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FanSinceTheFifties said:
That raises an interesting point. What percent of Gopher fans are alums? Non alums have lots of choices to spend money on. Twins. Vikings. Wild. Timberwolves. To name a few. What other BiG teams have that much competition in their town?
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The multiple decades of neglect at the top to nurture revenue sports did long-lasting damage to the potential fan base for the Gophers. Couple this with the arrival of the Vikings, and then the greater professional sports teams all eating into the disposable income pie, combined to probably make the potential Gophers fan base smaller than it should be.

Now of course the program is going the right direction again, but now big $$$ and generational change (in terms of viewing habits in particular) place new pressures getting butts in the seats and outsized booster contributions.

Obviously Columbus, Athens, Lincoln, and so on show there are programs that still are king in those locales. Although wish that were here fact is that CFB would be in real trouble if those dedicated fans found something better to do on Saturdays in the fall

The patient is alive and mostly well. Beating Purdue will certainly feel good on Saturday night. Winning is better.
 

DEGopher said:
So what’s interesting about that whole Supreme Court rulling, I hate what it has done to college football, yet I like the rulling.
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I tend to agree. We don't like how it's changed the traditional workings of a game we love, but legally, it was the right thing to do.
 

Schnauzer said:
I literally gave you examples of what you could have said that would have had no response from me, but go ahead - you do you.

And I am not here to impress people. If I was, I'd change my Gopherhole avatar to my tinder photo, where I am holding a 14" walleye.
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is that what the kids are calling it these days?
 


MNVCGUY said:
Since the Luke Fickell debacle that was 2011 - Ohio State is 102-9 in Big Ten games. You could make a case that very few to any teams in the Big Ten belong in the same conference as them.
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That would be a list that only includes a cheating Michigan team and Oregon right now. Penn St hasn't won since 2016 and since joining the conference has won a total of eight games against the Buckeyes. Not sure they belong in the same conference as the Buckeyes.
 


GophersInIowa said:
In 2021 we had a veteran QB and really good RB while playing at home. They had a young QB making his first career start on the road. Their defense was no where close to as good as this one. They gave up 31+ points in five games that season.

It was a rough game, I expected them to be more competitive for sure. But bad games happen, especially against probably the best team in the country on the road with a young team.
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Right, our running game rightfully scared Ohio State in 2021. Nothing scared them this time around. Our running game is bad and our receivers are not good enough to get separation on their DBs. If you can't run the ball and you can't throw the ball...

On the other side of the ball, one of our biggest weaknesses is at corner and their receivers are the best in the nation. Not good! We're probably slightly better at stopping the run, but stopping OSU's run to force them to throw is NOT ideal. I don't think most years will be this bad a match up. Ohio State won't always have the best offensive (Jeremiah Smith) and defensive (Caleb Downs) players in the nation on their team. Did you see the way Smith just brushed off Koi Perich's tackle attempt on one of his long runs? When one of our best defensive player is physically overmatched, things aren't looking good.

I was hopeful, but very scared going into this matchup. The I'm scared scenario played out. It's a good thing PJ was careful not to piss off Day going into this game or we could have had an Oregon - Oklahoma State (69-3) type score on our hands.
 

USAF said:
Not outside the double-digit IQ right wing echo chamber.

Great city in a great state.

Location isn't a reason for recruiting issues.
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So you think it doesn’t make any difference how many talented players are located near your school? You’ve never seen a kid flip when he finally gets his home state offer? You don’t see other teams in talent deficient states struggle to land top 25 classes consistently? It’s not the whole reason for recruiting issues, but to say it isn’t one at all is ignorant.
 

TurfGopher said:
We don't have super embarrassing losing streaks to any team other than OSU. Unless we catch some Cignetti lightning in a bottle we are always going to be a mid-tier B1G team.
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For the record, Cignetti hasn't beaten OhSt either.

He also lost to ND. The only top 10 NIL team they beat was Michigan last year, but we almost did too. That is due to Michigan significantly underperforming in comparison to its talent level.

Incompetence can ruin a top $ roster. Just look at Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. He got fired two seasons ago, and they are now performing in line with their ≈ $30MM payroll.

Anyway, Cignetti and IU have another chance on Saturday, but I expect them to lose.
 
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btowngopher said:
So you think it doesn’t make any difference how many talented players are located near your school? You’ve never seen a kid flip when he finally gets his home state offer? You don’t see other teams in talent deficient states struggle to land top 25 classes consistently? It’s not the whole reason for recruiting issues, but to say it isn’t one at all is ignorant.
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None of the people calling Minneapolis a recruiting negative are doing so because of it's distance from recruits.

They're making political statements.

In any case, there isnt a lot of local talent, that's true. But thats true of Lincoln, Madison, Eugene Oregon, and on and on
 



FanSinceTheFifties said:
Yes, many other places for fans to focus on -- including Going Up North on weekends. You're right, it's not the size of the Metro, it's the dilution of fan interest and money in the market with so many attractions. This was not the case before 1961.
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Going up north on weekends is an excuse? Do other states not have vacation destinations?
 

USAF said:
They're making political statements.
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Most recently yes, and I have no time for that nonsense. But to be fair, the argument had been made prior to the unrest a few years back, that Minneapolis not being a traditional college town hindered recruiting. That being the proverbial big fish in the small pond (small pond being markets like Iowa City, Lincoln, Madison, etc.) was extremely important. I don't believe that to be the case anymore, if it ever was.

I do believe that weather could be a hindrance. Not that the weather is that different in Lincoln or Madison or Ann Arbor or East Lansing. But that's not something any of us can control.
 

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