The State News sports reporters discuss all MSU sports.
Hello, and welcome back to the Sports Roundtable podcast at the state news, where we bring you all of the info and all the all the lore about Michigan State Athletics. Not really lore, but makes it a little spicy sometimes. We bring you everything from Michigan State Athletics, and this week is the most infamous week in Michigan State University Football History. It's Paul Bunyan week. It's time for Michigan State and Michigan Football, finally.
Madi:They're headed to Ann Arbor to the big house trying to bring Paul Bunyan back home.
PJ:Mhmm.
Madi:Is it possible?
PJ:Should I answer?
Madi:Yeah. Is it is it possible?
PJ:It is possible. It is.
Madi:I think so too. I mean, judging by the way that we played last week and by how Michigan played last week, I think that I mean, you look at both of our seasons, and we've I think we have the same record, don't we?
PJ:I think so.
Madi:Yeah. Too. I mean, we're very even to each other. Yeah. Very even.
PJ:Very even. Yeah.
Madi:I mean, that's a big possibility for us to finally after, what, 5 years, 4 or 5 years. We beat them the 1st year under Harbaugh, and then I think we beat them the 2nd year. And every year since then, we have not won. It's been a while. It's been quite
PJ:so hot.
Madi:Period.
PJ:We beat them,
Madi:When was the last time we beat them?
PJ:My freshman year. Oh, so you're senior in high school?
Madi:Yeah. So I was a child.
PJ:Okay. Alright. Yeah. My freshman year in high school my freshman year in college I don't know why I said that. It was at here, Kenneth Walker.
PJ:Old. Like, it was, like Yep. 30. I don't know. Like, 34, 32, something like that.
PJ:Something crazy like that. Yep. That was I was in attendance. That was literally the craziest game ever. Like, I yeah.
PJ:Just the energy was insane.
Madi:Was that this year after trouble with the snap, or was that 2 years after? Or was that the year?
PJ:Trouble with this snap was in, like, 2015.
Madi:No. It wasn't.
PJ:Yeah. It was.
Madi:Was it really that long ago?
PJ:I'm talking about 2021. Oh, I
Madi:feel like an idiot.
PJ:It's okay.
Madi:I mean, if we're backing that up a little bit you know what? Let's completely ignore the fact that I ever spoke anything about football
PJ:in the end to, like restart?
Madi:Like You know what? That's been the podcast.
PJ:Oh, yeah. That's so funny.
Madi:If we're going let's go back to Iowa. Obviously, that was a close game, I'd say, through the first half. But I think that the star of the game yet again was Jonathan Kim.
PJ:Mhmm.
Madi:20 points.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:20 points. That's wild.
PJ:Unlikely, but yeah.
Madi:He's he's saved us quite a few times throughout the season so far, especially this game, Maryland. He's gonna be someone that we really utilize at Michigan.
PJ:Definitely. Yeah.
Madi:So what were what were kinda your takeaways from that game?
PJ:Well, I think I remember we talked about this, maybe the 1st week or so Mhmm. Where we need to find we like, the football team needs to find more consistency, and I think that has started to happen more. I think that, like, Aiden Charles is start starting to be more consistent, with his passing. Mhmm. He's has more, like, he's been more reliable, but he's also, like, more, trustworthy of his, of, like, the wide receivers.
PJ:Oh my god. I can't even get it. Receivers.
Madi:You can't even speak.
PJ:Of his wide receivers. So I think the team chemistry is kinda building off of each other. Yeah. And I think we're starting to become more consistent.
Madi:Mhmm. I think so too. I mean, obviously, there was a lot of interception problems at the beginning of the year, but Aidan Chiles only had one interception against Iowa. And so Cade McNamara only had one interception, and he's been a quarterback that has obviously fallen off a little bit since his injury last year, but he was he was Michigan's guy for a little bit too. I think he was quarterback when we beat them in 2021.
Madi:It wasn't JJ yet.
PJ:Oh, you know what?
