Washington had the open shooter it wanted, and much like those fourth-quarter attempts, it was just a tad off line. Incredible game by the Huskies, pushing the No. 3 seed TCU to the very edge. Easily one of the best games of the tournament so far.
Minnesota
Minnesota Vikings News and Links: 12 Days Until Training Camp!
12 days until the rookies and quarterbacks report!
The Minnesota Vikings’ 2025 training camp will begin with rookies and quarterbacks reporting on July 20th, followed by the rest of the team on July 22nd. The first open practice to the public will be on Saturday, July 26th. Practices will be held at the TCO Performance Center in Eagan, Minnesota.
Key Dates:
July 20: Rookies and quarterbacks report.
July 22: Veteran players report.
July 26: First public practice, part of “Back Together Weekend”.
July 28 – August 6: Multiple open practices scheduled.
August 9: First Preseason Game vs Texans
August 11 & 13: Additional open practices, with August 13th being a joint practice with the Patriots.
The Minnesota Vikings’ 2025 training camp Schedule
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2025 NFL offensive line rankings: Eagles, Broncos open the season at the top
7. Minnesota Vikings
Although Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill formed a top-notch tackle duo over the past couple of seasons, the Vikings’ interior held back the unit, and the offense overall.
Minnesota will feature three new starters along the interior in 2025, looking to turn a weakness into a strength. Center Ryan Kelly just turned 32 and is still among the best players at his position when healthy. Right guard Will Fries was on his way to a breakout season in 2024 before an injury ended his year after five games. Rookie Donovan Jackson, whom the Vikings drafted in the first round, completes the pack.
2025 NFL secondary rankings: Ravens and Chiefs take the top spots
27. Minnesota Vikings
This is an aging secondary that benefits from a defensive scheme designed to pressure opposing quarterbacks. Safety Harrison Smith still plays quality football, though his prime years are behind him. Josh Metellus is an average safety but reliable against the run. Cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. is coming off a career year, but it’s unclear whether he’s finally hitting his stride or if it was a one-year spike in performance. The Vikings added several defensive backs in free agency — Isaiah Rodgers, Tavierre Thomas and Jeff Okudah — but they will likely need the front seven to continue generating heavy pressure for the secondary to succeed.
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Note: The only one over 30 is Smith thus the opening sentence reveals ignorance
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Vikings Predicted to Part With Their ‘Best-Kept Secret’
But, there’s one player who has been called the Vikings “best-kept secret” who they may opt to part with coming up. That could certainly hurt, but a team has to do what a team has to do.
That guy is Jalen Nailor, who Miller notes “has slowly improved his performance over the last three years, but 2025 has become a pivotal one for the 26-year-old receiver.”
“This season will be important for Nailor in many ways, as it could be his last in the purple and white uniforms,” he adds.
So, what’s the state of Nailor’s contract? During an appearance on SKOR North’s “Minnesota Sports with Mackey & Judd” on Thursday, July 3, KSTP’s Darren Wolfson discussed how Minnesota is dealing with Nailor’s situation right now. He said that they aren’t talking about a contract extension right now, but he will be still be a big part of the upcoming season.
“On Jalen Nailor, there just hasn’t been any dialogue. Not that the Vikings are like ‘we drafted Felton. Guess what? Like Nailor, you are the No. 4 receiver,’” he said. “I think Nailor is going to have some good opportunities this year, but I think the idea is he’ll get paid pretty well elsewhere.”
He added, “Think about Patrick Jones. Good year for the Vikings, gets paid in Carolina. I think with Jalen Nailor, hopefully in his case, Speedy can stay healthy, contribute to the Vikings winning this year, and he ends up elsewhere next March.”
Back in May, Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder called Nailor is the Vikings’ “best-kept secret.”
“Nailor quietly proved to be a quality WR3 and fourth option in the passing game last season,” Holder stated on May 19. “If the 2022 sixth-round pick can cut down on the drops–four last season, per PFF–he can carve out an even bigger role in Minnesota this fall.”
Kirk Cousins felt ‘misled’ by Falcons: ‘I had no reason to leave Minnesota’
Kirk Cousins never would’ve left the Minnesota Vikings — even if he knew they were aiming for a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft — had he known the Atlanta Falcons were going to take a quarterback in the draft.
