Let's take a break from Gopher basketball for a few minutes.
Gopher Baseball is continuing to struggle in this early season. This past weekend the Gophers hosted the Metrodome Tournament. Game One was a game owned by Seth Rosin. The Gophers cruised to a 7-1 win over Harvard behind Rosin's 12 Ks. But game two and game three were losses to Creighton and South Dakota State. The 1-2 weekend puts the Gophers at 5-7 overall. Up next is a trip to Alabama for two games with the Crimson Tide, beginning today, and then they stay in the state to face Samford for four games.
Gopher Hockey's season is finished after losing their first round WCHA playoff matchup with North Dakota. The Gophers battled back to even the three-game series with a win on Saturday. But fell in game three 4-1 on Sunday to end their season. If I were you, I'd check out Gopher Puck Live for detailed reactions to the loss and the season.
- Gopher Hoops is taking the bus to Milwaukee. Now if they were serious about saving money, they'd take MegaBus. But this isn't a bad move in the current economic environment we live.
- The Evansville Courier and Press isn't all that impressed with the Big Ten's (not so) Fab Five in the tournament. But the highlight of the article is the nugget that Illinois is not hosting an NIT game because Cirque du Soleil is booked on their home court. What does Bruce Weber think about all of this? "It would be an understatement to say it's been a tough day," Weber said on Sunday night. "I don't think we have anyone to blame except ourselves."
- Basketball Prospectus is always very insightful and this article on the firing of Lickliter is no exception. The decline of Iowa basketball can directly be traced to the Northwestern State upset in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. A year later Alford left, Lickliter was hired, several kids transferred and the program has been in steady decline since.
- More thoughts on the Xavier v Minnesota matchup from the Cincinnati Enquirer.
- Oh, and Seantrel Henderson is going to sign with USC this week according to his father. OR they just haven't been in the headlines lately and need to get more stories published about SH.
- Once again, come back here to watch all out of market games on Thursday through Sunday. NCNCAA March Madness on Demand will be embedded and easy for you to watch as you comment in the daily open threads we'll be having. I know I'm linking to it every day, but I want everyone to see it.