Red Bull Heavy Metal takes over Minnesota Capitol

Afterward you can head over to St. Paul to see some of the best street snowboarders in the world take over the steps outside the State Capitol. Then you can head back to Minneapolis for what will be an especially affordable Timberwolves game against the Wizards.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Hire New Defensive Coordinator

Minnesota Gophers wrestling hosts Rutgers, Iowa

On Sunday, Feb. 2, you can catch the sixth-best wrestling program in the country take on #16 Rutgers, but if you want to catch the University of Minnesota wrestling team take on Iowa on Valentine’s Day, you better act fast because tickets are limited.

Women’s hockey and NBA action

The weekend of Feb. 21 is also loaded, featuring the Lady Gopher track invitational. There’s also two Gopher women’s hockey games between the third- and fourth-ranked teams in the country. You’ll undoubtedly see the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs play some of the most sound defense in the sport.

You can also see Sarah Nurse and the Toronto Sceptres take on the Minnesota Frost in PWHL action. Afterward, enjoy a giant Western Conference NBA game between the Timberwolves and Thunder.

Related: Alumni & Boosters Again Trying to Influence Minnesota Gophers MBB Coaching Hire

Minnesota Gophers women’s hockey hosts WCHA Quarterfinals

There’s a good chance the WCHA Quarterfinals will be held at the University of Minnesota on Feb 28, so don’t sleep on the first weekend of March. As someone who’s attended that tournament previously, I assure you it’s worth your time and is an absolute bargain.

Big Ten Championship men’s swimming is also in action that weekend. Additionally, the Gopher tennis team hosts North Dakota and Boise State, and you can attend those tennis meets for free. The Lady Gopher softball team also hosts Miami (OH) at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Wild also host Boston and the Timberwolves host Phoenix on Sunday, Mar. 2.

Twin Cities sports schedule for February 2025

In order to help you plan your trip to the Twin Cities, here’s your ultimate Minnesota sports fan travel guide for the month of February 2025 with all times Central.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers and Richard Pitino have missed out on yet another in-state recruit. This time Stewartville High School standout Will Tschetter announced his plan to leave the state Monday morning.

Tschetter, who led the whole state of Minnesota in points per game with an eye-popping 34.4 points, committed to the Juwan Howard-led Michigan Wolverines. 

Will Tschetter is excited to announce his commitment to the University of Michigan! GO BLUE!@atimmedits pic.twitter.com/brCpaOwNYH

— Stewartville Boys Basketball (@tigerbbask) July 6, 2020

Tschetter started picking up offers from across the country. According to 247Sports.com, Tschetter first received offers from North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Loyola Chicago, Colorado State and South Dakota all on April 7th. Arkansas was the first Power 5 who offered the 6-foot-8 forward on May 27th. Then Minnesota, Michigan and Nebraska all offered on June 1st. But according to Darren Wolfson, it sounds like after Minnesota offered Tschetter, Pitino and Co. just stopped pursuing him. 

Frankly, not sure why they offered him to begin with. My opinion: they should’ve offered him many months prior, and made him a priority. But once they made the offer, they didn’t put any kind of full-court press on him. Michigan seemed an easy call for him.

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 6, 2020

In-State Struggles Continue

If you’ve been paying attention to the recruiting scene in Minnesota the past few years, Tschetter’s commitment to Michigan will come as no surprise. Not only have the Gophers missed out on 5-stars like Tre Jones (Duke), Matthew Hurt (Duke), Dawson Garcia (Marquette), and Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga). That is just the beginning of the list. They have also missed out on 4-stars players like Tyrell Terry (Stanford), Nate Reuvers (Wisconsin), Kerwin Walton (North Carolina) and Jericho Sims (Texas) just to name a few.

Now, Pitino did manage to snag Daniel Oturu, Gabe Kalscheur and Jarvis Omersa in the 2018 class. But aside from that, there have been almost no Minnesotans that commit to their home-state school.

I know it’s hard to turn down Juwan Howard; he was a member of the Fab Five, played in the NBA for 19 years (including an All-Star appearance in 1996) and won two NBA championships with the Miami Heat. But you can add Tschetter to the list of players that should’ve never left the state. 

