Gophers vs. Tommies

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oakwest

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This Strib article recently proposed a Minnesota Basketball Day featuring different schools in state and ending with Gophers vs. Tommies. I had been in the camp that the Gophers shouldn't play the Tommies (The Summit League is so far from the Big 10), but the Tommies are likely going to be in March Madness as an automatic bid (Summit League Tourney Winner) in a few years. It is much better for the Gophers to stomp on them each season instead of avoiding them and then potentially facing them for the first time in the NCAA tourney. The Saint Thomas program is going to continue to get better. They've hung in games with Marquette and Creighton. I'd much rather watch the Gophers take on the Tommies in front of a large crowd than IUPUI or Southern Arkansas Community Tech.


https://www.startribune.com/get-a-j...in-minnesota-with-a-basketball-day/600357591/
 



Have been wondering lately.....who will make the NCAA tournament first. Tommies winning the Summit or the Gophers (need to finish better in big ten and have better non conference schedule with some wins. Maybe should make this a poll on here.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

Interesting year coming up for UST the last of the D3 crew is gone.. they have signed two from the portal…two more years with the transition before eligible.. it will be easier to recruit starting next year.. you can tell kids you can play in a new arena and there would be only one year left of the transition.. much easier sell… they have missed out on some kids portal wise because of the transition some kids didn’t realize UST got stuck with a 5 year transition ban.. it would be fun if they played but bored talking about it.. can’t wait to watch both teams
 


007gopherfan said:
Have been wondering lately.....who will make the NCAA tournament first. Tommies winning the Summit or the Gophers (need to finish better in big ten and have better non conference schedule with some wins. Maybe should make this a poll on here.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
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It’s his 👃off-season, he needs a blow, so no new polls.

Seriously, with all the vitriol hurled at him last season, he’s requesting hazard pay to make another appearance next 🪣 season.

You sire, can get on the ground floor of this unique opportunity - I’m sorry we only take credit cards.
 

There's no benefit to the U...just kidding. We've lost the right to think that. Play teams that will prepare us for the Tournament. Play teams that will interest fans. Whatever that combo aligns with, just get it done. No ducking, no schedule full of cupcakes.

Go Gophers!!
 


To echo another commenter here, “bored talking about it”. I'll add emphasis.
The more I see this discussion pop-up over time on a Gophers Basketball message board, the more it seems to belie that they do fantasize about said match-up in hopes of being able to compare the teams, which specifically succumbs to the main reason given for abstaining by the majority of gopher fans—which is also comically, the same very thing that they categorically deny is even remotely a reason for desiring said match in the first place.

At this point if anything, I’m against it simply for indications that suggest no one will ever shutup about it, if and when it happens.
This is a Gophers bb message board; I don’t frequent the site to focus on other teams. To the Gophers they are just another, of hundreds of mid-major teams, ergo they are irrelevant.
 




Otis said:
I wouldn’t mind if a Mpls Fortune 500 hosted a holiday tournament with say Iowa State, the Gophers, the Tommies and say South Dakota or SDSU.
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Only problem is we would try and avoid St Thomas by playing the other two schools as pre-scheduled opponents vs tournament format. Wouldn't that generate 10,000 plus pretty easily at US Bank or even Target Center?
Maybe Mankato plays somebody and you got 3 games in a day. You'd need an AD to make it happen. Seems possible to create a bunch of buzz with the right matchups.
 

bhk3yx said:
The more I see this discussion pop-up over time on a Gophers Basketball message board, the more it seems to belie that they do fantasize about said match-up in hopes of being able to compare the teams, which specifically succumbs to the main reason given for abstaining by the majority of gopher fans—which is also comically, the same very thing that they categorically deny is even remotely a reason for desiring said match in the first place.
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Holy run-on sentence, Batman!
 

oakwest said:
This Strib article recently proposed a Minnesota Basketball Day featuring different schools in state and ending with Gophers vs. Tommies. I had been in the camp that the Gophers shouldn't play the Tommies (The Summit League is so far from the Big 10), but the Tommies are likely going to be in March Madness as an automatic bid (Summit League Tourney Winner) in a few years. It is much better for the Gophers to stomp on them each season instead of avoiding them and then potentially facing them for the first time in the NCAA tourney. The Saint Thomas program is going to continue to get better. They've hung in games with Marquette and Creighton. I'd much rather watch the Gophers take on the Tommies in front of a large crowd than IUPUI or Southern Arkansas Community Tech.


https://www.startribune.com/get-a-j...in-minnesota-with-a-basketball-day/600357591/
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That's a big assumption (Tommie Ascendecy in the Summit). They didn't win the Summit in a very down year. SDSU, NDSU et al aren't going to get worse. I believe I heard on the radio this morning that the Tommies new arena that everyone is geeked out about (that gets them only on par with the top of the Summit arena wise but not overall facility wise) is now on hold.
 



