Another week of carnage in the Top 25

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RememberMurray said:
I'm not the one who has been "driven nuts". I'm quite happily enjoying the Gopher football season.

You, on the other hand, might consider seeing a therapist to help you recover from trauma the Bowling Green loss inflicted on your psyche. It's just not healthy to carry that around forever inside you. You need to find a way to move on.
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Ha well, can’t argue with that. Minnesota sports viewership eventually either hardens our psyches and thickens the skin, or we find other endeavors to fill our spare time.

Enjoying the talk and thank you for the feedback.
 

RememberMurray said:
Yeah. Seems pretty obvious.

Some people don't dig celebrating, I guess.
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Especially considering in 1990 the big ten was ten teams and the big 8 was 8 teams

Winning the west is basically the equivalent of Colorado or K state winning the big 8

Not as big as winning the whole big ten. But a big deal.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Ha well, can’t argue with that. Minnesota sports viewership eventually either hardens our psyches and thickens the skin, or we find other endeavors to fill our spare time.

Enjoying the talk and thank you for the feedback.
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Minnesota sports fan deserve a big win. This Gopher football team has a chance to give it to us.
 


Some guy said:
Especially considering in 1990 the big ten was ten teams and the big 8 was 8 teams

Winning the west is basically the equivalent of Colorado or K state winning the big 8

Not as big as winning the whole big ten. But a big deal.
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I agree. Again, I'm not sure why anyone would want to diminish that. If your child takes his first steps, are you disappointed that he didn't do it while slam-dunking a basketball?

Minnesota fans are constantly bellyaching about a lack of championships. Seems like that should make us all the more appreciative if and when there is a trophy added to the trophy case.
 

MplsGopher said:
You don't win a trophy for winning the West, is the point.

And if you actually do (I hope not), then it's a fake trophy. As fake as the bits-o-chair or whatever that dumb thing is.
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TF?
 

MplsGopher said:
Who did Cincinnati beat this year? At IU, which is turning into very meh, and at Notre Dame, which I'm not convinced is an amazing win. A great win, sure, but does that win alone make them top 4?

AAC is weak. Their only conference test will be SMU. They don't play Houston in the regular season, but that might be the conf champ game matchup, which will be on-campus at Cincy most likely (they don't do neutral site in AAC).

Weak.

If you're going to run the table, at least have some groceries on it.


If PAC and Big Ten conf champions have 1-loss, both deserve to be in over Cincy.
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They've traveled to Indiana and South Bend and came away with wins. They were in control the entire game against ND. The top end AAC teams are better than your middle of the road P5 teams. They still have to play a now undefeated SMU team....and then they'll play another tough game in the AAC Championship. If they run the table.....they absolutely deserve to be in.

Now....would they deserve to be in over a one loss Power 5 team? Maybe not. But I doubt the ACC will have a one loss champion. It's Oregon or bust for the Pac-12. The Big 12 seems likely to have a one loss champion along with the Big Ten. I think Georgia is too strong and will handle Alabama in the SEC Championship.

I think it will be Georgia, OSU, Oklahoma/State, and Cincinnati. That's assuming that Cincy wins out. But I've watched them play a little bit and they are legit.
 

WriterGoph said:
Not at all. Winning the West Division outright should - and would be - celebrated at a school where we haven't done anything comparable since the 60s.
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Got to start somewhere. Winning the west would be proof (along with the 2019 season) of what Fleck is building. In ten years.....Wisconsin has six appearances, Northwestern has two, and Iowa has one appearance in the BTCG. That is the next step towards being a team that competes year in and year out. Win the west. And assuming that we win the west.....you now have a shot at a Rose Bowl.
 



RememberMurray said:
Those fans, and you, are more than welcome to dwell forever in anguish and regret over the Bowling Green loss, because it apparently ended forever some dream of yours.

As for me, I'm enjoying the Gopher football season as it has played out, and will continue to enjoy it going forward. There is a lot left to play for in my view. One helluva fun season, in my estimation.
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Well put! I totally agree. In fact, I care very much about the place and standing in the West Division of the B1G that Minnesota achieves this year and every year. A B1G team in any given year IS what their B1G record in terms of wins and losses says it is. The same is true of a Big Ten coach, IMHO.
 

RememberMurray said:
The phrase "easier competition" got a bit more interesting after yesterday. I take it when you said "easier competition" you were referring to the Gophers' upcoming games against Maryland, Northwestern and Illinois.

But here's something worth consideration: Have the Gopher's B1G wins so far (Purdue, Nebraska) been against "easier competition?

