Better to win bowl or go 7-5 and lose bowl?

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UpAndUnder43 said:
Regular season > MOST bowls.

Big time bowl wins are significant, which is why they make t-shirts for them. I'd rather go 10-2 and win a rose bowl than go 11-1 and low a rose bowl. Call me crazy but thats just how I see it.

But regular season wins (especially conference wins) are more important than winning the Motor City Bowl or some other low tier game against a random, average opponent.
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This reply makes me feel like I interpreted this question differently. I assume we'd all rather win the Rose Bowl than lose the Rose Bowl, even if that means an extra loss during the season. The question is: did we GET to the Rose Bowl?

More wins in the regular season should result in a better bowl game against better competition -- and greater chance of a bowl loss. Give me a loss in the Rose Bowl or even the Outback or Citrus over a win in the Motor City or Pinstripe Bowls any day. You need wins during the regular season to get there. A better bowl is usually indicative of a better team -- even if you lose.
 

It does depend each year on the circumstances as was said by many. This year winning sole possession of the West, winning a border state rivalry and going to the BIG Championship swing the balance. However, we may end up playing Alabama or Auburn in our bowl game. Can you imagine what it would be like winning a bowl against one of those teams this year? I think that would do a lot.
 

SKOOKM said:
It does depend each year on the circumstances as was said by many. This year winning sole possession of the West, winning a border state rivalry and going to the BIG Championship swing the balance. However, we may end up playing Alabama or Auburn in our bowl game. Can you imagine what it would be like winning a bowl against one of those teams this year? I think that would do a lot.
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Exactly. A game against either of those teams would be one of the premier bowl games of the year. And remember the excitement surrounding the Gophers pre and post Penn State? I think we'd be seeing that kind of enthusiasm again.
 

I come back to this question.

hard for this season because an extra game would’ve been played.

Would’ve it been better do to what we did

OR

Beat Wisconsin or Iowa + Lose to Ohio State + Lose to Oregon in Rose B
 

Just win baby. That will take care all of this.
 


SKOOKM said:
It does depend each year on the circumstances as was said by many. This year winning sole possession of the West, winning a border state rivalry and going to the BIG Championship swing the balance. However, we may end up playing Alabama or Auburn in our bowl game. Can you imagine what it would be like winning a bowl against one of those teams this year? I think that would do a lot.
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WOAH dial it back a bit here man! Let's not get unrealistic! ;)
 

Some guy said:
I come back to this question.

hard for this season because an extra game would’ve been played.

Would’ve it been better do to what we did

OR

Beat Wisconsin or Iowa + Lose to Ohio State + Lose to Oregon in Rose B
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I think as long as the Ohio State and Oregon games were competitive loses both scenarios are great for the program. The Rose Bowl aspect and what that means to a lot of people would have made that scenario special even with the 2 loses to end the year.

But 2019 was awesome the way it went as well so really can't go wrong with either.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I think as long as the Ohio State and Oregon games were competitive loses both scenarios are great for the program. The Rose Bowl aspect and what that means to a lot of people would have made that scenario special even with the 2 loses to end the year.

But 2019 was awesome the way it went as well so really can't go wrong with either.
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I think the higher the bowl prestige is the closer it can come to being equal to a regular season win.

nobody is ever going to convince me it is better to go 6-6 and win the bowl than 7-5 and lose the bowl.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
WOAH dial it back a bit here man! Let's not get unrealistic! ;)
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Ha, good time to revisit this. There does seem to be more national attention and credibility given to the program after beating Auburn. Whether or not our fans are more satisfied beating Wisconsin or Auburn, the kids down south are more impressed by the win over an SEC team.
 



Auburn win rocked The South.

We are no longer Minnewho?

Progress.
 

Suddenly, the spin meister PJF made it sound that Minnesota Cold isn't all that bad.
 

Some guy said:
I think the higher the bowl prestige is the closer it can come to being equal to a regular season win.

nobody is ever going to convince me it is better to go 6-6 and win the bowl than 7-5 and lose the bowl.
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Totally with you on that one. To me the 6-6 vs. 7-5 discussion is pretty meaningless as the bowl game in question there is some low level participation trophy type of game that you get for just not sucking.
 

Some guy said:
What is a more successful season?



I argued a few years back that 9-3 with a bowl loss is a better season than 8-4 with a bowl win.
I will continue to argue that though I’d like to win the bowl now, 7-5 with a loss to Georgia Tech would’ve been better than 6-6 with a win over GT
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Still want people’s opinion on this.

had this team beaten bowling green but lost to arkansas today….
Is it a better season or worse season?
 




gopherbadgerman said:
Better
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Yeah I still come back to that. Bowls are totally overrated outside of about 4-6 bowl games.

Beat Iowa? No question better to beat Iowa and lose bowl
Beat Illinois? Probably in the top 25 even if you lose bowl game

You could make an argument beating West Virginia was better than beating bowling green and losing to arkansas I guess
 


Depends on the specific scenario. Either one can be better depending on the variables involved.
 

Better to have a season that gets you to a New Year's Day bowl and lose. And it's not close, in my opinion.
 

In the short term, getting a bowl game is important for recruiting and experience. For the long term the more wins the better, which is how success is historically recorded.
 


Some guy said:
Still want people’s opinion on this.

had this team beaten bowling green but lost to arkansas today….
Is it a better season or worse season?
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I'd lean slightly worse. BG was an aberration that I don't put much stock into. Plus....it was one of the reasons why we probably got rid of Sanford....which earns points. So I guess I don't even look into that game much.

At that point....it comes down to how much you put into winning your final game of the year. Gophers got to reclaim the axe at home in what was the most important game of the year....and then follow it up with a never in question bowl win over a P5 WVU team. From that perspective....I like that the squad is riding into the off-season on a three game winning streak. Going 9-3 in the regular season and closing out with a loss to an 8-4 Arkansas team would likely leave me feeling sour.
 

Hates Monikers said:
Better to have a season that gets you to a New Year's Day bowl and lose. And it's not close, in my opinion.
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I go the other way on this one. Beating Bowling Green doesn't change the outcome in the division so we still end up in the same place there. Therefore the regular season is identical in my view. 9-3 vs. 8-4 really doesn't move the needle for me the way it does for some who obsess over the win total.

In that scenario, would much rather cap the year with a bowl win against a power 5 team as opposed to adding another victory against a MAC team.

So if the choice is finish 9-4 in one of these ways:
Beat Bowling Green, lose to Arkansas
Lose to Bowling Green, Beat West Virginia

I take option 2. Given the way the bowl selection process works I am not going to get hung up on what game we end up in either because it is not a straight forward process based on who "earned" a particular game. So it isn't worth wasting time being butt hurt about how it all shakes out.
 

My preference ranking would be:
#1 having the best conference record including rivalries but lose the bowl.
#2 having the best regular season record including winning shitty non-conference games but lose the bowl (this probably nets the team a better bowl).
#3 worse regular season but win the bowl.

* Edited #2 typo to say "non-conference" instead of conference.
 
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FormerFatOL said:
My preference ranking would be:
#1 having the best conference record including rivalries but lose the bowl.
#2 having the best regular season record including winning shitty conference games but lose the bowl (this probably nets the team a better bowl).
#3 worse regular season but win the bowl.
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Funny because it directly contradicts my last post but in very general terms I would agree with this take.

But with the specific data available in regards to the BG game this year I would stick with what i said about preferring to keep the loss to BG in order to get the win over WV as opposed to beating BG and losing to Arkansas.

Going into a season though I want to see the team rack up as many wins as possible and definitely value conference wins over non-conf wins in nearly all situations. Hopefully in time people will find a way to move past the tragic BG loss of 2021 and let it go.... :)
 

MennoSota said:
All I know is that Rutgers has the dubious honor of having gone 5-8, a record not often available.
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Rutger's was in an enviable position regardless of record. That school won't see another NYD bowl game anytime soon. It had to be a net benefit from a recruiting perspective.
 

FormerFatOL said:
Rutger's was in an enviable position regardless of record. That school won't see another NYD bowl game anytime soon. It had to be a net benefit from a recruiting perspective.
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Honestly don't know that it will move the needle a ton in recruiting since everyone knows they only got there because of Covid and a team needing to drop out.

Cool experience for the players though, especially the guys in their final years who have played on some really bad Rutgers teams and have not had the chance to go to any bowl games.
 


2nd Degree Gopher said:
I think it makes them "the winningest 8 loss team in college football history."
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So that means Nebraska got knocked out of the "best 8 loss team in history".

Frost can't even do that right! They're not even best in his conference.
 

Some guy said:
Still want people’s opinion on this.

had this team beaten bowling green but lost to arkansas today….
Is it a better season or worse season?
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They would not have lost to Ark.
 

PMWinSTP said:
They would not have lost to Ark.
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That’s true IMO

but that isn’t my question.

The original question came from people talking about old seasons and which was better. I tend to value refutation season more than bowls
 

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