2019

President Donald Trump was impeached. But, enough with the disasters already.

The Minnesota Gopher football team under P.J. Fleck had its best year since, well, it seemed like ever. They won eleven games, beating #4 Penn State 31-26 and #9 Auburn in the Outback Bowl 31-24. Antoine Winfield was the nation’s top defensive back. The Gopher softball team finished 46-14—20-2 was only good for third in the Big 10! Amber Fiser was Big 10 pitcher of the year. 

#40 (tie) Leader

P.J. Fleck

The 2019 Minnesota Gopher football team had its best season since, well, your choice: They had their most wins since 1904, their best winning percentage since 1941, their fewest losses since 1956, and their first New Year’s Day Bowl win since 1961. P.J. Fleck was named Big 10 coach of the year.

Fleck hails from Illinois where he helped Kaneland high school to two undefeated state titles. He caught 199 passes for 3,121 yards and 34 touchdowns in his high school career. As a senior at Northern Illinois, he caught 77 passes for 1,028 yards and six touchdowns. He holds the school record for career punt returns (87), is second in punt return yards (716), and third career catches (179) and receiving yards (2,162). He played in one NFL game.

He was an assistant coach at Ohio State, Rutgers, Northern Illinois and Tampa Bay of the NFL, then became a head coach at Western Michigan in 2013. He went from 1-11 his first year to 13-1 his fourth year, with a 24-16 loss to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl. The Broncos were rated #12 in the final AP poll. 

Fleck was hired by the Gopher AD Mark Coyle in 2017. His first team went 5-7, just 2-7 in the Big 10. His second team went 7-6, thanks to a 34-10 win over Georgia Tech in the Quick Lane Bowl. In 2018, the Gophers started 9-0, including a 31-26 win over #4 Penn State. They then lost at Iowa 23-19 to set up a Western Division showdown with Wisconsin. The winner would go to the Big 10 title game and probably play in the Rose Bowl, assuming Ohio State went into the FBS playoffs. Minnesota led 7-0 early, and trailed just 10-7 at the half. The second half was all Wisconsin, however, and the final was 38-17. Ohio State won the Big 10 title as expected and went to the national championship playoff, while Wisconsin indeed got the Rose Bowl bid. 

The Gophers had great skill players, including sophomore QB Tanner Morgan, who passed for 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns, and was named second team all-Big 10. Wide raceivers Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson each gained more than 1,200 yards and made first team all-conference. RB Rodney Smith ran for 1,163 yards, third in the Big 10. Defensive back Antoine Winfield, Jr., made first team all-American and was named the nation’s top defensive back. He led the team in tackles and had seven interceptions.

The Gophers got their first New Year’s Day bowl bid in almost 50 years, and surprised #9 Auburn 31-24. They dominated the Tigers most of the day and led 24-17 at the half. The Gophers had more first downs 23-13 and more yards 492-232, but gave up a 96-yard kickoff return and had the game’s only turnover. So, they needed a fourth quarter touchdown to win, and they got it on a 73-yard touchdown pass from Morgan to Johnson at 10:26.

• The Hopkins girls basketball team won its seventh state championship under coach Brian Cosgriff, but its first with an undefeated record (32-0). Some regarded Paige Bueckers as the best girls player ever to come out of Minnesota, and she was just a junior.

#14 (Tie) Dynasty

Hopkins Girls Basketball

Hopkins became the mecca of Twin Cities basketball in the 21^st century. The boys won eight state titles from 2002 to 2019 under coach Ken Novak, Jr., whose 892 wins are #3 all-time among the boys. He and the Royals have enoyed a record 28 straight 20+ win seasons. The girls won seven state titles from 2004 to 2019 under coach Brian Cosgriff. The undefeated 2020 team was favored to win the state title when the championship game was called off due to the coronavirus. Their 61 straight wins to end the 2020 season are now tied for the second longest winning streak ever among Minnesota girls. Cos’ 568 wins are twelfth all-time and he is first in career winning percentage and second in state tournament winning percentage. 

Cos’ 2004 champions were led by Ms. Basketball Leslie Knight. Hopkins’ Nia Hollie was Ms. Basketball in 2016 and Paige Bueckers was Ms. Basketball in 2020. Knight played college ball at Minnesota, Hollie at Michigan State. Bueckers, who will be playing at Connecticut, was widely regarded as the greatest Minnesota girls player ever. She finished her career at #23 among girls scorers—and #3 in Class AAAA—with more than 2,800 points. She is #6 in state tournament scoring. But, it’s not so much her numbers in the box scores and the record book. She just won. In her last four years of varsity ball, Hopkins was 29-0, 29-0, 26-3 and 29-0 and they were 9-2 in the state tournament with one title, two runnersup and one cancellation. She played for the U.S. national team in four international tournaments, averaging eleven points, four rebounds, 4 assists and a steal across those four tournaments.

Before Bueckers, Hopkins’ best player was one who did not win the Ms. Basketball award. She was Nia Coffey of the class of 2013, daughter of former Gopher star Richard Coffey, sister of 2016 Mr. Basketball Amir Coffey. She lost the Ms. Basketball award to Braham’s Rebekah Dahlman and her 5,060 points. They came against weaker competition, sure, but even coach Cosgriff said, “She scored 5,000 points!” But, Nia Coffey went on to play for Northwestern, where she was first team all-Big 10 four times, and finished as the Wildcats all-time leading rebounder (1,183) and second in points (2,287) and blocks (229). She has averaged four points and two rebounds per game in three WNBA seasons. Her Hopkins teams had such remarkable depth, with seven, eight and nine players scoring five-plus ppg, that she averaged just 16 and 18 ppg in her junior and senior years. But, the Royals went 91-4 with three state championships.