Then again, maybe it didn’t matter who Minnesota’s coach was. Based on this quote from Tschetter, that certainly feels like the case.

“I feel like it’s kind of the big thing with Minnesota kids where everyone obviously wants them to stay at the hometown school, but I’m open to leaving the state, for sure. I really like Michigan’s coaching staff. It’s a bunch of great basketball minds and good people. I like everything they have to offer. They have great academics, great facilities, good academic support. Just kind of the whole thing is pretty attractive when you look at it.”

Will Tschetter

According to 247Sports Composite Rankings, Tschetter is ranked as the No. 149 overall prospect in the 2021 class and the No. 28 overall prospect at the power forward position. 

Silver Lining?

The news of Tschetter moving on may be softened slightly by the fact that the Gophers were listed among the top 7 schools for Chet Holmgren. Some even went as far as to list the Gophers as his top choice. That remains to be seen, but Holmgren would be a massive addition for Richard Pitino. But if Pitino’s track record has taught us anything, don’t get your hopes up.

Other Recruiting News and Notes

Sean Pedulla

• Minnesota recently offered Sean Pedulla, a 2021 guard from Edmond, Oklahoma. This is Pedulla’s first Power-5 offer. Pedulla is regarded as one of the best shooters in the class of 2021 and had a strong showing at a recent Nike EYBL event, scoring 31 points. Pedulla has also received offers from Wofford, Texas State, Tulsa, among others.

Blessed to receive an offer from university of Minnesota #GoldyGophers pic.twitter.com/WacnQO7RKh

— Sean Pedulla (@PedullaSean) July 6, 2020

Sean Pedulla…. High Major Player‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

pic.twitter.com/VeDX1W82bE

— Matt Reynolds (@MattReynolds___) July 6, 2020

Skyy Clark

• 5-Star 2021 guard Skyy Clark recently talked with 247Sports on his ongoing recruitment. Clark, who was born in Minnesota and whose mother is originally from Willmar, received an offer from Minnesota on June 15th. Ranked 18th in 247sports Composite rankings, Clark also has received offers North Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona, among others. Below is a quote from Clark on Minnesota: 

“(Minnesota’s) where I’m from, that’s where I was born so playing for my hometown would be a great thing for me.”

Skyy Clark via 247 Sports

5-star guard recently picked up offers from Kentucky AND UNC! @skyyclark pic.twitter.com/mQ4cGNQinK

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 6, 2020

Tre Holloman

• 2022 Cretin-Derham Hall guard Tre Holloman also recently spoke with 247Sports. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 11 points, 9.2 assists, 2.7 steals and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 44.4% from the field and 37.2% from deep his sophomore season. He is ranked as the 88th overall prospect in his class according to 247Sports Composite Rankings. Holloman has also received offers from Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, Baylor, among others. In addition to saying that Minnesota has been in active contact with him, he also had this to say about Minnesota:

“Minnesota has been calling and texting me. Their message is that I can do something special by staying close to home and being the leader of the program.”

Tre Holloman via 247 Sports

Tre Holloman is a complete PG! ? @Tretrehoops pic.twitter.com/SoYJfL7zWP

— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) June 25, 2020

Kendall Brown

• 5-Star 2021 guard/forward Kendall Brown, the former East Ridge star who now attends Sunrise Christian Academy, updated his ongoing recruitment with 247Sports. Ranked 14th overall in 247Sports Composite Rankings, the 6-foot-8 recruit is considering Minnesota, Marquette, Kansas, Ohio State, Virginia, among others. Below are two quotes updating his recruitment, one from this week via 247Sports and the other from last month via the Star Tribune.

“That is my hometown school. It would be awesome to play in front of friends and family. They tell me that I could accomplish anything at home, and that I could be the face of the program.”

Kendall Brown via 247 Sports

“[Minnesota] told me I would be like a big guard who could initiate the offense for them,” Brown said. “Just use my passing ability as an advantage and everything. [Pitino] has been recruiting me a lot recently … That means a lot being from here and the love they are showing me right now.”

