Bursts of excitement exuded from the Gophers wrestling locker room when former Gopher Gable Steveson announced on Nov. 12 that he would return to his college team.

Steveson, 24, exhibits showmanship in his wrestling. Head coach Brandon Eggum called him an entertainer. In the last three years, Steveson was an Olympic gold medalist, WWE wrestler and NFL football player.

Steveson was granted an Olympic redshirt and an extra year of eligibility for competing in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This guy is not only the best in the country, he’s the best in the world,” Eggum said. “I’ve never seen anybody like him before.”

Ultimately Steveson’s decision to come back was not a tough call. In short, he said Minnesota was the best.

“I started in Apple Valley, Minnesota, not a hard one to come back,” Steveson said. “Probably the greatest place on earth you could be.”

Steveson is not back for fun and games, he means business.

“My goal has always been to be as dominant as possible,” Steveson said. “My goal has always been what the fans have liked, and the Minnesota fans like seeing Gable wrestle.”

Steveson added if the fans like watching him, why would he not come back for another year?

As far as Steveson being a 24-year-old man working with and wrestling against college-aged guys, Eggum is not worried. He said Steveson is fitting in with his new teammates because Steveson has been around the program since he left.

As far as what’s next for Steveson, he said he wants to train for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones suggested he take a path similar to former Gopher Michael Blockhus in mixed martial arts. 

“He’s gonna be scary, he’s gonna be very scary when he decides to do MMA,” Jones said after his fight on Nov. 16. “It’s not a matter of if he’ll become a UFC champion, it’s when he’ll be a UFC champion.”

Steveson spent time helping Jones train for UFC 309. He said MMA interests him a lot. 

Until then, Steveson has a show to put on at Maturi Pavilion against Campbell on Nov. 24. Eggum expects an exciting match for Gophers fans in Steveson’s return as the Camels field an NCAA All-American heavyweight in Taye Ghadiali.

Six-seed Gophers women’s soccer kicked off the NCAA tournament on Friday with a win over South Dakota State University at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.

The Gophers will travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to face off against three-seed South Carolina in the second round of the tournament. South Carolina finished the season with a record of 11-3-7 and is coming off a 6-0 win in the first round of the tournament. 

This is the first time the Gophers have won a first-round NCAA tournament game at home since 2010.

It should not surprise Gophers fans that this team made the tournament, even after their 7-6-4 finish last season. Defender Elizabeth Overberg and her teammates expected this season to be the year they made the jump. 

“Being here for the past four years, I knew we had something special,” Overberg said. “I thought it was something we could achieve.” 

Despite the tournament being a single-game elimination, garnering a six-seed gave the Gophers confidence heading into the match. 

“I feel like this whole year we have known we’re special, and we haven’t had the recognition we think we deserve,” Overberg said. 

Overberg said Minnesota saw less recognition because they are not historically a top program.

Even without the recognition, forward Caroline Birdsell learned what is needed to fill the shoes of graduating seniors and how to take care of herself off the field. 

“This year taught me a lot about the mental side of the game and that there’s a lot more to soccer than people see,” Birdsell said. “When you’re all on the same page you can do things that others can’t even imagine.”

The Gophers were led by the scoring efforts of midfielder Sophia Boman on Friday. Boman put up the game-winning goal in the 48th minute and found the net again in the 55th minute.

Boman was playing like it was the last game of her career, taking five shots with four of them on goal, both were season highs. Boman is one of six starters in their last year of eligibility. Overberg understood the tournament was their last time to play together.  

The Gophers played their last game at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium and they finished the season with only one loss at home. 

Despite the loss coming in the Big Ten tournament, Birdsell does not feel they played badly against Penn State or need to change anything heading deeper into the tournament. 

Birdsell added the team is playing the best they have all year. 

The team is not worried about playing their next game at a neutral site, but rather they feel confident based on their 5-3-1 record on the road this season. 

“We have a really confident team and that comes from us traveling a lot this year,” Overberg said. “We are really good at home, but we are really good on the road too.” 

Former Gophers wrestler Gable Steveson announced his return to the Gophers wrestling program Tuesday after a nearly three-year hiatus, according to head coach Brandon Eggum. 