“At the time it felt like I had been a little bit misled or certainly if I had the information around free agency it certainly would’ve affected my decision,” said Cousins, whose feelings were revealed with the release of Quarterback on Netflix.
“I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there, if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high. But I’ve also learned in 12 years in this league that you’re not entitled to anything. It’s all about being able to earn your spot and prove yourself.”
It’s long been known that Cousins signed with Atlanta for the long-term extension, whereas he was looking at a year-to-year situation in Minnesota. He reiterated that the year-to-year offer from the Vikings is what made his decision to go to Atlanta rather easy.
“It became clear that we were going to be there year-to-year — and that’s what we didn’t want,” Cousins said. “At that point, we said, ‘Alright, we need to look elsewhere and if that’s our only option, we’ll be back.’ And when we said, ‘Well, we looked around and we found there’s an opportunity that would be a longer commitment, would you be interested in giving us that longer commitment?’ They said, ‘Nope. We’re good with our offer.’ I said, ‘OK, you made my decision really easy.’”
Cousins’ first experience watching the Vikings as an outsider came during the preseason. He compared it to “seeing someone dating the person you used to date.”
“Like, I used to throw to Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson and now someone else is enjoying doing that. That’s interesting,” Cousins joked.
Who would be on the Minnesota Vikings Mt. Rushmore this quarter century?
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/minnesota-vikings-mt-rushmore-quarter-140134317.html
DE Jared Allen
RB Adrian Peterson
S Harrison Smith
DT Kevin Williams
Note: Hard to leave Randy Moss off this list. Does JJ belong?
Minnesota Vikings Latest Valuation is Astonishing
Mark, Zygi, and Leonard Wilf bought the Minnesota Vikings in 2005 from then owner, Red McCombs, for a cool $600 million. Exactly 20 years later, longtime local columnist Charley Walters (Pioneer Press) is reporting that the Vikings are now worth 11x what the Wilfs originally purchased them for.
“No doubt if the Wilf family, which bought the Vikings for $600 million in 2005, put the Vikings on the market today, they would receive a minimum of $8 billion.”
Charley Walters – Pioneer Press
The latest valuation equates to growth of more than 1,130% what the team was purchased for. Of course the Wilf’s aren’t done investing either. The TCO Performance Center and surrounding area at Vikings Lakes continues to be expanded upon and has room for additional opportunity.
NFL executive states the obvious about Minnesota Vikings RB Aaron Jones and it could define his 2025 season
Latest Vikings Rumors: Eye-Popping Trade Idea and 2 Notable Names
Yore “I’m bored and need to think of something to write about” piece
Vikings Blockbuster Trade Idea Flips Jefferson for $115 Million WR, Starting CB, Draft Haul
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports authored a trade pitch on Monday, July 7, which he described as “outlandish” but also contended is the most likely sort of deal in which Minnesota might decide to move the superstar wideout — and to which Jefferson would also agree.
The bones of the deal would see the Vikings move on from Jefferson for Bengals receiver Tee Higgins and his recent $115 million contract, Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II, a future first-round pick from Cincinnati and a future third-round selection from the Detroit Lions.
The Bengals would receive Jefferson from Minnesota and defensive end Julian Okwara from the Browns. Detroit would end up with All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson from Cincinnati, while Cleveland would get a fourth-round pick from Detroit for Newsome, who is entering the fifth-year team option on his rookie deal after the Browns made him a first-round selection in 2021 (No. 26 overall).
Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:
- No discussion of politics or religion
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- No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
- If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
- While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm
Minnesota
NCAA women’s tournament takeaways, Day 3: Minnesota drains buzzer-beater as LSU, Texas dominate again
The Sweet 16 field is halfway filled as the first weekend of the NCAA tournament starts to wrap up. There weren’t a ton of surprises on Sunday for the start of the second round, but we did get our first buzzer-beater.
Minnesota reaches Sweet 16 on buzzer-beater
After a buzzer-beater was called off on Saturday, we finally got one.
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Amaya Battle got her game-winner to fall on Sunday afternoon, which lifted Minnesota to what is its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2005. Battle, with less than a second left on the clock, drilled a contested jumper from the short corner to push the Gophers past Ole Miss 65-63. Naturally, that sparked a massive celebration on their home court.
Minnesota had trailed entering the fourth quarter but tied it back up with just 1:17 left to set up the eventual game-winner.
