They still are in line to host the first two Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, and that's basically the highest goal they can probably attain. They will burnish their record going out east and taking on tomato cans Maryland and Rutgers.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!). A perfunctory ass-kicking of Bemidji St., 6-2 Friday at noon at Mariucci Arena, then 9-2 Saturday afternoon at Ridder. This tells you nothing about this team, nor does this weekend's home-and-home series with Minnesota State, here Friday evening, in Mankato Saturday afternoon (wow, a really quick turnaround time).
#-3: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week:-2). Immolating New Jersey Tech by 49 Points at home tells you nothing about how good this club is. A true road Game against a Power 4 school, like tonight/Wednesday night at Kansas? That'll tell you something. They will then travel to the Bahamas -- lucky them -- and participate in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship. Kind of a wordy name for a tournament. Anyway, they'll face South Florida Monday, then either Alabama or Harvard Thanksgiving Eve. That should also tell you something.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -6). Maybe things have stabilized now that they've left that horrible month of October. They are 6-2 so far in November after defeating Anaheim and (Las) Vegas at home this Week, even though the Win over the Golden Knights was in Overtime. Points-wise, they are in a four-way tie for third place in the Central. Thank goodness this is a long season.
They finish up their four-Game homestand tonight/Wednesday night vs. The Bastard Hartford Whalers, then play at Pittsburgh Friday and Winnipeg Sunday afternoon.
#-5: Gopher wrestling (NEW SEASON!!). The grapplers finally started playing Duals, namely in The National Duals Invitational in Tulsa, Okla., over the weekend. And they went 4-1 ... and yet I am feeling disappointed. Their four Wins were all against ranked teams. Virginia Tech was ranked eleventh and the U. beat them twice; Northern Iowa was 16th and Missouri 17th. But they got eviscerated by sixth-ranked Ohio St. early Saturday evening by a score of 29-6. That stings because not only did they go down in defeat to a fellow Big Ten team, but I don't remember the last time the Buckeyes were this good in wrestling. Sixth was where the U. program was, but it's not there anymore. So this weekend delineated in what exact tier Minnesota is in wrestling this Year, and that tier is nowhere close to a championship.
Host South Dakota St. Tuesday night.
#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5). Easily beat the Kings and Dallas, but those Wins sandwich an 11-Point defeat to Denver. This Week was played at home, by the way. The Wolves currently sit sixth in the West, but this screening Week is indicative of their season in so far as that they beat the teams they're supposed to beat but can't beat the teams they need to beat if they want to be the team to beat. Y'know what I mean?
They finish their four-Game homestand tonight/Wednesday night versus Washington, then play at Phoenix Friday and Sacramento Monday.
#-7: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -4). Began the screening Week getting blown out, 83-60, at Missouri last Wednesday in the lone road Game in the non-conference portion of the schedule against a Power 4 school. Then they had to get to Overtime before besting Wisconsin-Green Bay Saturday, then finally pulled away in the final few Minutes last/Tuesday night against Chicago St. I will reiterate one of my principles in the WMNSS: I largely give a team whose Head Coach is in his or her first season a pass. Neither the Loss to the Tigers nor the OT victory over the Phoenix feels good, but hey, so what?
After playing three Games this past Week, they only need to play one this Week -- against San Francisco in Sioux Falls, S. D. (I hear the arena there is really sweet) late Saturday afternoon.
#-8: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). It could've been a lot worse, but they were never in it in Friday's 42-13 Loss at Oregon. This isn't much of an excuse, but even though we want to see more from this program, you kind of knew that this was going to happen, right? That's why I have them ranked where I have them ranked.
Well, at least they get to play at Wrigley Field early Saturday afternoon versus Northwestern. That seems cool, huh?
#-9: Vikings (Last Week: -7). I don't exactly know how Sunday's home Loss to Chicago was the one that was the final nail in the coffin for many Vikes fans, but it just feels this way. Maybe it's because this defeat felt as though this was on the newbie Quarterback, J. J. McCarthy. He was 16-for-32 on the day for 150 Yards, one Touchdown and two Interceptions. It wasn't completely his fault; it felt like he was the victim of a few dropped passes. Also, he played well on that Fourth Quarter drive that culminated in that go-ahead Touchdown.
But then, Special Teams allowed that huge Bears Kickoff return, which led to the Game-ending Field Goal from Chicago Kicker Cairo Santos. This, like last Week's Loss to The Bastard Cleveland Browns, was winnable. However, and again it's not all on him, but a lot of it hinged on the misfiring by McCarthy. Which leads me to my grand point that it's bonkers to say you're going through a "competitive rebuild" on the back of someone who's still learning to play at the NFL level. I'm not ready to call McCarthy a bust yet. Maybe he should play hurry-up like he did on that 4Q drive all the time because he seemed in-control then. And he's played pretty well in spurts. But it turns out that this season was going to be a baptism by fire for McCarthy, and maybe the Vikings should have sold this season as that, and maybe the playoffs isn't the priority. Ironically, at 4-6 and dead last in the NFC North, that very well may be the plan now.
At Lambeau to face Green Bay Sunday. You have to note that the Vikings have lost by one score in four of the seven Games. For all we know they'll beat the Packers, who aren't playing that well right now.
#-10: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3). Yes, they split their series over the weekend. But they played Long Island. Long Island. A program in its fifth year in existence. The Sharks came into Mariucci Arena and not only beat the Goofers Friday, they fucking killed them, 6-2. 6-2!!!
You could have seen that this would be a rough season because most of their veterans decided to turn pro. But their lack of action during the off-season, when NIL money and transfer portals gave teams the opportunity to overturn and jumpstart their teams virtually overnight, is coming back to bite them in the ass. And the way they got embarrassed at home like that to a school some fans didn't know existed, let alone a men's hockey team, might not be forgivable if things continue to remain rough this season.
And the caliber of competition leaps this weekend. The U. finish their six-Game, three-series homestand hosting probable top pick in the NHL Draft Gavin McKenna and fifth-ranked Penn St. Friday and Saturday.
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