Kendall Brown via the Star Tribune

Kendall Brown (@TheeKbrown) 2021 from @sunrisehoops Highlights 2019

Brown, top 20 2021 Nationally. Originally from East Ridge. Now at Sunrise Prep Academy@NorthstarHoops @PrepHoops @mnbasketballhub @TheAthleticMIN pic.twitter.com/zqV1pVNTee

— StreetHistory (Ryan S) (@streethistory) December 23, 2019

Carson Ruen | Minnesota Sports Fan

Monday July 6th was a tough day for the University of Minnesota Gophers football and basketball teams. First, Stewartville (MN) High School’s Will Tschetter committed to the University of Michigan. He chose Michigan over Minnesota, Nebraska, and others. Then, Totino-Grace High School’s Joe Alt committed to Notre Dame. He chose Notre Dame over Minnesota, Iowa, and a handful of other schools in the Midwest.

BREAKING: Offensive tackle Joe Alt commits to #NotreDame.@CoachJeffQuinn, @BrianPolian and @T_Rees11 did a great job on this one.

Story: https://t.co/1XEZnFfEEK@JoeAlt7#IrishIllustrated@247Sports pic.twitter.com/oZbo3FWfXy

— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) July 6, 2020

Alt is the son of former University of Iowa and Kansas City Chief John Alt. The younger Alt was “heavily considering Iowa and Minnesota down the stretch and had great relationships with both of those coaching staffs” according to 247Sports. However, Alt decided to settle on Notre Dame after taking a virtual visit.

“One of the days was a lot about just seeing Notre Dame,” said the 6-7, 260-pounder. “It was a lot of videos showing the campus and everything. Part of that day was also coach Quinn sitting down and explaining his run game and pass game philosophies, blocking, and stuff like that. The second day, I sat down coach Polian and kind of just talked about the numbers and the history of Notre Dame and how you’re not just going to be an athlete, but you have to be a student-athlete.

Joe Alt via 247 Sports

Notre Dame Makes Late Impression

Despite not offering Alt until May 24th, Notre Dame made enough of an impression to persuade him to go to South Bend. Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri all offered Alt before Notre Dame swooped in. Alt is listed as the No. 34 offensive tackle nationally and No. 6 prospect in Minnesota from the class of 2021. Here’s what 247 Sports recruiting expert Allen Trieu had to say about him:

Very good blocker from that spot in high school. Bends and can get leverage and plays with a good base. Balanced and keeps his feet. Moves well laterally. With the transition to offensive tackle, he would need more pass blocking reps. It is not out of the question a school would use him as a big tight end, but his upside is much higher as an offensive tackle prospect. He will have the add the weight and strength, but once he does that, he could be a high-end tackle.

247 Sports Allen Trieu

Alt’s commitment to Notre Dame continues a below-average stretch for P.J Fleck and Co. In the past month-and-a-half, Minnesota has received four decommitments: Albert Regis, Sam Jackson, D’Marion Alexander, Tamarion Crumpley. Even with those decommitments, however, the Gophers still sit at 18th in 247Sports 2021 Team Rankings. P.J Fleck will now set his eyes on reeling in some more players to add to an already great class.

Carson Ruen | Minnesota Sports Fan

This evening, the University of Minnesota released their first round of Student Athlete COVID-19 test results. Out of 170 students that were tested, just SEVEN (4%) came back positive for the disease. Here is part of a statement the U of M emailed to media:

The University of Minnesota department of athletics conducted 170 COVID-19 tests during June and seven student-athletes from multiple sports tested positive.

Testing was administered to players from a variety of sports, according to the statement. The 4% positive return rate falls under the nation’s current 7-day running average of 7% (according to Johns Hopkins). That number was closer to 4% last week, though.

Most of the tests administered to the general public, have been given to people with symptoms of COVID-19. You have to wonder what the positive average would be nationwide, should everyone be given the test (symptomatic or not).

U of M Student Athletes Positive for COVID-19

The seven athletes who tested positive, and any positives going forward, will be asked to self-isolate, while being monitored closely by the university medical staff. This won’t be the last bout of testing these athletes endure. According to the statement, another round will be administered before anyone is allowed to resume athletic activity.

