2016 wins vs 2018 wins

[rockford]

The Axe win gives this past season a little extra jolt but in the end any season that doesn't involve the team being in the mix for the division title isn't really one to hang onto long term regardless of how many wins are next to the teams name at the end of the year.

There you go. A 6-6 season ain't cool, but it's more palatable due to the defensive improvement over the last three games and finally beating Bucky.

I feel good enough about where we're headed that I'm not worrying about where we've been.

JTG

 

[FredCoxRocks]

Sigh, okay if we have to.

Losses by 2016 Gopher Team:

Penn State - Lost by 3 points in O.T.

Iowa by 7

Nebraska by 7

Badgers by 14


Losses by 2018 Gopher Team:

Maryland by 29

Iowa by 17

tOSU by 16

Nebraska by 25

Illinois by 24

Northwestern by 10


Had one fine win in 2016. No great wins and no blowout losses.

Had 3 blowout losses in 2018 and zero one score losses. Had three fine wins and one GREAT win!

Don't know why people want to keep dwelling in the past or try and make this season seem better than it is.

What it is is the year the got the AXE BACK and hopefully end the season on a two game winning streak!

Some people still favor one coaching regime over the other for various reasons that have been shared here is my best guess.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

I really hope we win at least 9 games next year so that people can finally move past this particular debate. 2016 was a nice year, we had an easy schedule (we did, it is just a fact, not a shot at the team or the quality of the wins) and won the games we were supposed to before pulling a bit of an upset in the bowl game.

Every year is different and there is nothing to be gained by comparing them. 2016 was a good year, it wasn't a great year because we fell short against the good teams on the schedule up until the bowl game and we were not in the mix for the division title.

2018 was a frustrating year because there were a couple really solid wins combined with some really ugly loses.

Both 2016 and 2018 featured 2 conference wins over teams that ended up being bowl eligible so it wasn't like either year set the conference on fire. Neither year was great, neither year was terrible, but if I had to pick one or the other I go with 2018 because of the Wisconsin win.

Time to let this one go. For those that are still hanging onto 2016, if that is the high water mark for you of what you want this program to be then you have really low expectations. Hopefully in the next few years Fleck is able to lead this team to a season that will make the ones still clinging to the past finally let go and start looking to the future.

The Axe win gives this past season a little extra jolt but in the end any season that doesn't involve the team being in the mix for the division title isn't really one to hang onto long term regardless of how many wins are next to the teams name at the end of the year.

9 wins isn't the high water mark of what fans can expect, but it is certainly a number that is attainable.

 

[imthewalrus]

What's all the commotion around this place about. Obviously, 1 Big Ten win is better than no Big Ten wins. Fleck managed to get 2 Big Ten wins in his first season. That was pretty good. Obviously, 3 Big Ten wins is better than 2 Big Ten wins. So, Fleck must have done everything 111 basis points better in his second season than he did in his first season That is GREAT news. So, IF 3 Big Ten wins is 111 basis points (1/9th) in a 9 game Big Ten season, 5 Big Ten wins in a 9 game Big Ten season is 222 basis points better than a 3 Big Ten win season.

Northwestern's 8 Big Ten wins is 333 basis points better in a 9 game Big Ten season than TC's 5 win Big Ten season was.

If you want to just fight with each other, that is perfectly ok and adds to the traffic on this site.

When and if Fleck gets up to the 5 win Big Ten mark in a 9 game schedule all of you Fleck folks will be more than happy to talk about what a wonderful accomplishment that will be. And, rightly so. Just please NEVER cheapen the value of even a single Big Ten win. It is managing to win MORE Big Ten games that will make this Golden Gopher Football Program a BETTER Big Ten Football Program!

You folks are really funny sometimes. But, fight on! Never give in and never give up. The site needs the traffic!

 

[Dano564]

If things go well for the Gophers next year, they could contend for the Big Ten West.

 

[Iceland12]

I really hope we win at least 9 games next year so that people can finally move past this particular debate.. For those that are still hanging onto 2016, if that is the high water mark for you of what you want this program to be.. .

Yeah, no one is doing that. Except maybe Iowa and Badger trolls

9 wins next year is certainly attainable. They'll have 5 Big Ten Home games. They'll swap tOSU for Penn State. The Gopher will still get Maryland and now they'll add Rutgers and get Nebraska and Wisconsin at home.

Non-conference schedule will include the South Dakota Jackrabbits and Georgia Southern at TCF and Fresno State on the road.

9 wins can be had. Hopefully when they get there people won't feel the need to add an * to it.

Ah hell, let's go for a Big Ten West title!

 

[CharchyCharch]

I really hope we win at least 9 games next year so that people can finally move past this particular debate. 2016 was a nice year, we had an easy schedule (we did, it is just a fact, not a shot at the team or the quality of the wins) and won the games we were supposed to before pulling a bit of an upset in the bowl game.

Every year is different and there is nothing to be gained by comparing them. 2016 was a good year, it wasn't a great year because we fell short against the good teams on the schedule up until the bowl game and we were not in the mix for the division title.

2018 was a frustrating year because there were a couple really solid wins combined with some really ugly loses.

Both 2016 and 2018 featured 2 conference wins over teams that ended up being bowl eligible so it wasn't like either year set the conference on fire. Neither year was great, neither year was terrible, but if I had to pick one or the other I go with 2018 because of the Wisconsin win.

Time to let this one go. For those that are still hanging onto 2016, if that is the high water mark for you of what you want this program to be then you have really low expectations. Hopefully in the next few years Fleck is able to lead this team to a season that will make the ones still clinging to the past finally let go and start looking to the future.

The Axe win gives this past season a little extra jolt but in the end any season that doesn't involve the team being in the mix for the division title isn't really one to hang onto long term regardless of how many wins are next to the teams name at the end of the year.

The ability of fleck to bring in decent qbs alone gives me hope. No coach in the history of the u was worse than kill at setting up qbs. .

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

While your at it go back and look at the ratings of the teams when they played the game. That would make quite a difference correct? Though you probably did it already, which is why you used the other ones.

If what people think about the teams means something to you than you can turn yourself into a pretzel trying to justify your theory. Which you just did.

If the actual results on the field mean anything to you than 2016 was a much, better season than 2017 or 2018.

Though as has been said ad infinitum hard to beat bringing the Axe back home.

Oh, this took me about 3-4 minutes to do, so if you think that bothers me you're wrong.

Again.

So then does BYU get to claim they beat the fourth best team in the nation??? Obviously Wisconsin wasn't nearly as good as their ranking was, even when BYU played them.

The end of year represent ratings the average performance over the year and correct where teams were over or under rated. "At the time" rating could be more appropriate for teams that had a major disruption (such as the Gophers with the suspensions a couple years ago), but I don't know that that was the case with any of the teams they played this year.

For me this is an interesting comparison. It doesn't mean one season is better than the other. It's just an interesting comparison between two seasons that were very fun for completely different reasons. I think if we added in the 2003 season for comparison as well it'd be interesting. I'd expect it to be very similar to 2016, since that team lost all the games to ranked opponents...

If you prefer one season or the other, it kind of answers a personal debate - if you had to choose, would you rather have the Gophers beat the teams they're supposed to beat and lose to the teams they're supposed to lose to OR lose the occasional clunker or two to bad teams but beat an occasional team or two they shouldn't beat. Claeys/Kill was mostly the former, Fleck seems to be more the latter. Outside of 2003, Mason seemed more like the latter as well.

Then there was Brew that was the worst of both options (lose to the teams they were supposed to lose to and have clunkers).