Madi:I think it was Cade McNamara.
PJ:Yeah. I actually I I think you're right. Yeah.
Madi:I'm finally right
PJ:on something.
Madi:Obviously so Charles threw for 256 yards. Cade McNamara threw for 150. And then Nick Marsh, yet again, 113 years, 8 receptions. Kieron Lynch Adams, 15 carries, 86 yards. Well, I mean, if we're looking at this, obviously, Aiden Charles threw we're just looking at game stats a little bit, but I think that Aidan Chiles was, in the long run, a little more consistent than Gabe McNamara was in his throwing.
PJ:Definitely. Yeah.
Madi:But, obviously, the star of the show was Jonathan Kim, and he's somebody that we're going to use a lot. So upcoming, obviously, we have Michigan versus Michigan State. Mhmm. Battle of Paul Bunyan. Mhmm.
Madi:We have 2 teams that have great defense. They have really great secondaries, but their offense both seem to struggle. And Michigan State has stepped it up a little bit with Aidan Chiles. And I was just talking to Casper about how these quarterbacks, there's just completely different stories on each of these quarterbacks, with whoever even is quarterback at Michigan right now because they've had 3 quarterbacks come in in the past few weeks for their season.
PJ:Yeah. Yeah. I think a big part of the Michigan State Michigan game is going to be their offense. Like, if we look at the Iowa game, Michigan State had more first downs, rushing yards, passing yards, like, total offense. Literally, like, just every pretty much everything offensively, they just cleared Iowa.
PJ:So I think if they can use this momentum or use this as momentum into the Michigan game, I think offensively, we're gonna do better.
Madi:I think so too. I mean, you gotta think of who all Michigan lost. They lost JJ McCarthy. They lost Blake Coram. They lost I think they lost a few wide receivers.
Madi:They lost almost all of their offensive line. They only had, like, 15, like, very not even 15. They had very few starters return.
PJ:Mhmm.
Madi:This is a team that while we are rebuilding with having so many new guys on our team and a completely new coaching staff, they're doing the same thing over there.
PJ:Yeah. Both Yeah. This game is gonna be both 1st year head coaches.
Madi:I know. I saw that. I saw that earlier. That's really interesting to me. And while, obviously, Cheryl Moore was on the staff for a little bit before,
PJ:Jonathan Smith.
Madi:Jonathan Smith was. Sharon Moore obviously knows the program. He was, what, assistant coach or he did something. I think he was assistant coach last year and then had to step up to interim when Harbaugh was suspended. But, yeah, they're in completely new positions, completely one completely new program.
Madi:They're basic speak. They're basically both completely new programs. Mhmm. Whether it's losing people to the NFL or losing them to the portal.
PJ:Yeah. I think I think it'll be a really it'll be a, like, a brute it'll be the it'll be a huge match up, like a battle
Madi:Absolutely.
PJ:Offensively and defensively.
Madi:I think so too. And, I mean, either team that if we win or if we lose Mhmm. Like, it's gonna be a shock to either fandom Mhmm. If one team wins and the other team loses. Like, as Yeah.
Madi:Michigan State fans, we're gonna be like, oh my gosh. We won. Mhmm. But if we were Michigan fans, we would say the same exact thing because
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:They're just as inconsistent in some of their ways that we are. Yeah. So it's an it's such an even matchup
PJ:between the 2.
Madi:So it should be interesting. And then what
PJ:Talking about the, Michigan State versus Michigan.
Madi:Oh my gosh. That's where I was gonna say, but
PJ:it's bad. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Okay.
PJ:Okay. You can you can introduce it.
Madi:No. Go ahead.
PJ:Okay. Michigan State or I guess this sorry. The State News is, participating in The Daily Game against The Daily News.
Madi:The Michigan Daily. Yeah.
PJ:The Michigan Daily.
Madi:It's their newspaper at Michigan.
PJ:Yes.
Madi:So I've never played in
PJ:Me neither.
Madi:Oh, you haven't either?
