BTN: Big Ten Power Rankings Preseason (#11. Minnesota)

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Those BTN people fawn over Northwestern year in and year out. They have to be right one of these years, right?

Maryland and Indiana ahead of us? Whew. Indiana has a number of "ifs" and "coulds" in their blurb, not to mention a new coach. It would've been nice to have some rationale in ours for falling behind a few of these teams.
 

media prognosticators have tended to be more accurate than Gopherhole characters over the years. That isn't to say there hasn't been a slight lean toward underestimating the Gophers though. I am seeing this poor prediction repeat itself over and over so given past history I am a bit concerned my 7-5 prediction may be a bit too much on the homer side of the spectrum. Perhaps our lads won't even be bowling this year.
 

PennLive.com chimes in with their BT Power Poll:

11. Minnesota
As a rule, when I see certain qualities in a transitioning program, I generally pick them a little farther down in the standings than I would normally. One is an abrupt switch-out in schemes. Another is multiple QB candidates at the season's outset. The former is simply difficult to iron out without playing a few games first, sometimes an entire season. The latter means nobody is good enough to take the starting job with authority.

Under new Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, both of those qualities are present as the Gophers prepare to begin the season against Buffalo on Thursday night. The Pistol formation present under four-year pro-style QB Mitch Leidner is out. Now, it's a trendy up-tempo spread and we have no idea who the quarterback will be for the first time since 2013.

With Fleck having designated "co-starters" at QB and no returning receiver having more than 23 catches a year ago, defenses I think will load up on the Gophers' strength, its formidable running game. They also will be crowding a couple of dinged-up starting offensive tackles. Add in a new DC who spent the past three years underwhelming at Arkansas trying to manage an overhauled 3-4 defense with a shaky secondary and I see growing pains for Gophers, no matter how good a game their coach talks... and talks... and talks...

http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2017/08/big_ten_football_psu.html

Go Gophers!!
 



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