Minnesota

CFP not a ‘pipe dream’ for Minnesota, says Fleck

Published

9 months ago

July 23, 2025

CFP not a ‘pipe dream’ for Minnesota, says Fleck

Adam RittenbergJul 23, 2025, 07:29 PM ET
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LAS VEGAS — Since going 11-2 and finishing No. 10 nationally in 2019, Minnesota has been a consistent bowl team — and champion — but hasn’t legitimately challenged for the College Football Playoff.

Coach P.J. Fleck thinks that’s about to change.

The Gophers are coming off an 8-5 season in which four losses came by seven points or fewer, including a 26-25 home setback to Penn State, who went on to reach the Big Ten championship game and the CFP semifinals. In 2019, Minnesota won each of its first four games by seven points or fewer and finished 6-1 in one-score games.

“If we were 6-1 in the seven one-possession games [in 2024], we would have won 11 games,” Fleck told ESPN on Wednesday. “We’re not far. We’re right there. This isn’t a pipe dream.”

The 12-team CFP has created more opportunities for teams like Minnesota, which hasn’t won a Big Ten championship since 1967. That season, it shared the title with Indiana, which made a historic run to the CFP last fall.

“We’re not as far off as maybe what our brand and logo and name think we are, what people perceive that as,” Fleck said. “The reason you stay at a program is to change people’s thoughts, perceptions and ideas of the brand you’re in. That’s why you stay.”

Earlier this month, Fleck and Minnesota agreed to a contract extension through the 2030 season, which includes annual retention bonuses beginning at $1 million and increasing each year. Fleck, 44, is 56-39 as Minnesota’s coach with a 6-0 mark in bowls.

“Eight years is a long time, but it’s not an eternity,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of years in this thing, and that’s why we signed a new contract in year nine, is to make sure that we get to be able to see that as we keep moving forward.”

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Minnesota

Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante wins men’s college hockey’s Hobey Baker Award

Published

3 hours ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante wins men’s college hockey’s Hobey Baker Award

Minnesota Duluth sophomore forward Max Plante is the winner of the 2026 Hobey Baker Award as the top player in men’s college hockey.

He edged fellow finalists, T.J. Hughes, a senior forward from Michigan, and Eric Pohlkamp, a junior defenseman from the University of Denver.

Plante scored 25 goals and had 52 points in 40 games in his second season with the Bulldogs. The 2024 second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings finished third in NCAA Division I scoring behind Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach (59) and Hughes (57).

He’s the first Minnesota Duluth player to win the award since Scott Perunovich in 2020 and the seventh overall.

Plante’s father, former NHL player Derek Plante, also played for Minnesota Duluth and was a Hobey Baker top 10 finalist in 1993.

Michigan State’s Trey Augustine was named the top goaltender in the Friday, April 10 ceremony. He went 24-9-1 for the Spartans with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.

Wyttenbach was named college hockey’s rookie of the year.

Recent Hobey Baker Award winners

2026: F Max Plante, Minnesota Duluth
2025: F Isaac Howard, Michigan State
2024: F Macklin Celebrini, Boston University
2023: F Adam Fantilli, Michigan
2022: G Dryden McKay, Minnesota State
2021: F Cole Caufield, Wisconsin
2020: D Scott Perunovich, Minnesota Duluth
2019: D Cale Makar, UMass
2018: F Adam Gaudette, Northeastern
2017: D Will Butcher, Denver
2016: F Jimmy Vesey, Harvard

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New strain of COVID detected in 25 states including Minnesota

Published

15 hours ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

New strain of COVID detected in 25 states including Minnesota

(St. Paul, MN) — State health officials are keeping an eye on a highly mutated new COVID variant called B-A 3-dot-2, or “cicada.” Minnesota Department of Health Epidemiologist Keeley Morris says, “With that many mutations it’s likely going to be pretty good at evading any immunity that people have from being vaccinated or also from prior COVID-19 infections.” She says the good news is that B-A 3-dot-2 doesn’t seem to be causing more severe illness. The C-D-C says the “cicada” variant has been detected in at least 25 states. Morris says Minnesota has detected three cases of either B-A 3-dot-2 or some of its descendants, and we also had one site that had a positive wastewater detection.

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Community members show up to support Mercado Central, businesses hit hard by ICE surge

Published

1 day ago

April 9, 2026

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Community members show up to support Mercado Central, businesses hit hard by ICE surge

Mercado Central on Lake Street in Minneapolis has been more than a marketplace; it’s a heartbeat, a place filled with food, culture and community. During Operation Metro Surge, that heartbeat slowed.

“We’re a co-op. We’re all business owners that just need support from our community,” Ajeleth Moreno with El Rincon Pupuseria said.

Many regular customers stopped coming and the change was impossible to ignore.

“Our regulars would not be here at all in the beginning months, but we did get really good support for the community,” Joscan Moreno said.

That community is showing up with purpose.

“I think it’s important to set an example and to show other community members that we are still here. We still need to be showing up and there’s so many beautiful examples of resilience out here today,” Rose Gomez said.

Through a wave of community support, online donations, to simply having people walk into their doors again.

“These places are few and far between, I don’t know if I know of any place exactly like this,” Simon Fitzkappes said. “And for our community to lose such a great spot, it’s really detrimental. We all hope that doesn’t happen.”

Because here, the business owners and diners alike say every visit and dollar matters.

“We’ve never got this many people here,” Ajeleth Moreno said. “We just hope it stays that way because we don’t want to be forgotten again.”

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