Where do the Gophers set as we near Valentines Day
It’s time for our weekly (ideally…) look at the Rankings Roundup. Where do the Minnesota Golden Gophers sports teams sit in both the Big Ten and NCAA rankings as we edge closer and closer to the various conference and national tournaments. Here are the rankings as of February 13th:
Men’s Hockey:
The Gophers had their final bye of the season last weekend and let everyone else try and catch up into conference games played, or in some cases give Minnesota a few games in hand. Minnesota sits in second place in the Big Ten with 38 points. That’s five behind first place Michigan State who now has two games in hand on the Gophers. The Spartans have a bye week this week meaning the Gophers can leapfrog back into the top sport in the conference with a road sweep of Michigan in Ann Arbor this weekend. That will set up a showdown with four conference games remaining for each squad. The Gophers hold a four point edge on Ohio State who has played the same number of conference games as Minnesota—setting up a huge showdown at 3M Arena at Mariucci next weekend.
The national polls are split on the Gophers this week. Minnesota is ranked #4 in the USCHO.com Poll and #3 in the USA Hockey Poll. Boston College is #1, Michigan State is #2 and Western Michigan is either #3 or #4.
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. Maine sits at #4.
Women’s Hockey:
The Gopher women are coming off a brutal trip to Madison where the #1 ranked Wisconsin Badgers thrashed the Gophers. Minnesota sits in third place in the WCHA standings with four games to play. Minnesota is five points back of Ohio State for second with two games in hand, and hold a six point lead over fourth place Minnesota-Duluth.
In both national polls, the USCHO.com and USA Hockey Poll, the Gophers remain ranked #3 in the country behind Wisconsin and Ohio State.
It’s the same in the women’s pairwise rankings with the Gophers sitting at #3 behind both Wisconsin and Ohio State. Cornell is sneaking up on Minnesota in the 4th spot. 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 Gophers are clinging to a spot in the Big Ten tournament by the skin of their teeth. The top 15 teams in the conference make the Big Ten Tournament and the Gophers currently sit in 15th place at 4-9. They are a half-game ahead of Northwestern who is 4-10 and a game and a half ahead of Washington at 3-10. Minnesota still has to play Northwestern and has a home game against last place Penn State—Minnesota will likely need to win both to earn a Big Ten Tournament berth.
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 100th. Dead last our of Big Ten teams. Only Washington at 99th is lower in the Big Ten.
Women’s Basketball:
The Gopher women remain squarely in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten Standings, but were not helped by Thursday night’s results. The Gophers lost a heartbreaker 87-84 in overtime at #9 Ohio State to fall to 7-7 in Big Ten play. Unfortunately Iowa and Nebraska both who were 7-6 got big wins to leap the Gophers. Minnesota sits in 11th place in the Big Ten standings and will host an absolutely huge game against 8-6 Oregon at Williams Arena on Sunday afternoon. It’s as close to a must win as you can get at this stage of the season for the Gophers. Minnesota is likely locked in the Big Ten Tournament field, but would love to avoid weakling Wednesday. To do that Minnesota needs to jump up to the #9 seed or higher. With four games left in the season they play two teams higher then them in the standings in Oregon and Michigan State, and two below in Washington and Purdue. A 3-1 close to the season might get it done, but 4-0 would be even better.
Minnesota has dropped out of both national polls and are no longer receiving votes.
In the NET rankings, the Gophers currently are at #31 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 continues to compete like one of the best teams in the nation. Minnesota remains ranked #7 in the nation after a huge 20-17 win at #4 Ohio State last Friday night. The Gophers close out the Big Ten regular season Friday night in a huge matchup at the Pav against #3 Iowa.
The newest NCAA Coaches rankings were revealed on Thursday and all ten Gophers are ranked. According to the criteria, the coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 16 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the eight conferences. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days.
125 lbs: Cooper Flynn #9
133 lbs: Tyler Wells #15
141 lbs: Vance Vombaur #8
149 lbs: Drew Roberts #25
157 lbs Tommy Askey #7
165 lbs Andrew Sparks #12
174 lbs Clayton Whiting #25
184 lbs Max McEnelly #4
197 lbs Isaiah Salazar #8
Heavyweight Gable Steveson #1
Gymnastics:
The Gophers gymnastics team fell to 5-1 on the season after a loss at #5 Michigan State last weekend. The Gophers are 3-1 in conference events and are in a four-way tie for second with Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State. They head to #20 Ohio State this weekend for a meet.
The Gophers rank #16 in the country overall this week in the Road to Nationals rankings. The Gophers rank #15 on vault, #23 on bars, #13 on beam and #19 on floor so far this season.
Swim and Dive:
The Gopher swim and dive teams are done with Big Ten meets until the Big Ten Championships next weekend for the women and the following weekend for the men.
In the most recent national polls from the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) both Gopher teams sit at #24 in the nation.
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 most recent poll the Gophers moved up as a team to the #31 ranked team in the nation.
The Gopher are ranked in the top 5 of the nation in three different event fields. Minnesota is ranked #4 in the nation in the 5000 meters and the weight throw, and are #5 in the nation in the 60 meter hurdles.
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 2nd in the nation this season with a throw of 23.21 meters. She also has the 17th best shot put throw in the country this spring with a distance of 17.23 meters. Joining Nabwe in the weight throw rankings is redshirt sophomore Hadley Streit who is now ranked 12th with a throe of 22.12m. The Gopher distance medley relay team ranks #9 in the country with a time of 11:09:65.
Women’s Golf:
The Gopher women’s golf team comes in at #48 in the country in the latest Scorecard national rankings. Individually Gopher junior Bella McCauley is ranked #40 in the nation as an individual.