Gophers ranked 98th in country by Sporting News

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Maroon

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The Sporting News preseason college football poll came out today and has the Gophers ranked last in the Big 10 and 98th overall.
 


We've all seen cases where a team is picked last by the pre-season "prognosticators" and wound up in the upper echelon. This is merely a reflection of the youth and the unknown qualities of the players moving up to start - and the turmoil that is the offense after the revolving door at OC. I am confident that SN will eat their words after the season.
 

nc2mn said:
We've all seen cases where a team is picked last by the pre-season "prognosticators" and wound up in the upper echelon. This is merely a reflection of the youth and the unknown qualities of the players moving up to start - and the turmoil that is the offense after the revolving door at OC. I am confident that SN will eat their words after the season.
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Well 98th would be about a 2-3 win season, so I sure hope so...
 

I guarentee we will end up higher than 98th. If we don't I'll eat crow on the 50 yard line after the final game!
 


Our first opponent, Middle Tennessee State is 43rd, and we open at their place.
 

If there ranking was accurate, we'd expect to see a 1 or 2 win season, with a victory over USD and a toss-up versus Illinois.

Our 2009 schedule:

MTSU 43
South Dakota n/a
USC 16
Northern Illinois 49
Northwestern 40
Wisconsin 8
Purdue 39
Penn State 32
OSU 2
Michigan State 50
Illinois 94
Iowa 13

According to their list, USD and Illinois are the only teams that will not be greatly better than us. We could lose to Middle Tennessee State, but beating them wouldn't be seen as as big a deal as a #98 team beating a #43 team really ought to be seen. It looks like they are taking the unknowns and assuming they will all be negatives.
 

So you're sayin' there's a chance!!

Lloyd Christmas, Dumb and Dumber
 

Maroon said:
The Sporting News preseason college football poll came out today and has the Gophers ranked last in the Big 10 and 98th overall.
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:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:






But hey...let's beef up that non-conference schedule :rolleyes:

Would hate to have to play another MAC team....
 



The "experts" really think we suck.
Buffalo is 3 spots ahead of us.
Duke-28
Temple-35
and Air Force is 56 spots ahead of us!
 

I don't think we'll be that bad, but I don't have high expectations this year. 6 wins would be an accomplishment, IMO. I've been on the Brewster bandwagon drinking the Koolaid for the last few years and I'm starting to get a hangover.
 

Just think how much more 'tremendous' it will be when we go 5-7 now. Seriously, these pre-season rankings, especially outside the top 25, aren't worth much. But it's hard to be filled with optimism. Middle Tenn. State will tell it all. A solid win there, and it likely won't be so bad. A 10-20 point loss there, and it's going to be a LONG season.
 




eker0016 said:
I don't think we'll be that bad, but I don't have high expectations this year. 6 wins would be an accomplishment, IMO. I've been on the Brewster bandwagon drinking the Koolaid for the last few years and I'm starting to get a hangover.
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The day Brew was hired imagine someone saying..."by his fourth season, six wins would be an accomplishment".

Not ripping you since it's a true statement...it's just sobering.
 

Maximus said:
The day Brew was hired imagine someone saying..."by his fourth season, six wins would be an accomplishment".

Not ripping you since it's a true statement...it's just sobering.
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I agree, it is sobering. I don't put all of the fault with Brewster by any means, but I don't believe he should get a free pass (the "Mason left the cupboard bare" argument). I think our schedule is absolutely brutal, and it is really a bummer that we are missing out on Indiana and Michigan while scheduling USC and MTSU, a big time program and a very strong mid major. Combine that with the loss of a lot of talent from last year and I don't think it will look very pretty. I'm not calling for Brew's head yet, but he needs to show us something this year that we can rally behind (a victory over one of our rivals would do!).
 

It is sobering, but this is a perfect storm of scheduling. All but two of our opponents are ranked in the top 50. We have always struggled against upper echelon conference teams at home. This year, we face all of the top four conference foes from last year at home. A Big Ten road game is always tough. Our non-conference schedule only includes one team outside of the top 50. During Mason's years, we would've had four. And one of those teams is USC. If this team wins eight games, it would be as big of an accomplishment as Mason's 2003 ten win season. That's the reality of the schedule. Your typical Mason coached team goes 7-5 against inferior competition. 5 wins puts Brewster on par with Mason, when adjusted for the strength of schedule. It is what it is.
 

