Defenseman Darian Gotz went for a head-first block to prevent Ty Mueller's shot get to goalie Zach Stejska. Photo by John Gilbert.

For about a decade now, I’ve been trying to crusade to get recognition for the Pac-12 conference in football, because the magnetic power of ESPN lies on the East Coast, and is focused — contractually even — to promote the Southeast Conference. Because of that, all the polls ranked Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, Auburn, and Florida State at the top, week after week, while flashy and creative offenses made teams like Oregon, Washington and Utah, along with Southern Cal, UCLA practically unnoticed because their games ended too late to be included on the ESPN hype shows.

It is astounding how, in one year, the enormous change occurred, and in what will be its last year of existence, Washington and Oregon have finally climbed to elite status, while the southeastern powerhouses, such as Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and all but Georgia  faded from the No. 1 contention. Michigan and Ohio State stayed at the top, but at the end of the regular season, there was a nice status in the rankings, with Georgia, Washington, Michigan and Florida State all undefeated going into last weekend’s conference championship games. Perfect for the upcoming bowl championship semifinals, with two undefeated teams playing two other undefeated teams, so nobody can whine, right?

A cloud on the horizon was that an exciting and high-scoring Oregon team was favored to beat Washington, which had handed the Ducks a narrow victory that some call the best college game of the season. That didn’t happen, and Washington beat the Ducks again, in another close battle, to win the final Pac-12 title, while Michigan thrashed Iowa to win the Big Ten, and Texas hammered Oklahoma State to claim the Big-12.

UMD's Matthew Perkins shared that helpless feeling with goalie Zach Stejskal as Omaha's Jack Randl's shot from the far circle found the net for the game's only goal in the Mavericks 1-0 overtime win Saturday.

The surprise of the day was that Alabama outlasted Georgia in a mighty battle to win the SEC. That threw a large challenge to the selection committee, who now had to pick the top four from what was clearly a top six, of Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Florida State, Ohio State and Texas. They negotiated and bartered, and came up with this: 1. Michigan, 2. Washington, 3. Texas, and 4. Alabama.

So in the playoff semifinals, Michigan will face Alabama in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and Washington will face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans in the two New Year’s Day classics. But where, I hear you ask, is Florida State, and its 13-0 record. Left out, that’s where. It had to be a tough decision, but the committee — after years of SEC domination — decided to drop Georgia out of the top four, which seemed unduly harsh after one close loss.

And it realized that if they dropped Georgia, they had to put in Alabama, and since Alabama had been beaten right there in Tuscaloosa by Texas early in the season, if they were including Alabama they’d have to also include Texas.

In doing so, they tossed Florida State out the window. Florida State loyalists have every reason to be upset, having overcome the loss of their star quarterback to continue winning and stay undefeated, and then to get discarded.

In my final assessment, I would rank them: 1. Washington, 2. Florida State, 3. Michigan, and 4. Georgia. Because both Alabama and Texas are very good, but neither can touch Florida State’s unbeaten record, and neither Alabama nor Texas has had the season Georgia has had, spending the whole season at No. 1, only to find that its one loss costs more than Alabama’s one loss. After all that high-caliber board-room battling, we find several “lesser” bowls of interest, such as Florida State vs. Georgia in the Orange Bowl, and Ohio State vs. Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.

And one bowl that is not enticing — Minnesota at 5-7 vs. Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl. Great for PJ Fleck to get another month on the soap box, but if the Gophers had any real integrity, they would turn down the chance to be the only sub-6-team in any bowl game. It’s embarrassing.  

Omaha goalie Simon Latkoczy, aided by Duluthian Nolan Krenzen, stopped Kyler Kleven in UMD's 4-2 first-game victory.

Ratings turmoil

The ratings everywhere from the NFL through college hockey were also rocked last weekend. In the NFL, we pretty much knew that Kansas City is the best, and that San Francisco and Philadelphia seem to have emerged as fighting for second best, going into their showdown in Philadelphia.

The 49ers whipped the Eagles 42-19, settling that point. Ah, but my Detroit Lions chose the right weekend to put things back in perspective, spanking  the New Orleans Saints 33-28 in New Orleans, while the Green Bay Packers displayed a far different and improved outfit to shock the Kansas City Chiefs, scoring in every quarter of s 27-19 victory in which Jordan Love outplayed Patrick Mahomes, thanks to a brilliant game by the Packer defense.

That leaves Detroit — my preseason pick to win the division — at 9-3 with the Vikings, relaxing on bye week, at 6-6, and the onrushing Packers at 5-6 and the suddenly dangerous Chicago Bears at 4-8.

In college hockey, UMD found out a few more things about its men’s and women’s teams last the weekend, with the men playing perhaps their most complete game to beat Omaha 4-2 as Zach Stejskal returned to the nets and played very well to anchor the victory.

The next day became more pivotal, then, and the two teams battled through three scoreless periods and into the 5-minute 3-on-3 overtime. The Bulldogs had several good chances in the overtime, but after one of them, the Mavericks came back down the ice and Jack Randl drilled a shot in at 3:03, and the only goal Stejskal gave up in the game gave Omaha and its goaltender, Simon Latkoczy, a 1-0 victory and a split. Randl also scored in the first game, knocking in a rebound 17 seconds after Luke Loheit had scored to put the Bulldogs up 2-1 in the third period.

Defenseman Darian Gotz went for a head-first block to prevent Ty Mueller's shot get to goalie Zach Stejska.

Such a quick response could deflate a team as hungry as the Bulldogs, but not this time. Conner McMenamin pounced on a blocked pass to the slot, then hammered his own rebound in for a 3-2 lead with 7:01 remaining, and when Latkoczy was pulled for an extra skater at the end, Quinn Olson put a neat move on the last Mavericks defender to score in the empty net for a 4-2 triumph.

Several skirmishes and some over-zealous officiating left the Bulldogs plenty of time to work on their penalty killing. The women went to Madison full of enthusiasm, but had it snuffed by the Badgers 3-0 in their first game. But they came back in the Sunday afternoon rematch to win 3-2, with all five goals coming in the third period. Clara Van Wieren scored at 1:15,and Mannon McMahon connected at 5:13, but the Badgers made its close when Cassie Hall broke through at 7:33. It was up to Jenna Lawry to make it 3-1 for the Bulldogs with 5:20 remaining, which was the game-winner when Casey O’Brien scored for Wisconsin with 0:03 left. Freshman Eve Gascon made 48 saves in goal for UMD while her teammates were shut out in Game 1, and Hailey MacLeod weathered a 44-26 Badger shot barrage in the second game to lift the Bulldogs to the split. No rest for the Bulldogs, however, who now get to go to St, Cloud State, where the Huskies upset No. 1 Ohio State for a split of their series, and are right with UMD fighting for fourth place.

Wisconsin, which was No. 2, has a series at Minnesota this weekend. UMD won both ends of a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader from Augustana on Sunday, the men putting on a show to win 92-65. The Bulldogs hit 11 3-pointers in the first half and took control of the game. The women were the opposite, starting slowly but recovering and taking one with a strong second half to win 82-68. Taya Hakamaki led the Bulldogs with 19 points and has gone from being a spark plug off the bench to a contender for team MVP this season.

Saturday is filling up with some big high school hockey battles. At 2 pm, Orono faces Denfeld at Heritage, at 3 pm, Centennial plays at Hermantown, and at 7 pm St. Cloud Cathedral is at Marshall. There is no time for high school teams to find their rhythm, so they hit the ice running, which makes it an exciting season from start to finish.  

Tragic twist

Former Duluth Marshall girls basketball star Gianna Kneepkens has become the ignition switch for the University of Utah’s women’s basketball team the last three years, and now ranks among the elite female stars in the country, alongside Paige Bueckers of Connecticut and Caitlin Clark of Iowa. Kneepkens, a 6-foot guard, led the Marshall Hilltoppers to the state tournament, and then scored a state tournament record 65 points in a heartbreaking semifinal loss, with sleight-of-hand dribbling, both hands shooting touch, and the ability to score from under the basket or outside the 3-point arc, while always zipping passes to teammates. After two years at Utah, she and the Utes were running through a dazzling start to this season, and Kneepkens, as a junior, was a primary part of it. A week ago, for example, Utah hammered Carroll College, and Kneepkens recorded about as perfect a ledger as is possible: She scored 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, and led the team with 9 rebounds in support of her 100-percent shooting. Last weekend, at home against crosstown Salt Lake City rival Brigham Young. Utah won 87-68, and Kneepkens scored 17 points. But with 2 minutes remaining, she made one of her patented sudden moves, pulling up abruptly for a step-back jump shot. But this time, her foot stopped but her momentum carried her forward and she fell to the court. After being helped off the court, it was discovered she suffered multiple fractures in her foot, which will require extensive surgery and end her season. The only silver lining is the injury occurred in her eighth game this season, which qualifies her for a redshirt year to make her a junior again next season, rather than a senior.