Student-athletes who test positive are entered into protocol and are asked to self-isolate. During this time they will have access to all necessary resources and food and will be in daily communication with members of Minnesota’s athletic medicine staff. Student-athletes will undergo additional testing and screening before they may physically participate in team activities. A team physician must also clear the student-athlete before they are permitted to return to athletic activity.  

Contact tracing was conducted and any individual who was potentially exposed was asked to quarantine to help prevent spread of the virus.

This is good news for the University of Minnesota and anyone excited for college athletics to return. Tread lightly, though. We’ll see if the Gophers, and other colleges around the country, can keep that positive rate low.

Once professional and major college leagues around the USA return to their facilities and start releasing test results, how will each league stand against one another? What seems common vs variable around all sports, as athletes around the country return to competition? These are some things to keep an eye on, as we get ready for play.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The University of Minnesota continues to climb the ranks of the nation’s top athletic departments. They get to add another feather to their cap today, after their own Mark Coyle was named the 11th-best Athletic Director in the country, by Stadium.com.

Coyle was given an A- grade by Brett McMurphy and Jeff Goodman of Stadium and was praised for his ability to hire top coaching talents, especially in football. Obviously, Coyle geniusly hired P.J. Fleck at Minnesota, but his past hires include Bryan Harsin while at Boise State and Dino Babers while at Syracuse. Both have been lauded as great hires.

An elite leader.

?️: https://t.co/jYqk9WoBuI pic.twitter.com/YZvSxK4UHk

— Minnesota Gophers (@GopherSports) June 30, 2020

SUCCESS ACROSS THE BOARD

Prior to becoming athletic director at Boise State and then Syracuse, Coyle worked for the University of Minnesota from 2001 to 2005, as an athletic administrator. His reunion with the Gophers was consummated back in May 2016. Under his watch, Gopher student-athletes have recorded some of the highest GPAs in school history. The U of M has also lead the Big Ten in Academic All-Americans every year Coyle has been at the helm.

This list doesn’t include success in other sports, outside of Football and basketball. If it did, Coyle would climb even higher up the list. Minnesota has become a force all over the sports spectrum, both inside the conference and on the national stage.

The Gophers have won 15 conference titles in nine different sports, under Coyle. Then last year, Fleck (who Coyle hired) led the football team to an excellent 11-2 record and the most successful season in 60+ years.

Richard Pitino could be considered a question mark, but Mark Coyle didn’t hire him. At worst, the basketball program has been stagnant during his tenure. Pitino’s biggest black eye is home-state recruiting but, with the transfer market opening up more and more every year, Pitino’s success in recruiting could take a turn for the better, too. He has already been praised for his early handling of the transfer portal.

As a whole, there’s no doubt the department is on an upward trend.

If that wasn’t enough, the Gophers also finished in the top-20 of the Learfield Director’s Cup in 2017-18 and 2018-19. That’s only the second time in the last 15 years the school has done so. This is a big deal, within the athletic department world. Not only does the cup signify success on the field, but off of it, as well. Their Director’s Cup ranking puts them in the top seven percent of all Division I programs, nationally.

THE BIG TIME

Coyle ranks only behind Ohio State’s Gene Smith and Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez within the Big Ten. Maybe another Axe victory will push him above Alvarez…

As for nationally, Coyle ranks behind notables like Joe Castiglione (Oklahoma), Jack Swarbrick (Notre Dame), Scott Woodward (LSU), and Rob Mullens (Oregon). Definitely not a bad list to be associated with.

However, there are some names listed ahead of Mark Coyle that are questionable, including Ray Anderson (Arizona State), Whit Babcock (Virginia Tech) and Danny White (UCF). That may not sit too kindly with Gopher fans.

Danny White of UCF? Aren’t they nearly FCS-status? Are we going to start ranking the NDSU AD in these lists, too? AD’s like White, Anderson and Babcock make the list because McMurphy and Goodman were making their judgements based solely on football and basketball… but still.

Even with its flaws, this is a huge deal for Coyle and the Gophers. Fans should definitely revel in it. Stats bumps like this should continue to bring a renewed faith within the University of Minnesota and its alumni base.

Hopefully, it also provides a selling point for any future hires and/or recruits.