PJ:Yeah. Because I got here 2nd semester sophomore year. So yeah. So we didn't do it last year.
Madi:Mhmm. We
PJ:didn't do it last year, but we decided to do it we decided to do it this year, addressing addressing the audience. Mhmm. And so it should be really interesting. I I've heard from multiple people, at the state news who know people at the Michigan Daily that they practice every week. Yeah.
PJ:That's wild. They practiced every week even when we didn't when we didn't do it last year. They've been practicing. They practice like every week for like 2 or 3 hours, I think. Do they have live?
PJ:Right. No. Genuinely. Yeah.
Madi:That's wild.
PJ:We, have not practiced and I don't think we do. We practice.
Madi:Think we do either.
PJ:It's 2 touch football. We got some people, me, Casper, Jack Williams, Emilio. Mhmm. Those are just some of the people that I know that are gonna
Madi:I think Thomas is going.
PJ:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Thomas. Duh. Duh.
PJ:Duh. I think it'll be really fun. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure it gets really competitive.
Madi:Mhmm.
PJ:And I I'm very competitive. Yep. So Yeah. So it should be very fun. Are you gonna be playing?
Madi:I'm not. But what I was gonna say is it's just it's so fun to, like, see these traditions. Like, obviously, you have the Michigan Michigan State football game, and then you have the state news and the Michigan daily football game, and then, Special Olympics Michigan State and Special Olympics Michigan, University of Michigan, not Michigan as a whole, they compete in a flag football game the night before as well. Yeah. It's so it's just so fun to, like, see these different
PJ:Traditions.
Madi:Traditions. Yeah. I was gonna say rituals, and I was like, rituals is not the right word. It's so fun to, like, see these traditions stay alive. Obviously, Michigan, the daily game didn't go on last year, but it's coming back.
Madi:And I think that that's good for the state news. I I think it's just fun to be able to keep that kind of thing going.
PJ:Yeah. Definitely. Yeah.
Madi:So So we'll we'll get back
PJ:to you next week.
Madi:We'll get back to you next week about that. So jumping from football to basketball, Michigan State Basketball so close. So close. So close. So close.
PJ:I can I can practically feel the air? I can I can hear Izzo's voice?
Madi:I can hear I can hear it in my head. It's back. It's we're buzzing.
PJ:Yeah. Yeah.
Madi:So, obviously, we've got little bit of time still, and we can go into it a little more next week on the podcast. But Michigan State Basketball plays their first game. I think it's an exhibition game
PJ:too, isn't
Madi:it, against
PJ:Ferris State.
Madi:Oh, it's against Ferris State now?
PJ:Yeah. On 29th.
Madi:Who is Monmouth.
PJ:Yeah. That's on November 4th.
Madi:Oh, okay. I forgot.
PJ:Just like an exhibition.
Madi:So it's not even Yeah. It's like not even in here. Yeah. So they played their, like, exhibition preseason game at Northern Mhmm. And they won.
PJ:They won. 70 to 53.
Madi:They went back and retired Tom Izzo's jersey, which is super awesome that they were able to do that. Mhmm. Now we got Ferris coming up.
PJ:Yeah. Now we got Ferris State. Should be a pretty easy match. Mhmm. I think it's gonna be a good marker for how the team is kind of lining up so far.
PJ:I was able to go to the media day a couple days ago Mhmm. Where I talked to Izzo, and then I talked to, like, half the team. Yeah. Just, like, individually just about, you know, how they're feeling. From what it seems like, it seems like Jaden Akins is has become the leader.
Madi:Mhmm.
PJ:He's the only 4 year player on MSU. So he's kinda becoming a leader. So is, like, Cohen Carr. Mhmm. Frankie Fiddler is also becoming a leader just because yeah.
PJ:He's just a wing, you know, and he's kind of I don't know. He's a tall guy who's who who can be consistent.
Madi:Right.