If you asked Iowa Hawkeye fans this morning, they would tell you that Purdue is definitely not easy competition. And fans of Oklahoma, Michigan and Michigan State would tell you that there was nothing "easy" about beating Nebraska.

My point: the Gophers have acquitted themselves very, very well so far in the B1G, against some pretty tough competition. Even their one B1G loss, to Ohio State, was very competitive.
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You have it right. We have beaten two of the four toughest teams on our schedule with Iowa remaining.
 


MplsGopher said:
It's great to win the West, don't get me wrong. Since it means beating Iowa and Wisc, most likely. That's the real reward for winning the West, for us.

But in of itself, "winning" the West is absolutely pointless. It gets you to Indy, which is awesome, but it really just gets you a date with Ohio State or an East team that managed to beat them. Which more times than not has been bad news for the West team.


Winning the Big Ten is the actual thing.
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No, when you have never won the division doing it is far from meaningless. It is an actual thing.
 




RememberMurray said:
I'm not the one who has been "driven nuts". I'm quite happily enjoying the Gopher football season.

You, on the other hand, might consider seeing a therapist to help you recover from trauma the Bowling Green loss inflicted on your psyche. It's just not healthy to carry that around forever inside you. You need to find a way to move on.
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Don't think he needs therapy for being angry that an OC simply gave away a certain win. If you have a manager who inexplicably blows up a million dollar machine and shuts down a production line, do you just shrug and say let's forget it?
 

WriterGoph said:
Not at all. Winning the West Division outright should - and would be - celebrated at a school where we haven't done anything comparable since the 60s.
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Disagree that winning a division is comparable to anything that was done in the 60's.

That there even are two divisions, is merely an artifact of NCAA rules which required it to host a championship game. When those rules are relaxed, I'd like to see it merged back into a single conference grouping.

Winning the conference, has been the only actual thing. Doing that, would be meaningful.
 

stocker08 said:
They've traveled to Indiana and South Bend and came away with wins. They were in control the entire game against ND. The top end AAC teams are better than your middle of the road P5 teams. They still have to play a now undefeated SMU team....and then they'll play another tough game in the AAC Championship. If they run the table.....they absolutely deserve to be in.

Now....would they deserve to be in over a one loss Power 5 team? Maybe not. But I doubt the ACC will have a one loss champion. It's Oregon or bust for the Pac-12. The Big 12 seems likely to have a one loss champion along with the Big Ten. I think Georgia is too strong and will handle Alabama in the SEC Championship.

I think it will be Georgia, OSU, Oklahoma/State, and Cincinnati. That's assuming that Cincy wins out. But I've watched them play a little bit and they are legit.
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Not good enough. Only having to play a few tough games, and a weak conference schedule. That's worthy of top 10 and a bid to the NY6, sure. Not good enough for top 4.

They'd obviously be in an expanded 12 team bracket and would then have a chance to prove it.
 

GopherVotary said:
This from the guy who was all excited last year that it looked like the Vikings might squeak into the playoffs.
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Thank you for the perfect analogy that exactly proves me correct.

Do the Vikings/Packers win a trophy for "winning" the NFC North?

Nope. That gets you a bid to the playoff, which is correct. Just as "winning" the West gets you a bid to Indy.


You win a trophy for winning the NFC conference = winning a trophy for winning the Big Ten. And you win a trophy for winning the Super Bowl = winning a trophy for winning the CFP playoff.

That is correct.
 

Dakota2 said:
Don't think he needs therapy for being angry that an OC simply gave away a certain win. If you have a manager who inexplicably blows up a million dollar machine and shuts down a production line, do you just shrug and say let's forget it?
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Wow. That's a really poor analogy. Nothing, I repeat nothing has been "blown up" or "shut down".

The B1G West, the B1G Championship, a high national ranking, and a top-tier bowl bid are all still within reach for the Gophers. But, as I told the other guy, if you want to wallow in misery forever over Bowling Green rather than letting it go and enjoying the rest of the 2021 season, that's your choice. Have fun with that. To me, it seems weird... but, you be you.
 
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MplsGopher said:
Thank you for the perfect analogy that exactly proves me correct.

Do the Vikings/Packers win a trophy for "winning" the NFC North?

Nope. That gets you a bid to the playoff, which is correct. Just as "winning" the West gets you a bid to Indy.


You win a trophy for winning the NFC conference = winning a trophy for winning the Big Ten. And you win a trophy for winning the Super Bowl = winning a trophy for winning the CFP playoff.