Steveson is expected to make his season debut at Maturi Pavilion against Campbell on Nov. 24. 

After Steveson left the program, he competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and won a gold medal at 125-kilograms. He signed to play with the Buffalo Bills during this year’s training camp but did not make the final regular season roster.

After winning gold, Steveson announced he would return to amateur wrestling. Several people thought he would join the maroon and gold, but complications with his WWE commitment put that to an end.

Steveson last wrestled for the Gophers during the 2021-22 season. He finished with an 18-0 record that season and won his second NCAA heavyweight championship, his third Big Ten championship and earned the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year. 

Eggum had high praise for Steveson upon his return. 

“We are thankful he has chosen the opportunity to add to his historic legacy with our program,” Eggum said. “He is one of the best to ever compete in the sport of wrestling, and we are grateful for the impact he’s had at our program.”

Steveson was excited about the chance to return to his home state.

“Minnesota has given me everything, and now it’s my turn to give it right back to them: to put my feet back on the wrestling mat, to be the champ, one more time,” Steveson said in a video posted on X. 

Steveson is able to compete due to taking an Olympic redshirt and the 2020 COVID-19 redshirt that every current athlete at the time received. 

Over his wrestling career, Steveson went 85-2 (.977) overall, 48-0 in dual competition and 36-0 in Big Ten competitions. He picks up on his 52-match win streak.

An almost entirely new Gophers men’s basketball team took the court at Williams Arena on Wednesday night for the season opener against Oral Roberts University.

Senior Dawson Garcia joined six other Gophers as they played their final college basketball season opener. Garcia is in his third year wearing the maroon and gold uniform, a rare thing in today’s college basketball world as several players transfer seeking NIL deals.

The Gophers returned five players from last season’s roster, including senior Mike Mitchell Jr. who enjoyed the win for his final season-opener.

“Everything is coming together and especially the way we went out felt good,” Mitchell Jr. said.

Senior Parker Fox, another returning member from last season’s team, added 13 points on 100% from the field, while Mitchell Jr. added seven points and nine assists.

The Gophers are starting the season banged up, with junior Frank Mitchell sidelined week-to-week but might suit up for the game on Saturday, according to head coach Ben Johnson. Senior Tyler Cochran is also out with a foot injury.

Garcia set the tone for the game when he put up the first points from a long two-point jump shot. Not once did the Gophers lose the lead.

“I just felt like I was out there playing my game and playing loose,” Garcia said.

Johnson spent the last few weeks talking about how much older this team is than in the past. The fourth-year head coach boasts a roster of 10 seniors who scored the first 25 points on Wednesday.

Garcia had 16 of the 25 points and made three 3-point shots in the first 10 minutes.

The Gophers were up 29-8 late in the first half, but an 8-0 Oral Roberts’s run brought the Golden Eagles within 13 points. Senior Lu’Cye Patterson hit a contested 3-point basket as the shot clock winded down to end the run.

Oral Roberts played a full-court man-to-man press for the final minutes of the first half. Despite a quick turnover from Mitchell Jr., the Gophers held onto a double-digit lead entering halftime.

The second half started with Oral Roberts getting five unanswered points until the Gophers defense held them scoreless for over three minutes. By the 10-minute mark, the Gophers pushed the lead to 24 points after freshman Isaac Asuma hit a 3-point shot for his first collegiate points.

The Gophers held Oral Roberts to less than 35% from the field with 15 turnovers and 20 points allowed on turnovers.

Johnson called Mitchell Jr. an underrated defender and praised Asuma for his defense in his first game.

“Isaac, I think in time could be really, really good defensively,” Johnson said. “When those guys are on the ball you feel it, they have a presence on the ball.”

The Gophers only played two underclassmen the whole game. Betts and Asuma combined for 11 points off the bench.

The Gophers will be back at Williams Arena on Nov. 9 to play against the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The Gophers women’s soccer team had much to celebrate on Sunday in St. Paul.

The team defeated Indiana and sealed a bid to the Big Ten tournament after falling short last year. The win pushed them to an overall record of 11-3-3, their best record since 2018 when they won the Big Ten tournament.

After starting the year 8-0-1, the Gophers went 3-3-2 in their next eight games.

