8-4 two years in a row (regular season). We appear to be back to Mason-like success

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GophersInIowa said:
If we go 4-4 or better in the conference next year, we will have the most total wins in a three year stretch since the Big Ten went to eight games in 1971.

My hope is that Kill will bring stability to the program. Mason had some good years but also had some pretty bad ones. We went 4-7 in his 5th year.
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I see 7. Sweep at home, win @NW, @Purdue, @Iowa, and I'll even talk myself into winning at tOSU - Make it 8-0.

Sat, Oct 3 at Northwestern Evanston, Ill. TBA
Sat, Oct 10 at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. TBA
Sat, Oct 17 Nebraska TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Oct 31 Michigan TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Nov 7 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio TBA
Sat, Nov 14 at Iowa Iowa City, Iowa TBA
Sat, Nov 21 Illinois TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Nov 28 Wisconsin TCF Bank Stadium TBA
 

It is good to think that no opponent is a "sure loss" on the schedule.
Unregistered User said:
I see 7. Sweep at home, win @NW, @Purdue, @Iowa, and I'll even talk myself into winning at tOSU - Make it 8-0.

Sat, Oct 3 at Northwestern Evanston, Ill. TBA
Sat, Oct 10 at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. TBA
Sat, Oct 17 Nebraska TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Oct 31 Michigan TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Nov 7 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio TBA
Sat, Nov 14 at Iowa Iowa City, Iowa TBA
Sat, Nov 21 Illinois TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Nov 28 Wisconsin TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Click to expand...
 

I like how we get scheduled Michigan and Ohio State the first two years in cross over games and Wisconsin gets Rutgers and Maryland. In addition, Iowa gets Maryland and Indiana.
 

Do we factor in cupcakes from no conference
 



RolGnav said:
I don't mind an 8-4 season, because our schedule was a bit more difficult than last year.
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Yep. This team definitely would have won 9 games with last years schedule and last years team definitely would have won 7 games with this years schedule. Before the season I was expecting 9 wins but if you told me TCU would be a top 5 teams I definitely would have expected 8. We can of course win 9 games this year though.
 

Unregistered User said:
I see 7. Sweep at home, win @NW, @Purdue, @Iowa, and I'll even talk myself into winning at tOSU - Make it 8-0.

Sat, Oct 3 at Northwestern Evanston, Ill. TBA
Sat, Oct 10 at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. TBA
Sat, Oct 17 Nebraska TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Oct 31 Michigan TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Nov 7 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio TBA
Sat, Nov 14 at Iowa Iowa City, Iowa TBA
Sat, Nov 21 Illinois TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Nov 28 Wisconsin TCF Bank Stadium TBA
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Nicely timed bye 7 games into the season between home games against Nebraska and Michigan. Two teams who will likely be still adjusting to new coaching staffs.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
I think the ceiling is MSU and Wisconsin type success. Top 15 to 20 rankings and 5 or 6 B 10 wins in many years and a run to the B 10 championship game every few years. 9 and 10 win seasons then 6 or 7 during any rebuilding years.
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Agree. It would also be nice to appear in some relatively big bowl games as well, but if we can reach the level of success stated here, that will take care of itself in the long run.
 

howeda7 said:
Of the top seasons in the last 30 years, I'd put this 3rd:

2003
1999
2014

In that sense, it is 'Mason-like'. But don't have full results yet. If we go 6-6 and to the Music City Bowls the next two years, we'll have our answer. If we go 9-3 and 10-2 with a couple Outbacks, we'll have reached the next level.
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Agree with every word you say here
 



I think this year was better than 99. Its close but winning both the jug the pig and not to mention going into Lincoln and winning were special. Although besting PSU that year was great as well as was winning in Iowa. I think if we win the bowl game that clinches it. We didn't do that in 99
 

supadupafly said:
Believe it or not, 99% of us feel the same way. Don't confuse recognizing and offering up a degree of praise for good, solid work as settling or being "satisfied" just because some are not reacting in an over-the-top, hyperbolic and somewhat childish way of complete and utter disgust towards the team and staff following today's very disappointing result.
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Um, yes, which is why I didn't. It's important, too, not to jump all over people in a hyperbolic way when they express disappointment over a disappointing result.
 

Not the same. The 8-4 this year is much better than the 8-4 last year. Last years team wouldn't have won 8 on this years schedule. We are still improving
 

Sparlimb said:
Occasional wins over rivals, 4 to 5 Big Ten wins per year, 7 to 8 wins on the season. Feels much like the early 2000's did to me. I'm not sure we should realistically expect any more than that next year as the non-conference schedule ramps up in strength again. What do you think will happen first, folks get tired of 4 to 5 Big Ten wins a season once again or Kill breaks through with a special season (6+ BT wins)?
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You'd have to wait a few more years to make any fair comparison between Mason & Kill. Kill is turning the program around faster than we'd expect, and has a chance to have a much better record than Mason. I think the question is can he equal or exceed Alvarez' Wisconsin program record?

