** How Many Games Will the Gopher Win? ** Pulse Vote After Crushing Nevada

How Many Games Will the Gophers Win? And Why?

  • 3-4 wins

    Votes: 10 9.8%

  • 5 wins

    Votes: 17 16.7%

  • 6 wins

    Votes: 29 28.4%

  • 7 wins

    Votes: 30 29.4%

  • 8+ wins

    Votes: 16 15.7%
  • Total voters
    102
  • Poll closed .
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GopherMarroon

GopherMarroon

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At the start of the season the over/under for wins was 5.5 wins.

First game of the season was a mistakes-prone blown opportunity against North Carolina.

Last two games have been defensive shutouts and a winning margin higher than expected.
 


RememberMurray said:
If they beat Iowa it will get mighty interesting.

Can the Gophers continue to roll against the Hawkeyes? If they can, they'll gain some new believers.
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The defense has looked very good the last two weeks against extremely pedestrian offenses.

The offense today was more diverse, but we'll play a real live defense next week.

Nothing about today's game makes me more optimistic about next week, but I'm glad we won.

And I'm really glad we didn't get anybody hurt in the 4th quarter in a meaningless game that was decided.
 

I'm voting 8+

From what I've seen from the defense so far, and the slow, but noticable improvements in the offense, I think the following games are all reasonably within reach for us to win:

Iowa
UCLA
Maryland
Illinois
Rutgers
Wisconsin

Win all of them, and we're at 8 wins. I also think it's possible we pull an upset in one of our other games (IMO Michigan, ironically, might be the most likely game for us to win out of the 3):

Michigan
USC
Penn State

Michigan got stomped by Texas, though maybe Texas is finally back, and let Arkansas State score 18 and only won by 10 points, so we'll see how they do next week vs USC.

USC has only played 2 games so far, but do have a top 25 win already, and shut out Utah State 48-0. Their game vs Michigan will be pretty telling I think.

Penn State has also only played 2 games. They beat West Virginia pretty handily, but only beat Bowling Green by 7 points, and allowed bowling green to score 27, so it's hard to say if they really are as good as their ranking. We play them the second to last week of the season, and we will have had 3 common opponents by that time, so we'll have a pretty good idea how we match up going into our game I think.

Honestly, so long as our defense continues to play like they have, I think they'll keep us competitive in every game, it will be up to the offense to execute to bring us over the finish line and win.
 





Taji34 said:
I'm voting 8+

From what I've seen from the defense so far, and the slow, but noticable improvements in the offense, I think the following games are all reasonably within reach for us to win:

Iowa
UCLA
Maryland
Illinois
Rutgers
Wisconsin

Win all of them, and we're at 8 wins. I also think it's possible we pull an upset in one of our other games (IMO Michigan, ironically, might be the most likely game for us to win out of the 3):

Michigan
USC
Penn State

Michigan got stomped by Texas, though maybe Texas is finally back, and let Arkansas State score 18 and only won by 10 points, so we'll see how they do next week vs USC.

USC has only played 2 games so far, but do have a top 25 win already, and shut out Utah State 48-0. Their game vs Michigan will be pretty telling I think.

Penn State has also only played 2 games. They beat West Virginia pretty handily, but only beat Bowling Green by 7 points, and allowed bowling green to score 27, so it's hard to say if they really are as good as their ranking. We play them the second to last week of the season, and we will have had 3 common opponents by that time, so we'll have a pretty good idea how we match up going into our game I think.

Honestly, so long as our defense continues to play like they have, I think they'll keep us competitive in every game, it will be up to the offense to execute to bring us over the finish line and win.
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This is great. Now let me rearrange your composition by wins probably and how hard the odds get with more wins.


For sure wins:
Win 3 - Beat Wisconsin without their QB

Wins 4-5 Beat at least two of these four games:
UCLA
Maryland
Illinois
Rutgers

Win 6 - Beat Iowa, enormous game next week. This Gophers team can beat that Iowa team.

Then what about the other two wins from
UCLA
Maryland
Illinois
Rutgers


Then these:

Michigan
USC
Penn State


If Gophers Beat Iowa, Gophers can get to 7 or even 8.

If they are good enough to beat Iowa.
 

Taji34 said:
I'm voting 8+

From what I've seen from the defense so far, and the slow, but noticable improvements in the offense, I think the following games are all reasonably within reach for us to win:

Iowa
UCLA
Maryland
Illinois
Rutgers
Wisconsin

Win all of them, and we're at 8 wins. I also think it's possible we pull an upset in one of our other games (IMO Michigan, ironically, might be the most likely game for us to win out of the 3):

Michigan
USC
Penn State

Michigan got stomped by Texas, though maybe Texas is finally back, and let Arkansas State score 18 and only won by 10 points, so we'll see how they do next week vs USC.

USC has only played 2 games so far, but do have a top 25 win already, and shut out Utah State 48-0. Their game vs Michigan will be pretty telling I think.