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan

College football is in a tough spot. Schools, players, and fans alike all want the 2020 season to happen. With or without fans, we all just want to cheer our Papa Fleck and the Minnesota Gophers.

Yet COVID-19 is putting universities into sticky situations. Whether it is figuring out how to deal with positive coronavirus tests (like Clemson or Kansas State) or how schools will handle fan attendance, there is a lot to pin down before the season begins… if it starts at all.

THE GOPHERS’ PLAN

It is no different for the University of Minnesota. Coming off a stellar 11-2 season which saw them climb all the way to 7th in the AP poll and 8th in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Gophers were hoping for sellout crowds at TCF Bank Stadium in 2020. They were likely to get it too, because the Gophers saw 81.6% of tickets used in 2019 compared to 59.8% in 2018.

But we live in a “new normal” (what a crappy phrase) and the Gophers have to anticipate the best and the worst. They are planning for every scenario, with regard to attendance at TCF Bank Stadium. Whether it is 100% capacity, 75%, 50%, or 25%, they want some form of fans in the stands.

The latter two capacity limitations would drastically impact who gets to see the Minnesota Gophers play in-person. Especially when looking at their stadium capacity of 50,805.

So how does the athletic department decide who gets to come and who has to watch from the couch? With a season ticket base of around 22,000, any capacity limitation under 50% would likely lead to some being turned away.

According to associate athletic director Mike Wierbicki, they could look towards the department’s “Gopher Score” loyalty program. The program grants points to ticket holders based off everything from donation levels to tenure. So while the department is likely to want students in the stands too, money talks.

via GIPHY

IS THIS FAIR?

Absolutely. While having students in the stands is an integral factor of game day atmosphere, they aren’t the big money donors. Granted they pay tuition and fees on top of their tickets, it is important to keep your donors happy.

As Wierzbicki told the Star Tribune, “the reality that [fan attendance] is probably dwindling by the day as we get closer [to the season].” So to maintain any form of revenue is important.

“Hopefully, we’re in a spot where we can take care of season-ticket holders and then still have the ability to leverage that Gopher Score system for single-game sales. With the season we had last year and where the momentum is at, there’s tons of positivity. So we were on pace to sell our largest number of new season tickets than we ever have with Gopher football. And I think that we’ll still hit that. Last year, we finished renewals right around the 90% mark. That’s kind of where we’re trending at right now.”

Mike Wierzbicki, Gopher Associate Athletic Director to the Star Tribune

While the university was expecting a $1 million surplus for the 2019-20 year, they are now anticipating a $4 million deficit. With an annual budget of around $123 million (8th in the Big Ten), football accounts for over $9.3 million in ticket sales alone. That does not include media rights, bowl games, or guarantees.

Some may complain, saying the students deserve the first shot at tickets… but they aren’t the ones bringing in the money that floats non-revenue sports such as rowing, swimming and diving, or tennis.

LIMBO

Obviously, it isn’t an ideal situation… but nothing is “ideal” this year and every university is having to adjust. It will be important for the university to prepare for both the best and worst scenarios. And it will be interesting to see how they go about each. Either way, the Minnesota Gophers will just have to plan ahead and figure out every possible avenue for their fans to remain engaged. Whether it is in TCF Bank Stadium or at home.

All we can hope for is the ability to watch college football in any form come Labor Day weekend… so we can see the Gophers take down Wisconsin.

via GIPHY

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan

Richard Pitino continued his strong spring by adding yet another transfer on Monday Afternoon. Former Austin (MN) High School standout, Both Gach (who declared for the NBA draft earlier this spring) announced that he would be taking his talents from the University of Utah, back home to the University of Minnesota. 

I would love to give a huge Thank you to all the schools that took the time to recruit me but at this time I’m excited to commit to the University of Minnesota and join coach Pitino and his staff ….. Excited to be back home 〽️ ?? pic.twitter.com/NeIeN2AtQB

— Both Gach (@TutBoth) June 15, 2020

The former Utah Utes guard averaged 10.9 points and 2.9 assists in his sophomore year, while playing 33 minutes in each contest. Those numbers could’ve been better, too, if not for a knee injury that kept him out for four straight games. However, Gach still managed to have a couple really big performances, including games against Minnesota and Colorado. 

