We are right in the middle of the busiest time of the year for the Gopher sports universe. The winter sports are winding down their seasons and getting ready for the playoffs/tournaments/ The spring seasons are ramping up—-including several sports that are being played in the spring that are usually the fall. To try and give our readers the best chance they can to follow them all, here is a rundown of the Gophersports schedule from Friday the 19th through Sunday the 21st and how you can watch or stream all the action!
Friday February 19th
WOMEN’S TENNIS vs Nebraska—Baseline Tennis Center 2:00 PM
The Gopher women open their home season against Nebraska at the baseline Tennis season. A free livestream from Gophersports.com is available HERE.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY @ Bemidji State 6:00 PM
The Gopher women begin their final series of the regular season in Bemidji. The Gophers will make the WCHA Final Face-off at Ridder Arena in two weeks but their final seeding is still up in the air between third and fourth place based upon the results of the last two weekends of the regular season—mainly the Gophers series this weekend and the UMD/Wisconsin series next weekend. A stream of the game is available from FloHockey for a fee this weekend.
MEN’S HOCKEY vs Michigan State—3M Arena at Mariucci 7:00 PM
The Gopher men will look to take their success in South Bend last weekend back to home ice this weekend in their second to the last regular season series against the Spartans. Read the Preview. The game will air on Fox Sports North + and can be streamed on Fox Sports GO and BTN+.
VOLLEYBALL @ Nebraska 8:00 PM
The #5 Gopher volleyball team has their toughest test of the season yet as they are in Lincoln to play the #4 Nebraska Cornhuskers. Minnesota brings the two time reigning Big Ten Player of the Week into the match in Stephanie Samedy. Nebraska is very good but has yet to be tested this season with three sweeps of Big Ten bottom feeders Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana. Meanwhile the Gophers swept #11 Purdue in West Lafayette and #8 Penn State at the Pav last weekend. The game will air live on BTN and stream on the Fox Sports App.
Saturday February 20th
MEN’S TENNIS @ Michigan State 11:00 AM
The Gopher men’s tennis team will kick off the Big Ten season with a match in East Lansing against the Spartans on Saturday morning. The Gophers have won 21 consecutive matches against the Spartans. A free video stream from MSU is available HERE.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL @ Maryland 11:00 AM
The Gopher women’s basketball team will have a very tough task Saturday morning when they head to Maryland to play the Big Ten leading and #9 nationally ranked Terrapins. Maryland won a 17 point game against the Gophers in Williams Arena back in January. Minnesota is coming off of a blowout loss to Rutgers in New Jersey last Wednesday. The game will stream live on BTN+.
MEN’S BASKETBALL vs Illinois—Williams Arena 2:30 PM
The Gopher men’s basketball team is back in the Barn Saturday afternoon with a huge task ahead of them in #5 Illinois Fighting Illini. The Gophers were smoked by Illinois in Champaign 92-65 back in December, but are still 13-1 in the Barn this season. It will be an even tougher task this time around for the Gophers who will miss Gabe Kalsheur who is out with a broken hand, and will have center Liam Robbins hobbled by a severely sprained ankle. The game will be a nationally televised game on Fox. Streaming is available on the Fox Sports App.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY @ Bemidji State 3:00 PM
The Gopher women close out their regular season schedule with the second of two in Bemidji. The game will stream on FloHockey for a fee.
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS vs Rutgers—Maturi Pavillion 5:00 PM
The #10 Gopher women’s gymnastics team hosts Rutgers in a Big Ten clash at the Pav on Saturday. Minnesota senior Lexi Ramler has won the all-around competition three weeks in a row and appears to be heating up at the right time. The Gophers also got their first perfect 10 score of the season last weekend when Ona Loper hit a perfect vault at Iowa. The meet will begin at 5PM and will air live on ESPNU and will be streamed on the ESPN App.
MEN’S HOCKEY vs Michigan State—3M Arena at Mariucci 5:00PM
The Gophers close out their series against the Spartans with an early 5 PM faceoff. The game will air live on Fox Sports North and will stream on Fox Sports Go and BTN+.
Sunday February 21
WOMEN’S TENNIS vs Iowa—Baseline Tennis Center 11:00 AM
The Gopher women host Iowa in a Big Ten clash. A free livestream from Gophersports.com is available HERE.
MEN’S TENNIS @ Michigan 11:00 AM
The Gophers head south from East Lansing to Ann Arbor for their second Big Ten match of the season. It will not be easy against the #15 ranked Wolverines. Michigan will provide a free live video stream HERE.
VOLLEYBALL @ Nebraska 11:00 AM
The Gophers and Huskers will meet in their second game of the weekend in Lincoln. First serve is set for 11AM and will air live on BTN and stream on the Fox Sports App.
WRESTLING vs Northwestern —Maturi Pavillion 12:00 PM
The #12Gopher wrestling team ends their regular season with a duel against #11 Northwestern at the Pav. The Gopher sshould have the edge with six ranked wrestlers compared to four for the Wildcats. Each team has one wrestler ranked #1 in the nation with Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin at 157 pounds and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson at heavyweight. Deakin will get #6 Brayton Lee for the Gophers in what should be the match of the duel. The duel will stream live on BTN+.
SOCCER vs Nebraska— Recreation Sports Dome 1:00PM
The Gopher women’s soccer team will kick off their season on Sunday afternoon against Nebraska, Usually a fall sport the season will be a 13 game spring affair for the team. Minnesota’s first three home games will be played in the Rec Sports field and dome located just west of the Ski U Mah lot in Stadium Village with the hope that the weather will cooperate to play their last four home games on their usual field at Elisabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium in St Paul later in the season. The game will stream live on BTN+.
That’s fifteen different events over about 48 hours for you to choose to watch from. Even more will occur next week with a pair of championship events in the Big Ten Swimming and Diving meet and the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships.