Championship Week Game vs Wisconsin

Rumors that Michigan is going to Iowa next weekend, so I'm guessing things will look like this assuming all teams can play:

Ohio St/Northwestern
Michigan/Iowa
Penn St/Illinois
Indiana/Purdue
Minnesota/Wisconsin
Michigan St/Maryland
Nebraska/Rutgers

Wouldn't Iowa want to play Indiana?
 

Look - maybe the Gophers will surprise me and find a way to win. That would be great.

I just don't expect it.

And the last thing I want is for the last game of the season to be a loss to Wisconsin. then you have to carry that stink with you all during the off-season.

to be clear - my first choice would be a win over Wisconsin.

but, given a choice between losing to Wisconsin, or playing a team from the East division, I would much rather play a game from the East. Based on the standings, likely would have been MSU. That is a winnable game if the Gophers have most of their roster available.
What a terrible line of thinking. Play Wisconsin. Keep the rivalry streak going. Face your damn fears. Let’s go!
 

As far as I'm concerned, this has worked out perfectly. 2 weeks ago, I thought that WI was pretty good this year and we would get crushed playing them. Now, we took the 2 weeks off and got better, got some decent players back, and are likely to have a few more next week and WI is looking much worse than they did 2 weeks ago and has lost a few good players (to covid, presumably?)

WI would still have to be the favorite, but I like our chances much better than I did 2 weeks ago.
 

This is the worst Wisconsin offense I have seen in a long time. Could be a coin flip game.
 





Stats are interesting when comparing Iowa vs Minnesota, and Iowa vs Wisconsin.

Minnesota had 312 yards total offense vs. Iowa. Minnesota's defense allowed 346 yards vs. Iowa.

Wisconsin had 224 yards total offense vs. Iowa. Badger defense allowed 339 yards vs. Iowa.

Iowa wins big in both games, but they don't really run roughshod. They don't destroy you. They just slowly nibble you to death.

Iowa dropped a punt that led to a Wisconsin TD, and it looked like Wisconsin might have an opening to climb back into the game, but Iowa just keeps on counter-punching, clinching, jabbing, and wearing down their opponents. They're the Larry Holmes of college football!
 





To me, the most logical thing to do would be to go West 2 vs, East 2, West 3 vs. East 3, etc. It wouldn't be my preferred opponent, but it seems fair.
 

Alvarez is throwing his weight around because he thinks his team can beat the Gophers in Madison. How could all the teams except two have a crossover game? Hard to see the B10 going for that.
 

Look - maybe the Gophers will surprise me and find a way to win. That would be great.

I just don't expect it.

And the last thing I want is for the last game of the season to be a loss to Wisconsin. then you have to carry that stink with you all during the off-season.

to be clear - my first choice would be a win over Wisconsin.

but, given a choice between losing to Wisconsin, or playing a team from the East division, I would much rather play a game from the East. Based on the standings, likely would have been MSU. That is a winnable game if the Gophers have most of their roster available.

You wanna be The Man, You Gotta Beat The Man
 



Look - maybe the Gophers will surprise me and find a way to win. That would be great.

I just don't expect it.

And the last thing I want is for the last game of the season to be a loss to Wisconsin. then you have to carry that stink with you all during the off-season.

to be clear - my first choice would be a win over Wisconsin.

but, given a choice between losing to Wisconsin, or playing a team from the East division, I would much rather play a game from the East. Based on the standings, likely would have been MSU. That is a winnable game if the Gophers have most of their roster available.
I respect your takes SON but this is way too soft. The Gophers have to go after The Axe and not look over their shoulder - every game is a potential loss.
 

When will we find out today that this has been officially announced??
 






Press release from U of MN:

Minnesota to Face Wisconsin on Dec. 19

The Big Ten announced today that Minnesota will play at Wisconsin at 3 p.m. on BTN on Saturday as part of Champions Week. The two teams were originally supposed to play on Nov. 28, but the game was canceled as Minnesota responded to elevated COVID-19 cases within the program.

Saturday's game will be the 130th meeting between the two border rivals, which is the longest-running uninterrupted series in Football Bowl Subdivision history (teams have played every year since 1907) and is the most-played rivalry in FBS history.

"The Minnesota and Wisconsin rivalry is one of the best in sports," said Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck. "This game means a tremendous amount to the student-athletes, coaches and fans of both schools. We are excited to play and extend this rivalry, as Saturday's game will be the 130th meeting. In a year of constant change, we appreciate the Big Ten, both administrations and each conference member institution for preserving this rivalry."

Wisconsin leads the all-time series 61-60-8 and the teams have traded road wins in the last two matchups.

Minnesota won 37-15 in 2018 at Wisconsin and the Badgers prevailed 38-17 in Minneapolis last season.

Minnesota's 2018 win was its first in the series since 2003 and first in Madison since 1994. The teams play for Paul Bunyan's Axe after previously playing for the Slab of Bacon.
 

Still feel that way now?

If Mertz throws like Martinez yesterday, then we'll be okay.
If Mertz completes throws like Tom Brady (or like Mertz looked in the first couple games this year), we could be in more trouble.

After yesterday's game though, this feels like a lot more of a toss up than I previously expected.
We should also get more COVID players back hopefully. Depth on both lines would be welcomed.
 


Hear me out here, but how 2020 will it be if COVID ends up give the Gophers an "assist" in the end?

I think we can all agree that the way things were shaping up for our original scheduled game with Sconny, we weren't looking great and they were looking pretty primed. A few weeks later, Gophers are coming off a big upset and Sconny has looked pretty bad the last two weeks. Plus, we may also be in a position to get more of our COVID holdouts back this coming week.

After everything the Gophers have been through, a win next Saturday would be an amazing Hollywood ending to a weird, crazy season.
 





Setting my baseline at just glad we get this game.

All positives known a week from today will overrule the negatives. Period.

Ski U Mah!
 





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