Both teams won five of then Matches. The difference was the bonus Points: While two Buckeyes got Major Decisions and the four Points that come with, three Gopher grapplers got MDs (including Gable Steveson) and Andrew Sparks got a Technical Fall on Ohio St.'s Brock Herman to rack up five Points for his side. The Buckeyes were leading, 17-16, going into the final Match at 184 Pounds, but Max McEnelly, ranked fourth in the country at the weight, routed Ohio St.'s Ryder Rogotzke (who was ranked 19th) by a score of 15-5, the third and final Major Decision for the U. that put them over the top.
They then followed that up by returning to Maturi Pavilion Super Bowl Sunday afternoon and beating the mess out of then-28th-ranked Purdue, 35-6. This is the kind of dominance that I haven't seen in a long time and, pessimistically, wonder if I'll ever see again. That's why I not only have these guys topping the survey this Week but also deservedly in Positive Numbers.
The regular season ends for this club Friday/Valentine's Day, and it's a big one: Sworn rival and third-ranked Iowa, also at home.
#0: Wild (Last Week: -3). Quiet though the screening Week was, you always prefer going into an extended break winning and not losing, and the Wild did that, doubling up both The Bastard Hartford Whalers (2-1) Thursday and The New York Islanders (6-3) Saturday, both at the X. The squad remains third in The Central Division, but you get the feeling that they'll be able to weather the storm of injuries that are currently plaguing the lineup and reach the postseason.
And so this extended break could not come at a better time for the Wild. Did not realize until a few Days ago that there is no All-Star Game this season. Instead, NHL players from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland will meet in the NHL-created 4 Nations Face-Off, being held in Boston and Montreal. Five Wild players will not have the next week-and-a-half off: Brock Faber and Matt Boldy (for the U. S.); and Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin and Filip Gustavsson (for Sweden). Minnesota resumes play the 22nd.
#-1: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4). Went 3-1: Crushed Chicago, Houston and Portland to finish off their five-Game homestand 3-2, then went to Cleveland Monday and got destroyed by a squad of Cavaliers that were nobodies last Year but got extremely good this Year -- you know, kind of like the Timberwolves last season.
OK, so I was wrong to say that the Wolves would go 0-5 in their homestand. But I was at the Game against the Rockets, the one out of the five matchups I almost knew the T-Wolves would lose, and they won that one, 127-114. Gotta tell ya, don't sleep on the Rockets. They're young, they're fast, and they have the length to shoot over and around you. The Game was close until the back half of the Fourth Quarter, and somehow the Wolves kept their composure while Houston lost its.
I slot the Wolves here for two other reasons beside the Week the team was having. First, I haven't addressed the Luka Doncic trade until now because I was still digesting it. It is, in my opinion, The Biggest Trade In The History Of The NBA, and takes your breath away. Once I regained my composure, I realized that makes the Timberwolves' uncompetitive five-Game series Loss to Dallas in last Year's playoffs that much worse. I mean, the Mavericks traded a guy who they see will not change his diet and conditioning, even though he helped depants the Wolves in five. Also, news came down Monday that an arbitration panel concluded that, and I'll be damned, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are the true and rightful owners of the franchise, and not Glen Taylor. I don't think Taylor was a great Owner. But do you know what he did for us? He bought the Timberwolves so they wouldn't be taken away to New Orleans. And for that, I'm forever grateful, and I'll overlook the crap Joe Smith signing. Mark my words and heed my cry, Minnesota basketball fans -- A-Rod and Lore will use the prospect of getting a brand-new arena for the Wolves as the pretense to eventually move them to, oh, Austin or Kansas City or even Mexico City. I don't trust those two, I truly don't.
Like the Wild, the Timberwolves have a screening Week of two Games, both at home, before they have an extended break (All-Star this time). Thing is, it's a back-to-back -- Milwaukee tonight/Wednesday night, The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics tomorrow/Thursday night.
#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). Split the two Games they had at home this Week -- losing by eight to Iowa Thursday, then bouncing back to defeat Indiana by ten Super Bowl Sunday afternoon. Both were winnable, but considering Charlie Creme still has these Gophs in the "actual" NCAA tournament as a 10-Seed, it's easy to look on the bright side. But this upcoming Week will be a challenge: At Ohio St., which is either ranked eighth or ninth in the country (depending on which poll you look at) Thursday, then hosting Oregon Sunday afternoon.
#-3: Gopher softball (NEW SEASON!!). While it feels like the dead of winter outside -- I know it's been colder, I know it's been this cold longer than it is now, but right now feels like an interminable cold -- the Gopher softball season has started ... south of here, of course. And they unfortunately begin with a 1-3 record after participating in The Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. (Who is Kajikawa? Don't know; I went to the athletic website for the host school, Arizona St., and they don't say anything about who this tournament is named for.) Lost to Cal once and Utah to open and close the tourney. Beat Miami (OH), though, albeit 4-3. Managing to beat non-BcS schools and losing to Power 5/4 schools does not portend go things for this club.
This weekend they're in Boca Raton, Fla., for the Joan Joyce Classic. (Who is Joan Joyce? Don't know; I went to the athletic website for the host school, Florida Atlantic, and they don't say anything about who this tournament is named for.) They will play, in order, the host Owls, Louisville twice (once Friday morning, once Saturday morning), Villanova and N. C. St.
#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -2). Yeah, losing Saturday to a not-unstoppable Illinois squad at The Barn by 21 is, uh, not good. This team has shown flashes of good ball to make me think they could have, if not should have, taken this one. But not only did they lose, they lost big. And they are still on the outside looking in on the B1G tournament, where the three worst teams stay home. (By the way, I finally looked at the bracket for the conference tourney, which only 15 teams make. There five rounds. The Second Round and Quarterfinals are each comprised of four Games played on the same Day. But the First Round, for some inexplicable reason, is only three Games, hence only 15 teams play in The Big Ten Tournament. Why can't there be a 16th team and a fourth First Round contest? Is there something important going on that early Wednesday afternoon?)
Out playing the Los Angeles schools this screening Week. Unlike the women's basketball club, the men have a fighting chance in both tilts.
#-5: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). What Kendrick Lamar did to Drake in The Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday, the Wisconsin women's hockey team did to the Golden Goofer women's hockey team over the weekend. Now, the Badgers were the #1-ranked team in the country before and after (obviously) the two-Game sweep, and this series was in Madison, so you could see this coming. Still, no one lost more in terms of face than the U., including Drake. They lost Saturday 8-2 and Sunday 6-1. I don't think this program has gotten its ass kicked like that in a long time, if not ever.
Thing is, women's college hockey is still in such an embryonic state that the Minnesota stayed at #3 in the polls despite this curb-stomping. And yet you cannot see any clearer the gap between an upper-echelon powerhouse like Wisconsin and "yes but" team like Minnesota than you can after what we were forced to bear witness over the weekend.
A home-and-home with St. Cloud St. this weekend. Let's hope the U. doesn't suffer any PTSD.
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