I'm starting to like the preseason rankings!

[Some Day...Is Coming!]

101st out of 120. 1-7 in the Big Ten. Last place in the Big Ten. Ranked behind Indiana in multiple rankings.

I hope the players read and see some of this stuff. If I was a player on this team it would definitely serve as motivation. I understand the whole "The Gophers don't deserve a lot of respect" based on their history, but they finished 2-3 with wins over Iowa and kicked Illinois' ass while taking Michigan State to the wire in East Lansing.

Let's hope this serves as some motivation and these guys use it to their advantage and carry it as a chip on their shoulder day in and day out throughout the season. They have some talented athletes who can't like being thought of in this regard.

 

[wait!what?]

58-0 to Mich and losing to NMSU, NDSU and some other crap didn't help. These soothesayers who write this pablum actually make a living out of being somewhat accurate and more often than not they are usually a game or 2 off at the end of the season.
Last 2 coaches have delivered the worst 2 losses in goph history. We have some fellows here who recall games in the 70s-60s and 50s but I have to believe 2007 til now is the progams lowest 5 yr period. I should check Thrall's site to see if this is true. I hope Kill will help the program get better but historically, this is the low water mark.

 

[Schnauzer]

These national predictions are not lost on me. It is important to remember that in recent years, they have been much more gloomy than the preseason Gopherhole consensus and in the end... unfortunately also much more accurate by the time the dust has settled on the season(s).

 

[wait!what?]

Yup. I have tempered my expectations and hope to be amazed. I still have a great time at the games and love the time with friends. Sorry, 2 out of the last 3 coaches have provided the worst 2 losses in goph history...forgot about the Horton Era

 

[4four4]

58-0 to Mich and losing to NMSU, NDSU and some other crap didn't help. These soothesayers who write this pablum actually make a living out of being somewhat accurate and more often than not they are usually a game or 2 off at the end of the season.
Last 2 coaches have delivered the worst 2 losses in goph history. We have some fellows here who recall games in the 70s-60s and 50s but I have to believe 2007 til now is the progams lowest 5 yr period. I should check Thrall's site to see if this is true. I hope Kill will help the program get better but historically, this is the low water mark.

Yeah because it is so hard to be off by a game or two. We all could be off by a game or two.

 

[GO4INLALALAND]

@Schnauzer. This. Every season since Brewster's arrival I was expecting a turn around to the point I saw the Gophers playing in the Rose Bowl by Brewster's third or fourth season. We know how that turned out. Also, during this time, the media were very down on the gophers and they were right to be, in retrospect. I am hopeful for this year, but after going through the Brewster era, with dreams of the Rose Bowl parade in my head, I am now much more tempered in my expectations in this team. I hope for the best, but expect the worst. With that said, if Gray and the receivers have a breakout year, the Gophers could really surprise a lot of teams. Plus, our run defense will have to outperform as well.

 

[scools12]

Unfortunately the national publications / prognosticators have been correct about predicting the Gophers season win total more often than not.

 

[Golden Elephant]

Listen, this isn't rocket science so let's not all start defending the national publications. The good ones spend a little more time telling you who's returning, who's not and how the team might be different from last year. But basically, to predict wins & losses all they do is take a team's prior year's record and add or subtract 1-2 wins and losses based on their subjective feel for if the team is better or worse. And, in their defense, what else can they do? There are so many variables that go into a team's record that these publications just can't know - how players developed in the offseason, coaching replacements, how well the team gets along/comes together on the field, scheme adjustments, injuries, run-ins with the law/violation of team rules, etc., etc. Now compound that by the fact that there are over a 100 D-1 programs to keep track of, and the result is their "predictions" are really no more than a vague guess.

We should NEVER be surprised to see predictions that match the previous season's record from these guys. So if you want to read them - and I browse them every so often - go ahead, but you or I are just as capable of predicting records as these guys, and we're about as likely to be correct, too. And their predictions should never cause gloom about our beloved Gophers - they'll never predict us to finish in the upper half of the conference until we consistently finish there.

 

[Killjoy]

Unfortunately the national publications / prognosticators have been correct about predicting the Gophers season win total more often than not.

