Frog Fans Are Gopher Fans!

[frog86]

Congrats on your big year in Minneapolis! I was bummed about the recent game-I-won't-mention-by-name, but I was ecstatic watching y'all light up the scoreoard on Iowa. Wow!

As I'm sure you've at least noticed, we've got a little controversy brewing down in Big 12 country ---- if Baylor and TCU win out, who's in and who's out of the College Football Playoff? After the Frogs crapped the bed in the last 10 minutes at Baylor to blow a 21-point lead and lose by 3 (with a little help from the notorious Big 12 officials), Baylor went on to lose by 2 TDs at now unranked, 4-loss West Virginia. If both keep winning (TCU has Kansas, Texas and Iowa State; Baylor has Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Kansas State), we'll both finish 11-1 / 8-1 and be crowned Big 12 Co-Champions. We're sitting pretty in last week's CFP Rankings (TCU #6, Baylor #12), but this week's AP and Coaches' Polls have the Frogs at 5 and Bears right behind at 6. Will they jump us on the head-to-head win come December 7? Or will our "better loss" and better OOC game vs. Minnesota (Baylor didn't play a power 5 team and their 3 OOC opponents have combined for 5 wins so far) be enough to carry us into the Playoff despite the loss to Baylor?

Who knows-----but it's going to be a wild ride if the Frogs and Bears keep winning. I'd be cheering for the Gophers anyway after having such a great experience welcoming your great fans back in September, but now we need all the help we can get---so I (and I think I speak for all Frog fans) will be cheering especially hard for you guys this weekend and for the rest of the season. Good luck!

Beat Ohio State!

 

[stocker08]

Likewise. TCU is the only other team that I'm watching closely. After the KSU drubbing.......I cannot believe that they are not in the field of four. Losing by three to a good Baylor team shouldn't hold you out.

 

[jaymil]

I've been a TCU fan since we've played them. Very impressive season for you guys. If the committee's positive impression of the Gophers helps TCU get in the playoff I'm all for it. Good luck!

 

[frog86]

Kind of OT, and I tried to find a thread on it:
Is there a breakdown of what it takes for the Gophers to get to the B1G Championship game? I get there's a 3-way tie in the West with Nebraska and Wisconsin and the other two still have Iowa while y'all've got tOSU. Am I correct in thinking (assume Iowa doesn't win out) if you beat both Nebraska and Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and the winner of Nebraska-Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and either Nebraska and Wisconsin and the loser of the UNL-UW game loses to Iowa then you get to Indy?

 

[mnsports1]

Kind of OT, and I tried to find a thread on it:
Is there a breakdown of what it takes for the Gophers to get to the B1G Championship game? I get there's a 3-way tie in the West with Nebraska and Wisconsin and the other two still have Iowa while y'all've got tOSU. Am I correct in thinking (assume Iowa doesn't win out) if you beat both Nebraska and Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and the winner of Nebraska-Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and either Nebraska and Wisconsin and the loser of the UNL-UW game loses to Iowa then you get to Indy?

good grief. i'm a huge gopher fan and I haven't even thought of all is. Good luck the rest of the year.

 

[Jeshurun]

good grief. i'm a huge gopher fan and I haven't even thought of all is. Good luck the rest of the year.

Gopher fans here will tell you that just like the team, we have to take things one game at a time. Looking ahead is a cardinal sin amongst the faithful.

 

[Jeshurun]

Oops. That was meant to be a reply to the TCU fan.

 

[cjbfbp]

Kind of OT, and I tried to find a thread on it:
Is there a breakdown of what it takes for the Gophers to get to the B1G Championship game? I get there's a 3-way tie in the West with Nebraska and Wisconsin and the other two still have Iowa while y'all've got tOSU. Am I correct in thinking (assume Iowa doesn't win out) if you beat both Nebraska and Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and the winner of Nebraska-Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and either Nebraska and Wisconsin and the loser of the UNL-UW game loses to Iowa then you get to Indy?

Thanks, frog86, for the encouragement. I think you can see that everyone here is rooting for TCU to win the Big 12.

You'll have to excuse us for our ignorance about tie brakers for determining the divisional championship. It's just never been an issue for us! And we're still not convinced that it might become one.

