MINNEAPOLIS — For all Herb Brooks accomplished in the world of hockey, the Hall of Fame coach of the heralded “Miracle on Ice” team long held a localized goal of growing the college game in his home state. The NCAA Tournament bracket this year would’ve made Brooks proud. For the first time, all five of Minnesota’s Division I programs made the 16-team field. The regionals start on Friday. “I think that’s a really cool story,” said Minnesota coach Bob Motzko, whose team won the Big Ten Tournament and has the No. 3 overall seed. The men’s college hockey tournament was first staged in 1948. The NCAA’s current 16-team format came in 2003. Joining the Gophers this season are Minnesota State, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season champion; St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, who finished second and third in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference; and Bemidji State, the third WCHA team selected. “Nobody’s slipped in. I can tell you that. All five teams have earned the right to be there, and any of the five have a chance,” said Motzko, who’s in his third season at Minnesota. Motzko’s first year in coaching was as an assistant at St. Cloud State under Brooks, who helped launch the program’s leap to Division I in 1987. Brooks, the former Gophers player and coach who went on to fame at the Olympic and NHL levels until his death in a car crash in 2003, spoke often of his desire for in-state competition for Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth. Minnesota State moved up in 1996, and Bemidji State followed in 1999. St. Thomas will become the state’s sixth and the NCAA’s 62nd Division I program next season, joining Minnesota State and Bemidji State in the new Central Collegiate Hockey Association. “Very happy for the group, because I consider every one of those head coaches a very good friend of mine,” Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings said. “I wish them all the best, and hopefully we can all go and represent the state of Minnesota the way we want to.” With so few schools offering the sport and largely confined to certain areas of the country, college hockey is a tight-knit community. There’s no stronger evidence of that than with the five Minnesota teams. Each head coach was born and raised in the state: Motzko (Austin), Hastings (Crookston), Minnesota Duluth’s Scott Sandelin (Hibbing), St. Cloud State’s Brett Larson (Duluth) and Bemidji State’s Tom Serratore (Coleraine). Motzko, Hastings, Larson and Serratore all spent time as a player or an assistant at at least one other of the Minnesota teams. Motzko’s last trip to the NCAA Tournament was in 2018 with St. Cloud State, when the No. 1 overall seed was upset by Air Force. Now he’s guiding the Gophers to their NCAA-record 38th appearance, a mark matched by Michigan. “It is the craziest tournament,” Motzko said. “Anybody can win, and that’s one of the things that’s changed in the last decade in college hockey. The dividing line now isn’t what it was in the ’70s and even in the ’80s. It is a deeper pool.” Such evolution has allowed programs like Minnesota State, which was ranked sixth in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, to become more competitive. No team has won more games than the Mavericks (234) over the nine seasons since Hastings became their coach. This will be their seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament, though they’ve yet to win a game there. Just making it this year was an accomplishment amid the COVID-19 protocols that led to several postponements and constant anxiety. “You were worrying about stringing together weekends, let alone a second half, and knock on wood the guys did a great job up until this point at minding their ‘P’s and ‘Q’s away from the rink and making sure that their bubble is very tight,” said Hastings, whose Mavericks were sent to Loveland, Colorado, to play Quinnipiac on Saturday. Minnesota faces Omaha in the other semifinal, with two wins needed to reach the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh on April 8. In Bridgeport, Connecticut, Lake Superior State plays Massachusetts and Bemidji State faces No. 4 overall seed Wisconsin on Friday. In Fargo, North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth plays Michigan and No. 1 overall seed North Dakota faces American International on Friday. St. Cloud State plays Boston University on Saturday in Albany, New York. The winner will play No. 2 overall seed Boston College, which advanced because Notre Dame was forced to withdraw because of coronavirus issues in the program. ___ More AP sports coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Dave Campbell, The Associated Press
The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