Penn State has also only played 2 games. They beat West Virginia pretty handily, but only beat Bowling Green by 7 points, and allowed bowling green to score 27, so it's hard to say if they really are as good as their ranking. We play them the second to last week of the season, and we will have had 3 common opponents by that time, so we'll have a pretty good idea how we match up going into our game I think.

Honestly, so long as our defense continues to play like they have, I think they'll keep us competitive in every game, it will be up to the offense to execute to bring us over the finish line and win.
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Realistically Gophers have opportunity to win three more games: Iowa, UCLA and Maryland. I do not expect the MN to have more than 5 wins at end of season. And this coming weekend, because Fleck has a tendency to make boneheaded coaching decisions, I'm betting Iowa wins. So though I estimate no more than 5 wins, I'm expecting no more than 4.
 



RememberMurray said:
If they beat Iowa it will get mighty interesting.

Can the Gophers continue to roll against the Hawkeyes? If they can, they'll gain some new believers.
Click to expand...
There will be a lot of tape review on the Nevada / Troy and Iowa / Troy games this week.
 

gopherguy said:
Realistically Gophers have opportunity to win three more games: Iowa, UCLA and Maryland. I do not expect the MN to have more than 5 wins at end of season. And this coming weekend, because Fleck has a tendency to make boneheaded coaching decisions, I'm betting Iowa wins. So though I estimate no more than 5 wins, I'm expecting no more than 4.
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That's a lot of pessimism about a team that just shut out two opponents in a row and features a quarterback completing about 70% of his throws. Toss in a great running back and three or four good ones behind him.

Using your words "realistically" and "opportunity", the Gophers have a chance to win nine more games. None of our Big Ten opponents appear unbeatable at this time. There will be a lot of close games this season, some of them decided by breaks or mistakes.
 

I voted 6. That means we have to win 4 Big Ten games (because we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against UNC). Four B1G wins is a lot, given that the West Division is no longer around. Our defense might be able to keep us in most games; OL communication and coordination must improve.
 

Offensive line needs to improve quite a bit otherwise scoring will be difficult going forward.
 



Spreads if the games were played this weekend:

Iowa (-2.5)
@Michigan (-10)
USC (-11)
@UCLA (+7)
Maryland (PK)
@Illinois (-3)
@Rutgers (-2)
Penn State (-12)
Wisconsin (+2)

Gophers are only a favorite in 2 remaining games, in the Rose Bowl and Camp Randall.

However there are no hopeless hills to climb and 4 other games would fall within a field goal.
 

Dakota2 said:
That's a lot of pessimism about a team that just shut out two opponents in a row and features a quarterback completing about 70% of his throws. Toss in a great running back and three or four good ones behind him.

Using your words "realistically" and "opportunity", the Gophers have a chance to win nine more games. None of our Big Ten opponents appear unbeatable at this time. There will be a lot of close games this season, some of them decided by breaks or mistakes.
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Based on data they defeated two horrible teams. The remaining games are against teams that again, based on data, are superior. It's nice to be a homer and I commend you on that.. but again, realistically, several of their opponents this year are currently outright unbeatable. Barring decimating injuries, MN is not going to win against: USC, Penn State, Wisconsin, or Illinois. It's doubtful they win against: Michigan and Rutgers. That leaves Iowa, UCLA, and Maryland. If they defeat Iowa that will be an upset according to Vegas. They're going to have a difficult time containing Maryland. I expect MN will defeat UCLA – If not PJ definitely should not be back.
 

  1. The offense is still underperforming at an alarming rate with the exception of Taylor. The O-line has surprisingly been very bad in both run and pass protection.
  2. This has been overcome a bit by a better than expected defense. This is a very solid secondary with some very nice depth. THe D-line has not been able to pressure in straight four man rushes but that has been overcome with some nice play calling on blitzes.
  3. Fleck continues to be a brutal game day coach. We are just going to have to accept this moving forward. He simply does not learn from his mistakes. Clock management, fourth down decisions, FG attempt decisions, ect. UGH.

I see 5 wins at the most unless the offense, particularly the line, improves dramatically.
 


gopherguy said:
Based on data they defeated two horrible teams. The remaining games are against teams that again, based on data, are superior. It's nice to be a homer and I commend you on that.. but again, realistically, several of their opponents this year are currently outright unbeatable. Barring decimating injuries, MN is not going to win against: USC, Penn State, Wisconsin, or Illinois. It's doubtful they win against: Michigan and Rutgers. That leaves Iowa, UCLA, and Maryland. If they defeat Iowa that will be an upset according to Vegas. They're going to have a difficult time containing Maryland. I expect MN will defeat UCLA – If not PJ definitely should not be back.
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If you are looking at the data Vegas uses you should see that Minnesota would be favored to beat wisconsin, even at Camp Randall.