The shot came after what was almost an incredible buzzer-beater to lift Clemson past USC on Saturday. That shot, however, was called off just barely in brutal fashion. The Trojans eventually pushed past the Tigers in overtime.
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The Gophers will now advance to take on either No. 1 UCLA or No. 8 Oklahoma State in the Sweet 16 in Sacramento next weekend. If it’s UCLA, it’ll be a rematch between the Bruins and Gophers in Big Ten play, but the Bruins cruised to a dominant 76-58 win in Minneapolis. That was part of a 25-game win streak that gave UCLA both the regular season and conference tournament titles.
While that’s undoubtedly going to be a tough task, Battle has lifted the Gophers to a place they haven’t been in decades.
LSU keeps dominating
Flau’jae Johnson and the Tigers have had absolutely no issues so far this March. Sunday’s win over Texas Tech set a new NCAA record, too.
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The Tigers cruised to a blowout 101-47 win over the Red Raiders at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Johnson and Mikaylah Williams each dropped 24 points in the win, and the Tigers shot 56% from the field.
The win was LSU’s 16th game with at least 100 points this season. That set a new NCAA Division I record, snapping the mark that Long Beach State had during the 1986-87 campaign. LSU beat Jacksonville 116-58 in the opening round of the tournament, and entered the event averaging a nation-best 95.1 points per game.
LSU will now take on No. 3 Duke in the Sweet 16, which marks the program’s fifth straight trip to the second weekend of the tournament. The Blue Devils beat No. 6 Baylor 69-46 on Sunday to secure their spot in the Sacramento region.
While the Blue Devils are undoubtedly a very talented group — they ran the table and won both ACC titles, after all — stopping the Tigers has proven to be a nearly impossible task so far this season. It’s going to take a tremendous defensive effort, and likely then some, to pull off that upset win.
Madison Booker dropped a career-high 40 points on Sunday night. (AP/Eric Gay)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Madison Booker drops 40
Texas was never in any trouble on Sunday, thanks largely to a massive effort from Madison Booker.
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Booker dropped a career-high 40 points to lead the Longhorns to a 100-58 blowout win over No. 8 Oregon. She shot 14-of-21 from the field and had eight rebounds and five assists to go with her 40-piece. It marked the highest-scoring game from anyone in the NCAA tournament so far, men’s or women’s.
The Longhorns are now coming off of back-to-back blowout wins at home to reach what is now their third straight Sweet 16. They beat Missouri State by 42 points on Friday in their first-round matchup, too.
Texas was again the only No. 1 seed in action on Sunday. The other three schools will square off against their respective opponents on Monday to wrap up the first round.
The Longhorns will now await the winner of the matchup between Kentucky and West Virginia in the Sweet 16, which they’ll get to play in Fort Worth. That’s a little less than 200 miles from Austin, which should be a big advantage for them.
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TCU survives in OT
Perhaps the best game of the day came at the very end.
No. 6 Washington took TCU to the very end on Sunday night, and nearly knocked Olivia Miles and the Horned Frogs out of the tournament early. The Huskies forced overtime after Miles missed a potential game-winner, and then they rallied back within a single point after the Horned Frogs opened the extra period on a 7-0 burst.
But in the end, TCU held on and forced a late stop to secure the 62-59 win. That kept the Horned Frogs’ 44-game home win streak alive and sent them into a second straight Sweet 16. Miles had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and was just two assists shy from another triple-double. They’ll now get to take on either Iowa or Virginia in the Sweet 16 in Sacramento.
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Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest news, highlights and upsets from the women’s NCAA tournament:
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Cassandra Negley
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Phew, that one was close. Sayvia Sellers missed the 3-pointer with seconds to go, and the Horned Frogs hold on to extend their home win streak to 44 and go to their second straight Sweet 16.
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Cassandra Negley
Donovyn Hunter was largely a non-factor for TCU until that layup. Put the Horned Frogs up three. Taylor Bigby made a fastbreak layup on the Miles rebound that pushed it to 62-57.
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TCU is up five points, but the pace has been so quick in this overtime period, anything can happen here.
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Cassandra Negley
Thought Olivia Miles should have gotten to the rim on the final possession, instead of taking that deep of a 3 that early. She’s better when she draws attention and can use her shiftiness to cut through the lanes.
Seems like she knew it at the time, and is making up for it here with an assist and a tough bucket. TCU is in control on a 7-0 OT run.
