University of Minnesota Athletics
BLOG: Fast Start One of Nation's Best
10/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Athletics director Joel Maturi would have been hard pressed to script a better start to the 2008-09 competition calendar for the Golden Gophers this fall. With each of its five traditional fall sport teams football, women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s cross country and women’s cross country currently holding down spots in their respective national rankings, Minnesota is in some pretty rare territory when it comes to athletic achievement this fall.
In fact, just one other athletic department in the nation can claim ranked programs in all five sports Florida. How remarkable is that? When one considers that there are currently 119 athletics departments nationally that compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly Division I-A) and more than 300 colleges and universities that compete at the Division I level overall the magnitude of achieving such a feat begins to take shape.
Perhaps the biggest shocker of the fall has been the Golden Gopher football program, which last week was named the No. 1 midseason surprise story by ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel.
Just past the midpoint of its season, the Minnesota football team (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) is already bowl eligible and last weekend earned a top-25 ranking all three major polls (Associated Press, USA Today Coaches’, Harris Interactive) as well as a spot in the initial Bowl Championship Series standings.
It is the first national ranking for the Gopher football team in three years and a stunning achievement for a program that is in the midst of putting together one of the greatest turnarounds in NCAA college football history under second-year head coach Tim Brewster.
Rivaling football on the Gophers’ most-improved list this fall is the job Mikki Denney Wright has done with the Minnesota soccer program. Led by the play and leadership of its seven seniors, the 25th-ranked Gophers are in a pitched battle for the Big Ten title and enter the weekend with an outstanding 15-2 (5-2 Big Ten) record. It is just the third time in school history the program has recorded as many as 15 wins and the team has already set program records for shutouts in a season (13).
It’s no shocker to see the Gopher volleyball team among the nation’s elite. But after a disappointing (by head coach Mike Hebert’s standards) 2007 campaign, Minnesota has once again become a force to be reckoned with. The Gophers enter the week with a 17-3 (7-1 Big Ten) record and a No. 11 national ranking.
For those keeping score that’s an aggregate record of 38-6 and winning percentage of 86.4 percent... and I haven’t even gotten to either of the cross country teams.
The Gopher women’s cross country team climbed to as high as No. 4 in the USTFCCCA national poll this season and currently stands at No. 7. Minnesota, coached by 24-year veteran Gary Wilson, has received terrific across-the-board production from a deep lineup which features All-American Jamie Cheever and five other runners (Gabriele Anderson, Heather Dorniden, Megan Duwell, Amy Laskowske and Elizabeth Yetzer) who have garnered All-Midwest Region honors. Incidentally, the Gophers are the defending Big Ten champions.
Not to be outdone, the Gopher men’s cross country team, currently ranked No. 20 in the nation, is powered up front by All-Americans Chris Rombough and Hassan Mead. Rombough won Big Ten medalist honors in 2006, while Mead captured runner-up honors a year ago as a true freshman. Coached by Steve Plasencia, who recently took the reins of the men’s track & field program as well, Minnesota has been a consistent participant in postseason action, making NCAA Championships appearances in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
And looking ahead to the winter, the good times should continue to roll in the Gopher State. Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams as well as the men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams are currently ranked in the top 10. Wrestling, men’s gymnastics and women’s gymnastics are projected to open their respective campaigns with top-25 rankings as well.
On the hardwood, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be pushing for NCAA Tournament berths, while the indoor track & field programs battle for national supremacy.
So if you want to have some fun with your friends this weekend, see if they can name the two collegiate athletic programs that are currently ranked in each of their traditional fall sports. The answer just may surprise them.
- Garry Bowman, Director of Athletic Communications
