#0: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -2). I still don't think they're going to have a great season, and I still don't think that's bad because Ben Johnson is still in his first Year as Head Coach of this squad. And it's possible that Michigan won't be even close to being one of the last eight teams in the NCAA Tournament this season like they were last season.
With all that said, Saturday's 75-65 victory over the Wolverines in Ann Arbor -- well, it's a feather in the cap of a club that's going through a culture change. No one saw it coming, and that's the best kind of surprise there is. They followed that up with an eight-Point Win at Williams over non-conference opponent Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, so this team didn't suffer an emotional letdown. In short, this was a very good Week for the U. men's basketball program, so I am going to bump them up above negative numbers. Can they keep the good times rolling with Wednesday's home date with Wisconsin-Green Bay (a Game I'm going to because I bought a ticket at the State Fair)?
#-1: Timberwolves (Last Week: -7). What a difference a return of a starter makes -- especially if that starter, who's only known for his Offense, starts taking defense seriously for once. D'Angelo Russell returned to the club before their Sunday tilt in Portland, two Days after they lost their fifth in a row, 123-106 by Cleveland, a team that has a lot more frontcourt size than the Wolves do. D-Lo doesn't provide size, but he is playing both ends of the court in victories in Portland (a Game where I bet against the Wolves because I expect the worst from Twin Cities sports team) and Denver, the latter of which was strangely comfortable. In that Win over the Nuggets, Anthony Edwards set a Rookie record with ten made Three-Point Field Goals, and Karl-Anthony Towns joined Kevin Garnett with 10,000 Points scored as part of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise. And they remain in the running for a Play-In spot.
They're going to cram four Games before Christmas: Hosting The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers tonight/Friday night (at ... 9 p.m.?! That's fucking ridiculous. Games should never start later than 8:30 local time), a home-and-home with Dallas Sunday and Tuesday, then at The Bastard New Orleans Jazz Thursday.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). Finished the 2021 part of their season splitting a two-Game series against Minnesota-Duluth at Ridder. A quick glance shows the U. in fifth place in the PairWise, and that makes me think the Gophs are in a precarious position. They are done for the rest of the Year.
#-3: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). Got beat at Michigan by a dozen on Sunday, then pushed past Ohio at The Barn Wednesday, 99-93. In the Win over the Bobcats, two U. player performances stand out. Jasmine Powell fell an Assist short of a Triple-Double (18 Points and 11 Rebounds to go with nine Assists). And Sara Scalia dropped 37 Points including nine Three-Pointers, the most Threes made by a U. basketball player (woman or man) at home and the second-most Threes made by a member of the Minnesota women's basketball program (Rachel Banham made ten Threes at Illinois in 2016). The team made 18 Three-Pointers total, second-most behind the 19 made at the Game against the Fighting Illini five Years ago. And yet the Gophers had to outgun Ohio and outlasted them only by six. It'll be a long season. Again.
This Week they're off until Thursday afternoon, when they play at Drake.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: 0). After arguably the best start to the season in Wild franchise history, they have reached a rough patch. They go completely winless this screening Week: A 2-1 Loss in Los Angeles, a 6-4 defeat at The Team Born On Third Base And Thought It Hit A Triple, Las Vegas, and then a Shootout Loss at home to lowly Buffalo. It is the first three-Game losing streak under Head Coach Dean Evason. And while Minnesota still leads the Central Division, their big advantage has been whittled down to three Points (in front of St. Louis and Nashville). Don't think it's time to panic -- yet.
This Week: Home to Florida, at The Team That Was Stolen From Us, hosting Detroit.
#-Infinity: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Well, they got swept by Wisconsin, in Wisconsin, in Saturday's Elite Eight Match. They fell short of a championship again, so this season is technically one of failure. But the 12th-seeded Gophs did upset Baylor and played above seed. So ... congratulations on ... going so far but no farther ... again?
Almost forgot to mention the superlative career of Opposite Hitter Stephanie Samedy, who was named to the AVCA All-America First Team for the fourth time in her collegiate career. (She was named to the Second Team in 2019; she took advantage of a fifth Year given to all college players because of the pandemic.) She joins Samantha Seliger-Swenson as the only Golden Gophers to be named First Team All-American four times. That's a hell of a run. Too bad it won't be culminated with a title.
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