We debut a new weekly article from now until Tourney time!
Welcome to a new weekly article we are debuting this week called the Weekly Rankings Roundup. We are only about a month from the start of the various winter sports conference tournaments, and then the NCAA Tournaments in March and April. This article will take a look at the Gophers winter sports teams and how they rank both in the Big Ten conference, and in the NCAA Rankings/Polls. You can track which teams are in good positions to make sure they will play in the post season, abd which teams have some work to do if they want to make some postseason noise. We will update this article weekly from now through the end of the winter sports seasons.
Men’s Hockey:
The Gopher men’s hockey team took just one point out of five in a series at Michigan State last weekend. The Spartans now have a six point edge on the Gophers in the Big Ten standings, with Minnesota holding onto a seven point edge over third place Ohio State who have a pair of games in hand on Minnesota. A reminder than the regular season winner gets a bye for the first weekend of the Big Ten Tournament, while #2 hosts #7, #3 hosts #6, and #4 hosts #5 in Best-of-Three series the first weekend.
The Gophers are ranked #4 this week in both national polls, the USCHO.com Poll and the USA Hockey Poll. Boston College is #1, Michigan State is #2 and Western Michigan has now leapt over the Gophers in both polls to take over the #3 spot.
The pairwise rankings are the rankings that are used to fill out the NCAA Tournament field. Sixteen teams make the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament with each conference tournament winner receiving an automatic bid. Thus, you want to make sure you rank #13 or higher to really feel same about making the tournament. Minnesota still comfortably ranks #3 this week in the Pairwise ranking behind Boston College and Michigan State.
Women’s Hockey:
The Gopher women are sitting in good shape after their sweep of WCHA foe Bemidji State last weekend at Ridder Arena and outside at Hockey Day Minnesota. Minnesota is tied for second place in the WCHA with Ohio State, and have two games in hand on the Buckeyes. Wisconsin is running away with the regular season title and has a 15 point edge on both the Gopher and Buckeyes. Coincidently, the Gophers and Buckeyes will face off in a huge series at Ridder Arena this weekend. The WCHA Tournament includes everyone with the top four seeds hosting the lower four seeds in a Best-of-Three First Round series with the winners advancing to the WCHA Frozen Faceoff which will take place in Duluth this March.
In both national polls, the USCHO.com and USA Hockey Poll, the Gophers sit ranked #3 in the country behind Wisconsin and Ohio State.
It’s the same in the women’s pairwise rankings with the Gophers sitting comfortably at #3 behind both Wisconsin and Ohio State. In the Women’s NCAA Tournament 11 teams make the field with five conference champions earning automatic bids. Thus, to feel comfortable, you want to make sure you are in the top 8 or so at the end of the season. The Top four seeds will host NCAA Quarterfinals, so it’s definitely a plus to be in that spot. Especially for the Gophers if they can stay as the NCAA Frozen Four will be at Ridder Arena this season.
Men’s Basketball:
The Gopher men really helped their chances of making postseason plat happen this season with their last three wins in a row, but they still have lots to do and a long way to go. Minnesota’s three wins in a row have moved them to 3-6 in conference play this season which as of Tuesday afternoon puts them in a tie for 13th place with Northwestern and Rutgers in the Big Ten Standings. With the addition of the four new western teams to the Big Ten this season, only the top fifteen teams will advance to play in the Big Ten Tournament held in Indianapolis this March.
Minnesota is obviously not ranked in ant of the national polls.
In the NET rankings which helps the NCAA selection Committee form the NCAA Tournament field, as of Tuesday afternoon the Gophers currently rank 96th. Only Washington at 99th is lower in the Big Ten.
Women’s Basketball:
The Gopher women are still in good shape in the Big Ten standings, but lots can change over the next few weeks with a brutal schedule upcoming. The Gophers are 6-3 in Big Ten play this season at the exact halfway point of conference play. Minnesota is tied for 5th in the Big Ten with Maryland, Nebraska, and Oregon. The Gophers will face a steep task this weekend as they head to So. Cal to face the top two teams in the conference in UCLA and USC.
In the national polls the Gophers dropped out this week after two weeks of being in the Top 25. Minnesota was #23 in the AP Poll and #25 in the Coaches Poll last week before losing to #24 Michigan last Wednesday. The Gophers received 25 votes in this week’s AP poll which would rank them #28 in the country. In the coaches poll it was much of the same with 16 votes putting them in #29 in the nation. The Gophers will see #4 USC and #1 UCLA this weekend.
In the NET rankings, the Gophers currently are at #29 in the nation, in a spot where they should be safely in the NCAA field if it was announced today.
Wrestling:
The Gopher wrestling team is off to a good start this season. With a 3-1 duels record in Big Ten action they currently are in a tie for third place in the conference standings with Ohio State, Nebraska, and Maryland. They trail Iowa and Penn State who are both a perfect 3-0 on the season in conference action. Minnesota hosts #12 ranked Rutgers on Sunday.
In the NWCA Coaches Poll, the Gophers are currently ranked #8 in the nation. In Intermat’s Tournament rankings, the Gophers currently ranked #5, while in their Dual Rankings the Gophers are #7 in the nation.
In the newest version of Intermat’s individual national weight class rankings, here is where the Gopher wrestlers stand:
125 lbs: Cooper Flynn #9
133 lbs: Tyler Wells #18
141 lbs: Vance Vombaur #8
149 lbs: Drew Roberts #25
157 lbs Tommy Askey #8
165 lbs Andrew Sparks #11Swim
174 lbs Clayton Whiting #25
184 lbs Max McEnelly #4
197 lbs Isaiah Salazar #9
Heavyweight Gable Steveson #1
Gymnastics:
The Gophers gymnastics team remains undefeated this season at 4-0 after a duel meet win at Iowa last Sunday. Minnesota is tied for first place in the conference at a perfect 2-0 with UCLA and Michigan State. Minnesota hosts Washington on Saturday at the Pav.
The Gophers rank #18 in the country overall this week in the Road to Nationals rankings. The Gophers rank #15 on vault, #27 on bars, #11 on beam and #22 on floor so far this season.
Swim and Dive:
The Gopher swim and dive teams have dropped a air of back to back duel meets in Arizona over the last two weekends. Both the Gopher men and women were swept by Arizona State and Arizona. Minnesota returns home this weekend to host Northwestern and Purdue in a Tri-meet Friday and Saturday.
In the most recent national polls from the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) the Gopher women ranked #24 in the nation, while the men were receiving votes that would rank them #29 in the country.
Indoor Track and Field:
The Gopher women indoor track and field team has had a few individual athletes get off to great starts this season. In the initial US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Rankings, the Gophers come in at #34 in the nation.
Individually the Gophers have four athletes ranked in the Top 20 in their individual events so far this season. Anthonett Nabwe leads the way for the Gophers. The defending Big Ten weight throw champion ranks 4th in the nation this season with a throw of 22.63 meters. She also has the 12th best shot put throw in the country this spring with a distance of 17.23 meters. In the pentathlon the Gophers have to athletes in the Top 20 led by freshman Kennedy Martinson. Her score of 3858 points in last Saturday’s Jack Johnson Classic is the #12 ranked score this season in the nation. Her teammate Autumn Glover ranks #19 with 3761 points in her best score of the season.