Ben Johnson on scheduling St. Thomas as opponent: "I think we will stay away from that game"

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I think this may be more about upgrading the schedule. I saw an item that Johnson said he wants to get into some stronger early-season tournaments in order to face better non-conference opponents.

Playing St. Thomas may be fun for some fans, but right now, it doesn't help the Gophers SOS or NET ratings.

I would rather see them play some type of regional game like Iowa State or Missouri.
 



upnorthkid said:
glad he's honest. it's a stupid game for us to take that in zero ways benefits us.
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Idk. I've seen how empty the barn is in November. I'm sure the U would consider selling a bunch of tickets a benefit. They should start playing NDSU and SDSU again too. I'd rather see them than Green Bay and Alcorn State.
 





Maybe I’m just a chicken little but you get nothing from a win. Theses types of games are basically a championship game for the smaller local school. I could see the St John recruiting pitch to MN kids… “You want to be on the bench at Minnesota or do you want to start here? You get an opportunity to show them up anyway.”

Playing the Dakota schools in football was a disaster for gopher football. Lots of MN kids with chips on their shoulders in those games.
 

eker0016 said:
Okay I'll be the outlier and say I would like to see the game. Yes I understand that it's a lose/lose scenario for us.

If the alternative is Alcorn State, High Point, Coastal Carolina etc. I would like to see the local angle.
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30 yrs of sht does amazing things.
 



I tend to agree with him, but I would have said "we'll look into it" and not been so blunt.
 

Bulldog13tv said:
Maybe I’m just a chicken little but you get nothing from a win. Theses types of games are basically a championship game for the smaller local school. I could see the St John recruiting pitch to MN kids… “You want to be on the bench at Minnesota or do you want to start here? You get an opportunity to show them up anyway.”

Playing the Dakota schools in football was a disaster for gopher football. Lots of MN kids with chips on their shoulders in those games.
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If we are losing to mid major basketball and fcs schools then we have (and did have) bigger problems. And local recruit perception is low on that list.

Playing NDSU in football was only a disaster because we were dog shit. Playing everyone was a disaster.
 

So why exactly would it be a loss if we win? Do other states use this argument for other schools in state? Seems like those are always the games early in the year that networks like to spotlight outside of pre-season tourneys or top 10 matchups.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I think this may be more about upgrading the schedule. I saw an item that Johnson said he wants to get into some stronger early-season tournaments in order to face better non-conference opponents.

Playing St. Thomas may be fun for some fans, but right now, it doesn't help the Gophers SOS or NET ratings.

I would rather see them play some type of regional game like Iowa State or Missouri.
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A st Thomas game doesn’t replace a Missouri game, it replaces a Missouri Kansas City game
 

eker0016 said:
Okay I'll be the outlier and say I would like to see the game. Yes I understand that it's a lose/lose scenario for us.

If the alternative is Alcorn State, High Point, Coastal Carolina etc. I would like to see the local angle.
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I would love to see the game. Not every year, but if we are playing Nebraska Omaha or Missouri Kansas City…I would rather see UST

A ton of tommies are gopher fans first and Tommie fans second in both football and basketball.
 



What is he scared of? What a chicken.
 

The in-state hockey rivalries are some of the best games of the season. It’d be a shame to lose out on that opportunity because of some weird recruiting worries.
 

Zero reason to schedule them. UST had 1097 in attendance in an arena with 1800 capacity at their last home game against a D1 opponent. No evidence that playing them would be any different than playing South Dakota or UMKC in terms of ticket sales.
 


bizzle22 said:
Zero reason to schedule them. UST had 1097 in attendance in an arena with 1800 capacity at their last home game against a D1 opponent. No evidence that playing them would be any different than playing South Dakota or UMKC in terms of ticket sales.
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Well, there's certainly room at Williams Arena another 1097 Tommie fans for a Gopher game in Nov or Dec.
 



Some guy said:
I would love to see the game. Not every year, but if we are playing Nebraska Omaha or Missouri Kansas City…I would rather see UST

A ton of tommies are gopher fans first and Tommie fans second in both football and basketball.
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I'd like to see the numbers on this. Not sure it's as high as you seem to think
 

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