Gophers defender Elizabeth Overberg said she does not feel disappointed with the recent stretch of losses and ties, but the team knows they are better.

“We hold ourselves to a really high standard, so a lot of the games we did drop or not get the result we wanted, we knew we were right in there with them,” Overberg said. “I think it’s taking those as learning experiences.”

With one game remaining in the regular season, Gophers forward Khyah Harper leads the nation in total goals, points, points per game and goals per game.

According to head coach Erin Chastain, Harper’s desire entering the season was to hit five goals. Even Chastain thought that was low for what she knew Harper’s ability to be.

Harper picked up her sixth game-winning goal of the season on Sunday, placing her second in the conference in game-winning goals and tying the Gophers program record for game-winning goals, set by Simone Kolander in 2015.

Gophers midfielder Evelyn Calhoon picked up her first goal of the season in the middle of the game on Sunday off an assist from Harper.

Chastain said it was awesome to see Calhoon get the ball into the back of the net for the first time as a Gopher.

Gophers midfielder Sophia Boman put the game away with a penalty shot goal in the 83rd minute to give the Gophers a 3-0 lead over the Indiana Hoosiers. Boman has four goals on the season.

Minnesota’s final game of the postseason is on Sunday at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium against No. 10 Iowa. Harper said the Gophers analyzed their own performances to identify elements of their game that need work.

“We need to finish more chances for sure, we had a lot against Indiana and Maryland,” Harper said. “Overall, our team chemistry is already clicking so it’s just the technical pieces.”

Iowa, the defending Big Ten champions, are third in the conference in goals and second in goals allowed. They have the best goal differential in the conference.

Chastain has faith that her team can perform well if they get an opportunity at the NCAA tournament.

“We just need to tighten up defensively and not be as open as we have been,” Chastain said. “You need players that believe in what we do and how we play and show up and compete every day, and they do that.”

Chastain said they are more focused on what is right in front of them but hope they will earn a bid.

The conference teams will make the trek to St. Paul for the first two rounds of the Big Ten tournament at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie. 

The Gophers men’s basketball team won their first exhibition game of the season 90-65 against Division II Bemidji State University (BSU) on Saturday.

The Gophers started to click in the second half, cutting down on turnovers while also being more in tune with their each other on both sides of the ball. They ended the game on seven straight makes.

The team entered the second half only up one point against BSU since the first half featured several defensive breakdowns until about three minutes left.

Once the second half began, the defensive intensity stepped up, and the Gophers held a nine-point lead with a little over 15 minutes remaining.

The star of the second half was senior Brennan Rigsby, who finished the game with 17 points, four rebounds and two assists.

“I feel like we kind of got into a rhythm, mainly on the defensive side,” Rigsby said. “We started stringing stops and that just got momentum to start running in transition.”

Not only was Rigsby performing well, but he brought some flair to the team from tip-off. That flair rubbed off on senior Mike Mitchell Jr. who threw a no-look pass to redshirt sophomore Kadyn Betts for an early slam dunk.

Despite being an exhibition game, the Gophers front-court players were diving on the floor for loose balls.

Senior Parker Fox picked up where he left off last year and showed his hustle by diving for loose balls, running the court and batting rebounds away from defenders. He finished the game with 14 points and three rebounds, shooting 100% from the field.

Junior Frank Mitchell and senior Trey Edmonds were active in the passing lanes. Each tallied a steal at the top of the key and pushed down the court. Mitchell managed to dunk the ball off his steal.

For head coach Ben Johnson, the game was more about figuring out rotations and getting some film against another team.

“I wanted to get guys minutes as much as possible,” Johnson said. “I thought, for the most part, we’re going to have a lot of stuff on tape that’s good to see and we can get better from.”

Johnson’s starting five included seniors Mitchell Jr., Rigsby, Dawson Garcia, Betts and Mitchell.

Mitchell Jr. was thankful the Gophers matched up against another team for the first time since March.

Seniors Lu’Cye Patterson, Femi Odukale and Tyler Cochran were all out with injuries, according to Johnson. He added Patterson and Odukale will likely be available for the season opener on Nov. 6.

Since it was an exhibition game, the starting lineup and rotations could change drastically by the team’s season opener against Oral Roberts University.

