They are led by the Golden Gopher footballers, who have finally broken through with some notable success under Head Coach Erin Chastain. They finished up the regular season beating 11th-ranked Iowa, 2-1, the Match-winner coming from Sophia Boman from the spot in the 65th Minute. Two big benchmarks come with that victory. The Gophers complete their first undefeated season at home, with seven Wins, two Draws and no Losses, since 2008. And by downing the Hawkeyes, it's the first time Minnesota beat two teams ranked in the top 15 when they defeated them (the other being then-eighth-ranked Ohio St., 3-2, at Columbus on Oct. 10) in the same season ever. Those accolades certainly are enough to keep them at the top perch for the survey, and in Positive Numbers as well.
Now, they did finish only as the 7-Seed, and they will play the Opening Round Halloween night versus the 10-Seed, perennial power (though maybe not this Year) Penn St. Beat the Nittany Lions and the 2-Seed, UCLA, is next Sunday afternoon. But the XI's on a three-Game winning streak and their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Chastain is all but certain. Things are, finally, looking up for this program!
#0: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). Got to be honest: The doomsaying parts of the fanbase are real quiet since the Second Half Debacle vs. Iowa. This squad has now won three in a row after a thorough 48-23 pasting of Maryland Saturday afternoon for Homecoming. (That this is the same Terrapins club that came back to defeat my alma mater makes me boil over with rage over how underachieving my team is this Year.) I also have to be honest in noting how much of a stud Koi Perich has been. The Esko native is one of the locals P. J. Fleck and the program need to keep home.
Early Saturday afternoon they play Illinois. Illini Head Coach Bret Bielema is undefeated against Minnesota, spanning tenures in Wisconsin as well as Illinois. Will that change this season?
#-1: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -4). Sweeps are better than reverse sweeps. (By the way, if you don't know, a reverse sweep is when the winning team comes back from a 2-0 Set deficit to win. I feel as though the term "reverse sweep" is gaining steam as a part of the volleyball lexicon. If and when it reaches that point, I will capitalize it to Reverse Sweep.) But also, a Win is a Win, and the Gophers did climb out of that hole to defeat Ohio St. on the road on yesterday/Sunday afternoon. (Looking at the box score, the details of the Game are kind of strange: Set 3, the tipping point Set won by Minnesota, was 25-22, but the other four Sets, in my estimation, weren't close.) Add a compulsory sweep at home over Northwestern on Wednesday, and the team is 14-6 overall and 7-3 in the league with a trip to the Michigan colleges this weekend. Not a bad run of form the team's on right now.
#-2: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -2). I still feel a bit ... I guess sad that Minnesota now has a second university that will be all-top-flight (well, football is a different beast, but they're Division I in everything else) regardless of sport. The upshot to that is there will now be a definite big brother/little brother dynamic that will play out whenever the University of Minnesota plays St. Thomas. The men's hockey teams had a two-Game series over the weekend, and the U. played their presumed role of, well, the U., laying waste to the Tommies at Mariucci Friday, 7-1, then doing so against at The Xcel Energy Center Saturday, 6-2. One can't really call it a rivalry until St. Thomas is able to stand up and beat the Gophers with some regularity. Meanwhile, these group of icers start B1G play with a pair at home against Penn St.
#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -5). I've rehashed how disappointed I am with this program in last Week's WMNSS, and beating the hell out of Minnesota State-Mankato in a home-and-away series by a combined 11-4 score does not change that. This weekend's series at Bemidji St. won't, either.
#-4: Timberwolves (NEW SEASON!!). And now we get to the non-U. of M. portion of The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey. And we'll start with the Timberwolves, who start off possibly The Most Promising Season In Minnesota Timberwolves History, fresh off their tantalizing run that was inexplicably stopped in a five-Game series Loss in The Western Conference Finals to The Dallas Mavericks, who in turn were beaten in five Games by The Boston Celtics in The NBA Finals. But I'm not mad.
The season started Tuesday on a rancid note, losing to The Team That Was Stolen From Us v.1.0, 110-103, featuring a most hackneyed and contrived moment of history theater when Bronny James went onto the court to play with his father, LeBron, marking the first time in NBA history a father and a son were on the same court together. But the T-Wolves have righted the ship since, escaping Sacramento Thursday with a 117-115, come-from-behind Win and then beating Toronto, 112-101 in the raucous home opener on Saturday. It is not lost on me that I have yet to give my thoughts on the trade sending Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. I will do that some other time, when I have time. But I will say that integrated Julius Randle will take some time, yet there is no time to waste in integrating him, and seeing he just set the record for Most Points In His First Three Games In A Timberwolves Uniform is a positive step.
This Week: A rematch with Dallas at Target Center tomorrow/Tuesday night, home to Denver Friday, at San Antonio Saturday.
#-5: Wild (Last Week: -1). Well, the club's record for Most Time To Start A Season Never Trailing had to end at some point, and it did during Minnesota's 4-2 victory over the Lightning in Tampa Bay Thursday. They then lost their first tilt in regulation, a crazy 7-5 affair at Philadelphia on Saturday. That the screening Week began Tuesday with a thorough 5-1 domination of The Defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers (still can't fucking believe Miami has got the Stanley Cup before Minnesota), and there is a noticeable digression in the squad's fortunes, even if they sit third in The Central Division.
This Week they finish their long road trip (seven Games, and it's their first road contests of the season at that) in Pittsburgh tomorrow/Tuesday. They finally come home to St. Paul for three, starting with a return date with the Lightning Friday and Toronto Sunday.
#-6: Vikings (Last Week: -3). OK, now's the time to panic. I said last Week that they should beat the Rams. They still should have, but they didn't, losing 30-20 Thursday mostly because the Defense, which we lauded Brian Flores for not too long ago, has turned into fucking swiss cheese. (The no-call on the facemask Penalty on Sam Darnold that otherwise resulted in a Safety was absolutely goddamn horrendous, but remember that even if it were called, the Vikes were still down by eight and they still had more than 80 Yards to get into the End Zone.) Worst of all, Christian Darrisaw tore his ACL and his MCL in the Game and is out for the Year. He was the stalwart set-it-and-forget-it blindside Tackle every team needs to ensure success, and now he gone. Forget about the Super Bowl; is it even assured that the Vikes can even make the playoffs now? Can they even beat The Bastard Baltimore Colts, a group that is itself reeling under doubts Anthony Richardson is their Quarterback of the future, in a Game that's been flexed to Sunday night?
No comments:
Post a Comment