 

[OSUfan]

Likewise. TCU is the only other team that I'm watching closely. After the KSU drubbing.......I cannot believe that they are not in the field of four. Losing by three to a good Baylor team shouldn't hold you out.

Actually I disagree completely based on the logic that the Committee considers a head-to-head win as distinguishing the true conference champion. I think we will wind up with only true conference champions in the playoff, and unless Baylor loses again then TCU has no shot of making it in the end. I believe TCU is very good and is good enough to be in a playoff but they lost to the one team they couldn't afford to lose to. With only 4 spots in the playoff, space is very limited and it is inevitable that at least one power conference champion will be left out. Ultimately what it comes down to is they have to have rules to separate out which conference champions make it and which don't. Certainly the Big 12 will not get two teams into the playoff this year, and if they win out then Baylor will be the team from the Big 12 under real consideration. TCU will be the team if Baylor loses another game and the Frogs win the rest of their games. Hopefully people will be outspoken enough about the inherent unfairness in how only 4 teams make the national playoff when there are always going to be at least 5 power conference champions to get expansion to the 8-team playoff ASAP.

 

[Word]

good grief. i'm a huge gopher fan and I haven't even thought of all is. Good luck the rest of the year.

I believe if we lose to OSU and beat Nebraska and Wisconsin that we still go to the BIG Championship game because we'll all have the same record and we would have won the head-to-head against Wisky and Nebraska.

 

[year of the gopher]

Actually I disagree completely based on the logic that the Committee considers a head-to-head win as distinguishing the true conference champion. I think we will wind up with only true conference champions in the playoff, and unless Baylor loses again then TCU has no shot of making it in the end. I believe TCU is very good and is good enough to be in a playoff but they lost to the one team they couldn't afford to lose to. With only 4 spots in the playoff, space is very limited and it is inevitable that at least one power conference champion will be left out. Ultimately what it comes down to is they have to have rules to separate out which conference champions make it and which don't. Certainly the Big 12 will not get two teams into the playoff this year, and if they win out then Baylor will be the team from the Big 12 under real consideration. TCU will be the team if Baylor loses another game and the Frogs win the rest of their games. Hopefully people will be outspoken enough about the inherent unfairness in how only 4 teams make the national playoff when there are always going to be at least 5 power conference champions to get expansion to the 8-team playoff ASAP.

+1

 

[GophersInIowa]

I believe if we lose to OSU and beat Nebraska and Wisconsin that we still go to the BIG Championship game because we'll all have the same record and we would have won the head-to-head against Wisky and Nebraska.

Yes, that is the simplest way. If we beat OSU and WI, and lose to NE, we need NE to lose to WI and Iowa. If we beat OSU and NE, and lose to WI, we need WI to lose to NE and Iowa.

So it is possible, but very unlikely that we could the west before the last game against WI.

 

[hungan1]

Either way you look at it, the Illinois loss is a stinger.

 

[Sparlimb]

Either way you look at it, the Illinois loss is a stinger.

It would be balanced by winning one of the last 3. 8-4 with our schedule is a damn good record. Getting more is a dream (that I'd like to have).

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

Kind of OT, and I tried to find a thread on it:
Is there a breakdown of what it takes for the Gophers to get to the B1G Championship game? I get there's a 3-way tie in the West with Nebraska and Wisconsin and the other two still have Iowa while y'all've got tOSU. Am I correct in thinking (assume Iowa doesn't win out) if you beat both Nebraska and Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and the winner of Nebraska-Wisconsin you go to Indy or if you beat tOSU and either Nebraska and Wisconsin and the loser of the UNL-UW game loses to Iowa then you get to Indy?

Hey Frog, great to hear from you. I had a great time in Fort Worth despite the outcome. Your fans were very knowledgeable and welcoming to us Gophers. I'm very happy for your success and will be rooting for you to make the playoffs.

Life is a funny thing. I could have never imagined 20 or 30-years ago two Texas teams being favorites of mine with TCU in the Big 12 and Texas A&M in the SEC. I see a lot of similarities in our fan bases, kindred spirits if you will.

My son still has his TCU baseball cap I bought him at the CWS a few years back (he also has an A&M cap when they were in it). I may have mentioned this before but several years ago at the DQ Baseball Classic, your coaches and players put on the best kids clinic ever. They were very enthusiastic and made it a lot fun for the kids.