Earlier in the summer, Mitchell Jr. said both he and Patterson would be taking on the point guard role. Mitchell Jr. finished Saturday’s game against BSU with 19 points and eight assists.

Without Patterson, Mitchell Jr. remained in control of the ball until freshman Isaac Asuma subbed in.

At the Gophers internal media day on Oct. 18, Garcia said having Edmonds and Mitchell makes his job as a big man in the paint easier. 

“Frank and Trey are both monsters on the glass offensively and defensively,” Garcia said. “They do a good job of protecting the paint.” 

Mitchell Jr. said the team needed the first 20 minutes to get the jitters out.

The Gophers have another exhibition against Hamline on Oct. 29 before the season opener on Nov. 6 against Oral Roberts University.

Tucked away in the basement of Cooke Hall, the smell of chlorine lurks in the hallway, accompanied by swimmers shouting counts and splashing as they execute stunts in aesthetic fashion.

The swimmers in Cooke Hall on Wednesday night were not members of the Gophers swim team, but rather a group of about 20 women training as part of the University’s club artistic swimming team, formerly known as synchronized swimming.

Some members started artistic swimming a decade ago, while others started just a few years ago. The women hold backgrounds in dance, swim and dive, and gymnastics, but they all ended up on the same club team. 

The team got in the water around 8 p.m. and started with warm-up laps to loosen their muscles before doing some heavy lifting.

Minnesota’s team consists of 15 underclassmen who established bonds that go beyond the pool.

Sophomores Olivia Succio and MJ Florkey, who are roommates, said they love the team more than the sport at times. 

“You’re so close in the water and spend so much time together,” Florkey said. 

When asked if they spend time together outside of the pool, Succio and Florkey, along with senior Maya Kittelson said, “Yeah, a lot,” in unison. 

Throughout practice, the team demonstrated a willingness to learn and take in feedback from their assistant coach Rina Horii, who took videos of the team’s routine and broke down areas to focus on.

Horii attended the University of Stanford and competed on their varsity artistic swimming team in 2015 and 2016. 

“It gave me a lot of experiences, like how to organize practice,” Horii said. “We’ve been drawing on the training I did in college.” 

Horii said they have been using the University’s new dry-land training facility, something they did not have the option to do before. 

Horii helped the Stanford artistic swimming team win the national title in 2016, but now she is more focused on building bonds with others who love the sport. 

“I think the most enjoyable thing is being able to come to the pool and have fun,” Horii said. “Everyone can have a stressful day, but then they come and they bring a really great attitude, and it makes the whole experience really rewarding.” 

According to Florkey, dance is the generic comparison for artistic swimming, but these women feel that artistic swimming is even more difficult. 

In the pool, they have to focus on their breathing while lifting each other as well. Sophomore Isabella Collins even wonders if it is a contact sport. 

“A lot of people are like ‘No, football is a contact sport,’ but I think that synchro is a contact sport,” Collins said. “There’s so many concussions, so many injuries. I always say that it’s a contact sport.” 

When asked why people should watch artistic swimming, sophomore Delaney Chelgren had a very quick response. 

“It’s so much fun and you won’t regret it. I promise,” Chelgren said. 

Sophomore Richa Advani started artistic swimming during her freshman year of high school because her mom said she would buy her Spotify Premium if she did. She said she invites her friends to watch. 

“All my friends that I’ve invited are like ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know what you were talking about before I came and saw it,’” Advani said. 

The swimmers on the team are not just building relationships with their teammates, but the swimming community as a whole. 

“I think something unique about this sport is you go to nationals, you go to big competitions, and you’re cheering for every team,” Collins said. “Because it’s such a niche sport, it’s really cool that even across state lines you can cheer for people.” 

Collins added that there is a strong community from high school, club and even varsity artistic swimming. 

Advani and Chelgren said they often meet other artistic swimmers outside of the pool who recognize them or have heard of their coaches. 

When practice is done for the night, the team works together to set up the pool for the next day. They swim the lane lines to the other end of the pool, hook them in and tighten them with a wrench.

Despite only competing a few times a year, the artistic swimming season starts in early September and does not end until after May. According to Kittelson, their only home meet is in mid-April.

The Gophers women’s soccer team earned a much-needed win when they upset No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday night.

