Mike Crowley and Erik Rasmussen left the men's hockey team early. New football coach Glen Mason, working without a signed contract, guided Minnesota to a 3-9 season. The secure knowledge that things cannot possibly get any worse. The men's hockey team has been swept in consecutive weekends for the first time in 18 seasons. And the football team finished with a 31-0 loss at Iowa.
Many people are ready to lop their heads off in a disgusted panic.
But that would be foolishly premature and a tremendous hindrance to being around to see the seven-month cloud lift. Schools that win don't disappear overnight. If Sam Jacobson shoots 29 percent for the entire season, like he has for the first three games, the team will finish near the bottom of the Big Ten. Fortunately for the Gophers, the likelihood of that happening is about the same as Clem Haskins giving birth to septuplets. The Gophers finished that season 20-11 and made the NCAA tournament.