I Don't Care What The Polls Say

Moral victories!!!

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These were more than moral victories. The way our team played tonight and past three games gives many of us....not all....a reason to be optimistic for the future! I remember when we would play a top 25 team and be out of it after the first quarter much less first half! Not sure we should be a top 25 team, but our schedule is ranked up there in being a tough one.
 

Gophers lost to Michigan, OSU, and Iowa by 22 combined points. Indiana lost to those same 3 teams by a combined 22 points.
 



If we win out last three games, I believe we've got a chance to have some top 25 votes.
 


We are close to being a good team , in the sense TCU lost a lot of close games in 2013. They were not as bad as their record and neither are we. I don't think we are top 25 with this inconsistent defense. Next year, I think we have a very good chance as the offense is really opening up and the injured will be back to speed.

This is correct, IMO.

I hate talking about next year already (I'll certainly enjoy these last 2 games -- and hopefully a bowl), but the injuries, retirement of Coach Kill, and emotional losses have taken a toll. It's gonna be a LONG offseason.
 

The Gophers don't deserve to be ranked. But it's worth noting that last year Arkansas received (many) votes after close losses to Alabama and A&M. They were 0-3 in the SEC.

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If we win out last three games, I believe we've got a chance to have some top 25 votes.

We have only two games left and finishing 6-6 won't get us any votes. Even if we finished 7-6 with a bowl win you probably wouldn't even see us among those who received votes.
 

Get what the OP is saying. We are better then the bottom 80 or so teams.

However, OP you must realize that it is still difficult to rank us in the top 25. Had we beaten NW and Nebraska, then I could see some justification.

However, we need to play complete games throughout.

That is what Kill always meant by this being a "Young" team; not so much young in age or grade level, but young in terms the system. We still don't play like a program steeped in deep seeded institutional knowledge. However, the pthe lossrogram progression in abundantly clear.

I think this thought process is what so clearly divides the optimists and pessimists on the board. Some see growth despite the losses, while others can't look past the hard objective evidence. Count me as someone that thinks we are close and the team really needs to put it together the last 2 games to advance as a program. We played 4 top 15 teams within a touchdown and had a chance to win in the final moments. Those top 15 teams beat us because we cannot limit penalties, while they could.

Got to win the mental portion too. Yet, physically, we are as good as a top 25 team. I think both sentiments are cogent arguments. Hopefully the team knows the optimists point of view as it is a necessary condition to reach the pinnacle and finally turn the corner as a program.
 



1-8 in the last nine games against power five teams puts you more in the bottom 25 versus the top 25. Toledo has more wins over power 5 than Minnesota and they did not nine games to do it.
 

This is correct, IMO.

I hate talking about next year already (I'll certainly enjoy these last 2 games -- and hopefully a bowl), but the injuries, retirement of Coach Kill, and emotional losses have taken a toll. It's gonna be a LONG offseason.

Well, as the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last game. Win the next two and win the bowl game and it will be a very hopeful off season.
 

1-8 in the last nine games against power five teams puts you more in the bottom 25 versus the top 25. Toledo has more wins over power 5 than Minnesota and they did not nine games to do it.

So does Bowling Green this season
 

Get what the OP is saying. We are better then the bottom 80 or so teams.

Well, that would put us at #48, but no ranking index ranks us that high. We're somewhere in the high sixties in ESPN's power ranking and #72 in Sagarin's. As another poster mentioned, our performance against these last three teams is very similar to Indiana's and Indiana is ranked below us in those indexes.
 



1-8 in the last nine games against power five teams puts you more in the bottom 25 versus the top 25. Toledo has more wins over power 5 than Minnesota and they did not nine games to do it.

Toledo doesn't play in the Big Ten. They haven't played nearly the caliber of power 5 team that the Gophers have played this year other than Purdue.
 

How can someone even suggest that we are one of the 25 best teams? We have not beaten anyone better than Purdue and Ohio (who are not close to top 25 teams) and we have lost to Nebraska who is also not a top 25 team. At the end of the day, we have no good wins and a bad loss.
 

1-8 in the last nine games against power five teams puts you more in the bottom 25 versus the top 25. Toledo has more wins over power 5 than Minnesota and they did not nine games to do it.

This would be a great point if all power 5 teams were equal.
 

Top 25 teams find a way to win not lose each game. Im not down on this team but the reality is they havent found a way to win these games.
 

Top 25 teams find a way to win not lose each game. Im not down on this team but the reality is they havent found a way to win these games.

Top 5-10 teams find ways to win games in schedules like ours. The way the polls work top 20-25 teams don't play schedules like ours. Toledo/Navy would have fared worse in our gauntlet of a schedule than we did.
 

We deserved to beat Michigan.

Outside of that, we deserved to lose every game we've lost.

We are not a bad football team. But we are not even a top 35 team.
 

Top 5-10 teams find ways to win games in schedules like ours. The way the polls work top 20-25 teams don't play schedules like ours. Toledo/Navy would have fared worse in our gauntlet of a schedule than we did.

All three of these were winnable games and they didnt get it done. Thats the facts. They didnt find a way to win.
 


Gophers lost to Michigan, OSU, and Iowa by 22 combined points. Indiana lost to those same 3 teams by a combined 22 points.

Indiana also played all three of them at home. But I am sure someone who only cares about just the facts already knew that. Were also not a top 25 team, this is like a baseball team saying we would 95 games instead of 80 if our closer didn't suck. You are what you are. Hopefully these close losses turn into close wins
 

All three of these were winnable games and they didnt get it done. Thats the facts. They didnt find a way to win.

Nobody is arguing those facts. This is a pretty ridiculous thread and the only reason I'm weighing in at all is because I believe that those who vote in the polls hold W/L in too high a regard when it comes to ranking teams in the bottom half of the top 25. A loss can be more impressive than a win. I had a higher evaluation of our Gophers after all of our losses this season than after any of our wins (outside of the Purdue win). If you had a fantasy draft of college football teams to beat a team that is, let's say, the 31st ranked team in the country done by people that really know what they're doing, I bet the Gophers would be taken around the #25-30 mark...ahead of some teams that are currently "ranked."
 



How about this - would you say the Gophers are one of the best 4-6 teams in the country?

This is a really hard year to evaluate. yes, the Gophers have made mistakes. Yes, they have had some offensive and defensive breakdowns at bad times. Yes, there have been some questionable coaching decisions.

But, at the same time, we are talking about a team that has lost 10 of its 22 opening-day starters to injury, and has also lost several of the top back-ups to injury.

I dare say if you took any other team in the country, and removed almost half of their projected starting lineup, they wouldn't look as good, either.

So, I am willing to give the Gophers a mulligan for this season. Now, if they're 4-6 through 10 games next season, that is a horse of a different color.
 

Not top 25 but,

"three losses by a combined 22 points to teams with a record of 28-2."
 

Nobody is arguing those facts. This is a pretty ridiculous thread and the only reason I'm weighing in at all is because I believe that those who vote in the polls hold W/L in too high a regard when it comes to ranking teams in the bottom half of the top 25. A loss can be more impressive than a win. I had a higher evaluation of our Gophers after all of our losses this season than after any of our wins (outside of the Purdue win). If you had a fantasy draft of college football teams to beat a team that is, let's say, the 31st ranked team in the country done by people that really know what they're doing, I bet the Gophers would be taken around the #25-30 mark...ahead of some teams that are currently "ranked."

Win a couple of the past three and maybe we are top 25 but they didnt and wins and losses are what we have to go by. Im not into moral victories and neither are the polls. The past three losses only affect vegas odds on the next game.
 




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