Thanksgiving Weekend Preview and How to Watch

Nov 25, 2022 - 3:45 PM

It’s one of the best weekends of the year. Tons of leftovers just sitting in the fridge awaiting to be eaten while sitting on the couch and watching non-stop sports for three straight days. There is quite a bit of Minnesota Gophers action this weekend for you to check out as well, so read on on for a quick preview of all the action and how to watch it without leaving your couch—-expect to head back to the fridge.

Friday November 25th:

You get to pick your choice of USA/England in the World Cup or any of several Black Friday football games early in the day before the Minnesota action begins.

Volleyball @ #5 Ohio State 5PM BTN+

The Gophers volleyball team finishes up the regular season this weekend on the road with two tough tasks. Friday night they head to #5 Ohio State who still has a remote chance to tie for the Big Ten title—but only if they beat Minnesota. Meanwhile the Gophers are locked into either 4th or 5th place in the conference and may need one more upset win this weekend to potentially lock down a top-16 NCAA Tournament seed and the ability to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the Pav and give Hugh McCutcheon one last home sendoff to his coaching career. The match will stream on BTN+ because apparently people would rather watch Iowa and Nebraska play football than this...

Women’s Hockey vs Penn State 6 PM

The Gopher women’s hockey team returns to action after taking two of a possible six points at Wisconsin last weekend. Minnesota fell to the #3 team in the nation behind Ohio State and Wisconsin and will potentially play a pair of ranked non-conference opponents this weekend at the Henderson College Hockey Showcase Tournament in Henderson, Nevada. Minnesota squares off in the first round against #12 Penn State at the in Henderson. Penn State knocked off the Badgers in the season opener before losing their next two games to common opponents in Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth. Unfortunately there is no TV or live stream of the games this weekend so the live Gophersports.com audio stream is all we can get.

Men’s Hockey @ Arizona State 8 PM Pac-12 Insider

The Gopher men are off of a big sweep at Michigan in a series that saw both teams dealing with illness issues. The Gophers got the sweep missing starting goalie Justen Close and center Aaron Hugelin but got a big performance from freshman goalie Owen Bartoszkiewicz picking up the first two wins of his collegiate career. It will be the Gophers first ever trip to Arizona State and their first tie to see the Sub Devil’s new Mullett Arena in Tempe. Minnesota enters the weekend ranked #2 in the country and atop the Big Ten. Arizona State is 7-6 on the season and were swept at Clarkson last weekend. The games this weekend will stream for free on the Pac-12 Insider channel. You can stream it for free HERE. There are also free apps on Roku, Samsung Smart TV’s and the Pluto TV app where you can stream the channel for free.

Saturday November 26th

Women’s Basketball @ Virginia 1 PM ACC Extra

The Gopher women face their first Power 5 opponent of the season when they head to Charlottesville, Virginia for the Cavs Classic. In the opening round the Gophers are slated to face off against the Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia is 6-0 on the season and are led by a pair of forwards in Camryn Taylor who is averaging 13.5 points per game and Notre Dame transfer Sam Brunelle who is averaging 11,7 points per game. Minnesota will need to try and defend them in the post and it will not be easy. They will need another big game out of freshman Mallory Heyer who is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week after averaging 14.5 points and 9.0 rebounds last week while shooting 66.7 percent from the floor (14-of-21). The game will tip off at 1 PM and will be available to stream on the ESPN App locally.

Football @ Wisconsin 2:30 PM ESPN

The main event of the weekend is of course the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The Gophers and Badgers will face off with a trophy on the line, and then potential of a decent bowl game and to avoid Detroit for Christmas. The game will also go down as a trivia question answer as it will be the last regular season Big Ten football game to air on ESPN for the foreseeable future with the start of the new TV deal next season. Hopefully Minnesota can figure out a way to knock off the Badgers and bring the Axe home for the second consecutive season.

Women’s Hockey vs Boston University/ Yale 3/6 PM

The Gophers will face one of Boston University or#5 Yale in the Henderson College Hockey Showcase on Saturday. The third place game will face off at 3 PM while the Championship Game will face off at 6 PM. Once again there will be no stream, just the gophersports.com live audio stream.

Men’s Hockey @ Arizona State 8 PM Pac-12 Insider

The second game of the series between the Gophers and Sun Devils takes place Saturday night as hopefully Minnesota goes for their second consecutive sweep. The game will stream on the same Pac-12 insider channel as Friday.

Volleyball @ #6 Nebraska 8 PM Big Ten Network

The Gophers complete the Big Ten season at arguably the toughest place to play in the nation on Saturday night. Nebraska will be fired up for their senior night and a chance at a tie for the Big Ten title if they can defeat Wisconsin on Friday night. As said before, Minnesota may need to fin a way to steal a game in either Columbus or Lincoln to guarantee that home NCAA Tournament seed. The game will air live on BTN.

Sunday November 27th

Wrestling @ South Dakota State 1 PM

The Gopher wrestling team will take on their second duel meet of the season when they head to Brookings to face SDSU. Minnesota is 1-0 after a win over Binghamton last weekend in the Pav. The match will stream live on FLOWrestling for a fee.

Women’s Basketball vs Liberty 4 PM

The Gopher women close out the Cav Classic with a game against Liberty on Sunday. The Gophers and Flames will tip off at 4PM, or a half an hour after the completion of Virginia and East Carolina. The game will once again stream on the ESPN App.