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Olivia Miles’ passing has been incredible in the back half of this game. She’s got seven assists, and just threw up a layup to put TCU up by seven with 3:21 to play.
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Cassandra Negley
WE’RE IN TRUE PAC-12* AFTER DARK TERRITORY
*RIP
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Olivia Miles missed a step-back 3 as time ticked off the clock, and we’re headed to overtime in Fort Worth. Who will punch their ticket to the Sweet 16?
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Cassandra Negley
These Washington shots rimming in and out are heartbreaking. They’ve missed 7 of their last 8 in a one-possession game.
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Cassandra Negley
That is NASTY work by Olivia Miles. With two defenders on her, she hits the baseline flip-back pass to a wide-open Marta Suarez to tie the game. They last led in the first quarter. It’s the only tie of the game.
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OK, now Olivia Miles is doing Olivia Miles things. She’s got 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
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Cassandra Negley
Sayvia Sellers, my word! Back-to-back 3-pointers from the top keeps the cushion for Washington. Shoutout to Alaskan hoopers.
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They’re up seven with six minutes to go, and just keep hitting huge shots.
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Cassandra Negley
TCU is on pace for a season-low 48 points.
The Horned Frogs scored fewer than 60 only three times. All were against West Virginia: a 51-50 win in January, 62-53 loss in the Big 12 champ game; and a 59-50 win in February.
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This one’s getting chippy as TCU comes clawing back. Can the Horned Frogs keep up their streak of 43 straight wins at home?
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Cassandra Negley
There is a lot of emotion, a lot on the line and a lot falling on officials here. Everyone on both TCU and Washington needs to be careful given the close nature of this game they’re not drawing a technical in these final 10ish minutes.
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Here comes Olivia Miles. TCU pulls within four as Miles scored her 10th point. But Marta Suarez just picked up her fourth foul, which is bad news for the Horned Frogs.
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Halfway through the third period, Washington still leads, by eight points. Olivia Miles hasn’t been a huge factor yet, with just eight points on 4-of-14 shooting.
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It’s been a low-scoring affair in the first half of this one, and the Huskies are looking for the upset. But TCU seemed to find some momentum toward the end of the first half; can they carry it forward?
Minnesota
Minnesota United’s Drake Callender, Seattle’s Andrew Thomas duel to 0-0 draw
Seattle’s Andrew Thomas finished with two saves and Drake Callender did likewise as the Sounders and Minnesota United played to a scoreless draw on Sunday.
It was the third straight and fourth shutout in five starts this season for Thomas. The 27-year-old took the starting reins from mainstay Stefan Frei — now in a backup role. He hasn’t allowed a goal since a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake in Seattle’s road opener. He also blanked the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in the season opener at home. Thomas had the lone save of the first half.
Callender notched his second clean sheet in his first season with Minnesota United. Callender and Inter Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Claire switched teams in the offseason. Callender made 92 starts for Miami beginning in 2022, but only five last season.
Jordan Morris saw his first action for the Sounders (3-1-1) since he was injured in the season opener. Morris entered in the 65th minute along with Jesús Ferreira and 18-year old midfielder Snyder Brunell.
Seattle was coming off back-to-back 1-0 road victories over St. Louis City and the San Jose Earthquakes.
Minnesota United (1-2-2) came in after being outscored 9-1 in two straight road losses to Nashville SC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Minnesota swept Seattle during the regular season last year and then eliminated the Sounders in the best-of-three first round of the playoffs, winning twice at home on penalty kicks after 0-0 and 3-3 draws in regulation. Seattle posted a 4-2 victory at home in the middle match.
Up next
Seattle: Visits the Houston Dynamo on April 4.
Minnesota: Visits the Los Angeles Galaxy on April 4.
Minnesota
Who’s Minnesota’s ‘Blanket Lady’? More than a superfan, she was a women’s basketball pioneer
Minnesota is in a tough spot. The No. 4 Gophers are down 9 points to No. 13 Green Bay in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
They hadn’t been to March Madness since 2018. Not only that, but also the Gophers earned a host spot. They should win. But the pressure is mounting.
Luckily for them, the Gophers have something Green Bay doesn’t: Blanket Lady.
During a timeout with 6:01 left in the third quarter, the Blanket Lady begins her ritual. She raises the blanket, decorated with a Minnesota emblem, and she runs, waving the maroon and gold fabric as she goes, up the sideline and down the baseline. As she runs, the crowd cheers, louder and louder until she returns to her seat.