I guess this means we probably won't be in the AP pre-season top 25, either. I agree with others that how we do vs. MTSU will be a major bellweather. If we beat them, then it proves these pre-season rankings are GIGO. Science 101 is never predict out past where you have concrete data When us scientists do that, its called a hypothesis, not a prediction or a ranking. And then you run an experiment to test it. By its very nature, preseason predictions violate that rule.

If we get our dicks kicked, however, its an indication that maybe these "experts" know a thing or two, and maybe we are headed for a season where you can count our W's on one hand (and have your thumb left over). In which case that CBS hot seat rating on Brewster goes up a notch or two.
 

RodentRampage said:
If there ranking was accurate, we'd expect to see a 1 or 2 win season, with a victory over USD and a toss-up versus Illinois.

Our 2009 schedule:

MTSU 43
South Dakota n/a
USC 16
Northern Illinois 49
Northwestern 40
Wisconsin 8
Purdue 39
Penn State 32
OSU 2
Michigan State 50
Illinois 94
Iowa 13

According to their list, USD and Illinois are the only teams that will not be greatly better than us. We could lose to Middle Tennessee State, but beating them wouldn't be seen as as big a deal as a #98 team beating a #43 team really ought to be seen. It looks like they are taking the unknowns and assuming they will all be negatives.
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I think people have been overvaluing MSU all offseason, I think they're really overvaluing Purdue and NW here. By these counts, the Gophers should be 15+ point dogs for homecoming.
 

This thread is just full of excuses.

Lets just go out and win some games!
 


6???

"Six wins is an accomplishment"...

As a long time Gopher fan, I'll be honest. Every single win is an accomplishment for our program.

However, I don't believe 6 wins will be a step forward this year, even with a tougher than usual schedule.

Barring some unforeseen injury, this team better win at least 7 games if Tim Brewster is planning to coach in Minneapolis in 2011-2012.
 

I am a BIG Gopher fan but the reason Sporting News picks us to be 98th isn't because how tough our schedule is or any other reason for that matter other than one main one and that is because that's how bad they predict us to be. I hope its not true but this is the same type of prediction we have been getting for the past few years from publications and they seem to be a lot more accurate than Gopher fans. Lets face it everyone thinks we are a below average to terrible team and based on the way we have played they are not that far off.
 

Too Long in the Wasteland said:
I guess this means we probably won't be in the AP pre-season top 25, either. I agree with others that how we do vs. MTSU will be a major bellweather. If we beat them, then it proves these pre-season rankings are GIGO. Science 101 is never predict out past where you have concrete data When us scientists do that, its called a hypothesis, not a prediction or a ranking. And then you run an experiment to test it. By its very nature, preseason predictions violate that rule.

If we get our dicks kicked, however, its an indication that maybe these "experts" know a thing or two, and maybe we are headed for a season where you can count our W's on one hand (and have your thumb left over). In which case that CBS hot seat rating on Brewster goes up a notch or two.
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a win over something called Middle Tennessee State would be considered a "major bellweather" in the 4th year of this program under Brewster. that is just sad.
 

Like it or not, MTSU is projected to be one of the better non-BCS teams this year, and we are playing at their place. In this magazine, if placed in the Big Ten, they would finish 7th of 12 teams. That's middle of the pack, and if accurate, should give us some good insight where we stand in the Big Ten after playing against them.

@ gopherbadgerman

I agree, it comes down to wins and losses, but this schedule does not result in an apples to apples comparison to our "success" in the late 90's and early 2000's.
 

Purdue at 39?!?!? 39!?!?!? I want some of what they're smoking. The same Purdue team that went 5-7 last year? The same Purdue team that lost its starting RB to an ACL tear? The same Purdue that has a first-year transfer starting at QB?

I couldn't find Sporting News' final 2009 power poll, but for comparison's sake, CFN's #39 team from last year was Tennessee at 7-6, playing against an SEC schedule. Even considering that Purdue is playing a pretty weak schedule this year, and gets to miss Iowa and Penn St. (who won't be as bad as many think), look at their opponents and tell me where you find 7 wins. If they get anywhere close to 7 wins this year, I'll eat my hat. They finished at #71 in CFN's final 2009 poll. How did they get 32 spots better in the offseason while losing their best offensive player and breaking in a new QB?