Good luck the rest of the way this season. I look forward to you guys coming up next year. Oh, and Fear the Frog!

 

[WanderingGopher]

Actually I disagree completely based on the logic that the Committee considers a head-to-head win as distinguishing the true conference champion. I think we will wind up with only true conference champions in the playoff, and unless Baylor loses again then TCU has no shot of making it in the end. I believe TCU is very good and is good enough to be in a playoff but they lost to the one team they couldn't afford to lose to. With only 4 spots in the playoff, space is very limited and it is inevitable that at least one power conference champion will be left out. Ultimately what it comes down to is they have to have rules to separate out which conference champions make it and which don't. Certainly the Big 12 will not get two teams into the playoff this year, and if they win out then Baylor will be the team from the Big 12 under real consideration. TCU will be the team if Baylor loses another game and the Frogs win the rest of their games. Hopefully people will be outspoken enough about the inherent unfairness in how only 4 teams make the national playoff when there are always going to be at least 5 power conference champions to get expansion to the 8-team playoff ASAP.

I agree with this. I think TCU is better than Baylor, and you could argue they even showed it by only losing by 3 AT Baylor (home field is typically worth more), but if they both win out the committee will keep it simple and it'll be Baylor in the Playoff.

... Or the two of them could end up cancelling each other out and Ohio State sneaks in as the fourth team (if they win out, a big if).

 

[GopherHomer]

Either way you look at it, the Illinois loss is a stinger.

Right after the loss happened, I thought to myself that it felt like we would look back on it in classic Gopher style and be able to say "if we only hadn't blown that Illinois game we would have gone to the championship."

 

[stocker08]

Actually I disagree completely based on the logic that the Committee considers a head-to-head win as distinguishing the true conference champion. I think we will wind up with only true conference champions in the playoff, and unless Baylor loses again then TCU has no shot of making it in the end. I believe TCU is very good and is good enough to be in a playoff but they lost to the one team they couldn't afford to lose to. With only 4 spots in the playoff, space is very limited and it is inevitable that at least one power conference champion will be left out. Ultimately what it comes down to is they have to have rules to separate out which conference champions make it and which don't. Certainly the Big 12 will not get two teams into the playoff this year, and if they win out then Baylor will be the team from the Big 12 under real consideration. TCU will be the team if Baylor loses another game and the Frogs win the rest of their games. Hopefully people will be outspoken enough about the inherent unfairness in how only 4 teams make the national playoff when there are always going to be at least 5 power conference champions to get expansion to the 8-team playoff ASAP.

That's a good point.......but there is a reason why a committee chooses the four team field. Losing in Waco to Baylor by a slim margin......after holding a large lead. They will consider that I think.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

Frog86, Thanks for stopping by. I too have enjoyed watching TCU this year. To me they are playing the most exciting college football right now. Very fast and physical defense and an electric offense. Kind of like Oregon if they had a great defense. Definitely pulling for you guys.

 

[Sparlimb]

Actually I disagree completely based on the logic that the Committee considers a head-to-head win as distinguishing the true conference champion. I think we will wind up with only true conference champions in the playoff, and unless Baylor loses again then TCU has no shot of making it in the end. I believe TCU is very good and is good enough to be in a playoff but they lost to the one team they couldn't afford to lose to. With only 4 spots in the playoff, space is very limited and it is inevitable that at least one power conference champion will be left out. Ultimately what it comes down to is they have to have rules to separate out which conference champions make it and which don't. Certainly the Big 12 will not get two teams into the playoff this year, and if they win out then Baylor will be the team from the Big 12 under real consideration. TCU will be the team if Baylor loses another game and the Frogs win the rest of their games. Hopefully people will be outspoken enough about the inherent unfairness in how only 4 teams make the national playoff when there are always going to be at least 5 power conference champions to get expansion to the 8-team playoff ASAP.

I'll have to disagree as well. A one loss runner-up likely SHOULD be chosen over a 3 loss conference champion. That said, I think Baylor isn't that good and will lose another game and then TCU is in either way. Notre Dame is out, so that leaves the 5 conferences. If Ohio State can run the table, they are in, but that is no given. My 4 as of today are TCU, Oregon, Florida St and Mississippi St.