That is correct.
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So why are you all excited about the Vikings winning the North, but unimpressed with the Gophers winning the B1G West?
 

RememberMurray said:
So why are you all excited about the Vikings winning the North, but unimpressed with the Gophers winning the B1G West?
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I did not say that I would not be impressed. You won't find that in a single post I made here.

I said that there isn't an actual "point" to winning the West. Other than it gets you a bid to Indy.

OK sure, the Big Ten faked up trophies for "winning" the divisions. Whoopty doo.
 

MplsGopher said:
I did not say that I would not be impressed. You won't find that in a single post I made here.

I said that there isn't an actual "point" to winning the West. Other than it gets you a bid to Indy.

OK sure, the Big Ten faked up trophies for "winning" the divisions. Whoopty doo.
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Well, let's just look at this most recent post, for starters:

"Whoopty doo"... Calling it a "faked up" trophy... Saying "there isn't an actual point in winning it".

If that's how you express yourself when you want to show how impressed you are, I'd hate to hear you when you're unimpressed.
 

RememberMurray said:
Well, let's just look at this most recent post, for starters:

"Whoopty doo"... Calling it a "faked up" trophy... Saying "there isn't an actual point in winning it".
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Thanks for confirming that none of those is me saying I'm not impressed.

Rather, they're only -- as I said -- confirming that there is no "point" to winning the West.


Anything else? Or shall we move on?
 

MplsGopher said:
Thanks for confirming that none of those is me saying I'm not impressed.

Rather, they're only -- as I said -- confirming that there is "point" to winning the West.


Anything else? Or shall we move on?
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Ohhhhhh, we should definitely move on. I am absolutely not spending one more second on this.

Wowza.
 

MplsGopher said:
Not good enough. Only having to play a few tough games, and a weak conference schedule. That's worthy of top 10 and a bid to the NY6, sure. Not good enough for top 4.

They'd obviously be in an expanded 12 team bracket and would then have a chance to prove it.
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The AAC is obviously a step down from power 5, but they are a better conference than most other G5s. If ND runs the table and has their only loss to Cincinnati, that's proof enough. Cincy controlled that game and ND basically only plays P5 teams. Two loss teams are eliminated and the only other one loss teams are likely to be conference champions. If Cincy wins out......I'd bet they've got a better than 50/50 shot, because I think Georgia will beat Alabama.....and I don't think Oregon is going to win out.
 

RememberMurray said:
Yes.

The key to all this is maintaining consistency. With young men, that can be unpredictable. They can be up and down. Will they continue to play this well week after week, down the stretch?

If they can do that, the sky is the limit.
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Culture over talent
 

MplsGopher said:
Thanks for confirming that none of those is me saying I'm not impressed.

Rather, they're only -- as I said -- confirming that there is no "point" to winning the West.


Anything else? Or shall we move on?
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The point to winning the west is that you get to play in the nationally televised championship game. And yes....there is a trophy attached to winning the division. Nothing like winning the conference.....but beating out the other six teams in the division is nothing to sneeze at and would indicate that the Gophers are a program to take seriously.
 

stocker08 said:
The AAC is obviously a step down from power 5, but they are a better conference than most other G5s. If ND runs the table and has their only loss to Cincinnati, that's proof enough. Cincy controlled that game and ND basically only plays P5 teams. Two loss teams are eliminated and the only other one loss teams are likely to be conference champions. If Cincy wins out......I'd bet they've got a better than 50/50 shot, because I think Georgia will beat Alabama.....and I don't think Oregon is going to win out.
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Proof enough ... that Cincy had to be tough for one game. While ND had to be tough for a lot of games.

1-loss ND gets in over Cincy, for the last spot. All day, every day. And I hope Cincy fans go into the street screaming and pounding their fists on the pavement over the insult of it.
 

stocker08 said:
The point to winning the west is that you get to play in the nationally televised championship game. And yes....there is a trophy attached to winning the division. Nothing like winning the conference.....but beating out the other six teams in the division is nothing to sneeze at and would indicate that the Gophers are a program to take seriously.
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Great post.

Only thing I disagree with in here is that there should even be a trophy for "winning" a division.
 

RememberMurray said:
You make a great point.

The Big Four in the B1G East (Ohio State, MIchigan, Penn State, Michigan State) have yet to play any games against each other. Wow. It's going to be exciting down the stretch!

I'm seeing Ohio State as the class of the East, as per usual... but I wouldn't mind being proved wrong!
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Purdue still has to play two of those teams in MSU and OSU.
 

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