These rankings are garbage. Northwestern, Purdue, and MSU are all waaaayy too high, much like Minnesota is too low. All four of those teams should be somewhere between 55 and 70, with Minnesota ranked higher than the other 3. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but we did beat all 3 of those teams last year, no? Why the presumption that we'll be one of the 22 worst teams in DI-A?

scools12 said:
a win over something called Middle Tennessee State would be considered a "major bellweather" in the 4th year of this program under Brewster. that is just sad.
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A. Do you watch/follow college football?
B. Do you know how to spell "bellwether"?
C. Do you know what the word "bellwether" even means?
 

dpodoll68 said:
Purdue at 39?!?!? 39!?!?!? I want some of what they're smoking. The same Purdue team that went 5-7 last year? The same Purdue team that lost its starting RB to an ACL tear? The same Purdue that has a first-year transfer starting at QB?

I couldn't find Sporting News' final 2009 power poll, but for comparison's sake, CFN's #39 team from last year was Tennessee at 7-6, playing against an SEC schedule. Even considering that Purdue is playing a pretty weak schedule this year, and gets to miss Iowa and Penn St. (who won't be as bad as many think), look at their opponents and tell me where you find 7 wins. If they get anywhere close to 7 wins this year, I'll eat my hat. They finished at #71 in CFN's final 2009 poll. How did they get 32 spots better in the offseason while losing their best offensive player and breaking in a new QB?

These rankings are garbage. Northwestern, Purdue, and MSU are all waaaayy too high, much like Minnesota is too low. All four of those teams should be somewhere between 55 and 70, with Minnesota ranked higher than the other 3. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but we did beat all 3 of those teams last year, no? Why the presumption that we'll be one of the 22 worst teams in DI-A?

A. Do you watch/follow college football?
B. Do you know how to spell "bellwether"?
C. Do you know what the word "bellwether" even means?
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From the category of relatively useless fun facts: "The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) leading its flock of sheep." Hence, bellwether is an indicator of direction or trend.
 

I will wager a rather dull 1955-D Lincoln Cent (worth perhaps twice its face value!) that the Gophers will be better than #98 this season.

The offense can't be any worse, and with it simplified and targeted to the abilities of the players, should be at least a bit better. The defense is admittedly a question mark. But if the offense makes moderate improvement, and the defense doesn't take much of a backward step, there's no way that the Gophers will be the #98 team.
 

loki said:
I am a BIG Gopher fan but the reason Sporting News picks us to be 98th isn't because how tough our schedule is or any other reason for that matter other than one main one and that is because that's how bad they predict us to be. I hope its not true but this is the same type of prediction we have been getting for the past few years from publications and they seem to be a lot more accurate than Gopher fans. Lets face it everyone thinks we are a below average to terrible team and based on the way we have played they are not that far off.
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Mmmm hmmmm...because who you play has no impact on how good or bad your record will be. Good to know!
 

dpodoll68 said:
A. Do you watch/follow college football?
B. Do you know how to spell "bellwether"?
C. Do you know what the word "bellwether" even means?
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Hey dummy do you know I didn't use the "bellweather" term to begin with and was pointing how absurd that statement is? Being that a win over MTSU would be considered progress. Maybe in your world but not in mine. I would hope by now beating MTSU should be the norm not a hopefully.

I know a lot more about college football than you based on your stupid posts. Your utter dismissal of Purdue shows that you know nothing. Purdue beat Ohio State, Michigan and played Oregon tough in their head coaches 1st year. I have no doubt Purdue's program is in far better shape than the Gopher's in the 4th year if this head coach.
 

scools12 said:
Hey dummy do you kow I didn't use the "bellweather" term to begin with and was pointing how obsurb that statement is? Being that a win over MTSU would be considered progress. Maybe in your world but not in mine. I would hope by now beating MTSU should be the norm not a hopefully.

I know a lot more about college football then you based on your stupid posts. Your utter dismissal of Purdue shows that you know nothing. Purdue beat Ohio State, Michigan and played Oregon tough in their head coaches 1st year. I have no doubt Purdue's program is in far better shape then the Gopher's in the 4th year if this head coach.
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Oh the ironing.
 

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