How pathetic some of you are! You guys remind me of the old joke about the masochist when asked why he beats himself replied “Because it feels so good when I stop.” If it is that painful why do you continue to follow the Gophers?

Maybe it could just be a medical condition. You have all the symptoms an old strain of swine flu called Reusse, i.e. perpetual whining, always looking back and feeling sorry for yourselves. It is time to suck it up you sniveling cry babies! Maybe you could even enjoy Gopher football if you quit beating yourself with the past all the time.

 

[RodentRampage]

58-0 to Mich and losing to NMSU, NDSU and some other crap didn't help. These soothesayers who write this pablum actually make a living out of being somewhat accurate and more often than not they are usually a game or 2 off at the end of the season.
Last 2 coaches have delivered the worst 2 losses in goph history. We have some fellows here who recall games in the 70s-60s and 50s but I have to believe 2007 til now is the progams lowest 5 yr period. I should check Thrall's site to see if this is true. I hope Kill will help the program get better but historically, this is the low water mark.

Take a look at 1991-1997. Only twice in that stretch did the Gophers win as many as 4 games. 2-9, 2-9, 4-7, 3-8, 3-8, 4-7, 3-8.

In 6 of those seven years, the Gophers won only one Big Ten game, and won only a total of 9 Big Ten games over those seven years. In the past 5 years, the Gophers have won 10 Big Ten agams.

If you just want to compare 5-year spans, it gets even more clear. From 1991 to 1995, the Gophers won only 14 games overall, and just seven Big Ten games. From 2007 to 2011, the Gophers won 20 games overall and 10 Big Ten games.

The winning percentage from 1991 to 1995 was 25.5% overall and 17.5% in the Big Ten. The winning percentage from 2007 to 2011 was 32.3% overall and 25% in the Big Ten.

While the past 5 years haven't been good for the Gophers, it was far worse in the 1990's.

 

[RodentRampage]

101st out of 120. 1-7 in the Big Ten. Last place in the Big Ten. Ranked behind Indiana in multiple rankings.

I hope the players read and see some of this stuff. If I was a player on this team it would definitely serve as motivation. I understand the whole "The Gophers don't deserve a lot of respect" based on their history, but they finished 2-3 with wins over Iowa and kicked Illinois' ass while taking Michigan State to the wire in East Lansing.

Let's hope this serves as some motivation and these guys use it to their advantage and carry it as a chip on their shoulder day in and day out throughout the season. They have some talented athletes who can't like being thought of in this regard.

While the Gophers aren't highly rated, the pick of the Gophers as #101 is an outlier, most have the Gophers in the 60's or 70's.

 

[wait!what?]

How pathetic some of you are! You guys remind me of the old joke about the masochist when asked why he beats himself replied “Because it feels so good when I stop.” If it is that painful why do you continue to follow the Gophers?

Maybe it could just be a medical condition. You have all the symptoms an old strain of swine flu called Reusse, i.e. perpetual whining, always looking back and feeling sorry for yourselves. It is time to suck it up you sniveling cry babies! Maybe you could even enjoy Gopher football if you quit beating yourself with the past all the time.

those who base expectations in reality are the least likely to have odd Saturday mood swings. See Ohio Bobcats game.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

How pathetic some of you are! You guys remind me of the old joke about the masochist when asked why he beats himself replied “Because it feels so good when I stop.” If it is that painful why do you continue to follow the Gophers?

.

A masochist is walking down the street, and he meets a sadist. The masochist says "Hurt me, Hurt Me!." and the Sadist says, "No, NO."

 

[RodentRampage]

those who base expectations in reality are the least likely to have odd Saturday mood swings. See Ohio Bobcats game.

But which reality do you choose? You look at the Michigan, NMSU and NDSU losses as your reality. But that's last year's reality. The team improved considerably over the course of the season, especially in sacks, sacks given up and penalties. By all accounts, not just from our own coaches, this team looks to be improved over last season.

 

[wait!what?]