In the decade of the 2010s, Hopkins played in eight state tournaments, getting to the championship final every time, winning five and losing three. 

• The Minnesota Twins won 101 games, just one short of the franchise record set back in 1965. They also set a major league record with 307 home runs. Free agent designated hitter, 39-year old Nelson Cruz, hit 41 home runs with 108 RBI and a .311 average. The 307 home runs was one more than the New York Yankees, whom the Twins drew in the post-season. Sure enough, the Yankees swept the Twins three games to none, and outscored them 23-7. It was the Twins eighth straight playoff loss, and their sixth to the Yankees.

• The Minnesota Vikings had a season that was analogous to the Twins: 10-6 in the regular season, wild card playoff spot, and a     26-20 overtime upset of the New Orleans Saints in the wild card playoff. But, then came the big collapse, and a 27-10 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC semi-finals. 

• The MIAC evicted founding member St. Thomas, who had come to be seen as having way too much money and way too many wins. Fans of St. Thomas and others were irate at what they viewed as the MIAC’s cowardice. “If you can’t compete with St. Thomas, get better!” was the mantra of the day. But, many MIAC member colleges and universities lacked the resources to do that. The truth is that history will judge the MIAC to have done St. Thomas a favor. The Tommies will thrive in D1. No, they won’t win as many games and championships as they’ve gotten used to, but they’ll do just fine. Give ‘em a decade and they’ll be Marquette.

#10 (tie) Dynasty

St. Thomas Men's and Women's Sports

It’s a nice round number. 99 years. St. Thomas helped found the MIAC in 1920, then spent 99 years as a member of the MIAC. Then, it got to be too successful and, well, too rich, and, so, in 2019, the MIAC kicked St. Thomas out of the conference. Some were outraged but others knew better. St. Thomas should have gone D1 or D2 many years ago. The MIAC was doing them a favor. St. Thomas will go D1 and they’ll thrive, and the Twin Cities sports scene will thrive with two D1 programs. How long before St. Thomas beats the Minnesota Gophers at something? Not long.

The Tommies had competed well enough. They won about 225 conference championships in the 20^th century, a little better than two per year. That was just about double anybody else and ten times more than Carleton or St. Mary’s. But, then, in the 21^st century, St. Thomas added another 200-plus conference titles, or ten per year. By 2019, the Tommies had won the all-sports title 26 years running. See Table 3 for more details.

But, more than that, some MIAC members came to see St. Thomas as an existential threat. Hamline and St. Catherine’s, to name two, face financial difficulties that make their future operation something less than a given. But, Hamline, at least, had a law school. So, what did St. Thomas do? It opened up a law school. At St. Cate’s, the bread is buttered by the nursing program and, sure enough, St. Thomas opened up a nursing program. The athletic programs may have remained friendly competitors, but there weren’t too many friends in the corner offices, and it was the presidents, not the ADs, who voted the Tommies out.

Table 3: MIAC Titles by School

Schools	Men’s Titles	Women’s Titles	Schools	Men’s Titles	Women’s Titles
St. Thomas 432	164 20th Century 92 21st Century Outdoor Track & Field 37	61 20th Century 115 21st Century Outdoor Track & Field 35	Carleton 55	24 Outdoor Track & Field 6	31 Soccer 10
Gustavus Adolphus 267	169 Tennis 48	78 Tennis 29	Augsburg 53	43 Baseball, Hockey 10 each	10 Soccer, Softball  3 each
St. Olaf 137	97 Swimming & Diving 30	40 Swimming & Diving 15	St. Mary’s 38	21 Baseball 14	17 Softball 7
St. John’s 110	110 Football 33		St. Benedict’s 29		29 Basketball 13
Macalester 107	99 Outdoor Track & Field 22	8 Soccer 8	Minnesota-Duluth 26	26 Hockey 9
Hamline 67	63 19 Baseball	4 Swimming & Diving 4	Bethel 14	9 5 Football	5 3 Volleyball
Concordia (Moorhead) 64	33 18 Football	31 10 Cross-Country	St. Catherine’s 3		3 Golf, Tennis, Volleyball 1 each

Year	Athlete of the Year	Team of the Year	Coach of the Year	Event of the Year
2019	1. Antoine Winfield, Jr., Minnesota Gopher football 2. Paige Bueckers, Hopkins girls basketball 3. Amber Fiser, Minnesota Gopher softball	1. Minnesota Gopher football  (11-2) 2. Minnesota Twins (101-64 including playoffs) 3. Hopkins girls basketball (32-0, state champions)	1. Fleck 2. Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins girls basketball 3. Trachsel	1 (tie). The Minnesota Gophers beat Penn State 31-26; and Auburn 31-24 en route to their best football season in 60 to 100 years. 2. St. Thomas was evicted from the MIAC. 3. The Minnesota Vikings maintained their hex on New Orleans 26-20 in OT in the NFL playoffs.