How Gophers Are Perceived

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Nomellini

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I've been thinking about when Fleck said the Gophers can change how we are seen by outsiders by beating good teams. Well, were on a cruise in early November, on which I spotted a lady wearing a Penn State sweatshirt. I had on a Minnesota hat and asked if she was enjoying the success of the Lions this season. She said that she was very excited about the upcoming Ohio State-Penn State game because both teams, in her view, would be unbeaten. I said "well, Penn State has to play the Gophers soon and the game will be in Minneapolis." She didn't mean to sound snooty but she said dimly "Oh...are they having a good season?" Evidently she was only vaguely aware that we have a team and she seemed old enough to recall November 6, 1999 in Happy Valley. Our cruise ended before our game with them but I am sure that she learned a little something about Minnesota!
 


Frankly, no one will take us seriously as an opponent until we show sustained success at the Iowa or better level. You saw it in the 1st and last CFP rankings. We're way too low for a 2 loss team in the B1G and no way we should be 6th of the B1G teams. IA and WI get credit for beating a good MN team and we don't for beating PSU because it's a "fluke" win.

I'm ok with it, the longer we can play the underdog the more we can take advantage of an unprepared team. That said, some local belief and support (especially in the media) would really help with our recruiting efforts.
 

Beat Auburn and people will believe more.

As it is, you had one big upset this year, and IMO almost every top 60 or so team has at least one big upset in the past 10-15 years. This was the first for the Gophers.
 



It is extremely difficult to change perception and it takes far longer than a year to do it.
 

GVBadger said:
It is extremely difficult to change perception and it takes far longer than a year to do it.
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A win over the badgers would have done a lot. It doesn't take that long but you have to win more big games than just 1 in a season.
 

Before we can expect national perceptions of the Gopher football program to change, Fleck knows he has to change the perceptions of Gopher fans themselves. He mentions this fact repeatedly. He wants Gopher fans to have higher expectations.

Look around right here on GopherHole. It won't take you too long to see that the also-ran mentality runs deep. You'll see plenty of references to 'a long history of losing', '50 years of mediocrity', etc. Those perceptions are certainly accurate, but having our own fans continually dredging them up in every conversation about Gopher football is self-defeating. It becomes a loser's mantra.

If we don't believe we can win, there's little reason for outsiders to take us seriously.
 

I think there are a lot of fans that don't really pay attention around the country. She is probably a big fan of her team but doesn't know much of anything about anyone else.
 



There will always be someone to convince. Just look at the SEC. Their fans don't respect any team outside of the SEC no matter how many times they go .500 in bowl season.

If you are at the level of Wisconsin you aren't respected because your recruiting rankings aren't high enough and if you are Ohio State you aren't respected because you don't have to go through the SEC gauntlet of Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M.

So, I simply hope the Gophers can reach the point where a "bad" season is 8-4 and a good season is 10-2 and a NY6 bowl game every few years. Even better than that? I'll take it.
 

Speaking of Gopher perception. I remember wearing a simple maroon "Minnesota Football" sweatshirt (maroon hooded sweatshirt with gold lettering and no logo) to a bar up north about 10 years ago and as I was sitting at the bar talking to the bartender, she noticed my sweatshirt and asked "Do you have a relative that plays on the team?" It didn't compute for her that a fan or someone not directly associated with the program would have such a sweatshirt with the words "Minnesota Football" stitched on the front.
 

JWG said:
Frankly, no one will take us seriously as an opponent until we show sustained success at the Iowa or better level.
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This might be true of casual fans and the national media but the majority of Gopher opponents and their fans should and do take Minnesota seriously because a game vs the Gophers even before this season will likely be competitive at worst. It’s rare that Minnesota isn’t competitive in the way the bottom 4 or 5 teams often are. Maybe only OSU fans can write off Minnesota as a walkover.
 

Schnauzer, glad you brought that up. I wear Gopher stuff all year long and I've been asked a number of times 'did you go to school there?'. I always was a Gopher fan growing up in way northern Minnesota. Seemed like a no-brainer to me be a Gopher fan.
 



bonin21 said:
A win over the badgers would have done a lot. It doesn't take that long but you have to win more big games than just 1 in a season.
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Yes, WI or IA win would have helped, but it will take sustained elevated performance over more than a couple seasons for perception to change. Gophs have to set a new norm for expectations.
 

strokemonster said:
Schnauzer, glad you brought that up. I wear Gopher stuff all year long and I've been asked a number of times 'did you go to school there?'. I always was a Gopher fan growing up in way northern Minnesota. Seemed like a no-brainer to me be a Gopher fan.
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I live in California and wear Gopher stuff every day. Other Minnesota people often approach or call out as they drive or ride by but only very rarely do I see anyone else with Gopher gear. Those who come up to me or acknowledge me seem to have genuine affection for the state but maybe not for the Gophers...yet.
 

All I can say is that Minnesota Football feels relevant again. The last time it felt like this was when Carpet Bagger Lou was in town promising us the world before he skidaddled to Notre Dame.
 

On several occasions both Mrs. Billd and myself have had unsolicited inquiries or statements about the Gophers since October. It's been great to witness. The UGA equivalent is "How 'Bout Them Dogs!" to anyone wearing red and black. Lots of fun..
 

Right now, Minnesota is starting to get some real attention around college football circles. If the Gophers beat Auburn on New Years Day, the national perception will skyrocket.
 

People think that we had just one good game against Penn State.

Don't think people don't know how we did in OOC play.
 

I think we are perceived better by outsiders. That said, they have shorter memories.
 

I perceive them as a very good team which has made great strides under Fleck, but not at the same level as elite teams at the very top: LSU, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia.

Should they beat Auburn ill revise that to say they may already be of top-5 caliber and definitely top 10.
 
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Having lived in the Atlanta area for the past 14 years (I grew up in MN and graduated from The U in ‘94) I get two types down here. The first are SEC fans that look down on any other conference. I was on the fringes of a discussion just last week where Ohio State was tossed around like a non factor because they don’t get battle tested like all the teams that beat each other up in the SEC. To them, the Gophers are even 2x removed from relevancy. The only time they would give us a glance is if we had a shot to upset a top tier B1G team that would allow an SEC team to climb in the rankings. The second type are fans of B1G power programs. There are two huge Penn State fans that have kids on my son’s lacrosse team. I overheard them having a discussion about Minnesota about a week after we beat them. The general take from them is that the win was a fluke. And Minnesota doesn’t have the talent to sustain success as, in their words, we don’t have any players that Penn State have even a sniff at during recruiting. I’d say we have a ways to go in order to make a dent in the college football landscape in the Southeast. With that said, I loved all the national coverage on Game Day and ESPN U on SeriousXM. We are on the right track and have momentum. But it will be a long journey my friends.
 

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