Are Vikings to Blame for Poor Football Program?

[RodentRampage]

If we didn't have the BTN, the Gophers just be less available. They weren't on OTA TV much at all. Yes, it would be nice to have the NFL's TV deals. But it's not as if we used to be on OTA TV often at all. I remember it being a real treat if you got to see the Gophers on TV once in an entire season. Before BTN, we had games that had no TV at all.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

There was a perfect storm in the late 60s

The south integrated their football teams
The U administration tried to de-emphasize athletics

The program could have survived one of those factors, but not both. The fact that the Vikings got good and sucked up coverage didn't help.