Ope3
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2008
- Messages
- 9,518
- Reaction score
- 7,009
- Points
- 113
No doubt that playing NW, Purdue, Illinois, and Nebraska every year has boosted Fleck's (conference) win total. None of those schools are special to the U and playing them shouldn't mean anything more than playing any other Big Ten team. But they have been good for our program.
Now, we'll play every Big Ten team at a minimum every other year. That's not a bad thing, in general. May mean fewer wins for the good guys though.
I do think there is some value beyond the win total for playing Northwestern, Illinois & Nebraska annually:
- Easy travel for the teams
- Less than a days drive for the fans
- Same time zone
However TV does not give a rip about any of those things, so they are non-issues.
If I ruled the conference I think the ideal Gopher football schedule would be something like this:
Every Year - Iowa & Wisconsin
Frequently - Nebraska, Illinois, Northwestern (say 4 times in 6 years)
Occasionally - USC, UCLA, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan St, Ohio St, Penn St, Maryland, Rutgers (say 3 times in 6 years)
Disclaimer, I think the math gets close to the required games over 6 seasons, but it would be fine if it needs to be fudged a game here or there.