When you’re making plans for what to watch this weekend, the list of sports candidates is a lengthy one.

If your weekend starts on Thursday, the Minnesota Wild open the NHL season for real at home in Xcel Center against the Colorado Avalanche. Really. We’re in college football midseason, Major League Baseball’s incomparable playoffs, and other fall sports reaching climactic times at every level...and pro hockey is starting. I look for the Wild to be a serious contender all season, and I’m hoping Niklas Backstrom is fully recovered and ready to reclaim his stature in goal, with Darcy Kuemper as an emerging star as his season-opening partner, plus we can hope all the returning players who made last season so memorable take a logical step forward. Maybe Thomas Vanek can live up to the amazingly optimistic overtones as a newcomer. Vanek shifted his playing pace into neutral last spring in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, to the extent he was demoted by the Montreal Canadiens to a less-significant line. If you can live and play in Montreal and not be engulfed with inspiration at playoff time, pardon me for questioning your intensity under pressure, on a team that came together magically under the most intense pressure of last spring’s playoffs. The Wild will be a contender regardless, but if Vanek can score 35 goals and be a plus-20, the Wild can win the division.

If your weekend is more restricted to UMD hockey, you have two major rivalries this weekend. The UMD men’s Bulldogs open their serious season against the University of Minnesota Friday in South Bend, Ind., while Notre Dame and RPI meet in the late game. Losers and winners play Sunday -- does this sound like a made-for-Big-10-network promotion? -- to get the season underway. Now, UMD and the Gophers are in different leagues these days, and we know the National Collegiate Hockey Conference is the strongest in the nation, but the Big Ten, with all its promotional hype, and yes, the Big Ten network, somehow established itself as the greater entity last season. With the Gophers starting No. 1 in the nation, a UMD victory Friday night not only would be huge for the Bulldogs, but would thrust the NCHC upwards toward where it rightfully belongs.

The UMD women, picked third in the WCHA, complete the roughest start imaginable when, coming off two whippings at the hands of No. 2 ranked Wisconsin, the Bulldogs now face No. 1 Minnesota Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. at AMSOIL Arena. The Gophers, runner-up in the NCAA tournament last spring to establish the first time a WCHA team didn’t win the national title after 13 consecutive titles, lost star Amanda Kessel for the season when she was directed to sit out to fully recover from symptoms of a concussion, suffered with the U.S. Olympic team last season. But the Gophers still have a bench-full of talent. UMD, meanwhile, has the unenviable task of regaining the once prestigious position of an elite program after drifting down into the middle of the WCHA the last few years. Losing 4-1 and 6-2 to Wisconsin in last weekend’s home opening series was not the prescription for a strong start, and the Gophers figure to be considerably more solid, top to bottom, than the Badgers. It will be a treat for the fans who venture to AMSOIL, however. Gopher-Bulldog hockey games always bring out the best in intensity, and the only question is whether the Bulldogs are up to the challenge. UMD has some talent, no doubt. My favorites are Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Lara Stalder, although on paper, forward Jenna McParland and defenseman Brigette Lacquette would seem to be standouts. Trouble is, both tend to be more individual-oriented than team-oriented, and both need to have major shifts in self-discipline for the team’s sake, if the Bulldogs are to go anywhere.

Back at UMD, the Bulldogs are going everywhere in football, standing 5-0 and off to face a big challenge at large rival St. Cloud State this weekend. Remarkably, St. Scholastica is maintaining pace at the Division 3 level, leading the UMAC at 5-0 at hitting the road this weekend. Wouldn’t it be great if the two had somehow coordinated their schedules, since they’re alternating home and road weekends, so that one was home while the other was on the road, and vice versa? Then we could watch one of them every weekend.

There are a lot of good high school football teams in the area, but traditionally, the Hermantowns, Cloquets, Proctors and others can come and go, but East and Denfeld could be considered the strongest, just because of their size and depth. However, because of their size and depth, both had to move into the Mississippi 8, a conference built around the burgeoning newer programs along the Mississippi River. If you’ve seen scores like 76-0 and 66-12 more often than not, you realize that East and Denfeld simply can’t compete against the huge powerhouse teams from Rogers, North Branch, St. Michael-Albertville, and Big Lake. Both Denfeld and East have gone winless in league play, and have been outscored by whopping amounts. Ah, but Friday night, it is time for the Duluth High School version of the Super Bowl. East plays Denfeld at East’s Ordean Field. Somebody has to win, but the best part of it is that both teams can prove that they really aren’t as bad as those lopsided scores might indicate.

But despite our favorite Bulldog-Gopher hockey rivalries, the biggest sports event of the weekend in Duluth will come at Romano Gym, where the UMD volleyball team will come home for only the second weekend of the season, to play what might be their two toughest opponents in the outstanding Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball race. Minnesota State-Mankato defeated five-time defending national champion Concordia of St. Paul early in the season, for Concordia’s only loss, and the Mavericks come to Romano Gym to face the Bulldogs Friday at 7 p.m. Not only is UMD ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Bulldogs are 8-0 atop the NSIC, and 15=1 overall, and they had won 25 consecutive sets within those victories before Upper Iowa won the second set in UMD’s four-set triumph. Then, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, UMD will take on No. 3 Concordia at Romano. Those who watched the Bulldogs beat Concordia last season, once in league play and once in the league playoff classic match, before losing to title-bound Concordia in the regional final, know what a treat it is to watch these two giants of Division II settle things on a volleyball court. No matter what sports you watch, or ignore, it is mind-boggling to realize how unlikely it is for any team to win a national championship five consecutive times -- and that’s what Concordia has done in volleyball, coming out of the toughest conference in D-2 volleyball, and winning the toughest region in D-2, before winning the NCAA crowns.

