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We are in the full tilt of Madness this weekend. The NCAA Hockey Tournament will go from 16 to 4 teams in three days, and Basketball will go from 12 to 4 over the next three days as well Spring practice is back in full swing too. Plus, spring sports are starting up, and the Gopher Softball team is on another roll. So here's a look at some links from around the sports world:
College Hockey:
As we said the NCAA Tournament starts today, and the Gophers will play UMD at 4:30 CDT. DarkNight has got you covered with our preview Here. Links to our full NCAA Hockey Tournament coverage can be found here.
The Star Tribune has an article on Gopher defenseman Mike Reilly.
The Strib's Jason Gonzalez gives us his capsule previews for the four Minnesota teams in the Tournament...and that nicknameless team to the northwest.
The Minnesota Daily previews the Gophers game against UMD.
Fox Sports North has a preview of the Gophers as well.
The Pioneer Press focuses in on Adam Wilcox.
The Gopher Sports Podcast this week talks to Wilcox, and Gopher Women's goalie Amanda Leveille.
In general college hockey tournament previews, John Buccigross has a preview on ESPN.
in case you feel like watching hockey live...the D3 Men's Final Four is at Ridder Arena this weekend. Wisconsin-Stevens Point is the most local team left in the bracket.
Football:
The Gophers have moved Saturday morning's practice to TCF Bank Stadium. It begins at 9:30 and is open to the Public!
Fox Sports North looks at Rodrick Williams,and how Nugget has dropped a few 10-packs this offseason in his quest to be the #1 back next fall.
Andy Greder who has taken over the Pioneer Press Football beat from Marcus Fuller also talks about how the Gophers are looking to use Jeff Jones and Jerry Gibson on offense next season.
Here is video of Matt Limegrover talking about Jones's potential for the Gophers.
NFL Draft Steam....
Mel Kiper Jr talks to Joe Christensen about the potential draft prospects of Damien Wilson and Cedric Thompson. Ced has now moved up to the #10 safety on Kiper's board for the upcoming draft.
Matt Miller, the NFL Draft lead writer for Bleacher Report (yeah I know)...did a full seven round mock draft this week. He has Maxx going 19th to the Browns, Cobb going in the 3rd round to the Vikings, and Damien Wilson going in the 7th to San Francisco. He still has Thompson undrafted.
Other new Mocks: CBSSports.com , NFL.com --No Maxx in 1st Round; WalterFootball.com Maxx goes 31st to New Orleans, Cobb in the 5th round to Indy.
Other Gophers Sports News
The #12 Ranked Gopher Softball team goes to Lincoln this weekend to take on defending Big Ten Co-Champs Nebraska. It should be a good test and a warmup up in their Big Ten home opening series next week in what could be a battle for the Big Ten Championship with #4 Michigan.
Amanda Zahui B was officially named one of the 12 finalists for the Wade Trophy, one of three awards given to the best Women's College Basketball Player in the Nation. She has allready been named a finalist for the other two awards, the Wooden Trophy, and the Naismith Trophy. All three awards will be announced in conjunction with the Womens Final Four the weekend of April 5-7.
Two more Gopher Women's Basketball players are transferring from the team, bringing the number to five this season leaving coach Marlene Stollings' program. None of the players have played a large role this season for Minnesota, and will be leaving, most likely on a quest for more playing time. Just means more chances for Stollings to bring in her type of recruits...
Richard Pitino is back to tweeting along with his team, and also blogging. His new blog came out this week and he gives a recap of this year's season.
The Minnesota Daily previews the Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Meet this weekend--The Gophers go in with a freshman heavy team who recently upset #2 Penn State.
The #17 Gopher Women's gymnastics team will have a tough road to qualify for the NCAA Championships, after getting seeded into the Auburn Regional on April 4th, where they will see SEC Champs Alabama and 2nd Place Auburn along with four other teams.
The Gopher Baseball team hosts Northwestern its its home opener at Siebert Field this weekend in a 3-game series.