The Gophers split their last four conference games with two losses and two ties. The Big Ten has six teams ranked among the top 25, but the Gophers believe they can compete with anyone in the conference despite their recent losses. 

To jump in the rankings, the Gophers need to earn points by either winning or tying a match. Teams get three points for a win, one point for a tie and zero for a loss. 

As the season winds down, the schedule does not get easier. The Gophers play two more top-25 teams that could push them out of the Big Ten tournament if they can not get any points.

The Gophers tied with the University of Southern California (USC) on Sept. 26 and lost to UCLA four days later. The two West Coast teams may see the Gophers again if all three teams make the Big Ten tournament. 

Freshman forward Caroline Birdsell understands the team needs to make the most of their opportunities moving forward. 

“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how many shots you get, it’s about putting it in the back of the net,” Birdsell said. 

Fifth-year midfielder Jelena Zbiljic added that USC and UCLA are not much different despite competing in the PAC-12 last season.

“Just treating them like any other Big Ten team,” Zbiljic said. “At the end of the day, they’re soccer players just like us.” 

Zbiljic added though USC and UCLA won two NCAA titles each in the 21st century, the Gophers are capable of earning a conference and NCAA tournament berth.

Zbiljic said the Gophers are taking it one game at a time as they try to get points in the standings with only a few games remaining. 

“Focusing on what we can control and going from there,” Zbiljic said. 

Birdsell said the team is feeling good despite gaining only two points in their last four games before their win at Ohio State. 

Before Thursday night’s games, the Gophers had eight points, while Washington and Penn State had nine and 10 points, respectively. The Gophers earned 11 points after defeating Ohio State and sit closely behind Washington and Penn State who also played Thursday. 

Penn State defeated Illinois and reached 13 points, while Washington beat Michigan, moving them to 12 points. 

Minnesota does not have much room for error over the next four games. Wisconsin sits at nine points in the 10th spot and Illinois is in 11th place with seven points. 

If the Gophers can get a few points during their end-of-season stretch, Penn State’s final three games against ranked teams may propel the Gophers ahead. 

Penn State plays the Gophers next before taking on UCLA and USC in Los Angeles, and finally Ohio State. Penn State is 0-2-0 against top-ranked teams this season. 

Despite being four games away, Zbiljic and the Gophers are excited to end their season with the reigning Big Ten champions, the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“It’s in the back of our minds,” Zbiljic said. “I think it’s exciting that we get to play them at home… They are big rivals but having that be our last regular season game is very exciting.”

Iowa is ranked fourth in the Big Ten and has lost only one game (10-1-3). 

Not only is the Big Ten tournament in the Gophers’ sights, but they are ranked 49th in the nation and may have an opportunity to make the NCAA tournament if they can string together a few points.

The Gophers men’s and women’s teams entered their first meet of the season ranked among the top 25 swim and dive teams in the nation. The men’s team started the year at No. 22 and the women’s at No. 24. 

The women’s team beat Nebraska 196-104 and South Dakota 251-49 on Friday while the men’s team defeated South Dakota 241-59. There was no men’s competition against Nebraska because the Huskers do not have a men’s swim and dive team. 

The Gophers women’s swimming team was led by Claire Reinke, who won three individual events — the 200-meter butterfly, the 100-meter fly and the 200-meter individual medley. Reinke and Minnesota’s A team finished second behind the Gophers’ B team in the 200-meter medley relay. 

Fifth-year swimmer Kaiser Neverman won two of his individual events for the men and a team event. Neverman finished first with Minnesota’s A team in the 4×50 medley relay and individually he won the 100-meter breaststroke and the 500-meter free. 

The men’s diving team had one-sided performances against South Dakota. Sophomore YuTong Wang, junior Drew Bennett and freshman Braylon Goodno finished first, second and third respectively in the one-meter dive and three-meter dive. 

The difference in the one-meter dive between Wang and the closest South Dakota diver, redshirt freshman Teague Bates, was nearly 150 points. 

The women’s diving team saw a tighter competition against Nebraska and South Dakota. 

The one-meter dive was won by 2024 National Champion junior Vivi Del Angel with a score of 295.15, narrowly outscoring her teammate sophomore Elna Widerstrom (291.10). 

