2022 Minnesota Bowl Projection Tracker

Donate To GopherHole
I suppose you could say that every game played between two teams that have already lost 2 or 3 games and are eliminated from CFP possibility is a meaningless exhibition.

I'm old enough that for a majority of my life the ultimate goal for any Big 10 team was a trip to the Rose Bowl. I know that has changed now. But on a selfish note I would still like to experience the dream I've personally had for over 40 years. I wonder if Michigan State fans look back at 2016 and enjoy their CFP semi-final blowout loss to Alabama as fondly as they would have enjoyed a "meaningless" Rose Bowl win.
 

yes, perhaps the difference we are seeing here is some people that don't realize what they are cheering for.

Saying that you prefer the Rose Bowl over the CFP is one thing.

But, if you want to die on that hill, you also need to declare that you would potentially be cheering AGAINST the Gophers in the B1G championship game!

I can't imagine sitting down to watch any Gopher game and cheering on their opponent so the Gophers could fall to the Rose Bowl consolation prize. Yikes. Of course everyone could be happy if the Rose Bowl lines up as one of the CFP semi final bowls. Then we could all cheer on the Gophers.
 

HopHead said:
I suppose you could say that every game played between two teams that have already lost 2 or 3 games and are eliminated from CFP possibility is a meaningless exhibition.
Click to expand...
In this case, the goal shifts. Once you get 2-3 losses, the goal is to get to the best bowl location possible. I hope this is the year the Gophers don't have to think like that.
 

Schnauzer said:
I can't imagine sitting down to watch any Gopher game and cheering on their opponent so the Gophers could fall to the Rose Bowl consolation prize. Yikes. Of course everyone could be happy if the Rose Bowl lines up as one of the CFP semi final bowls. Then we could all cheer on the Gophers.
Click to expand...
I would never cheer against the Gophers. But the consolation prize of a Rose Bowl for the B1G championship loser would mean as much to me personally as a CFP semi-final appearance would. We aren't Ohio State where a trip to the Rose Bowl instead of the playoffs is seen as a failure of a season. Either one would be historic. But I would be much more likely to figure out a way to make the trip to Pasadena work than I would be to make the trip to Atlanta or Phoenix to watch a CFP semi-final.
 

The National Championship is all obnoxious commercials, manufactured hype, phony-baloney corporate blah-blah-blah. As time goes by, it looks more and more like the NFL and their plastic 'product'. And that's exactly what it is, a product, rather than an experience. A made-for-profit television studio production.

The Rose Bowl is an experience. A genuine experience. It is real.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris is not the same thing as the one in Las Vegas.

Stop and smell the roses from time to time.
 


Anybody that is complaining about the 4-team CFP should realize that the 12-team version is gonna be awesome. There will be upsets and there will be programs outside of blue bloods getting their shot.

I'm sure people bitched when they expanded the hoops tournament from 32 or 48 to 64. But then what happened? Eventually a 15 beat a 2 seed - now it's happened 11 times. And then what else happened? A 16 finally beat a 1. Plenty of double-digit seeds have also made runs to the second weekend. Those upsets are unforgettable.
 

WriterGoph said:
Anybody that is complaining about the 4-team CFP should realize that the 12-team version is gonna be awesome. There will be upsets and there will be programs outside of blue bloods getting their shot.

I'm sure people bitched when they expanded the hoops tournament from 32 or 48 to 64. But then what happened? Eventually a 15 beat a 2 seed - now it's happened 11 times. And then what else happened? A 16 finally beat a 1. Plenty of double-digit seeds have also made runs to the second weekend. Those upsets are unforgettable.
Click to expand...

'Awesome'... 'unforgettable'.

If you say so.
 

RememberMurray said:
'Awesome'... 'unforgettable'.

If you say so.
Click to expand...

I can remember exactly where I was when UMBC beat Virginia, Richmond beat Syracuse, Lehigh beat Duke, Middle Tennessee beat Michigan State. I could go on and on here. Richmond beat Syracuse in 1987. Are you saying 35 years ago isn't defined as "unforgettable"?
 

RememberMurray said:
'Awesome'... 'unforgettable'.

If you say so.
Click to expand...

Let me ask you a couple questions. Before I do, I'll be the first to admit that the 4-team CFP has been less than exciting because of the repeat of the same 6 programs now.

Do you not like David vs Goliath games?

Did you not think it was cool that Cincinnati got a shot at Bama last year?

Will you not enjoy seeing new programs get invited to the party?

Don't you think it will be fun to see an SEC team travel to play a Big Ten team on campus on December?