I went back and watched his highlights from those games, and here are some components of his game that stuck out to me the most.

Finishing Ability

One of the best parts about Gach’s game is his finishing ability. He not only showed it in the Minnesota game, but also the Colorado game. He has a bag full of tricks and will use any of them to make defenders look silly. Just look at these highlights from both games:

Minnesota

In the first highlight from the Minnesota game, he receives the ball from his teammate, drives coast-to-coast, and then finishes around basically the whole Minnesota line-up. He also adjusted his body to get the perfect angle and then converted with ease.

via GIPHY

In the next highlight, he again goes coast-to-coast, hesitates just enough to make Gabe Kalscheur commit to him, and then spins through Marcus Carr to, once again, convert the layup. This is terrific recognition by him, and just one of the many moves that will make Gophers fans excited to see him rock the Maroon and Gold.

Oh, and I can’t forget… he can also beat you with his left hand. Unfortunately, Daniel Oturu found that out the hard way:

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Colorado

If you can’t get enough of those highlights (or you don’t like watching our own Gopher squad get toasted , here are some clips from his game vs Colorado. 

Beating All-Pac 12 guard McKinley Wright off the dribble? Check. Converting a left-hand scoop layup, while also getting fouled? Also check. 

via GIPHY

But can he beat Wright off the dribble for another bucket? Why, yes he can. Is he athletic enough to split two defenders with a euro-step, though? Well… just see for yourself.

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Shooting

Although Gach only shot 25% from three last year, he showed the ability to shoot the ball at a higher percentage elsewhere. He shot 56% on field goals inside the 3 point line. Here are some of those shots:

You would normally expect to see Gach take the ball to the basket when going coast-to-coast, but in this highlight, he actually pulls up for the three and converts with a swish… again vs the Gophers. In the second highlight, he shows off his shotmaking ability and converts while moving to his left.

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Here’s another quick-release-three off the catch:

via GIPHY

As you can see from the highlights, Both Gach has the ability and size to shoot the ball at a higher clip for the Gophers next season. Efficiency with outside shots is the biggest key to unlocking his full potential. Based on the Twitter videos below, it looks like that is exactly what he is working on.

Late night Lab work with Both Gach @TutBoth pic.twitter.com/HTb6bmLG1z

— Coach Pete (@PeteKaffey) May 23, 2020

Unseen hours with Both Gach @TutBoth pic.twitter.com/IEwvTtj0JA

— Coach Pete (@PeteKaffey) May 23, 2020

Position Flexibility

Another important reason for Gach’s transfer to Minnesota is his ability to play both off and on the ball. With Marcus Carr running the show (hopefully), Gach will likely play a little more off-ball on offense.

Pitino also sold Gach on plenty of opportunities to play on the ball, too. Similar to Richard Pitino utilized Amir Coffey during his Junior season, Gach has a lot of the same skill sets. Here are some highlights of Gach assisting his teammates:

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

With these traits, Gach could be the player that vaults the Gophers from the middle or bottom of the Big Ten, towards the top of the Big Ten. And if Drake transfer Liam Robbins receives a waiver for the 2020-21 season, that combo makes it even more likely. 

Gach is another excellent addition for the Gophers but he and Robbins will both need waivers to play immediately. Until that happens, everything is up in the air.

Carson Ruen | Minnesota Sports Fan

University of Minnesota sports are coming back! The athletic department announced Friday, that student athletes will be returning to campus in waves. Those waves kicked off today, when Gopher football players started arriving on campus to begin COVID testing measures (see below). This is a major first step in returning to some form of normal.

Any Student-athlete that returns to campus will do so voluntarily. Scholarships will be honored, if someone chooses not return for fall semester.

After the football team, men’s and women’s basketball will be summoned, eventually followed by soccer and volleyball. Additional athletes will return to campus in the weeks that follow the sports listed above..

“The health and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches and staff will always be our top priority. Our staff has spent the past several weeks preparing for our student-athletes to return to campus and has worked diligently to provide them with the safest environment possible. Our decision to bring students back to campus is supported by medical experts and leadership at the NCAA, Big Ten and on campus. With regard to testing for COVID-19, we have worked with numerous medical professionals and infectious disease specialists to ensure we are using the most current information and testing procedures.”