PJ:So yeah. It it should be interesting, but, like, Jaden Akins said that he wasn't he didn't play super well up up at Northern, but a big thing is, remaining confident.
Madi:Mhmm.
PJ:So he says that he said that he's trying to been trying to oh my god. Well, I can't
Madi:We cannot speak today. Yeah.
PJ:He's trying to be consistent, and through his confidence. Mhmm. And he's also relaying that message to his teammates Mhmm.
Madi:Which I think is really crucial Mhmm.
PJ:For a season that honestly could for
Madi:a season
PJ:that, honestly, could possibly go either way either way. As we head
Madi:into Izzo's 30th
PJ:season with the team. That's insane. Right? It's been 30 years. Yeah.
PJ:That's wild.
Madi:Yeah. Do you think that Jade Ninkins is kinda taking over the leadership role that Tyson Walker was, like, leaving, I guess?
PJ:A 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. I yeah.
PJ:No doubt about it.
Madi:That's I agree with you. This could this could be a season that goes either way. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens after last year. Obviously, Tom Izzo is not a fan of using the transfer portal, but he did utilize it a little bit, with Fiddler. Right?
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:Where is he transferred from again?
PJ:Omaha. Omaha.
Madi:So, I mean yeah. And from what I have read, he's been a great pickup in the transfer portal. And, obviously, we have new freshmen that have come in that have played. But, yeah, you're right. It's it's gonna be a toss-up between where the season could go.
PJ:Yeah. And I think, Xavier Booker, he's gonna be a huge part in this season. You know, he's 611, I think. Yeah. I want yeah.
Madi:Because him and Carson Cooper, I think, are the same height, and they're almost 7 foot tall.
PJ:Yeah. He was also in our germ 325 class.
Madi:He was for a day.
PJ:Yeah. For a day.
Madi:And then I never saw him again.
PJ:Never saw him again. Yeah. But, he has been trying to also, you know, keep consistency, throughout games and practices. So so so it should be I think people are gonna or the teammates are gonna use him as, like, the main inside guy and the pink guy.
Madi:And And
PJ:I think we're gonna see a lot of fid fiddler being used
Madi:Mhmm.
PJ:On the outside and the wings.
Madi:Obviously, Xavier Booker didn't get much playing time last year. How do you think that's gonna be different coming into this year? Like, what do you think he's been able to do in the off season that has just showed that he can be that guy?
PJ:Mhmm. Yeah. Well, Izzo well, actually, sorry. I talked to Booker about it. Mhmm.
PJ:And Booker said that Izzo said that he's gonna be a starter.
Madi:Good for him.
PJ:Yeah. So I think he's definitely gonna see a lot more minutes. I think it'll it'll be good for him to get more comfortable with other players besides the starting 5,
Madi:the
PJ:other 4 players. And I think, you know, just I think consistency with, like, rebounding especially.
Madi:Mhmm.
PJ:He only averaged, I believe, 2 rebounds a game. Mhmm. And he only played 11 minutes. So, like, 2 rebounds in 11 minutes isn't awful. Right.
PJ:But I think getting more rebounds is gonna be a really big thing for him.
Madi:Yeah. I mean, he's like you said, he's gonna be a guy that we utilize inside the paint. Like, he's gotta he's gotta get in there. Like, he's gotta get rebounds for the team and utilize that kind of thing. Yeah.
Madi:What else Michigan State Basketball? You're kind of you're kind of my go to guy for Michigan State Basketball. I've never been like a I like basketball. I love Michigan State Basketball, but I've never, like, kept up on it like you.
PJ:I think Jackson Kohler is gonna be another player that is gonna be used a lot. Mhmm. We were I think Izzo was saying that he, like, I I'm paraphrasing. He lost about £15
Madi:Oh, wow.
PJ:In the off season. I think it was that much. And that's helped him kinda, like, get stronger or, like, get faster and, like, he's built more muscle. Mhmm. He's leaner?
PJ:Yeah. Leaner. So I think he's gonna be utilized a lot more. And he's a player that I've seen him in practices before. He's a player that is mainly on the inside.
PJ:Mhmm. But he can shoot some threes.
Madi:Mhmm. He
PJ:can he can shoot outside the 3 point range. You know? Like, shoot from the 3 point range. I know he said outside.
Madi:He can Yeah.
PJ:He can he
Madi:can play basketball. Yeah.
PJ:He can play basketball. So I think he's probably gonna get some more minutes this year,
Madi:which is about, Fears coming back? That's a that's been a really big storyline, obviously, after everything that happened over Christmas break and him coming back and getting ready to play. Just what do you what do you think about him coming back?
PJ:He is a huge asset to the team, for many reasons, but I think the biggest reason is energy. Mhmm. If you've ever seen him play, you know that he levitates in the air. Mhmm. He is super flashy, but not, like, in an arrogant way.
PJ:He's just very like, he can just dunk the ball in any way he wants, and he gets the crowd hype. Like Cohen Carr? Yeah. Yeah. And I literally think I was talking to some of the teammates, and they actually said, yeah.
PJ:And I asked speaking about Cohen Carr, both Fierce Junior and Cohen Carr are, like they just bring so much energy.
Madi:Mhmm.
PJ:So to the to the table, to the court. So I think that's gonna be really helpful this season.
Madi:I've heard a lot about, like, Trey Hallman kind of making a big step this season too. And, him and wait. Never mind. I'm gonna sound dumb if I say this. But he he seems like he's ready to step up and Mhmm.
Madi:Get himself a starting 5 position and Mhmm. Be a good player, which he Definitely. Yeah.
PJ:Yeah. He's he's very good. Yeah. He was
Madi:a great player last year, but he's ready to make his name known a little bit more this upcoming season. Yeah.
PJ:I think he's gonna have a little bit more responsibility this season. Yeah.
Madi:Do him did him
PJ:and Tyson Walker play the same position? They're both guards.
Madi:Okay.
PJ:Cool. I think Trey Holloman is a guard, or like a small forward if, like, if NBA rules, like, NBA rules, NBA terms Quote, unquote. Yeah. He would be, like, a shooting guard. Trey Hallum would be, like, a shooting guard, and Tyson Walker is a point guard.
PJ:But, like, on the roster, they're both guards.
Madi:They're both
PJ:So they could both play at the same time.
Madi:Okay. I gotcha. Well, yeah. Well, Michigan State Basketball should be a very interesting season. Yeah.
Madi:And then finally
PJ:Here we go.
Madi:Michigan State Hockey. So last time we did this well, last time I did this
PJ:Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know.
Madi:I was able to talk about Michigan State Hockey coming into the season. And we played at Lake Superior State the 1st weekend, and we swept them. And then the 2nd weekend, there really isn't much. I mean, I wasn't there. I didn't get to watch the game because it wasn't a big ten plus.
Madi:There isn't really a whole lot to talk about besides, we swept the weekend at Lake Superior State. First game was, trying to shake the rust off a little bit. 2nd game, we did much better. But coming into Monaise Arena, we played number 2 Boston College.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:And night 1 was disastrous. Yeah. And I think that a lot of Michigan State hockey fans can speak for that because we were shut out 3 nothing. And even Red Savage said afterwards that that you come into your home crowd expecting a big win for the home opener and you get shut out. He literally called it embarrassing.
Madi:He said that to the media Yeah. Which he had every right to do, but even Nightingale said there was a lot of plays that were too cute. Mhmm. Like, they were trying too hard to be like the stars that Boston College has, and they're not those guys. Mhmm.
Madi:Like, they're not Gabe Pearl. They're not Ryan Leonard. They're not not all of them are 1st overall or 1st round draft picks. Like, we can't
PJ:Right.
Madi:We can't do that.
PJ:Like, you just kinda have to get the work done.
Madi:Exactly.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:He said, Nightingale said after the game that they are a blue collar hockey team, and when they try to play white collar hockey, they're not a good team.
PJ:Oh, interesting. Yeah. Wow.
Madi:So that was really interesting to me, actually.
PJ:Like Yeah.
Madi:Just his, like, thought process to through it and, through the game. And then going into night 2, he won 43. But he jumbled the
PJ:lineup. He
Madi:I mean, you're so used to going into the press box. You sit down and get your papers. And the first line is Danny Russell, Carson Dorward, Isaac Howard. It was Danny Russell, Carson Dower, Joey Larson. And then it was Isaac Howard, Charlie Stramel, Gavin O'Connell, and I we were all kinda like, what Yeah.
Madi:What just happened?
PJ:Right.
Madi:And it worked. Yeah. That was a that was a great game to watch too just because there was so much energy at Munn. And we hadn't seen that energy the night before because we got shut out through nothing.
PJ:Right.
Madi:But night 2, it felt like at the end of the game, especially, like, when the clock was running down and it was still 43, it was like we won the big 10 championship again because we beat the number 2 team in the country. Yeah. And we got swept by them last year in Yeah. Boston College. So everybody was kinda like, I don't know how this is gonna go.
Madi:Like, they're still a really good team even though they've lost a lot of people.
PJ:Was it it was kinda like back and forth, like 10112, what,
Madi:for
PJ:the most part? Yeah.
Madi:Yeah. So we scored first. So it was a one zero. They scored 2. So it was 21 going into the final or into the 2nd period.
Madi:And then it was 43 at the end of the 2nd period, and we had no more goals in the 3rd. Wow.
PJ:Okay. Yeah. I feel like that adds, especially at the home court, or home arena.
Madi:Home court advantage. Yeah.
PJ:Yeah. But I I, like, I feel like that also at like, when you're at home, that adds to the excitement.
Madi:It does.
PJ:Like like, for students and fans, like, that was, like, like, bracing on the last few seconds. Like, what's gonna happen? Yeah. Yeah.
Madi:Especially, like, you can hear the monsters loud and clear anywhere that you've sit in there. Oh, yeah. Just like, they're so they're so excited. Like, especially after last year, season tickets sold out in, like, 2 seconds.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:But they're just so excited to have a winning program. Oh, oopsies. I just spit. I we did an assignment for journalism 206 a couple weeks ago, and it was my question to people. It was man on the street.
Madi:It was like Michigan State hockey, like, went to the regional tournament last year, lost to Michigan, but there's a winning program on this campus. Obviously, we've seen Michigan State football struggle the past few years. Michigan State basketball struggled last year, but we have a winning program.
PJ:Mhmm.
Madi:And just Nightingale's 2nd year going into his 3rd, like, it is just so awesome when different programs to the school and, obviously Mhmm. Michigan State football and basketball will both get there. They'll both get back to where they were. Yeah. But it's just so fun, like, having a program that is winning.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:And Nightingale has a lot to do with that. But yeah. I mean, it was Munn just gets Munn gets rowdy.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:Munn gets rowdy.
PJ:Oh, yeah.
Madi:And it's awesome. Yeah.
PJ:It's the best.
Madi:It's so great. And even when, like, Trey Augustine skates out, even at the beginning of the game, they start chanting for him. Mhmm. Like, guys, he hasn't made a stop yet. Like, you're gonna jinx him one of these times.
Madi:Yeah. The first time they did it, I think, was against Michigan at home. And that was the 7 to 1 loss.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:And so I was like, they need to never do that again.
PJ:Yeah. Like,
Madi:they just jinxed us. I can't do this anymore. Yeah. But yeah. So that was Boston College.
PJ:Mhmm.
Madi:And then last weekend, they had their exhibition against Windsor, Ontario. Yeah. And they won 5 to nothing.
PJ:Sweet.
Madi:Yeah. That was good. And it was even more fun because, like, you're sitting there watching the game. Trey Augustine walks out of the tunnel first. He's a starter.