 

[jaymil]

That's a good point.......but there is a reason why a committee chooses the four team field. Losing in Waco to Baylor by a slim margin......after holding a large lead. They will consider that I think.

And it included a very questionable PI call at the end of the game as well. I'm fine with using head-to-head in most cases, but there are exceptions and I believe this is one of them. Like you said, this is why we have a committee and I hope they're detailed in their selections.

 

[stocker08]

College Football Live opened up with TCU-Alabama debate. Who's in? Joey Galloway thinks that TCU should be in as of now. Of course......Baylor is discussed. They all think that TCU is the better team and that the polls reflect that.

Big surprise? The Gophers are brought up. How good is that win for TCU and how much weight should it carry. Galloway says that if the Gophers travel down to Waco to play Baylor right now......he's not convinced that the Gophers don't win. He at least thinks that they have a shot. More Big Ten/Gophers discussion coming up in the show.

 

[OSUfan]

I don't think you can give any team credit for a loss. There is no merit in anyone losing, and it should not be excused regardless of the circumstances.

I have a hard time believing that any team that is not a power conference champion will make the playoff, as there will be too many good candidates among the conference champions to allow teams that aren't conference champs in. Although that conference champ factor clearly has not been part of the rankings to this point it gives the Committee some leeway to make changes at the last minute based on who is determined to be the conference champions, which is still TBD. I think based on the true conference champion factor that clearly TCU will not make the playoff as long as Baylor wins the rest of their games, and the reasons they're still in the discussion are Baylor hasn't won out yet and there is some uncertainty about the impact of the conference champion factor being added into the equation. Once the Big 12 tells the Committee that Baylor is their champion, I just think there is no way TCU gets in. This year is the first for the new playoff set-up, I guess that is why there is still debate that TCU and a second SEC team could make it. I suspect the Committee does what seems most prudent with the parameters that are out there to shape their decision, and picks four "true" conference champions. Again, I wish it was 8 and that possibility would be there for very good teams that might not have that "true" conference champion label to make it, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the case.

But on another note, it is funny that now TCU fans are pointing to the Minnesota win as proof that they should be in the playoff, considering their coach questioned the validity of the win immediately afterward, suggesting that the win gave him "no idea" about the potential improvement of TCU's offense because Minnesota is in the Big Ten. Interestingly, TCU might only get a total of 4 conference wins over bowl teams (if Texas loses to TCU & Okie St they aren't going to qualify, leaving only KSU, WVU, OU and Okie St as B12 teams that TCU beat that will make a bowl).
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...robably-wants-to-choose-his-words-more-wisely

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/92376/tcu-or-baylor-only-the-committee-knows

 

[STPGopher]

Hey, Let us have some friends to cheer for us! We will need it. OSU has enough already. Thanks TCU fans and Go Gophers!

BTW I wonder if Patterson called Kill this week?

 

[jaymil]

But on another note, it is funny that now TCU fans are pointing to the Minnesota win as proof that they should be in the playoff, considering their coach questioned the validity of the win immediately afterward, suggesting that the win gave him "no idea" about the potential improvement of TCU's offense because Minnesota is in the Big Ten.

This doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you misinterpreted his quote, but he didn't mean it as a shot to the big ten or to Minnesota. Big ten defenses are generally different than big 12 defenses. That's what he meant. It's pretty simple, most people consider Minnesota a solid team this year so I don't see any reason why TCU can't use that as an argument in their favor. Especially when Baylor's nonconference wins are very weak.

 

[stocker08]

I don't think you can give any team credit for a loss. There is no merit in anyone losing, and it should not be excused regardless of the circumstances.

I have a hard time believing that any team that is not a power conference champion will make the playoff, as there will be too many good candidates among the conference champions to allow teams that aren't conference champs in. Although that conference champ factor clearly has not been part of the rankings to this point it gives the Committee some leeway to make changes at the last minute based on who is determined to be the conference champions, which is still TBD. I think based on the true conference champion factor that clearly TCU will not make the playoff as long as Baylor wins the rest of their games, and the reasons they're still in the discussion are Baylor hasn't won out yet and there is some uncertainty about the impact of the conference champion factor being added into the equation. Once the Big 12 tells the Committee that Baylor is their champion, I just think there is no way TCU gets in. This year is the first for the new playoff set-up, I guess that is why there is still debate that TCU and a second SEC team could make it. I suspect the Committee does what seems most prudent with the parameters that are out there to shape their decision, and picks four "true" conference champions. Again, I wish it was 8 and that possibility would be there for very good teams that might not have that "true" conference champion label to make it, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the case.

