CBS: Minnesota may be the best team in the Big Ten West

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Granted, this column rips the Big Ten West, calling it the worst division in the Power 5 conferences, but here is the photo caption:

"Minnesota may be the best team in the Big Ten West, but that's not saying much."

From the article:

Simply put, the Big Ten West is the worst division in the Power 5 conferences right now, and yes, I know the ACC Coastal exists. The seven teams in the division (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin) have all shown some flaws early this season. Through two weeks the division has a combined record of 10-4, which might not seem all that terrible on its own, but I haven't shown you who the opponents have been just yet.

I'll do that now: Eastern Illinois (W), Youngstown State (W), Northern Iowa (W), Western Michigan (W), Florida Atlantic (W), California (L), LSU (L), Western Kentucky (W), McNeese State (W), Central Michigan (L), Western Illinois (W), Northern Illinois (L), Middle Tennessee (W) and Ball State (W).

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...est-is-the-worst-division-in-college-football

Go Gophers!!
 

I'll take that as good publicity. Kind of sad though that the conference is essentially out of the playoffs if Ohio State doesn't pull this out.
 


afurry91 said:
I'll take that as good publicity. Kind of sad though that the conference is essentially out of the playoffs if Ohio State doesn't pull this out.
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We haven't lost yet ;)
 

what does this mean for LSU? Our foes to the east pretty much gave them all they can handle for three quarters and were a qb away from victory.

Why isnt the story "look at the parity in football"

I think the B1G is on a slippery slope of media trashing. aye yay yay SMH.
 


t-docious said:
what does this mean for LSU? Our foes to the east pretty much gave them all they can handle for three quarters and were a qb away from victory.

Why isnt the story "look at the parity in football"

I think the B1G is on a slippery slope of media trashing. aye yay yay SMH.
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No. The Big Ten really is just bad at football. It has been for a few years now. I don't understand why so many people in Big Ten country have a hard time believing this. Big Ten fans make excuses for the conference constantly. The fact of the matter is, the Big Ten sucks at football. Oh well. It's still a huge cash cow, and I still like watching the games.
 

Unfortunately, I am all too aware of Iowa looking terrible in the non-conference portion of the season, only to end up winning 5 or more conference games. Wisconsin has had a couple years where they didn't look good early as well (Utah St at home?) and went on to solid years. Hopefully, this year is different and the Gophers can contend for what is a weak division...though I doubt it's the worst in a power 5 conference.
 

EG#9 said:
Unfortunately, I am all too aware of Iowa looking terrible in the non-conference portion of the season, only to end up winning 5 or more conference games. Wisconsin has had a couple years where they didn't look good early as well (Utah St at home?) and went on to solid years. Hopefully, this year is different and the Gophers can contend for what is a weak division...though I doubt it's the worst in a power 5 conference.
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If the Big 12 was split in two (north-south), north would be a far worse than B10 west. It wouldn't even be close. K State would walk away with that division and there are 4 teams here that are just as good or better than they are. Given that there are no divisions though, it isn't far fetched to say we are in the worst division in the power 5 conferences.
 




Gopherguy0723 said:
No. The Big Ten really is just bad at football. It has been for a few years now. I don't understand why so many people in Big Ten country have a hard time believing this. Big Ten fans make excuses for the conference constantly. The fact of the matter is, the Big Ten sucks at football. Oh well. It's still a huge cash cow, and I still like watching the games.
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I would not go as far as to call the conference bad but it is definitely not what it once was when it was one of the premier conferences out there. Honestly it is what makes our struggles that much more annoying because you look at the conference and it would seem like the door would be wide open for a team to rise up in the ranks yet we can't ever seem to be that team.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
No. The Big Ten really is just bad at football. It has been for a few years now. I don't understand why so many people in Big Ten country have a hard time believing this. Big Ten fans make excuses for the conference constantly. The fact of the matter is, the Big Ten sucks at football. Oh well. It's still a huge cash cow, and I still like watching the games.
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Sparty won the rose bowl. I think conference pride sucks and I blame the sec. I don't give a hoot how good any team is in the big ten, if they're bad that means we have a better chance to win. We are a long way from worrying about strength of schedule factoring in for us, so why sweat it?
 

I will take best of the worst over worst of the best any day.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I would not go as far as to call the conference bad but it is definitely not what it once was when it was one of the premier conferences out there. Honestly it is what makes our struggles that much more annoying because you look at the conference and it would seem like the door would be wide open for a team to rise up in the ranks yet we can't ever seem to be that team.
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I think demographics has a lot to do with it for the most part. Recruiting for Minnesota and others in the B1G is only going to be tougher.

The population growth shifted during the decline of the Rust Belt favoring Southern states below the Mason Dixon Line clear into Florida and Texas which is SEC premier country.

There is also a shift towards the West starting with the defense & commerical avionics industry booms during the late sixties and seventies and continued on with the high tech boom in Silicon Valley.

Furthermore, immigration from Latin & Central America favoring both the Southern & Western states have added to the population growth.

Recruiting is not easy for most of the teams in the B1G. I bet if you plot a distribution of blue chips players. you'd find an imbalance between the SEC, PAC12, and the B1G.

The PAC12 has California with @38 million people has granted the conference with a huge recruiting advantage.

Things are not going to change. Recruiting for the B1G is only going to get tougher. Maybe there is something behind the conference realignment other than TV revenues.

According to the US Census looking at statistical change between 2000 to 2010, the South is the biggest winner with a whopping14.3% population increase followed by the West with 13.8%. The clear loser is the Northeast with a 3.2% population increase followed by the Midwest with a 3.9 % increase.

http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-01.pdf
 



hungan1 said:
I think demographics has a lot to do with it for the most part. Recruiting for Minnesota and others in the B1G is only going to be tougher.

The population growth shifted during the decline of the Rust Belt favoring Southern states below the Mason Dixon Line clear into Florida and Texas which is SEC premier country.

There is also a shift towards the West starting with the defense & commerical avionics industry booms during the late sixties and seventies and continued on with the high tech boom in Silicon Valley.

Furthermore, immigration from Latim & Central America favoring both the Southern & Western states have added to the population growth.

Recruiting is not easy for most of the teams in the B1G. I bet if you plot a distribution of blue chips players. you'd find an imbalance between the SEC, PAC12, and the B1G.

The PAC12 has California with 38 million plus people has granted the conference with a huge recruiting advantage.

Things are not going to change. Recruiting for the B1G is only going to get tougher. Maybe there is something behind the conference realignment other than TV revenues.

According to the US Census looking at statistical change between 2000 to 2010, the South is the biggest winner with a whopping14.3% population increase followed by the West with 13.8%. The clear loser is the Northeast with a 3.2% population increase followed by the Midwest with a 3.9 % increase.

http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-01.pdf
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All may be true, but we own all the fresh water, which will be a massive recruiting tool in 100 years (or next year against the Western schools).
 

WindyCityGopher said:
All may be true, but we own all the fresh water, which will be a massive recruiting tool in 100 years (or next year against the Western schools).
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I'll be nightcrawler food by then. Florida will be under water. So will most of the East Coast and West coast.

If the Gophers wait long enough, they'll win another National Championship. So too, will the Vikings win the Superbowl.
 

Louisiana is losing a football field of wetlands an hour....goodbye LSU.
 

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