If you love college football, I don't see how more meaningful postseason games can be anything but a positive?
 



WriterGoph said:
I can remember exactly where I was when UMBC beat Virginia, Richmond beat Syracuse, Lehigh beat Duke, Middle Tennessee beat Michigan State. I could go on and on here. Richmond beat Syracuse in 1987. Are you saying 35 years ago isn't defined as "unforgettable"?
Click to expand...

I'm saying you missed my point, I think. We may each have different conceptions of 'awesome'.

It's okay. If everyone was the same, the world would be a boring place.
 

dumbgoph said:
Didn’t OSU have a pretty poor showing at the Rose Bowl last year? The Gophers going to the Rose Bowl would be a once in a generation (or 2) moment. I think all bets based on previous travel history would be off.
Click to expand...
Basically what we're hopefully looking at here, is exactly the 2019 season ... except where we win the Wisconsin game instead of lose it.

They (Wisc) gave Ohio St a decent shot in Indy, but lost and ended up ranked #8, while Penn St was #10. So, Wisc goes to the Rose Bowl over PSU (and loses to Herbert's Oregon team).
 





WriterGoph said:
Anybody that is complaining about the 4-team CFP should realize that the 12-team version is gonna be awesome. There will be upsets and there will be programs outside of blue bloods getting their shot.

I'm sure people bitched when they expanded the hoops tournament from 32 or 48 to 64. But then what happened? Eventually a 15 beat a 2 seed - now it's happened 11 times. And then what else happened?
Click to expand...

Most people quit giving a damn about the regular season.

Which shouldn't happen in College Football because it's only a 12 game season.
 
Last edited:





RogueGopher said:
Yes. It was an exhibition game. There's a reason why so many players opt out of bowl games unless they're in the CFP.
Click to expand...

Okay, well... we disagree on that one. Different values.

The Gophers have never played in your "One Meaningful Game". In fact, most teams haven't, and probably never will.

No wonder you guys don't mind watching games on your phones. They're almost all meaningless games!
 


DoubleDeckerDons said:
You're tripping. Any chance to beat up on the SEC is very meaningful. The same can be said of beating up on USC or Oregon.
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, it is still fun to watch and enjoyable. But in the grand scheme of College Football, it doesn't really matter. Bowl games are important to programs to get extra practices and get younger players more experience. They are not meaningful when the goals are winning a national championship. If you want the goals to be lower than that, then don't know what to tell ya.
 

RememberMurray said:
By that definition, was the Outback Bowl win over Auburn "meaningless"?
Click to expand...
No. It was a nice cap on a good season.

Personally, I'd rather the whole thing be run exactly like FCS/D2/D3. A real tournament.
 

Iceland12 said:
:LOL::LOL::LOL:

Do you really know so little about College Football that you think Bowl games don't count in the record books? Or are you simply trolling?
Click to expand...
Yes, I know it counts in the record books. It's not a true exhibition, but it's a glorified one.
 


RogueGopher said:
Don't get me wrong, it is still fun to watch and enjoyable. But in the grand scheme of College Football, it doesn't really matter. Bowl games are important to programs to get extra practices and get younger players more experience. They are not meaningful when the goals are winning a national championship. If you want the goals to be lower than that, then don't know what to tell ya.
Click to expand...
Exactly, and case in point...
Players today regularly sit out bowl games to avoid injury affecting their draft status.
Players don't sit out the national championship game.
 

RogueGopher said:
Don't get me wrong, it is still fun to watch and enjoyable. But in the grand scheme of College Football, it doesn't really matter. Bowl games are important to programs to get extra practices and get younger players more experience. They are not meaningful when the goals are winning a national championship. If you want the goals to be lower than that, then don't know what to tell ya.
Click to expand...
I agree for the most part. But how do you think championship-caliber teams get to that level? They get experience playing in big post-season bowl games against great teams. It's definitely meaningful to the process.
 

RogueGopher said:
Don't get me wrong, it is still fun to watch and enjoyable. But in the grand scheme of College Football, it doesn't really matter. Bowl games are important to programs to get extra practices and get younger players more experience. They are not meaningful when the goals are winning a national championship. If you want the goals to be lower than that, then don't know what to tell ya.
Click to expand...

???????????????

So, bowl games are "important", but they "don't matter"?

Scratching head...
 



RememberMurray said:
If the Gophers never get to the One Meaningful Game, I guess I've wasted a helluva lot of my time on meaningless games.

Sigh.
Click to expand...
Wrong, regular season games are meaningful. The game this week is the most meaningful game up to this point. Do you follow? The games are meaningful up until you can't win a championship.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom