The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -6).  Bounced back from getting swept at Ohio St. by sweeping a home-and-home with Minnesota State-Mankato this weekend.  Of course ... or is it?  The results are 3-1 at Ridder Friday and 2-1 in Mankato Saturday.  This might be a sign that the Golden Gophers, despite earning the top spot in the survey this screening Week, don't really have "it" this season.  Or, it's a sign that top-flight women's college hockey is starting to flatten and the days of the bluebloods knocking around the dregs of Division I are over.

Who knows?  Tangentially, I don't know where I would place Minnesota-Duluth, a school that has won NCAA titles in the past but have fallen off over the past decade or so.  The U. goes up there for a two-Game set next weekend.

#-2: Vikings (Last Week: -1).  It's always satisfying to see the Vikes go into Lambeau Field and leave with a pretty decisive Win -- 24-10, a double-digit victory that is rare.  And yet it feels like a loss because of what the club lost: Quarterback Kirk Cousins, putting together yet another fantastic season after coming off possibly his best season ever, planted his foot to scramble and tore his Achilles tendon.  Obviously, he's out for the year.  And now Minnesota, who had lost three-of-four to start the year but has climbed to a 4-4 record, will have to continue to turn its season around without their steady, once-invulnerable QB.

So backup Jaren Hall will start this/Sunday afternoon at Atlanta.  In filling in for Cousins he didn't look great.  But this is a Falcons team that just changed QBs from greenhorn Desmond Ridder to the underappreciated Taylor Heinicke.  A team that wants to reach the postseason finds a way to beat squads like this, even with a second-string play-caller.  Will the Vikings?

#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3).  On Monday they scored 79 Points in the First Half and led the Hawks in Atlanta by 19 at Halftime, then got blasted by the Hawks 67-34 to go from a blowout to getting blown out.  No team has gone from that big of a lead to that big of a margin of defeat in NBA history.  But when it comes to getting blown out, the Timberwolves seem to have more than their share of NBA all-time records.

The next Game, vs. the defending champion (and undefeated) Denver Nuggets, were coming to town.  Off such a demoralizing Loss that has been so familiar to Wolves fans, we didn't think the Woofie Dogs had a chance.  But you know, there is talent there.  And maybe they recognize how much they fucked up and really, really want to show that they're better than that.  Plus, let's face it, the Nugz don't have to play 100% for this early-season contest.  The added motivation by Minnesota plus the perceived lack of motivation by Denver meant a Game where the Timberwolves raced out to a huge lead and, this time, kept it, defeating the Nuggets going away, 110-89.  I was at the tilt and I was surprised that I didn't see too many Pick-and-rolls with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.  I thought that move was unstoppable for them last Year as they won the championship, but for some reason I didn't see it.  Meanwhile, Jaden McDaniels locked down Murray really, really well, and at some point early in the Fourth Quarter Nuggets Head Coach Mike Malone waved the white flag by pulling Murray.

That Win was nice, but like before, these Woofs have often followed big Wins over really good clubs with bad Losses to shitty teams.  That didn't happen last/Saturday night at Target Center.  Instead, they kept The Bastard New Orleans Jazz beyond arm's reach as they beat them, 123-95.  This squad needs to stack Wins in order to show the world they mean business.  They'll attempt to extend their winning streak, and finish their four-Game homestand, versus Boston tomorrow/Monday and The Bastard Charlotte Hornets Wednesday.  They then begin In-Season Tournament play at Victor Wembanyama and The San Antonio Spurs Friday.

#-4: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -7).  Split a home-and-home with Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend -- crushed the Bulldogs at Mariucci on Friday, 5-1, but lost in a Shootout in Duluth last/Saturday night.  I think the U. has now won only four of the last 19 Matches against the Bulldogs.  I think that's a plausible stat, and I'm still blown away.

At Michigan for two beginning Friday.

#-5: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -4).  My worst fears -- and prediction -- were realized when they got swept at Wisconsin last Sunday afternoon.  It's a bit more embarrassing -- and therefore I sink this club a little lower in this WMNSS -- because that defeat was broadcast on over-the-air TV, namely Fox/Channel 9, right after the early NFL Game.  It obviously mustered record viewership for top-flight women's volleyball, but now the perception for anyone who tuned in is that the Golden Gophers suck.  They might, but hopefully it's just this Year and not, you know permanent.

They rebounded by beating Ohio St. on the road Friday in four Sets.  They visit Northwestern this/Sunday afternoon (this one will not be broadcast on Channel 9), then host ranked Purdue Friday.

#-6: Wild (Last Week: -5).  Can't quite believe the long-term injury to Defenseman Jared Spurgeon would blow such a hole in the Mild's Defense.  They lost both ends of a home-and-home versus The Bastard Colorado Rockies, and started off down 3-0 against The New York Rangers at the X.  But somehow they woke up and came back to take a 4-3 lead in the Third Period, then won in a Shootout.  Unfortunately, they're still next-to-last in The Central Division and face a Week where they're visiting the state of New York: At the Islanders Tuesday, the return date against the Rangers Thursday, in Buffalo Friday.

#-7: Gopher football (Last Week: -2).  It's as though this team and program are stuck in quicksand.  Illinois, on paper, is an eminently beatable foe, and while it was touch-and-go at Huntington Bank Stadium yesterday/Saturday afternoon, they managed to take a late lead.  But then The Fighting Illini scored on a 46-Yard Touchdown Pass with 50 Seconds to go to win it.  Bret Bielema, whether coaching Illinois or Wisconsin, is a perfect 10-0 over the Goofers.  He certainly has made them his bitch.  And by self-dealing his squad a big blow in the dumb scramble for the lead in the Big Ten West (in its last season, BTW, and may God have mercy on its mediocre soul), its another itch that P. J. Fleck and the U. athletic program have to itch.  Yes, this program has never had a higher profile nor achieved as much sustained success before (well, maybe the Glen Mason years, but maybe not).  But no program just wants to reach a plateau of good; you're always striving for a championship-winning team.  Is Fleck the guy to lead Minnesota to that promised land?  Every winnable Game that he loses is more evidence he is not.  And it's really starting to feel as though this relationship has run its course.

At Purdue Saturday.