Madi:Mhmm. They all come back off the ice, come back out for a second period, and Luca's at the front. And I was like, Luca? Yeah. I know who that guy is.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:So they had Trey start the first, and they had their backup goalie, Luca De Pasco, start the 2nd 3rd. And he continued that shout out for us. I mean, it I think Windsor ended the night with 10 shots on goal, 10 or 12, and we had, like, 40 something. I think we had 44 shots on goal. And you could Oh my god.
Madi:Tell at the end of the game how tired they were.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:Because that's when Danny Russell got that second to last goal.
PJ:Uh-huh.
Madi:Is the, I think Michigan State dumped it down the ice, and Windsor was trying to get back, and Danny was way far ahead of him and just snuck one past
PJ:the goalie. Oh my god.
Madi:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
PJ:I'm just
Madi:gonna say. Yeah.
PJ:So they play can can can see us? Canisius. Canisius. I yeah. Yeah.
PJ:Way more sense. Yeah. Canisius next and then Ohio State at home. Mhmm. What do you think is gonna happen?
PJ:1st at Kinesh is then Ohio State.
Madi:Kinesh is I think that we will handle them fairly well. I think that we will sweep that even though it's on the road. We swept teams on the road a few times last year, and that was always, like, a big point to make was Michigan State hadn't swept on the road in, like, how many years
PJ:Mhmm.
Madi:After we swept Ohio State at the beginning of the year last year. But Ohio State, I'm actually a little bit worried about because they started getting so good towards the end of last year.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:Like, when they beat Wisconsin, and Wisconsin has fallen off a little bit. But beat them, come in and take 1 night of the, well, they beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 tournament, came to Mon. We beat them by a hair. I think it was 2 to 1. It was 2 or 3 to 1.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:And, honestly, after their performance that, like, last quarter of the season, they deserved an NCAA tournament spot more than Wisconsin did. Mhmm. And now they just got back into the ranking because I think they're ranked number 20 in the USCHL polls. Okay. And so there there's 5 big 10 teams in top 20 right now, which is there's only 7 big 10 hockey teams, but still, that's a that's a huge deal.
Madi:That's really cool. And, obviously, they're coming to Munn, so that makes a big difference in whether we win or not, but they're going to be tough again. Yeah. And they weren't like, they were okay for a little bit, but they just and they picked up a few guys in the transfer portal. One of them was, Gunnerwold Fontaine is his name.
PJ:That's a sick
Madi:Full name. Legal name. That is the coolest hockey name I've ever heard in my whole entire life.
PJ:Literally. Yeah.
Madi:But he played for northeast Northeastern. Northeastern in Massachusetts, and he had the game winning goal in the bean pot tournament, which they play at TD Garden. So it's, like, harbored northeastern, BCBU. And I don't remember if they beat BU or BC, but they won the whole thing, and it was his overtime goal. And then he entered the transfer portal, and I really wanted him to come here.
Madi:I wanted him at Michigan State so bad. But, obviously, we got other guys in the transfer portal, so it's fine. It's fine. But, they're they're going to be tough, and I just know it. I just know it.
PJ:Yeah.
Madi:But yeah. So they're going to Canisius first, though. Should be interesting. Yeah. There's a cup there was 2 guys, I think, from Michigan State that transferred there, and they played there last year.
Madi:And I don't know if they're still there or not, but they were last year.
PJ:They were last year.
Madi:They were last year. But, yeah, it should be interesting. A little rematch going to Buffalo this time, and then so it begins.
PJ:And yep.
Madi:We bring that team into this bun. That one team.
PJ:That one team.
Madi:That one red and white team. Oh.
PJ:But yeah. But yeah.
Madi:But yeah. I think that's all we got.
PJ:That's all she wrote. Nice job.
Madi:This has been the Sports Roundtable podcast, with my lovely guest, PJ. We will see you hopefully next week. Yeah. Woo hoo.
PJ:Probably gonna be me again.
Madi:Yeah. It probably won't be PJ again.
PJ:Woo hoo.