 John Gilbert has been writing sports for over 30 years. Formerly with the Star Tribune and WCCO. He currently hosts a daily radio show on KDAL AM.

Illogical Results Pepper College Football

UMD was due for a comparatively easy football victory over Minnesota State-Moorhead last Saturday. After four victories that all required some dramatic plays under pressure, the Bulldogs took a 28-0 lead over the Dragons at the end of one quarter, and cruised to a 63-28 laugher at Malosky Field.
 It may be tougher at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Cloud State, which would love to put a kink in UMD’s season.
But elsewhere, college football is following a bizarre course toward the first four-team playoff in NCAA Division I history. We can look at the major conferences and find that our own Minnesota Golden Gophers are in good position to make a run at contending in the Big Ten West. But Gopher fans shouldn’t get carried away just yet. True, the Gophers won with astonishing ease at Michigan a couple weeks ago, then took last week off, but it also can’t be overlooked that Michigan lost to Rutgers last weekend in what seems to be a lost season in Ann Arbor. The Gophers face Northwestern Saturday, and Northwestern, which normally goes down easily, comes in fresh from upsetting Wisconsin last weekend.
For those who pay only casual attention to major college football, or who get so caught up in the quagmire of NFL football, pausing to scrutinize the colleges might be a very satisfying. Of course, you have to appreciate that the guys who vote to rank the top 25 are all guilty of drinking the same Kool-Aid, being overwhelmed with lobbying for the Southeast Conference virtually every hour of the day on some ESPN broadcast or another. Some get mesmerized by all the flak and apparently v vote that way. But let’s put that aside and just appreciate the results of last weekend.
Oregon, the No. 2 rated team, was upset for the second year in a row by Arizona. The Wildcats simply pounded quarterback Marcus Mariotta and took advantage of one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in football to score a late tie-breaking touchdown. Arizona had third and five deep in Oregon territory with five minutes left and the score 24-24 when the Duck defense chased and sacked the quarterback. Obviously enthused because it would left a fourth-and-long field goal, the Ducks jumped up and celebrated. The kid who made the sack turned away from the celebration toward the huge Oregon crowd, put his hands together, and made a little bow, as though thanking the fans for the support. With that, an official threw a flag and called Oregon for unsportsmanlike conduct, meaning instead of fourth and long, it was first and goal, and the Wildcats scored to win 31-24. Great game, great performance by Arizona, brutal call.
Down went No. 2, and No. 3, and No. 4, No. 6, and No. 8!  Alabama was No. 3, but the Crimson Tide lost to Mississippi 23-17. Here’s where the rating disparity comes into play: Arizona had been unranked, which was absurd because they were 4-0, while beating Oregon in a great battle made the Wildcats 5-0, they vaulted into the ratings at No. 10, while Oregon dropped from 2 to 12. Alabama dropped from 3 to 7, while Mississippi jumped from 11th to a tie for third.
Oklahoma was No. 4, but got whacked 37-33 by an inspired performance by Texas Christian, which had been ranked 25th and jumped up to No. 9, while the Sooners dropped from 4 to 11. Texas A & M had been No. 6, but was stung 48-31 by Mississippi State, a team that was ranked 12th and now is tied with Ole Miss for No. 3. Texas A & M dropped from 6 to 14. UCLA was ranked No. 8, but lost 30-28 to unranked Utah, which climbs to No. 24, while UCLA drops to No. 18. Check it: A & M dropped 8 spots, Oklahoma dropped 7 places, Alabama dropped 4 places, and Oregon and UCLA -- the two Pac-12 teams involved in the top 10 -- both dropped 10 places.
The Southeast Conference now has three teams ranked in the top three -- including the tie for third -- and four of the top seven, and six of the top 14; the Pac-12 has five, none higher than 10th, and only Arizona and Oregon higher than 17th. My theory is that the Pac-12 is better, top to bottom, than the SEC, and the fact that Arizona is the only remaining undefeated team is a testimony to how tough it is.
After all the politically disturbing stuff about ESPN’s contractual boosterism for the SEC, the wildest and craziest game came from the Pac-12, but too late to be noticed. Two teams that aren’t ranked have played some of the most explosive and wide-open games of anyone in the country, so when California went to Pullman, Wash., to play Washington State, maybe we should have anticipated it. I did.
Seeking out the result showed that California defeated Washington State 60-59. The two teams combined for 56 points in the third quarter. Jared Goff of California had a fantastic day at quarterback, throwing for five touchdowns and 527 yards. But that was a distant second-best on the WSU field Saturday night compared to Washington State’s record-setting Connor Halliday, who passed for six touchdowns and an NCAA record 734 yards.
Wouldn’t you love to see one of those defense-oriented Southeast Conference teams try to contain the wild and crazy offenses of California or Washington State? Or Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Southern Cal or Utah? Yeah, Stanford can score too, but The Cardinal was beaten on the final play of the game at Notre Dame, which moved up from ninth to sixth, while Stanford dropped from 14th to 25th.
The pros have a great and rugged game going, but for sheer excitement, don’t overlook college football Saturdays.

WHAT STARTING PITCHING?

There was no question that Los Angeles had the best starting pitcher in baseball this year, in Clayton Kershaw, or that the Detroit Tigers had the best starting rotation with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Price, and a couple others named Porcello and Sanchez. But what good did it do them in the baseball playoffs?