And the new divisions are...

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Gopherhurrin said:
OK, I get and agree with your point. If we get to the Big Ten championship game with this schedule we will be one of the top three or four teams in the country without a doubt. And yes, I do not see our program as being in that league in the foreseeable future. My goal was to have our program move up, way up, to the 4-4 average Big Ten program from where we have been now for my entire, long, adult life. Mason was 3.4 wins, average. With the many advantages of TCF I hoped we could get up to 4.0 Big Ten wins per season. At 4.0 we would have some 6-2 with the hope of the perfect season. With this proposed schedule we will not average 4.0, we will have many 3-5 season or worse.

I'm sorry. I really, really am sorry. You have to walk before you can run and in college football you HAVE to be able to win some games in order to improve your fan base and recruiting. With this schedule we will be permanently buried as a "have not" in the Big Ten. This is not the NFL where we can build up with a "losers first" draft and/or free agency.

"You have to walk before you can run" and this proposed schedule is going to leave us with a smallish stadium, limited crowds fully contaminated with Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska fans and a very poor record to recruit against. I will leave the bravado to those of you are young and foolish. I want a fair chance with a balanced schedule. I'm just no longer into the whole "we shall win because we are braver than they are" school of thought.
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Damn, if only those bastards in the Big Ten office had split it up this way for gopherhurrin:

MN, Ind, NW, PU, ILL, MSU

Mich, Wis, IA, OSU, PSU, Neb

Jeez, hurrin, you are clueless. What did you really want? The league will soon play nine games. It won't really matter. The fact that we maintain ALL of our rivalry games AND get separated from OSU is HUGE. Aside from a straight geographical split, this is easily the next best option. Easily.
 


Note to everyone in this thread: do not waste your time getting into meaningless arguments with Loon ("Gopherhurrin"). After the many, many years he has spent poisoning Gopher sports message boards, this should be obvious by now.
 

gophermartin said:
Guys....MSU plays for a trophy with Ind AND PSU.

Brass Spittoon with Ind
Land Grant Trophy with PSU.

Not sure which one is more important to them.

GM
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Definitely the Spittoon. Nobody on MSU's side, nor PSU's side, cares about the fabricated rivalry the Big Ten created for them. Same as our trophy with PSU.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I think what Gopherhurrin is saying guys is that we should join the Sun Belt.
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Then the divisions would be

East: Every Team in the current conference + Minnesota
West: The heat and humidity of the Deep South.

We might take the east, but there is no way we can take the heat and humidity.
 



MrGopher said:
Funny, and really sad at the same time. Seriously, if I didn't hate them so much, I would genuinely feel bad for them.

http://buckyville.yuku.com/topic/33268/t/Do-we-find-out-about-divisions-on-Sept-1.html

Before you laugh too hard, remember that this easily could have been us. Just be thankful.

Calling for them to oust Alvarez. Yikes.
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Classic quote: "The nod to Wisconsin fans is that the divisions will be named "F**k You" and "Eat S**t".... so we at least get something out of the deal."
 

Gopherhurrin said:
OK, I get and agree with your point. If we get to the Big Ten championship game with this schedule we will be one of the top three or four teams in the country without a doubt. And yes, I do not see our program as being in that league in the foreseeable future. My goal was to have our program move up, way up, to the 4-4 average Big Ten program from where we have been now for my entire, long, adult life. Mason was 3.4 wins, average. With the many advantages of TCF I hoped we could get up to 4.0 Big Ten wins per season. At 4.0 we would have some 6-2 with the hope of the perfect season. With this proposed schedule we will not average 4.0, we will have many 3-5 season or worse.

I'm sorry. I really, really am sorry. You have to walk before you can run and in college football you HAVE to be able to win some games in order to improve your fan base and recruiting. With this schedule we will be permanently buried as a "have not" in the Big Ten. This is not the NFL where we can build up with a "losers first" draft and/or free agency.

"You have to walk before you can run" and this proposed schedule is going to leave us with a smallish stadium, limited crowds fully contaminated with Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska fans and a very poor record to recruit against. I will leave the bravado to those of you are young and foolish. I want a fair chance with a balanced schedule. I'm just no longer into the whole "we shall win because we are braver than they are" school of thought.
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This is the best possible alignment (outside of the obvious) for Minnesota. It keeps the natural/closer schools in our division or protected. Those big games are great for recruiting. It is for easier for the fans to travel to away games.
 




