• The Wolves have a chance to prove themselves and gain even more traction after a somewhat surprising above-.500 start to the season. They'll have three home games in four nights: Spurs (Wednesday), Wizards (Friday) and Rockets (Saturday), with the first and last of those against Western Conference playoff contenders.
• Whoa, it says right here that the Wild has a home game Thursday against Arizona. Perhaps there is not, in fact, a new NHL rule that says Minnesota must play three-fourths of all its games this season on the road. Maybe the schedule will, in fact, even out by the end of the season. Crazy. Now let's see if the Wild's record can follow a similar evening-out process.
• After a promising weekend in Michigan, the Gophers men's hockey has a big home series Friday and Saturday against Penn State. The magnitude of this isn't quite what it was for the football matchup between the same schools this past weekend, but Penn State was ranked No. 6 in the most recent college hockey poll.
• There's an honest debate going on about where the Gophers football team belongs in the College Football Playoff rankings (check back for the latest version Tuesday night) — and if, by virtue of their 9-0 start and a win over Penn State, the Gophers are worthy of consideration for the top four. The Gophers can solidify their argument with a win at Iowa, which is coming off a close loss to Wisconsin.
• If the Vikings' second-half schedule feels like an unrelenting series of games against tough opponents, Sunday is a respite of sorts. Minnesota faces the Broncos at U.S. Bank Stadium in the last game before the bye. It's a game the Vikings should win and need to win before, you know, things get really tough again in December.