Otis said:
I wouldn’t mind if a Mpls Fortune 500 hosted a holiday tournament with say Iowa State, the Gophers, the Tommies and say South Dakota or SDSU.
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When 'Mpls Fortune 500' is mentioned...there's only 1 thing we really want to hear about anymore.

And it's not about sponsoring tournaments.
 

swede2 said:
That's a big assumption (Tommie Ascendecy in the Summit). They didn't win the Summit in a very down year. SDSU, NDSU et al aren't going to get worse. I believe I heard on the radio this morning that the Tommies new arena that everyone is geeked out about (that gets them only on par with the top of the Summit arena wise but not overall facility wise) is now on hold.
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They've demolished a couple buildings and have been doing earthwork for over two months. Actual construction wont begin until summer, they still need to tear down a dorm. The neighbors are trying to stop construction because its "too close to the river bluff." There are several buildings much closer, some which aren't even a decade old.

It's only going to be 5,500 seats, not very big, but it will be shiny and new. I could see St. Thomas excelling in the summit league once they get through the transition period.
 

TurfGopher said:
They've demolished a couple buildings and have been doing earthwork for over two months. Actual construction wont begin until summer, they still need to tear down a dorm. The neighbors are trying to stop construction because its "too close to the river bluff." There are several buildings much closer, some which aren't even a decade old.

It's only going to be 5,500 seats, not very big, but it will be shiny and new. I could see St. Thomas excelling in the summit league once they get through the transition period.
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I thought the concern was traffic congestion. Parking spots are short by a few hundred spots for peak games that will clog the neighborhood.

They claim the city study underestimated the impact to the quality of life, and thus are suing. St Thomas says they have a bus shuttle solution and the city study phase is over, done.
 

bhk3yx said:
To echo another commenter here, “bored talking about it”. I'll add emphasis.
The more I see this discussion pop-up over time on a Gophers Basketball message board, the more it seems to belie that they do fantasize about said match-up in hopes of being able to compare the teams, which specifically succumbs to the main reason given for abstaining by the majority of gopher fans—which is also comically, the same very thing that they categorically deny is even remotely a reason for desiring said match in the first place.

At this point if anything, I’m against it simply for indications that suggest no one will ever shutup about it, if and when it happens.
This is a Gophers bb message board; I don’t frequent the site to focus on other teams. To the Gophers they are just another, of hundreds of mid-major teams, ergo they are irrelevant.
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The main reason that I'm for it is because of fellow Gopher fans who act surprised that people want to see it. It's annoying.

St. Thomas is not just another mid-major program to the vast majority of people who are Gopher fans. Your last sentence "To the Gophers they are just another . . . " and your first sentence are at odds. If it's getting brought up so much that you're bored talking about, then they are NOT just another mid-major.

It's a win-win for us. If we play them and beat them, we get to slam the door on a lot of the nonsense. If we lose to them, we know it's time to start thinking about where we are.
 

This sounds boring at best. Manufactured drama. I say skip it.
 

CPTMidnight said:
This sounds boring at best. Manufactured drama. I say skip it.
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Isn't that just what college rivalries kind of are? How is having another mini-rival any less exciting than any other non-conference game?

This is not directed at you specifically, but it really feels like the people who don't want the game are just exceptionally thin-skinned. They don't want to lose and risk the horror of being trolled by St. Thomas fans or the local media.

I just don't believe there is any way you would want to win this game this as much as a game against Mercer.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
The main reason that I'm for it is because of fellow Gopher fans who act surprised that people want to see it. It's annoying.

St. Thomas is not just another mid-major program to the vast majority of people who are Gopher fans. Your last sentence "To the Gophers they are just another . . . " and your first sentence are at odds. If it's getting brought up so much that you're bored talking about, then they are NOT just another mid-major.

It's a win-win for us. If we play them and beat them, we get to slam the door on a lot of the nonsense. If we lose to them, we know it's time to start thinking about where we are.
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I believe it is a game wewe, the Gophers, should want to play it could be a great local rivalry game. And guess what if St. Thomas is good enough on occassion to beat us, good for them. That means they are datn good that year and we are down a bit! And honestly wouldn't that game be good for Minnesota basketball,. There would be 8 to 10 minnesota players competing in that game! I'd love it. And yes i'd be mad if the U of M lost but i would get over it and pull up my big boy pants and get back to work! Sport especially amayeur, collegiate sports is about competition. You need to be willing to compete against everyone. Including abd especially in this state, St. Thomas. I will take this even further we should have all 4 dakota universities, Iowa State, Drake, Northern Iowa, and Creighton on our Non conference schedule those games actually may put butts in those empty seats at Williams Arena!
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Isn't that just what college rivalries kind of are? How is having another mini-rival any less exciting than any other non-conference game?

This is not directed at you specifically, but it really feels like the people who don't want the game are just exceptionally thin-skinned. They don't want to lose and risk the horror of being trolled by St. Thomas fans or the local media.

