You invalidated your own point in the very next sentence. If the Gophers started winning big and gaining a huge following, a la OSU, PSU, Mich, we would be on ABC and ESPN a lot more frequently. And we would also not be playing practically every game at 11. (Actually, the Big Ten frequently has a 7 pm game on ABC as well.)
Number of times each time played at 11 last year:
OSU: 7 (played on ABC 6 times, ESPN 2)
PSU: 4 (ABC 6, ESPN 3)
Michigan: 6 (ABC 5, ESPN 2)
Minnesota: 8 (ABC 1, ESPN 2)
I never said we would have to stop playing at 11 - every Big Ten team has to do it. It's just that the teams with a following don't have to do it as often, and are quite frequently on a station that all/most people have. Not once did any of those teams have to play on ESPNU or ESPN Classic. Hell, I had to upgrade my programming package just so I could watch the Bowling Green game. When do you suppose any of the aforementioned teams have had to do that?
This is just further evidence that the Gophers are NOT a big deal to anyone outside the fan base. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that - it's just a fact.