Gophers' schedule woes

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Ogee Ogilthorpe

Ogee Ogilthorpe

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Don't think the Gophers' schedule is all that difficult this year?

Plenty has already been made about not having Illinois and Purdue on the schedule this year (the two BT wins for the Gophers last season), but there's another interesting schedule nuance that won't make things any easier for the Rodents to become bowl-eligible this year, as well as improving on their win total from last year (apologies if this has already been mentioned):

> San Jose State
> Michigan
> Nebraska
> Indiana

All four of these Gopher opponents have a bye week and two weeks to prepare for their game against Minnesota. FOUR opponents. What are the odds of that happening in one season? The Gophers get two weeks to prepare for Wisky, which will help, but here's another example of just how unfriendly the schedule is for the 2013 season. I think the team will be significantly improved over last season but it's going to be a seriously uphill battle for it to show up in the Win column.
 

good thought. that certainly makes it tougher for us. thanks OO
 

Think it was last year that 3 of the 8 B1G games were against opponents off a bye. Crazy.
 

Starting off (5-0) will help. Still a pretty weak non-conference.
 

Agree Ogee. Teams get a chance to heal up, especially late in the season. While we're on the short end of it, I hope it helps us against the dreaded Skunks.
 


Gophers09 said:
Think it was last year that 3 of the 8 B1G games were against opponents off a bye. Crazy.
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Is it crazy or are there evil forces at work here? Has Pantherhawk infiltrated the Big Ten scheduling department? Are the planets not aligned properly? Ah, I just figured it out . It is Joe Maturi's fault!:rolleyes:

P.S. I am starting to believe it's that we have enemies in the Big Ten scheduling office.
 

Parski1 said:
Starting off (5-0) will help. Still a pretty weak non-conference.
Click to expand...

I agree with you for 3 out of the 4 games. San Jose State will be a tougher game than Iowa...there's nothing weak about them and I wouldn't be surprised if they are favored to beat us.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Don't think the Gophers' schedule is all that difficult this year?

Plenty has already been made about not having Illinois and Purdue on the schedule this year (the two BT wins for the Gophers last season), but there's another interesting schedule nuance that won't make things any easier for the Rodents to become bowl-eligible this year, as well as improving on their win total from last year (apologies if this has already been mentioned):

> San Jose State
> Michigan
> Nebraska
> Indiana

All four of these Gopher opponents have a bye week and two weeks to prepare for their game against Minnesota. FOUR opponents. What are the odds of that happening in one season? The Gophers get two weeks to prepare for Wisky, which will help, but here's another example of just how unfriendly the schedule is for the 2013 season. I think the team will be significantly improved over last season but it's going to be a seriously uphill battle for it to show up in the Win column.
Click to expand...

It seems that you are lining up excuses in case Kill loses a couple of non-conference games.
 




I'm not so sure a bye week is an inherent positive.

It can kill momentum for a team coming off a big win.

It can be an extra week to wallow in defeat.

Early in the season, it can ruin another chance for the team to gel.
 

Eagan said:
It seems that you are lining up excuses in case Kill loses a couple of non-conference games.
Click to expand...

He referenced one non-conference opponent. How is that making an excuse for multiple non-conference games?
 

TexasAggie11 said:
I'm not so sure a bye week is an inherent positive.

It can kill momentum for a team coming off a big win.

It can be an extra week to wallow in defeat.

Early in the season, it can ruin another chance for the team to gel.
Click to expand...

Aggie has the right thinking here. Oftentimes a kid injured and not able to participate one week after injury is still not ready to go after the second week also.
 

Has anyone seen a time for the San Jose State game? The earlier the better. West coast team traveling east, changing two time zones. A 11:30 game would be great.
 



husker70 said:
Has anyone seen a time for the San Jose State game? The earlier the better. West coast team traveling east, changing two time zones. A 11:30 game would be great.
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I believe it is a noon start based off tickets I bought on stubhub
 

Kill has had great third years at the other schools, but I find it hard to see more than five wins with this schedule. Hope I'm wrong and Kill and coaches surprise the world!
 



Eagan said:
It seems that you are lining up excuses in case Kill loses a couple of non-conference games.
Click to expand...

Eagan, are there bye-weeks in Division 2; does NDSU get weeks off? Just curious if D1 and D2 are different in scheduling. Thanks
 

Coolew01 said:
I believe it is a noon start based off tickets I bought on stubhub
Click to expand...

Start time hasn't been announced yet for that game.
 

We also get 2 weeks to prepare for NW.
 


Overall I think that the issue of opponent bye weeks is a mixed bag. Overall I think that most coaches like their own teams to have 2 weeks to prepare. My favorite scenario is for the opponent to have played a great game (and won) the week before playing us. My feeling is that most teams do not play great games back to back. Go Gophers!
 

Gophers' Schedule woes

To be honest, Michigan and Nebraska gain no real advantage by having an extra week to prepare for the Gophers. (I wish that weren't the case.)

Gophers simply must beat teams like SJSU and Indiana to exhibit the improvement they have made.
 

Eagan said:
It seems that you are lining up excuses in case Kill loses a couple of non-conference games.
Click to expand...

1. I know you're not a Gophers fans so you may not know who plays in the Big Ten. Let me help you a bit there. Only San Jose St. on that list is a non-conference game. Believe it or not, Michigan, Nebraska, and Indiana are all conference opponents.
2. In most situations, having a two weeks to prepare for an opponent helps. Will it make Indiana into Michigan? Of course not.
3. All he said was that the schedule may be a little tougher than people think based on a little bit of bad luck. Nothing more, nothing less. Quit trying to make it into something it's not.
 

Preparation time is one thing. Two weeks to get healthy is entirely another. How many times last year could the Gophers have used another week to get a few more guys off the DL?

That being said, the only one that concerns me is Indiana. Indiana was going to be tough as it is, particularly since it's a road game. For that reason, I almost give the Gophers a better chance of beating Wisky (at home, and with the Gophers having the extra week to get healthy) than I do of them beating Indiana.
 

Just for giggles...the number of times each team plays a Big Ten team that is coming off a bye.

4 - Ohio State
3 - Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois
2 - Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin
1 - Michigan St, Indiana, Penn St
0 - Purdue
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Just for giggles...the number of times each team plays a Big Ten team that is coming off a bye.

4 - Ohio State
3 - Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois
2 - Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin
1 - Michigan St, Indiana, Penn St
0 - Purdue
Click to expand...
Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Don't think the Gophers' schedule is all that difficult this year?

All four of these Gopher opponents have a bye week and two weeks to prepare for their game against Minnesota. FOUR opponents. What are the odds of that happening in one season? The Gophers get two weeks to prepare for Wisky, which will help, but here's another example of just how unfriendly the schedule is for the 2013 season. I think the team will be significantly improved over last season but it's going to be a seriously uphill battle for it to show up in the Win column.
Click to expand...
apparently 42%
 




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