Feeling Minnesota said:
this just shown on espn bottom line
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2727Gopher said:
According to ESPN's sources, the original alignment discussed in this thread (we're with Michigan, MSU, Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern) is going to be the final one and we're going to have Wisconsin as our cross-over. While I'd prefer straight East/West, this is very good for us.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5519832
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Yes, I am so happy. One million internet points for me!
 

tjgopher said:
Damn, if only those bastards in the Big Ten office had split it up this way for gopherhurrin:

MN, Ind, NW, PU, ILL, MSU

Mich, Wis, IA, OSU, PSU, Neb

Jeez, hurrin, you are clueless. What did you really want? The league will soon play nine games. It won't really matter. The fact that we maintain ALL of our rivalry games AND get separated from OSU is HUGE. Aside from a straight geographical split, this is easily the next best option. Easily.
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First off, I would be happy enough with that. I do not now, nor will I ever believe we can lose our way to the Rose Bowl. I know some of you believe that by playing the best teams we will get better. I think winning games helps more.

Think. There are 12 teams playing eight games. Six teams are acknowledged to be particularly strong programs, six are not. If we play four of those minimum every year, someone else will "only" get to play two minimum every year. It is simple math. The teams that only play two of those "Big Six" will on average, win more games than we win. It is exactly the same as why "7" comes up on two dice more than "4" comes up. You can bet on "4", I want "7".
 

ChemEGopher said:
Michigan, Nebraska, MSU, Iowa, Northwestern, and Minnesota.

OSU, PSU, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, and Indiana.

I've seen this rumor come from multiple sources in the last 24 hours. If we still have a protected rivalry with Wisconsin I'd say it's OK. If not, I'll be mad.
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Let's hope this is alignment is confirmed later today with a crossover game against WI.

However, should we read anything into the picture that is up on the Big Ten Network's homepage in regard to the positioning of the helmets? Without analyzing it in great detail, it seems like this may be a potential split based on parameters that have been discussed in the past. Also, the crossovers (potentially indicated by the positioning of the helmets) protect many of the existing rivalries. Let's hope there is nothing to this. We would lose the WI game, which would be tough to imagine. There's likely nothing to it, but it is an interesting way of arranging the helmets.
 

Gopherhurrin said:
First off, I would be happy enough with that. I do not now, nor will I ever believe we can lose our way to the Rose Bowl. I know some of you believe that by playing the best teams we will get better. I think winning games helps more.

Think. There are 12 teams playing eight games. Six teams are acknowledged to be particularly strong programs, six are not. If we play four of those minimum every year, someone else will "only" get to play two minimum every year. It is simple math. The teams that only play two of those "Big Six" will on average, win more games than we win. It is exactly the same as why "7" comes up on two dice more than "4" comes up. You can bet on "4", I want "7".
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Wow, you just keep spewing this, don't you. Honestly, why is this any different than right now?? We never have more than 1 of Mich, OSU, and PSU off our schedule, and play IA/WI every year. That's 4 of the 5 toughest games in the league each year.

Beyond that, if we have the "easy" schedule and win games, even if they are B10 games, the local media and regular Joes will say what they always do "so you can beat the Indiana/Illinois/NW/etc etc of the B10, so what? What about Iowa, Wisc, OSU, etc... THOSE are the ones that matter..." We will get this and a lack of attention regardless. And while I agree every team ebbs and flows in terms of strength, I have a much harder time believing OSU will weaken than the likes of Wisc, Iowa, and Nebraska on any given year, making it a little easier for us in our division.

In this scenario, we luck out that we keep our 3 important trophy games/rivalries, rekindle a rivalry with Nebraska, keep within a relative confine geographically to help recruiting and travel costs (for the team AND the fans), get a game back on TV EVERY year (the LBJ game is a nationally televised event on ABC whether you want to admit it or not), and avoid playing OSU every year and having them block us out of a title game. What is wrong with this???
 



Gopherhurrin said:
First off, I would be happy enough with that. I do not now, nor will I ever believe we can lose our way to the Rose Bowl. I know some of you believe that by playing the best teams we will get better. I think winning games helps more.

Think. There are 12 teams playing eight games. Six teams are acknowledged to be particularly strong programs, six are not. If we play four of those minimum every year, someone else will "only" get to play two minimum every year. It is simple math. The teams that only play two of those "Big Six" will on average, win more games than we win. It is exactly the same as why "7" comes up on two dice more than "4" comes up. You can bet on "4", I want "7".
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:clap:

High comedy would be hearing you try to present that division to the other schools.
 


Maybe Maturi was correct...

....and protecting our rivalries (and he added Michigan!)

He was 'ok' with it. Because it was just fine for Minnesota! :drink:

GM
 

Received an email confirming the division alignments with the following cross over games.

Osu Mich
psu Msu
MN wi
Iowa pur
neb Ind
NW ill

I could have the last 2 mixed up going off of memory.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Wow, you just keep spewing this, don't you. Honestly, why is this any different than right now?? We never have more than 1 of Mich, OSU, and PSU off our schedule, and play IA/WI every year. That's 4 of the 5 toughest games in the league each year.

