The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0).  Well, I appreciate this team's finishing kick.  These Gophers wound up their regular season by going into Lincoln and not just beating but sweeping then-fifth-ranked Nebraska, 22-23-22.  Their 20-8 overall record and 15-5 Big Ten record landed them the ... uh, #2 Seed in the ... uh, upper-left quadrant of the NCAA Tournament bracket -- is that what they're actually calling it?  Well, they have started off on the right foot last/Friday night by crushing automatic qualifier Southeastern Louisiana, a school that, until just now, I didn't know existed.

But I will not give this club Positive Numbers.  First of all, been there, done that.  Get back to the Final Four and I'll be impressed.  (Win the title for the first time would be even better, but anyway. ...)  For all I know, the Cornhuskers were resting all their starters, even if this probably was Senior Night.  Who cares if they crushed SELA?  And I think this squad is capable of being upset.  Tonight/Saturday night they host Northern Iowa, who not only beat the quadrant #7 Seed Florida St., but swept them, 24-19-21.  I remember that a Panthers team about ... 15 Years ago (?) came into the Pavilion and beat a seeded Golden Gophers team.  So it can happen.  Huge McCutcheon's tenure as Head Coach can still come to a crashing and humbling end.

#-1: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -2).  Well, this club is 3-0 to start the season.  They beat a ranked South Dakota St. team, but barely, 19-16.  They crushed Augustana, 37-4, but are they even top-flight.  Whatever -- they go to Stillwater and face fifth-ranked Oklahoma St. in a Dual that actually has some heft to it.  And then on Friday the U. goes back to pushing around the locals when they visit North Dakota St.

#-2: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  See, I can tell from last/Friday night's 5-0 road shellacking of #11/#13 Michigan St. that the #4 Golden Gophers have a lot of talent that can kill a lot of opponents.  But then they can also turn it off, as on last Saturday night, when they lost in Overtime, 6-5, at Arizona St., which has received some votes for the polls.  I want to think they're more winners than losers, and I can chalk up the Losses to it being college hockey, but I could use more consistency.  One more against the Spartans tonight/Saturday night, then they have a pair versus Wisconsin at home beginning on Friday.

#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -4).  Like with the men, the women's hockey squad sometimes short out.  At last Saturday's championship Game of the Henderson Collegiate Hockey Showcase, the succumb to then-fifth-ranked Yale, 4-3.  Yale?  Really?  Oh, well, they beat up Minnesota State-Mankato last/Friday night, 4-1 at Ridder.  Another one with the Mavericks this/Saturday afternoon (this time in Mankato), then a two-Game home series vs. St. Cloud St. starting Friday.

#-4: Wild (Last Week: -6).  Despite going undefeated this Week with home Wins over Phoenix and Edmonton (a Game I worked but didn't watch because I was minding the crew food), they remain out of the playoff picture for now.  Also, their Forwards remain banged up; for how long will they have to switch up their lines?  Finally, Marco Rossi, thought to be the Evgeni Malkin to Kirill Kaprizov's Sidney Crosby, was sent down to AAA Iowa this Week.  No, not even a great player's career is a straight line going up.  But I still can't help but believe superstars don't need to be sent down to the minors.  They finish their seven-Game homestand against Anaheim this/Saturday afternoon, then go down to The Team That Was Stolen From Us, Calgary and Edmonton in the start of a four-Game road trip.

#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5).  Well, they are only a half-Game behind for the final spot in the West.  But that eighth spot is occupied by Golden State, a team that came into Target Center Sunday and drubbed the Wolves by 23.  They then went to D. C. and got boatraced by the Wizards by 15, but then they came home and ended their losing streak at three with an eight-Point victory over Memphis.

Karl-Anthony Towns will be shut down four-to-six Weeks due to a calf strain.  That may not be a bad thing for the Woofie Dogs.  One fewer mouth to feed may mean more space and opportunity for Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert and D'Angelo Russell to produce and, just maybe, learn how to work well together.

This Week they're hosting Oklahoma City and Indiana (they're playing the Pacers twice in about two Weeks) before visiting Utah Friday.

#-6: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -1).  They sandwiched a 12-Point Win over a crazy-ass evangelical school (that would be Liberty) in the consolation Game of the Cav Classic with a pair of defeats to, you know, actually colleges.  Sure, they were close; the U. lost by three to Cav Classic hosts Virginia and, in the B1G/ACC Challenge, the Goofs lost by only four at home to Wake Forest.  Still, this does not portend an improvement for this ballclub.  Furthermore, I was driving home from crewing for Wednesday night's Game against the Demon Deacons and I don't know how the margin of defeat was so close considering all the fucking Turnovers that team committed.  There are some serious fundamentals missing from that team, and that program, and it'll bite them in the ass against this Year, I can guarantee it.

They finish up a three-Game homestand this screening Week.  Tonight/Saturday night they begin conference play with Penn St.  And then on Wednesday they host ... Kentucky?  Seriously, Kentucky?  I swear I didn't see the Wildcats on the schedule anywhere until now.

#-7: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -7).  Lost by ten at Virginia Tech in their part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.  The women's program has been a morass for longer, but I'm really believing there is a huge talent deficit with this team.  Will they get exposed tomorrow/Sunday afternoon when they play at Purdue.  (The answer is yes.)  On Thursday they will host Michigan.

#-Infinity: Gopher football (Last Week: -8).  They're bowling either in, Nashville (Music City), New York City (Pinstripe), or Charlotte (Duke's Mayo) after capping off their season by retaining the Axe in a 23-16 Win over Wisconsin in Madison.  But there are two sour notes that end this program's season.  

First is what I consider P. J. Fleck's post-Game whining about the state of the program.  Paraphrasing, he said that he was told that beating Wisconsin would keep him as Head Coach here forever, and that even though he did just that, people still want to run him out of town for losing last Week to Iowa.  People have to remember that when Fleck was hired, he told fans Minnesota will win Big Ten championships and go to multiple Rose Bowls.  He raised the expectations, not some strawman.  Second is the Badgers' decision this Week to hire as their new HC Luke Fickell out of Cincinnati.  He took a non-BcS program and propelled it into the College Football Playoff (something my alma mater was lined up to do and, fuckin' A, pissed away).  He's good, and I'll bet he alone will turn the tide of this rivalry back to Wisky.  And that means that the Fleck Firing Watch has begun.