Widerstrom also finished first in the three-meter dive with a score of 330.35. 

Following Widerstrom was Nebraska’s sophomore Antonina Harned and Minnesota’s senior Kate LaMonica, then Del Angel. 

Del Angel said one of her goals is to improve her higher dives, specifically on the three-meter. 

“I want to do different dives like front dive pike. Higher degree of difficulty and more competitive,” Del Angel said. 

Five Gopher freshmen picked up their first collegiate wins. 

Jacob Johnson won the 200 free and 100 fly, Luke Brennan won the 1,000-freestyle and Joe Polyak won the 200-yard breaststroke for the men. 

Men’s swimming head coach Kelly Kremer talked about the high status of his newcomers.

“Johnson, I think he’s the number one short course 200-yard flier in the country coming out of high school,” Kremer said. “Polyak represented the United States this summer at Junior Worlds.” 

On the women’s side, freshman Kamdyn Periat won the 400 free relay while her teammate freshman Livi Wanner picked up her first wins in three different events — the 50 free, the 100 free and the 200-yard relay. 

Alongside the newcomers, men’s swim sophomores performed well, with Tyler Hansen (200 free), Ian Steffen (100 backstroke) and Ryan Slonac (200 IM) earning individual performance wins. 

The Gophers teams won all four relay events. Minnesota’s A team won the men’s 4×50 medley relay and the women’s 4×100 free relay. The B team won the women’s 4×50 meter relay and the men’s team won the 4×100 free relay. 

Gophers fans will have the chance to watch the highly-touted swimming and diving teams on Oct. 11 when the teams compete against Army.

Gophers women’s soccer played the Wisconsin Badgers, University of Southern California (USC) and UCLA recently, with two losses and a draw bringing the team to an 8-2-2 overall record. 

The Badgers handed the Gophers their first loss this season and extended their border battle winning streak to 11 on Sept. 22. Both USC and UCLA are currently tied for first place in the Big Ten, while Minnesota fell to a 2-2-1 conference record. 

The last time the Gophers beat Wisconsin was in 2013 when the Gophers scored in double overtime. 

The Gophers could not find their usual explosive attack on Sept. 22 and finished the game with only two shots on goal, despite taking 10 more shots than the Badgers. 

The Badgers scored in the 15th minute and forced Minnesota to play keep-up for the rest of the game. Senior forward Khyah Harper led the team with five shots. 

Harper talked about the team’s motivation at the beginning of conference play in an interview on Sept. 17.

“We love the competitive side. We love that games are closer,” Harper said. “Everyone wants to win those games, and we know every game counts.”

After the loss to Wisconsin, the Gophers flew to Los Angeles to play two of the four new Big Ten schools.

Minnesota drew 2-2 against USC after second-half goals from Harper and fifth-year Sophia Boman. The Gophers allowed goals in the first and 22nd minutes.

“I think it was a great response to a couple of bad moments,” head coach Erin Chastain said. “The second half was really good from our group.”

Minnesota was not as aggressive as usual, taking only six total shots, but the defense held the USC Trojans to only three. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Martin allowed two goals and saved one.

After the draw, Boman said the preparation for UCLA after drawing against then-ranked No. 24 USC is the same as any other game.

“We focus on the next game and learn from this game,” Boman said. “Not worrying too much about the name of the opponents, just showing up ready to play.”

After the Gophers’ draw against USC, they lost to UCLA 3-1 on Sunday. 

A UCLA goal 33 minutes into the game put the Bruins ahead, then sophomore Kate Childers evened the game with a goal of her own. She became the fifth Gopher to find the back of the net this season. 

Two late UCLA goals gave the Bruins the win. 

The Gophers were dominated by the Bruins aggressiveness. UCLA doubled the Gophers shot attempts (17-9) and had five times as many shots on goal (10-2). 

The only other Gopher to get a shot on goal against UCLA was senior Sophia Romine. 

Harper extended her points and goals lead in the Big Ten, moving to 29 points and 13 goals. She is tied for first in the nation in goals and is second in points. 

The Gophers play two top-10 teams after their match against Northwestern on Friday. Minnesota will head to Columbus, Ohio, to play Ohio State then University Park, Pennsylvania, to play Penn State.