But on another note, it is funny that now TCU fans are pointing to the Minnesota win as proof that they should be in the playoff, considering their coach questioned the validity of the win immediately afterward, suggesting that the win gave him "no idea" about the potential improvement of TCU's offense because Minnesota is in the Big Ten. Interestingly, TCU might only get a total of 4 conference wins over bowl teams (if Texas loses to TCU & Okie St they aren't going to qualify, leaving only KSU, WVU, OU and Okie St as B12 teams that TCU beat that will make a bowl).
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...robably-wants-to-choose-his-words-more-wisely

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/92376/tcu-or-baylor-only-the-committee-knows

Credit for a loss? Who's giving credit for a loss? When it comes down to it........what looks worse. A three point loss to a ranked Baylor team in their stadium......or a fourteen point loss to a lousy VT team at Buckeyes stadium. Easy answer. OSU isn't jumping TCU if both teams win out.

 

[OSUfan]

This doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you misinterpreted his quote, but he didn't mean it as a shot to the big ten or to Minnesota. Big ten defenses are generally different than big 12 defenses. That's what he meant. It's pretty simple, most people consider Minnesota a solid team this year so I don't see any reason why TCU can't use that as an argument in their favor. Especially when Baylor's nonconference wins are very weak.

It's hard to interpret what Patterson said other than a shot across the bow against the Big Ten. You could say he was misinterpreted and that he actually felt the Big Ten was stronger defensively than the Big 12, but that is a stretch considering all the talk disparaging the quality of the Big Ten especially at that time in the season. Maybe it was just a Freudian slip, but you're not going to convince me he meant to pay the Big Ten a compliment with that remark.

 

[OSUfan]

Credit for a loss? Who's giving credit for a loss? When it comes down to it........what looks worse. A three point loss to a ranked Baylor team in their stadium......or a fourteen point loss to a lousy VT team at Buckeyes stadium. Easy answer. OSU isn't jumping TCU if both teams win out.

Actually TCU has to be VERY worried about teams (possibly even OSU) jumping the Frogs from this point forward because TCU has basically done all they can to prove themselves this year already, and they have no more games against strong teams the rest of the season (a solid chance that none of the 3 teams they play the rest of the year will make a bowl), while OSU can have at least one big win and a championship added to their resume (and there are several more OSU opponents that can become bowl-eligible in the coming weeks compared to TCU). TCU can only be hurt by the Big 12 calling Baylor their champion, that is another way teams who are power conference champs may be able to jump the Frogs. So really I think TCU is at their high water mark and will only drop from where they are now even if they don't lose another game.

 

[yurintroubl]

It's hard to interpret what Patterson said other than a shot across the bow against the Big Ten. You could say he was misinterpreted and that he actually felt the Big Ten was stronger defensively than the Big 12, but that is a stretch considering all the talk disparaging the quality of the Big Ten especially at that time in the season. Maybe it was just a Freudian slip, but you're not going to convince me he meant to pay the Big Ten a compliment with that remark.

I think he meant that LITERALLY he had no idea how much it could improve. It was early in the season. He wasn't ready to really open up the playbook during his OOC slate.

 

[jaymil]

It's hard to interpret what Patterson said other than a shot across the bow against the Big Ten. You could say he was misinterpreted and that he actually felt the Big Ten was stronger defensively than the Big 12, but that is a stretch considering all the talk disparaging the quality of the Big Ten especially at that time in the season. Maybe it was just a Freudian slip, but you're not going to convince me he meant to pay the Big Ten a compliment with that remark.

I didn't say I thought he meant it as a compliment. Here was Patterson's response to what he meant by the quote after people misinterpreted it. You're really reaching here.

Gary sent me the following text message to clarify:
"Wasn't meant that way at all. I wouldn't take a shot at a best friend (Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill).
Only meant we have played two games period. Lots of football ahead - that's all I meant."

http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.co...y-patterson-clarifies-his-big-10-comment.html