Fully agree that the team made steps forward following the 2nd half of the NE game. only stating that I limit my expectations.
Re: the 2nd half of the NE game: The U.S. saw a 44-10 beat down by score alone but those of us in the stands saw that NE threw everything at our tired defense and the defense held. It was that stiffening that convinced players and coaches that they can play with the big boys. I saw MV even mentions that 2nd half against NE was the turning point...I hope someday i can say I was there at the turning

 

[Killjoy]

those who base expectations in reality are the least likely to have odd Saturday mood swings. See Ohio Bobcats game.

You appear to have fallen in the same trap as some of the people on this blog have. You believe that today's reality is yesterday's past.

There is no better way to lose money in the stock market and miss opportunities than to hold on to that belief. This also includes other opportunities that may arise in life.

To succeed in the market you need to recognize change before it actually occurs or happens. That the problem in being a "realest". When it is clear that something has changed in the market the opportunity that was there is probably mostly gone. That what we have here, a lot of "realest" who are waiting for the past to change to what they want the present to be so they can see the future.

 

[scools12]

How pathetic some of you are! You guys remind me of the old joke about the masochist when asked why he beats himself replied “Because it feels so good when I stop.” If it is that painful why do you continue to follow the Gophers?

Maybe it could just be a medical condition. You have all the symptoms an old strain of swine flu called Reusse, i.e. perpetual whining, always looking back and feeling sorry for yourselves. It is time to suck it up you sniveling cry babies! Maybe you could even enjoy Gopher football if you quit beating yourself with the past all the time.

Have no idea what this has to do with the national publications being correct about Gopher football. Never even insinuated I felt sorry for myself and certainly am not crying about anything.

Pointing out the truth isn't whining. Your unwillingness to accept the truth on the other hand....

 

[Killjoy]

Have no idea what this has to do with the national publications being correct about Gopher football. Never even insinuated I felt sorry for myself and certainly am not crying about anything.

Pointing out the truth isn't whining. Your unwillingness to accept the truth on the other hand....

I knew that my comment was going to be a problem but that is okay. First, my comment was not directed at you personally. It was directed at the almost Reusse like focus of some here of the past. I was trying to point to this. It seems to me that some of us are always dragging up the past as if we were condemned to repeat it. I am not saying we shouldn’t or that we need to deny our past but let’s stop wallowing in it.

It is the present and the future that we should be focused on. We now have a real football coach and an intact coaching staff that are doing everything they can to turn this program around. They are doing the right things so why don’t we start looking forward instead of backwards. As coach Kill has pointed out football is a mental game. We too should we recognize that our mental model of Gopher football needs to change also. The good news is that our new president, athletic director, and are coaches are all working to change our culture. Part of that process has to be letting go of the past. I realize that some of us are going to have to be dragged out of the past but it will eventually happen.

 

[scools12]

I knew that my comment was going to be a problem but that is okay. First, my comment was not directed at you personally. It was directed at the almost Reusse like focus of some here of the past. I was trying to point to this. It seems to me that some of us are always dragging up the past as if we were condemned to repeat it. I am not saying we shouldn’t or that we need to deny our past but let’s stop wallowing in it.

It is the present and the future that we should be focused on. We now have a real football coach and an intact coaching staff that are doing everything they can to turn this program around. They are doing the right things so why don’t we start looking forward instead of backwards. As coach Kill has pointed out football is a mental game. We too should we recognize that our mental model of Gopher football needs to change also. The good news is that our new president, athletic director, and are coaches are all working to change our culture. Part of that process has to be letting go of the past. I realize that some of us are going to have to be dragged out of the past but it will eventually happen.

Nothing wrong with your comment. No problem at all.

I hope you are right about the coaching staff, president and the athletic director. Hopefully the adminstration provides all the resources requested by the coaching staff since we still are a long ways from where we want the program to be.

 

[ButchNashGuy]

Fully agree that the team made steps forward following the 2nd half of the NE game. only stating that I limit my expectations.
Re: the 2nd half of the NE game: The U.S. saw a 44-10 beat down by score alone but those of us in the stands saw that NE threw everything at our tired defense and the defense held. It was that stiffening that convinced players and coaches that they can play with the big boys. I saw MV even mentions that 2nd half against NE was the turning point...I hope someday i can say I was there at the turning

Leaving the NE game I actually felt hope that something was changing. Moving forward the team was markedly better ( admittedly a very low benchmark).