University of Minnesota Athletic Director, Mark Coyle

TESTING MEASURES

The Big Ten “highly recommends” COVID-19 testing for student-athletes, as they return. First though, athletes will complete a symptom and exposure questionnaire. There will also be daily temperature and symptom checks.

Athletes that test positive will self-isolate, while still receiving access to necessary resources. They won’t return to their teams until meeting specific criteria. Those who have positive antibody tests, will take their pre-participation physicals or annual health appraisal, but will require more testing before being cleared to resume athletic activities.

This announcement comes a week after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz “relaxed” restrictions on businesses including bars, restaurants, places of worship, and entertainment venues.

The announcement does not mention anything related to fan attendance. However, I expect some form of in-person fan presence by football season.

POTENTIAL ISSUES

The announcement does not mention what will occur if multiple student athletes start testing positive. This became an issue at the University of Houston, who had to suspend voluntary workouts today, after six athletes tested positive for COVID-19. Minnesota would likely go this route too, if something like that happened here.

Let’s just have Goldy come in and truck coronavirus like he does those kids at halftime. Ski-U-Mah!

via GIPHY

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan

Fuck… SportsCenter has been to St. John’s vs St. Thomas and, just earlier this season, an NDSU matchup vs SDSU.. but they’ve never been to the U of M Campus or the Metrodome, when the Gophers played there. I mean, in all fairness, we haven’t given them very many opportunities.

Fleck’s presentation was impressive, per usual, but ultimately unsuccessful. Alabama and LSU were playing that same weekend and when the SEC and ESPN have the opportunity to get together and touch helmets… well, you can be damn sure that helmet-touching is going to take place. ESPN went to Tuscaloosa for the 74,879th time, while the Gophers pulled off the biggest victory in TCF Bank Stadium history 1,100 miles away, without ESPN and their SEC chaffed helmets.

Entire MD Postgame Press Conference — (Start of Pitch to GameDay: 13:30 Mark)

PJ Fleck LIVE after stomping another Big Ten opponent: #Gophers #MDvsMINN https://t.co/07ABIeDv4u

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 26, 2019

And the fans have stormed the field at TCF Bank Stadium after a huge #Gophers win over No. 5 Penn State! It was an unbelievable atmosphere the entire day. pic.twitter.com/wc0ftUo3ww

— Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL) November 9, 2019

So, fast forward a couple of weeks, through a disappointing loss in Iowa City plus a victory over Northwestern yesterday, and the 10-1 Minnesota Golden Gopher Football team is now standing at the edge of untouched territory. Sure, University of Minnesota has gone to Rose Bowls and they have dominated the Big Ten (and all of college football) before… but that was back when the University was a safe haven for athletes of color, from all over the racist south. Players like Bobby Bell and Sandy Stephens walked off of a charter bus in Minnesota, to a different world… (as Bobby Bell explains here on an interview earlier this year with KFAN) one that allowed them to thrive as a humans and as athletes. No black/white bathrooms or water fountains… no segregation. And they did thrive, like countless others.

But this is a different age (thankfully), and the best athletes around the country get to play wherever they choose to play. So, you need a way to get them here. You need bright lights… you need a big stage…. you need a microphone. On Saturday afternoon, the Wisconsin Badgers will come into TCF Bank Stadium with The Axe, a Big Ten West title, a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game, a gimme Rose Bowl birth, and an outside chance at the College Football Playoffs, on the line…

And, you can be damn sure that College Gameday isn’t missing that chance at history… or, you can at least be sure there isn’t an SEC game of the same significance, going on next weekend.

ROW THE BOAT! ?‍♂️

For the first time ever … We're headed to Minneapolis! SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, @GopherFootball!

(?@HomeDepot) pic.twitter.com/TGXiVar7mm

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 24, 2019

Having College Gameday here is big time for so many things, but the biggest one is brand awareness. The more often you see the block “M” on national television and under the big time spotlight, the more likely we are to get better recruits, coaches, etc. And getting those recruits and coaches (and keeping PJ) are how you sustain your time at the top of college football. So, GameDay coming is huge. But, GameDay is only here because this is a massive game, as discussed in length earlier. This isn’t a massive game, if the Gophers don’t win the games leading up to this one.