KILL-MASON-ALVAREZ COMPARISON.jpg
 



gopherbadgerman said:
I think the ceiling is MSU and Wisconsin type success. Top 15 to 20 rankings and 5 or 6 B 10 wins in many years and a run to the B 10 championship game every few years. 9 and 10 win seasons then 6 or 7 during any rebuilding years.
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There is no excuse not to be better than Wisconsin.
 

supadupafly said:
Imo, a clueless, but not surprising post. Sorry but in a 12 month span Mason never thumped Michigan in Ann Arbor, thumped Iowa, thumped Penn State, thumped and then beat again a historically successful program like Nebraska (twice and one of them in Lincoln), gave the #5/6 team in the country in tOSU all they could handle for 4 qtrs, or have the opportunity to win a game and win the B1G championship/go to the B1G championship game.
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mmmm k...maybe not within a 12-month span; however, Mason DID beat Michigan in Ann Arbor, did beat Iowa, did thump Penn State (wasn't he 4-4 vs. PSU?), and did beat a program with a much stronger history than Nebraska (Alabama) as well an up-and-coming monster program (Oregon). He also beat #6 OSU AT Columbus, beat #2 PSU AT State College, and DID have the opportunity to win just one game that, by winning, arguably would have won the entire Big Ten (the 4th Q disaster vs. Michigan, 2003).
 

It's really hard to directly compare this year's team to '99 or '03 because there are so many more teams in the conference. However, here are a few reasons why I like the position we are in now better than in the Mason era.

- In both '99, and '03, we had favorable schedules. We didn't play the 2nd or 3rd place finishers both years. This year we didn't play 2 of the worst 3 teams in the conference.

- In '99, much of our success was because of Wacker recruits. That year was Mason's best defense, and once Wacker's recruits were gone we never really had a decent defense again. This year, with the except of about 4 or 5 guys, all of our success is from Kill's recruits. While yesterday was a disappointment, we had a lot of good moments this year.

- So far under Kill, we have improved every year. Under Mason we peaked in that 3rd year and then dropped off to 2-6 by 2001 with a horrible defense.

Kill has said all along that it would take him 7 years to get where he needs to go, and so far I see no reason to be worried.
 

Sparlimb...Nonsense. Absolute drivel. We may not be an elite program in the next few years, but our record will surpass Mason's best years. The recruiting is improving, new facilities will be constructed and Kill's system will be fully implemented, including the robust weight training program. The glass is half full, not half empty.
 

Glen in 1999 was probably as close to a Big Ten Title as any year.

We lost to Wisconsin in overtime that year which would have won us a share of the Big Ten title at 6-2.

Team W L W L
#4/4 Wisconsin † 7 – 1 10 – 2
#5/5 Michigan ‡ 6 – 2 10 – 2
#7/7 Michigan State 6 – 2 10 – 2
#11/11 Penn State 0* – 3 0* – 3
#18/17 Minnesota 5 – 3 8 – 4


The other two losses that year were to Ohio State. Lost by 3.
And lost to Purdue by 5.
 

Face The Facts said:
Glen in 1999 was probably as close to a Big Ten Title as any year.

We lost to Wisconsin in overtime that year which would have won us a share of the Big Ten title at 6-2.

Team W L W L
#4/4 Wisconsin † 7 – 1 10 – 2
#5/5 Michigan ‡ 6 – 2 10 – 2
#7/7 Michigan State 6 – 2 10 – 2
#11/11 Penn State 0* – 3 0* – 3
#18/17 Minnesota 5 – 3 8 – 4


The other two losses that year were to Ohio State. Lost by 3.
And lost to Purdue by 5.
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And the Penn State win was by 1 point and the Iowa win was by 4, so they could have been...?
 

Iceland12 said:
And the Penn State win was by 1 point and the Iowa win was by 4, so they could have been...?
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No doubt... but what I'm saying is an overtime game going the other way would have put us in the Rose Bowl that year.
Only one game result (and an OT game at that) would have put us in the Rose Bowl. Don't think that was the case any other year.
 



heston11 said:
I like how we get scheduled Michigan and Ohio State the first two years in cross over games and Wisconsin gets Rutgers and Maryland. In addition, Iowa gets Maryland and Indiana.
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Um, why is it that this would last TWO consecutive years instead of a steady rotation? That's stupid and ridiculously unfair, for many reasons.
 

Sparlimb said:
Occasional wins over rivals, 4 to 5 Big Ten wins per year, 7 to 8 wins on the season. Feels much like the early 2000's did to me. I'm not sure we should realistically expect any more than that next year as the non-conference schedule ramps up in strength again. What do you think will happen first, folks get tired of 4 to 5 Big Ten wins a season once again or Kill breaks through with a special season (6+ BT wins)?
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Yes, the team is back to the level Mason had us at before he quit trying & the program went in the dump.
 

cncmin said:
Um, why is it that this would last TWO consecutive years instead of a steady rotation? That's stupid and ridiculously unfair, for many reasons.
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I don't believe the goal was to be fair, unfortunately.
 

Playing Michigan now is probably good timing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

In year 3 for Kill, we would have won the division if we had come out on top our final 2 games.
In year 4, we would have won the division if we could have held a halftime lead.

When did Mason get that close in 10 years?

JK>>>GM already and it isn't that close.
 

proudgopher said:
Sparlimb...Nonsense. Absolute drivel. We may not be an elite program in the next few years, but our record will surpass Mason's best years. The recruiting is improving, new facilities will be constructed and Kill's system will be fully implemented, including the robust weight training program. The glass is half full, not half empty.
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Wasn't arguing where we are going. Was commenting on where we are currently and where we were when Kill started. We are back to fringe bowl team status (slightly above the last 2 years). You clearly believe we will continue to ascend. Hope you are right.
 

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