet another season with the women's basketball program. I mean, 6-9 overall and a 5-8 conference record is barely better than those of squads during the Littlejohn Era. This Week they host Wisconsin Sunday afternoon (like all women's basketball Games, you can hear this one on The Plus) and play at Rutgers Wednesday.
#-7: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: 0). The worst Week, by far, goes to the U. male icers. It actually was an embarrassing Border Battle for both Minnesota hockey programs. Both the male and female Wisconsin teams came over. And while Minnesota at least managed to win in a Shootout to save some face, the young men did nothing of the sort, losing badly and looking horrible in the process, by scores of 4-1 (courtesy of a brainfart in the middle of the Third Period when they were tied at 1) and, fucking Christ, 8-1. A high-flying offensive juggernaut somehow only scored two over the weekend. Meanwhile, the weaker part of this team, defense, got exposed time and time again by Bucky Badger. Therefore, the U. went from second to fifth in both men's college hockey polls. I am getting the feeling that these Goofers can just pepper teams with Goals, and they can get peppered by Goals in turn, and that's not a good feeling to have for a team when you want it to go far in the postseason.
Another team that depantsed the U. at home is Notre Dame, and Minnesota visits South Bend for a two-Game set tonight/Friday night and tomorrow/Saturday late afternoon. As always (and has been the case for the past few Years), you can hear these tilts on The Talk, also known as 103.5 FM and AM 1130.
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