BleedGopher
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per the CDT:
The Gophers have made a habit of playing ranked teams close this season. Outside an unsightly blemish against Illinois — a 28-24 road loss on Oct. 25 — they lost to then-No. 8 Ohio State 31-24, beat then-No. 21 Nebraska 28-24 and lost to then-No. 14 Wisconsin 34-24 in consecutive weeks to close the season.
They hovered just outside The Associated Press rankings for most of the year before peaking at No. 22 after the Nebraska win and falling back out after the Wisconsin loss. With a win over the Tigers, Minnesota would have a good chance of finishing a season ranked for the first time since 2003.
“They’re a far better football team than, maybe, the entire country has been intimately aware of,” said Steve Hogan, chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Sports, which puts on the Citrus Bowl. Missouri and Minnesota “are two very good football teams, maybe in some cases young, but the whole country hasn’t been paying attention until late in the year. Minnesota playing Ohio State, I think people were introduced to a team where they saw how close that game maybe was and said, ‘Wait a minute. I’ve got to give this a look.’ And, of course, Missouri playing in the conference championship game.
“So, similarly, they found their way to us. When you really looked at the available options, in the end, you’d just make a lot of arguments for, ‘This is Minnesota’s turn.’ It just worked out that way.”
http://www.columbiatribune.com/spor...cle_d973ed95-9df2-59c2-97f9-b6014908bae6.html
Go Gophers!!
The Gophers have made a habit of playing ranked teams close this season. Outside an unsightly blemish against Illinois — a 28-24 road loss on Oct. 25 — they lost to then-No. 8 Ohio State 31-24, beat then-No. 21 Nebraska 28-24 and lost to then-No. 14 Wisconsin 34-24 in consecutive weeks to close the season.
They hovered just outside The Associated Press rankings for most of the year before peaking at No. 22 after the Nebraska win and falling back out after the Wisconsin loss. With a win over the Tigers, Minnesota would have a good chance of finishing a season ranked for the first time since 2003.
“They’re a far better football team than, maybe, the entire country has been intimately aware of,” said Steve Hogan, chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Sports, which puts on the Citrus Bowl. Missouri and Minnesota “are two very good football teams, maybe in some cases young, but the whole country hasn’t been paying attention until late in the year. Minnesota playing Ohio State, I think people were introduced to a team where they saw how close that game maybe was and said, ‘Wait a minute. I’ve got to give this a look.’ And, of course, Missouri playing in the conference championship game.
“So, similarly, they found their way to us. When you really looked at the available options, in the end, you’d just make a lot of arguments for, ‘This is Minnesota’s turn.’ It just worked out that way.”
http://www.columbiatribune.com/spor...cle_d973ed95-9df2-59c2-97f9-b6014908bae6.html
Go Gophers!!