I just don't believe there is any way you would want to win this game this as much as a game against Mercer.
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No, I don't think that is what rivalries are. Wisconsin and Iowa have 100 years of games vs MN complete with obnoxious transplants living here, Governors bets with each other, stolen trophies, and general student shenanigans. Wisconsin sucks! I enjoy seeing them lost to any other team.

On the other hand, I know and like all my Tommy friends. I'm glad they are now D1 and hope they do well.

I would put it at the same level as South Dakota state coming to us and saying - you guys have rivalries with WI and IA and we are on your western border and want a rivalry and if you don't it's because you are a bunch of chickens. My response would be - sounds boring, we like you guys and hope you do well, we will try to schedule you sometime when it is convenient for us. ...maybe try ndsu?
 

oakwest said:
potentially facing them for the first time in the NCAA tourney
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LOL! We are never going to face St. Thomas in the Tourney. The entire concept is laughable. First, they have a long way to go to compete with the top of their own conference. Second, and more importantly, if they somehow did pull an upset and steal a bid, they're going to be a 15 or 16 seed, meaning we'd have to be a 1 or 2 seed. That's almost certainly never going to happen in any of our lifetimes. (I mean, can you imagine? We can't win a home game against an 0-18 SEC team, and you're daydreaming about being a top 8 team in the country???) And finally, even if the stars somehow aligned in this dream fugue state of yours, the committee is not going to match up two Minnesota-based teams in the first round, and probably not even in the same regional.

If this was a creative writing assignment for your class at St. Thomas...well done, I guess?
 

dpodoll68 said:
LOL! We are never going to face St. Thomas in the Tourney. The entire concept is laughable. First, they have a long way to go to compete with the top of their own conference. Second, and more importantly, if they somehow did pull an upset and steal a bid, they're going to be a 15 or 16 seed, meaning we'd have to be a 1 or 2 seed. That's almost certainly never going to happen in any of our lifetimes. (I mean, can you imagine? We can't win a home game against an 0-18 SEC team, and you're daydreaming about being a top 8 team in the country???) And finally, even if the stars somehow aligned in this dream fugue state of yours, the committee is not going to match up two Minnesota-based teams in the first round, and probably not even in the same regional.

If this was a creative writing assignment for your class at St. Thomas...well done, I guess?
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Agree with some of this, but not the bolded part.

Through Year 3 of UST’s jump to D1, the Tommies already are competing well with the top of their conference. In terms of trajectory I’d argue right now the only Summit program definitively ahead of them is South Dakota State. Perhaps North Dakota State, too, but that’s debatable. As someone who follows UST those are the two programs I use to gauge their progress.
 
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dpodoll68 said:
LOL! We are never going to face St. Thomas in the Tourney. The entire concept is laughable. First, they have a long way to go to compete with the top of their own conference. Second, and more importantly, if they somehow did pull an upset and steal a bid, they're going to be a 15 or 16 seed, meaning we'd have to be a 1 or 2 seed. That's almost certainly never going to happen in any of our lifetimes. (I mean, can you imagine? We can't win a home game against an 0-18 SEC team, and you're daydreaming about being a top 8 team in the country???) And finally, even if the stars somehow aligned in this dream fugue state of yours, the committee is not going to match up two Minnesota-based teams in the first round, and probably not even in the same regional.

If this was a creative writing assignment for your class at St. Thomas...well done, I guess?
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They may not face each other in the NCAA tournament, but it would be embarrassing for the U to dodge Saint Thomas in the regular season, have both of them make the NCAA tournament, and Saint Thomas goes farther. Or Saint Thomas makes the postseason and the U of M doesn't. That's a very likely possibility.
 


oakwest said:
They may not face each other in the NCAA tournament, but it would be embarrassing for the U to dodge Saint Thomas in the regular season, have both of them make the NCAA tournament, and Saint Thomas goes farther. Or Saint Thomas makes the postseason and the U of M doesn't. That's a very likely possibility.
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It would be embarrassing for me to total my car by running into a unicorn. That's equally as likely as your scenario of them meeting in the Tourney, or of St. Thomas winning a Tourney game - that's a particularly good one.
 

GopherMarroon said:
I thought the concern was traffic congestion. Parking spots are short by a few hundred spots for peak games that will clog the neighborhood.

They claim the city study underestimated the impact to the quality of life, and thus are suing. St Thomas says they have a bus shuttle solution and the city study phase is over, done.
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Quite honestly, the neighbors are throwing everything they can against the wall in hopes that something sticks to prevent the stadium from being built - Traffic, Environment, Etc.

The reality is the City approved it. It will take a serious finding to derail it at this point.
 



Roland Brooks said:
You bought a house across the street from a University live with it… just like the people who buy a house on a golf course and bitch because golf balls go into their yard…
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Can you imagine living in a city where people park in front of your house and quietly walk to an event? Horrifying.
 

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