“I was saying in the locker room after the game, that’s probably the loudest it’s been, I think, the whole time I have ever been here,” senior Amaya Battle said. “It was a ton of fun. It was nice to have them rally around us.”
The timeout ends, but the energy hangs in the air. Minnesota responded with a 30-8 run, securing a comeback victory and a spot in the Round of 32 for the first time in eight years.
“I feel like we just won the NCAA Tournament,” the Blanket Lady says the next day.
You know who get this game turned around? BLANKET LADY.
She got this crowd on their feet when the #Gophers needed her most! pic.twitter.com/X6NzmSv85q
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) March 20, 2026
You can forgive the exaggerated excitement. She’s better known in The Barn by her Blanket Lady persona, but she’s really 81-year-old Elvera “Peps” Neuman. She’s a superfan who has been hyping up Minnesota supporters at home games since 2004. And she’s loved basketball long before the sport loved women back.
Neuman grew up on a farm in Eden Valley, Minn., with a basket attached to the side of her family’s barn. It was put there for her four older brothers, but Neuman took to the sport. She practiced shooting whenever she could, even when she was milking the cows.
“The milkers were supposed to be on the cows for like, three minutes,” she said. “Well, I thought I could go out there to shoot for three minutes. But sometimes it got to be five or 10 minutes. It probably wasn’t easy on the cows, but we got more milk.”
Neuman’s passion couldn’t be contained to her family farm. She wanted to play for her high school, but in the early 1960s, there were no teams for girls around her, and the boys wouldn’t let her play with them.
“Not to brag,” Neuman said with a laugh, “but I was better than most of the boys anyway.”
In an effort to stay close to the game, Neuman joined the pep club, supporting the same boys who refused to play with her. Then, a conversation with her English teacher changed everything. She told Neuman a team of women were coming to Paynesville, a town just 14 miles down the road, to challenge some of the local coaches.
Neuman went to the game and was in awe of the Harlem Chicks, a team of Black players. As soon as she got home, Neuman wrote a letter to the team’s promoter. She wanted to play for the Chicks. Segregation prevented that, so instead, Neuman joined the Texas Cowgirls barnstorming team. From there, her basketball career took off — at least as much as it could for a woman at that time.
Neuman played basketball until she was 44, and even founded her own barnstorming team, called the Arkansas Gems. Each season, Neuman played in around 140 games, traveling from town to town, sometimes driving 400 miles in one day. It was a grind, but it was all Neuman knew. And it was the only way she could play basketball.
“I loved it,” she said. “I absolutely loved it.”
Elvera “Peps” Neuman started her own barnstorming team when gender rules and segregation kept her from joining teams. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)
Every time Neuman walked on the court, she put on a show, once scoring 108 points in a game. That kind of vivaciousness doesn’t just go away, not even at 81 years old. Neuman still brings it to the court, only now, she’s on the sidelines.
“I get more attention from being the Blanket Lady than I ever did from playing basketball,” Neuman said. “That might upset some people, to not get the attention, or the money, but I’m just the opposite. I’m pulling for these girls at 200 percent.”
The Blanket Lady tradition started accidentally in 2006. Neuman serves as a caregiver for her friend and former basketball teammate, Vicky Nelson. Because Nelson is in a wheelchair, the duo sits courtside in an accessible seating section. The blanket was a gift from two other Minnesota fans who noticed that Nelson always draped her jacket over her knees in an effort to keep warm during games.
Overcome by the kindness of the gesture, Neuman held up the blanket to the crowd, and when she did, everyone cheered. Ever the showman, Neuman took the cheers and ran with it — literally — up the sideline. The Blanket Lady was born.
Elvera “Peps” Neuman brings the same energy she brought to the basketball court as a player to her Minnesota courtside seats. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)
Neuman and Nelson haven’t missed a Gophers home game since 2004, when All-America point guard Lindsay Whalen was a senior. They certainly won’t miss Minnesota’s March Madness second-round game Sunday against Ole Miss.
If the energy dwindles, Neuman will be ready.
She paved the way for the current Gophers during her barnstorming days, and she’s still doing everything she can to help them succeed.
“I’ll be there,” she said. “I’ll be there with the blanket and my Gophers gear. I love this team.”
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