Winning is the only thing that matters this weekend. Amid all of the distractions and hype that will be pumped into campus all week… none of it matters if you don’t win. No Big Ten West Title… No Indianapolis… no Axe… No Pasadena…. nothing.

This is a chance that Minnesota usually doesn’t get, and we need to take advantage, no matter how good our future looks. My heart breaks for those who heard all about those great Gopher teams of the 40’s-60’s, when they were kids and being engrained into the college football culture…. just to have the bottom fall out of the Gopher program, as they came of age in the 70’s and 80’s. Instead of making regular trips to Pasadena, like their parents, they’d go on to have their hearts stomped on for 5 straight decades, just hoping for a trip to Arizona for a “Sun Bowl”, or maybe some country music concerts in Nashville, before watching the Gophers represent the state of Minnesota in the “Music City Bowl”.

All of that can be history now, though. With GameDay on site and the entire nation watching this rivalry game on Saturday, we can bury all of that. The Gophers can beat Wisconsin for the 2nd straight year, see the TCF Bank Stadium field stormed again, and find themselves in a Big Ten Championship, with one of the youngest teams in college football…. Win this game, and the shovel will pretty much work itself, as it throws pile after pile of dirt on top of the Gophers’ last 50 years.

I’m glad GameDay got it right this time. Witnessing history is fun.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

BREAKING: 2018 quarterback Victor Viramontes transferring from Minnesota, following one semester with the #Gophers.

Likely to play another position at JUCO this fall. Story here. https://t.co/3OFwQB6i4S pic.twitter.com/XvYUfEZjnl

— Ryan Burns (@RyanBurnsMN) June 2, 2018

Wow, this isn’t what I was expecting to do this morning but sometimes plans change, right?

They have for Vic Viramontes. The 6-2 230 lb. dual-threat quarterback, according to Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated.com, Vic Viramontes is transferring from the University of Minnesota. He will be heading back to Riverside Community College, where he played quarterback last season.

However, he will not be playing quarterback in 2018. Viramontes will be playing linebacker for the California Community College, before looking to transfer back to a D1 program in January. He will then have 2 seasons to prove himself as a linebacker capable of playing high-level division 1 football. Vic has also expressed an urge to be closer to home. (All of this came from Ryan Burns and GopherIllustrated.com between both his report and the message boards. It’s the best subscription for Minnesota news that I pay every month. You can subscribe here.

Now that we have all the details so far, how do we feel about this?

via GIPHY

Early on, it looks like this is something we should be positive about. There doesn’t seem to be any reports of Viramontes disliking Fleck or his culture. It looks a lot more likely that Viramontes didn’t see himself beating out either Tanner Morgan or Zack Annexstad, both of whom were higher than he was on the depth chart for the spring game. Both kids are Freshman (Morgan a RS). I wrote about how good Annexstad looked after that spring game. And, others wrote about how much they liked Tanner Morgan.

Nonetheless, the depth at quarterback now for the Gophers is quite concerning. The two Freshman mentioned earlier are now the only two quarterbacks on the roster after Demry Croft transferred last year and Seth Green moved to WR/TE. Burns also confirmed that Minnesota is NOT allowed to use Viramontes’ now-open scholarship to find another quarterback until January, per NCAA rules. That means any quarterback they do find will have to be a walk-on. Speaking of walk-on, Zack Annexstad also agreed to come on as a walk-on (although he had other D1 scholarship offers), and will not be able to pick up that dead scholarship either.

So, does Fleck really go into the season with two quarterbacks with failed QB project/turned pass-catcher, in Seth Green, as the third option? Getting a viable grad-transfer that’s willing to walk-on will be tough. It’ll be interesting to see where Fleck and the Gophers goes from here at the most important position on the field.

Before you go blaming PJ Fleck, just remember that the last regime (Kill/Claeys) spent 5 years shunning the QB position to make sure this guy felt comfortable in his starting role…

Eric Strack
MinnesotaSportsFan.com (@RealMNSportsFan)