Gopher football announces future schedule changes

[BleedGopher]

University of Minnesota Athletics announced two changes to its future football schedules today. The changes include moving the Gophers' 2014 game at Miami (Ohio) to 2016 and adding Middle Tennessee State in place of the Redhawks on the 2014 slate.

The change was made at the request of Miami (Ohio), which asked the Gophers to push back their visit to Oxford, Ohio, until Sept. 17, 2016.

Minnesota was initially scheduled to play at Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 6, 2014, but will now host Middle Tennessee State that day instead. The Gophers opened the 2010 season with a 24-17 victory at MTSU and will also face the Blue Raiders at TCF Bank Stadium during the 2017 season.

The change gives the Gophers four home games to start the 2014 season and eight home dates in all at TCF Bank Stadium that year. Moving the game at Miami (Ohio) from 2014 to 2016 also fills the remaining non-conference opening on the Gophers' 2016 schedule.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/040312aaa.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[GoAUpher]

More home games, something we can all agree on!

 

[highwayman]

That's 6 home games in the first seven in 2014. Here are the NC schedules though the end of the decade. I'll bet we know a couple additional Pac-12 games by the fall:

2012
Sat, Sep 01 UNLV at Las Vegas, Nev. TBA
Sat, Sep 08 New Hampshire TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 15 Western Michigan TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 22 Syracuse TCF Bank Stadium TBA

2013
Sat, Aug 31 UNLV TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 07 North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C. TBA
Sat, Sep 14 Western Illinois TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 21 San Jose State TCF Bank Stadium TBA

2014
Sat, Aug 30 Eastern Illinois TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 6 Middle Tennessee State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 13 North Carolina TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 20 San Jose State TCF Bank Stadium TBA

2015
Sat, Sep 05 South Dakota State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 12 Colorado State at Fort Collins, Colo. TBA
Sat, Sep 19 TBA TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 26 Ohio TCF Bank Stadium TBA

2016
Sat, Sep 03 New Mexico State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat Sept 10 Indiana State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat Sep 17 Miami (Ohio) at Oxford, Ohio TBA
Sat, Sep 24 Colorado State TCF Bank Stadium TBA

2017
Sat, Sep 02 TBA
Sat, Sep 09 Oregon State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 16 Middle Tennessee State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 23 TBA

2018
Sat, Sep 08 at Oregon State Corvallis, Ore. TBA

2019
Sat, Sep 14 Navy TCF Bank Stadium TBA

2020
Sat, Sep 19 at Navy Annapolis, Md.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Question - how long will it take Pat Reusse to bash out a column complaining that "the Gophers non-conference schedule is a joke."

I can see it both ways. On the one hand, Kill wants games that he can win, and build confidence going into the conference season. On the other hand, the fans (at least some of the fans) would like to see at least 1 non-conf game against a "marquee" opponent - a quality team from a BCS conference, like the USC series. I miss the series they used to have with Iowa State - but I understand the Cyclones don't want to play 2 B1G teams in non-conf play, and they're committed to the series with Iowa. I think Missouri is another game that fans would get excited about.
And of course, Notre Dame remains the great white whale of Scheduling. A Gopher game with Notre Dame at TCF would be (IMHO), the hottest ticket in the Twin Cities in decades.

Question - I know the B1G has an agreement with the PAC-12 for non-conf games for Basketball, and I thought I remember reading that they were talking about something similar for FB? Did anything come of that?

 

[Schnauzer]

The big questions: How will MTSU deal with heat and humidity at the airport in TN before they depart for their game at MN? Will it take too much out of them before they can play the Gophers?

 

[GoAUpher]

Question - I know the B1G has an agreement with the PAC-12 for non-conf games for Basketball, and I thought I remember reading that they were talking about something similar for FB? Did anything come of that?

The collaboration is for all sports. It will take longer to get the schedules in synch for FB (they estimated 2017 or so when the plan was announced).

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Question - how long will it take Pat Reusse to bash out a column complaining that "the Gophers non-conference schedule is a joke."

I can see it both ways. On the one hand, Kill wants games that he can win, and build confidence going into the conference season. On the other hand, the fans (at least some of the fans) would like to see at least 1 non-conf game against a "marquee" opponent - a quality team from a BCS conference, like the USC series. I miss the series they used to have with Iowa State - but I understand the Cyclones don't want to play 2 B1G teams in non-conf play, and they're committed to the series with Iowa. I think Missouri is another game that fans would get excited about.
And of course, Notre Dame remains the great white whale of Scheduling. A Gopher game with Notre Dame at TCF would be (IMHO), the hottest ticket in the Twin Cities in decades.

Question - I know the B1G has an agreement with the PAC-12 for non-conf games for Basketball, and I thought I remember reading that they were talking about something similar for FB? Did anything come of that?

Pretty much every BCS school does things this way. Play one BCS school, one 1AA school and two MAC/WAC-caliber teams. The problem is that these games are scheduled so far in advance that you never really know what the state of your program and the other team is going to be. I'm just guessing that when they signed up to UNC, they hadn't yet been bitten by Butch Davis and his shady ways.

 

[JoeDirt]

These future schedules might present an interesting problem. I always thought that we played our first game of the season on the road on purpose to avoid having it during the state fair. There might be a big conflict with those that tailgate in the St. Paul lot during a bunch of the upcoming seasons. Does anybody know what the "U" and the state fair have worked out, if anything?

 

[highwayman]

These future schedules might present an interesting problem. I always thought that we played our first game of the season on the road on purpose to avoid having it during the state fair. There might be a big conflict with those that tailgate in the St. Paul lot during a bunch of the upcoming seasons. Does anybody know what the "U" and the state fair have worked out, if anything?

The "workout" was that the U is not allowing fair parking in the U lots on Labor Day Saturday, starting in 2013. Thats why we can schedule dates on that weekend.

I had originally read that it was during the entire run of the fair, but I don't know where...

 

[highwayman]

Now that they are in the SEC, we will likely never play Missouri.

Compare for yourself---

Iowa NC:
2012
09/01 - Northern Illinois (at Chicago, IL)
09/08 - Iowa State
09/15 - Northern Iowa
09/22 - Central Michigan

2013
08/31 - Northern Illinois
09/07 - Missouri State
09/14 - at Iowa State
09/21 - Western Michigan

2014
08/30 - Northern Iowa
09/06 - Ball State
09/13 - Iowa State
09/20 - at Pittsburgh

2015
09/05 - Illinois State
09/12 - at Iowa State
09/19 - Pittsburgh
TBA - North Texas

2016
09/03 - North Dakota State
09/10 - Iowa State
TBA - Central Michigan

2017
09/09 - at Iowa State
TBA - North Texas

Wiskey NC (yup, this is all they have scheduled):
2012
09/01 - Northern Iowa
09/08 - at Oregon State
09/15 - Utah State
09/22 - UTEP

2013
TBA - at Arizona State

2014
08/30 - at Washington State
09/20 - Bowling Green

2015
09/05 - Washington State

 

[GoAUpher]

I always thought that we played our first game of the season on the road on purpose to avoid having it during the state fair. There might be a big conflict with those that tailgate in the St. Paul lot during a bunch of the upcoming seasons. Does anybody know what the "U" and the state fair have worked out, if anything?

That was the case, but as highwayman notes the contract only runs through 2012.