Big Ten is WEAK and we have a shot.....

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Goldmember said:
The Big Ten is never weak. Even when the rest of the country manages to find cause to rip on the Big Ten, the conference has 2-4 of the 10 best teams in the country. Over the long term, only the SEC can compare. The Big Twelve had a nice season- but overall is a sad joke and about to fall apart.

They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. This is true, unless there was a Big Ten game on the other side of the fence. In that case, the grass is soaked in blood and tears.
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I am curious what criteria you are using to come to the conclusion that the Big 12 is about to fall apart that no one else seems to agree with.
 

Section 100 said:
You are correct, jdawghawk. The off-season is definitely time for optimism.

I'm not sure I agree with all of your indicators that lead to success.

2. A winning record the last 6 (second half) of regular season the previous year.
Iowa fans are really excited about this one. But who they played and when they played them is an important factor. Let's look at the last 7 Iowa games from 2008. And let's look at how those opponents finished their last 6 games:
Indiana 1-5
Wisconsin 4-2 (includes a 1-AA team; 3-3 in the B10)
Illinois 2-4
PSU 5-1
Purdue 2-4
Minnesota 1-6
South Carolina 2-4
The Hawkeye internet campaign to let everyone know how strong they finished has been a bit annoying. Yes, they did finish strong but the competition (save PSU) was soft. There's a reason Iowa finished in 5th place in a mediocre B10 conference last year.



I see Iowa at 8-4 this year.
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8-4 is a solid prediction........I think they will surprise tho.....just my opinion.

These are not my indicators.....someone smarter than me(doesn't take a lot) correlated these indicators and past national champions.

Also......you say Iowa was Fifth in the big ten........I like to say tied for Fourth....It sounds better.

:)

Football Standings - 2008 Standings Through games of Jan 5, 2009
CONFERENCE OVERALL
School W-L PF PA W-L PF PA STRK
Penn State 7-1 271 109 11-2 506 187 L1
Ohio State 7-1 238 98 10-3 359 181 L1
Michigan State 6-2 201 208 9-4 326 287 L2
Iowa 5-3 238 130 9-4 394 169 W4
Northwestern 5-3 191 187 9-4 317 262 L1
Minnesota 3-5 136 210 7-6 302 322 L5
Wisconsin 3-5 206 227 7-6 357 345 L1
Illinois 3-5 218 206 5-7 344 319 L3
Purdue 2-6 175 196 4-8 296 301 W1
Michigan 2-6 177 268 3-9 243 347 L2
Indiana 1-7 116 328 3-9 246 423 L4

Good luck this year! The stadium looks pretty awesome! I live in Minnesota so hope to see it up close some time.
 

Pete Carrol needs to worry about how to not blow his title hopes every year against a middle of the road Pac 10 team, smh.......
 

Grunkiejr: The Gophers D is much better than people give it credit for.

I can't agree with you. You mentioned the Iowa and Michigan games where the offense was nowhere to be seen. Correct. But our D wasn't much better.

Michigan scored 4 of its first 6 possessions and would have had another one except for a fumble on their own 17. Iowa scored 4 of its first 5 times and had extended drives. The D couldn't match them. Same can be said against KU. I don't call that good D.

Having a bunch of starters back isn't necessarily a great thing. We should be better than 09 if we can put two decent players out there to replace Brock and Willie. The D needs more talent. Where are Brewster's talented D recruits? Are any of them any better than the incumbents? I hope so or it could be a long season.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Having a bunch of starters back isn't necessarily a great thing. We should be better than 09 if we can put two decent players out there to replace Brock and Willie. The D needs more talent. Where are Brewster's talented D recruits? Are any of them any better than the incumbents? I hope so or it could be a long season.
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I think Maresh, Cooper, Reeves, Carter, McKinley, and Jacobs all have the potential to be better than the incumbents, and that's just off the top of my head. Be as negative as you please, but the talent level of the team is unquestionably better than it's been in the last 10+ years.
 


no one gives us chance

of course no one ever gives us a chance to be good - because we finished 1-and 11 . i have a good feeling about this year tho. we might not go to the rose bowl but we will be in a nice bowl game.
 

Potential has never won one game. Not one.

I am not negative. I am realistic. Show me where my post was negative MBAGuy. The Gophers need more talented players. Brewsters recruits need to step up. And our 08 D and O were both lacking big time at years end. Giving up 37 ppg and scoring just 15ppg the last 5 games is what we are building on? And that is what our veteran players accomplished. Who can argue against that?

The young players may turn the Gopher nation and the Big Ten on its ear or they may not. We won't know that until we see them on the field. You may be 100%correct with your statement about the talent level being the best in 10+ years. Or you may also be wrong. I'd rather see them play first B4 making statements like that.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Show me where my post was negative MBAGuy.
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The implication in your original post

Bayfieldgopher said:
Having a bunch of starters back isn't necessarily a great thing.
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is that our returning starters leave something (a lot/a little) to be desired. Seemed negative on first read, but if it's your position that it was intended to be pragmatic/realistic, then I'll take your word for it.

I'm working under the assumption that there is some merit to the potential of recruit/player as judged by 1. Rivals/Scout/ESPN rankings and 2. the quality of scholarship offers received prior to a player's commitment to Minnesota. Consequently, that potential will, all other things being equal, result in a better player with a greater impact on the field. Your position appears to be a "wait-and-see" approach. Neither is inherently right or wrong, I suppose. But I guarantee I would have had zero success with the ladies back in high school and college with your approach. :D
 

Our schedule is ridonkulous. Why in the bleeping-bleep are we playing Cal? I am 100% in favor of playing mostly patsies during the non-conference schedule. One medium-quality BCS team every other year would be fair.
 



Bayfield Gopher, which do you think was our stronger unit last year? O or D? In my mind it is D and it isn't close. Which won the Indiana and Purdue games? The Illinois game? We had ONE first down against Michigan in the first half. You make it sound like the D was cheese. Mich scored 6 in the first Q and 10 in the second. The D, for how maligned they were with Kafka, gave up only 17 to NW. The D only gave up a field goal in the 1st Q against Iowa. You could just see the Defense wear down in that game with one 3 and out after another. Can you think of one game that the offense really won? MAYBE BG.
 

Section2
The D. The guys were opportunistic in the first half of the season and came up with big plays. That was pretty much absent the last half.

No question the guys wore down. That is one of my concerns as lack of quality players and quality depth will result in being on the field too long. That along with an inept O spells trouble. Iowa and both Michigan shut our offense down. When will we see a D that can return the favor? When will we see a D that holds BT teams to under 20ppg? 1999 was the last time, if my memory serves me.

Michigan, KU, OSU scored 4 of its first 6 possessions and Iowa 4 of 5. Like I posted, we could not match them and our O was helpless as well.

I will not sugar coat the results of the 08 season. I liked the improvement we made in some areas but lets face it. We have a ways to go to become a strong D based on the end of last year. We may see that change in 09 if Brewsters RSFR and maybe a FR or two are as talented as advertised and the incumbents play at a higher level. But the youngsters will be untested and inexperienced.

09 will be a very interesting season.
 

Bayfield
I think that's just too simplictic to list scoring drives. A defense that can consistently limit scoring drives to field goals while constantly being dealt a short field to defend is what I like to see. look what our D did to purdue, and look what purdue did to michigan's d. Our Offense down the stretch was historic bad. Worst offense since the Gutekunst post D Thompson teams. I expect the O to change, and if that's true, the D should be even better IMO.
 

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