The Hopkins football team has vacated its season-opening victory over Superior, Wis., because of an administrative mistake.

A player was erroneously declared ineligible by the school after having played in the Royals' 37-14 victory over Superior on Aug. 22. He sat out the following two games while the error was being corrected and has since returned to the team.

"It wasn't the fault of the player, the coach or anyone involved with the football team," Hopkins athletic director Dan Johnson said. "[The mistake] was discovered, corrected and he's been reinstated."

The vacated victory officially drops Hopkins' record to 4-4 this season but has no other effect. The Royals, who nearly rallied to beat Eden Prairie, the top-rated team in Class 6A, on Wednesday, earned the third seed in Section 6 of Class 6A. They will host Edina in their first playoff game next Friday.

JIM PAULSEN

Top two face off

The Gophers women's hockey team, which fell to No. 2 in the national ratings after a tie with Minnesota Duluth last Saturday, will get a chance to reclaim the top spot this weekend.

Minnesota (3-0-1, 1-0-1 WCHA) plays at No. 1 Wisconsin (6-0-0, 4-0-0) at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday at LaBahn Arena.

The Gophers have won the past 11 games against the Badgers. Their most recent meeting was in the 2014 NCAA Women's Frozen Four; the Gophers rallied for a 5-3 victory.

Wisconsin swept Ohio State 6-0, 3-0 at home last weekend. Brittany Ammerman leads the Badgers with five goals; goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens has a 0.75 goals-against average and a .965 save percentage.

Hannah Brandt leads Minnesota in scoring with six goals and two assists for eight points. The Gophers have the top power play in college hockey; it's scoring at a 53.3 percent pace (8-for-15).

U to open in Texas

The Gophers baseball team released its 53-game schedule, which includes 21 games at Seibert Field. Minnesota will open at Houston on Feb. 13-15 and then play at Texas on Feb. 20-22. Coach John Anderson's club also will play the Twins on March 4 in Fort Myers, Fla.

The home opener will be against Augsburg on March 24.

The Gophers will host the Big Ten tournament May 20-23 at Target Field.

Etc.

• The Gophers women's tennis team is competing in the USTA/ITA Central Region Championships in Stillwater, Okla., this weekend.

• Comcast will telecast 16 Minnesota State Mankato hockey games this season, starting with the Mavericks' game Saturday against Minnesota Duluth. The games will be on Ch. 999 and will be produced by students from Bethany Lutheran College.

• After winning the MIAC Championships in convincing fashion, the Carleton women's golf team is ranked third in Division III by Golfstat. The Knights have won five tournaments this fall.