Gophers are going to win some games because they have a good defense and a good QB. But the margin will be slim and lots of games are within a FG spread. A few bounces will be the difference between 8-4 and 4-8.
 

angry-gary-oldman.gif
 

None of MN’s future opponents look like worldbeaters. The talent on USC, PSU is intimidating, sure. If they’re on they’ll be tough to beat. But for MN the QB, defense look competent/solid. We finally have an aggressive elite-level athlete at PR. Things could happen…even with an offense that is figuring things out. I’m way more optimistic than I was 3 weeks ago. Believe - hokey but hey, it’s true.
 

gopherguy said:
Based on data they defeated two horrible teams. The remaining games are against teams that again, based on data, are superior. It's nice to be a homer and I commend you on that.. but again, realistically, several of their opponents this year are currently outright unbeatable. Barring decimating injuries, MN is not going to win against: USC, Penn State, Wisconsin, or Illinois. It's doubtful they win against: Michigan and Rutgers. That leaves Iowa, UCLA, and Maryland. If they defeat Iowa that will be an upset according to Vegas. They're going to have a difficult time containing Maryland. I expect MN will defeat UCLA – If not PJ definitely should not be back.
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Wisconsin is not very good this year. They are absolutely beatable. Illinois will be tougher, but if Minnesota won, nationwide people wouldn't declare it an upset. Neither would be. Are you living in 2024?
 

Dakota2 said:
That's a lot of pessimism about a team that just shut out two opponents in a row and features a quarterback completing about 70% of his throws. Toss in a great running back and three or four good ones behind him.

Using your words "realistically" and "opportunity", the Gophers have a chance to win nine more games. None of our Big Ten opponents appear unbeatable at this time. There will be a lot of close games this season, some of them decided by breaks or mistakes.
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This. Every team on our schedule sans Illinois and USC have shown major weaknesses and appear very mortal to this point. It all comes down to how prepared we are.
 

gopherguy said:
Based on data they defeated two horrible teams. The remaining games are against teams that again, based on data, are superior. It's nice to be a homer and I commend you on that.. but again, realistically, several of their opponents this year are currently outright unbeatable. Barring decimating injuries, MN is not going to win against: USC, Penn State, Wisconsin, or Illinois. It's doubtful they win against: Michigan and Rutgers. That leaves Iowa, UCLA, and Maryland. If they defeat Iowa that will be an upset according to Vegas. They're going to have a difficult time containing Maryland. I expect MN will defeat UCLA – If not PJ definitely should not be back.
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For crying out loud. just take the damn games one at a time and see what happens. Wisky already lost their qb their coach was so high on for a whole bunch of games...maybe even the season. They hadn't been setting the world on fire in their previous two games either. We play them last game of the schedule. Who knows what will happen to the Gopher or the stinking badger between now and them.

Iowa Is going to be a tough game for the Gopher AND the stinking hawkeye will have a TOUGH time beating the Gopher. Let's see how that game ends. Then I suppose the Gopher has another tough game after that. But, the chances are that if either of the teams are thinking about their next tough B1G game during the Gopher-stinking hawkeye game, the team thinking ahead may not play too great a game.

Beat that favored by sin-city book-makers hawkeye, Gopher!
 
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fmlizard said:
If you are looking at the data Vegas uses you should see that Minnesota would be favored to beat wisconsin, even at Camp Randall.

Gophers are going to win some games because they have a good defense and a good QB. But the margin will be slim and lots of games are within a FG spread. A few bounces will be the difference between 8-4 and 4-8.
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Agree. Outside of PSU, USC, and UCLA (the other way), I’d be mildly surprised if any game is more than a 14 point margin of victory for whoever wins. I think Minnesota has a very real chance of beating Iowa and Michigan the next two weeks and expect both games to be close. Buckle up and grab the pepto.
 

caliGopher said:
The defense has looked very good the last two weeks against extremely pedestrian offenses.

The offense today was more diverse, but we'll play a real live defense next week.

Nothing about today's game makes me more optimistic about next week, but I'm glad we won.

And I'm really glad we didn't get anybody hurt in the 4th quarter in a meaningless game that was decided.
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A majority of things in this game makes me more optimistic. I also think IA, WI and MI all have shown me they are beatable.
 

gopherguy said:
Realistically Gophers have opportunity to win three more games: Iowa, UCLA and Maryland. I do not expect the MN to have more than 5 wins at end of season. And this coming weekend, because Fleck has a tendency to make boneheaded coaching decisions, I'm betting Iowa wins. So though I estimate no more than 5 wins, I'm expecting no more than 4.
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Good grief. Though a quick look through your posts makes this one not at all surprising.
 



Gophergrandpa said:
I voted 6. That means we have to win 4 Big Ten games (because we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against UNC). Four B1G wins is a lot, given that the West Division is no longer around. Our defense might be able to keep us in most games; OL communication and coordination must improve.
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did you get some satisfaction when we road graded Taylor in for the touchdown?
 

Five Toes said:
did you get some satisfaction when we road graded Taylor in for the touchdown?
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I liked that one, for sure, but liked Taylor’s 80 yard TD scamper, too. He looked pretty gassed at the end.
 

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