Beyond that, if we have the "easy" schedule and win games, even if they are B10 games, the local media and regular Joes will say what they always do "so you can beat the Indiana/Illinois/NW/etc etc of the B10, so what? What about Iowa, Wisc, OSU, etc... THOSE are the ones that matter..." We will get this and a lack of attention regardless. And while I agree every team ebbs and flows in terms of strength, I have a much harder time believing OSU will weaken than the likes of Wisc, Iowa, and Nebraska on any given year, making it a little easier for us in our division.

In this scenario, we luck out that we keep our 3 important trophy games/rivalries, rekindle a rivalry with Nebraska, keep within a relative confine geographically to help recruiting and travel costs (for the team AND the fans), get a game back on TV EVERY year (the LBJ game is a nationally televised event on ABC whether you want to admit it or not), and avoid playing OSU every year and having them block us out of a title game. What is wrong with this???
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I have been a fan for decades. The LBJ game has been an ABC game very, very, very few times in the past forty years.

As for your first point re playing four of the Big Five teams every year now, why do you think we have not been to a January bowl game in fifty years? Nine bad coaches in a row? My point is really simple. I want a schedule of average difficulty every year, on average. I don't care what the media says. I don't care what games the fans want to win. I think it is stupid to spot teams like Purdue, NU or Illinois an extra win or two each year.

I have withstood many decades of more Big Ten losses than wins. I have stayed when 90% of U of M grads have dropped out. I have been there, done that, suffered that. I have seen us play in The Shoe, The Big House, etc. I'm a vet and still willing to fight. However, if we must have an unbalanced schedule in favor of playing a particularly difficult schedule every year, I will not last. The other Big Ten teams not only want to win as much as we do, they have been active and set up an alignment which will help maintain their superiority over us. THEY, on average, will not be playing a minimum of four of the Big Six every year. They are smarter than we are and we now even concede the fact that they have the right to insist that they have control of our schedule to THEIR benefit. We want their money and we now will allow this unbalanced schedule into the future.

I object.
 

SunGopher said:
Received an email confirming the division alignments with the following cross over games.

Osu Mich
psu Msu
MN wi
Iowa pur
neb Ind
NW ill

I could have the last 2 mixed up going off of memory.
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??? WTF?
 

this new alignment will be an excuse for a ticket price hike at all BT stadiums.
 



Thinking this through,

The Good:
- Maintain rivalries with UW & IA
- Get to play for the jug every year
- Get to play Nebraska every year (great history, proximity)

The Bad:
The Gophers will "hands down" have the toughest average strength of schedule every year if the winning % since 1993 hold up. The crossover with Wisconsin is what guarantees this. Only two other teams have tough crossovers, presumably MI/OSU and NU/PSU. But they are both teams with a high winning % in that timeframe so instead of playing MI & NU as we will, they'll play MI & MN or NU & MN. There could conceivably be a year where the Gophers could have on the schedule #1-6 in terms of winning % since '93 (OSU/MI/NU/PSU/IA/WI). Only one other team could have that schedule, whomever Iowa gets as their protected crossover.
 


I would argue that Wisconsin is the most disappointed by this. Illlinois, which moves east considers OSU & Indiana a rival and will still get to play NW in a crossover presumably.
 

badgergopher said:
Thinking this through,

The Good:
- Maintain rivalries with UW & IA
- Get to play for the jug every year
- Get to play Nebraska every year (great history, proximity)

The Bad:
The Gophers will "hands down" have the toughest average strength of schedule every year if the winning % since 1993 hold up. The crossover with Wisconsin is what guarantees this. Only two other teams have tough crossovers, presumably MI/OSU and NU/PSU. But they are both teams with a high winning % in that timeframe so instead of playing MI & NU as we will, they'll play MI & MN or NU & MN. There could conceivably be a year where the Gophers could have on the schedule #1-6 in terms of winning % since '93 (OSU/MI/NU/PSU/IA/WI). Only one other team could have that schedule, whomever Iowa gets as their protected crossover.
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1. There's no reason to believe winning percentages since 1993 will hold up.
2. If they do hold up, it doesn't matter because Minnesota would be horrible anyway (2nd worst winning percentage in that time frame).
 

Gopherhurrin said:
What? When? By the way, Coach Bill Cooper lost his job at OSU because Michigan's Lloyd Carr owned him. I am glad we will not play PSU and OSU every year. But, I safely predict, you guys will cry like babies about an "understandable" bad record on those years when we WILL get OSU plus Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan.:cry::cry: Sorry, but that will be just too hard to get to the title game.
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Adding Nebraska just made the Big Ten a big tougher and stronger conference. I think Nebraska was "the" choice for a majority of Gopher fans with expansion talks. IMO, adding Nebraska and having them in our division is a good thing.

I am sure Coach Brewster and the players are excited to play a tough schedule.

Bring it!
 

This is great. Not only do we get the important trophy games every year, but Wisconsin gets hosed. I love it.
 

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