BleedGopher
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per Shama:
The nature of big-time college football scheduling is to book opponents 10 years and further into the future. There is nothing in motion right now, but University of Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck is open to scheduling games against the biggest names in the country.
Asked Monday about taking on a prominent team from the Southeastern Conference or Notre Dame, Fleck said: “I think you always want to think that way—some of the best brands in college football. We’d love to have (them) come to Huntington Bank (Stadium) and also go to those places. But those are…decisions as you keep moving forward and seeing what slots are open, and what years are open. But definitely open to that.”
The Gophers are playing nonconference opponents now booked by previous athletic directors and head coaches. The Gopher media guide shows nonconference foes through 2028 with California, Mississippi State and North Carolina having the most box office power. The slate also includes the likes of Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Louisiana and North Dakota.
Minnesota wraps up its nonconference schedule with Colorado at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday. The Buffaloes are the only Power Five team among the three opponents making up the nonconference schedule (all played at home). The Gophers handily defeated FBS lower tier New Mexico State and FCS level Western Illinois.
There is logic to the ho-hum nonconference schedules the Gophers and other Power Five programs have utilized for decades. Part of it is wanting to ensure a fast start to the season, playing opponents the Gophers are usually superior or at least equal to. Minnesota teams often go into the Big Ten schedule 3-0. Fleck’s nonconference record at Minnesota, including bowl games, is 16-1.
Another major element driving Minnesota football scheduling is financial. The athletic department budgets for seven home games. The department wants the revenue from seven games in Minneapolis, not six. With the Big Ten’s unbalanced schedule of nine games for each league team, the Gophers only travel to a nonconference opponent in alternate years when they have five home league games (in 2022 they have four).
Financially important, too, is Minnesota can pay revenue-hungry programs like New Mexico State and Western Illinois modest guarantees compared with what the Gophers would shell out to host powerhouses Alabama, Clemson, Georgia or LSU. Minnesota has never played any of those teams in Minneapolis. Notre Dame was last here in 1937, Texas in 1936.
Go Gophers!!
The nature of big-time college football scheduling is to book opponents 10 years and further into the future. There is nothing in motion right now, but University of Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck is open to scheduling games against the biggest names in the country.
Asked Monday about taking on a prominent team from the Southeastern Conference or Notre Dame, Fleck said: “I think you always want to think that way—some of the best brands in college football. We’d love to have (them) come to Huntington Bank (Stadium) and also go to those places. But those are…decisions as you keep moving forward and seeing what slots are open, and what years are open. But definitely open to that.”
The Gophers are playing nonconference opponents now booked by previous athletic directors and head coaches. The Gopher media guide shows nonconference foes through 2028 with California, Mississippi State and North Carolina having the most box office power. The slate also includes the likes of Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Louisiana and North Dakota.
Minnesota wraps up its nonconference schedule with Colorado at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday. The Buffaloes are the only Power Five team among the three opponents making up the nonconference schedule (all played at home). The Gophers handily defeated FBS lower tier New Mexico State and FCS level Western Illinois.
There is logic to the ho-hum nonconference schedules the Gophers and other Power Five programs have utilized for decades. Part of it is wanting to ensure a fast start to the season, playing opponents the Gophers are usually superior or at least equal to. Minnesota teams often go into the Big Ten schedule 3-0. Fleck’s nonconference record at Minnesota, including bowl games, is 16-1.
Another major element driving Minnesota football scheduling is financial. The athletic department budgets for seven home games. The department wants the revenue from seven games in Minneapolis, not six. With the Big Ten’s unbalanced schedule of nine games for each league team, the Gophers only travel to a nonconference opponent in alternate years when they have five home league games (in 2022 they have four).
Financially important, too, is Minnesota can pay revenue-hungry programs like New Mexico State and Western Illinois modest guarantees compared with what the Gophers would shell out to host powerhouses Alabama, Clemson, Georgia or LSU. Minnesota has never played any of those teams in Minneapolis. Notre Dame was last here in 1937, Texas in 1936.
Go Gophers!!
