KFAN Barreiro and AP Sports Guy Discussing Scheduling

If it was up to the media our non-conference schedule would be:
Alabama
Notre Dame
Stanford
Miami

I am so sick and tired of people like burrito. He especially thinks he knows more about play calling and coaching then the people who get paid to do it. No wonder he got fired by the trib. Hopefully suchan is right behind him.

That is BS and you know it. No one is saying the Gophers need to play all great teams in the non-conf, just play one from a top BCS conference or Notre Dame like everyone else in the conference does. It is a non-issue next year because TCU qualifies as a quality opponent but it is a totally valid gripe about this season even if it is played to death. Until the team actually starts beating some Big Ten teams this is the kind of coverage we are going to get because it plays to the casual fans who for the most part still see Gopher football as a non factor on the local sport scene.
 

That is BS and you know it. No one is saying the Gophers need to play all great teams in the non-conf, just play one from a top BCS conference or Notre Dame like everyone else in the conference does. It is a non-issue next year because TCU qualifies as a quality opponent but it is a totally valid gripe about this season even if it is played to death. Until the team actually starts beating some Big Ten teams this is the kind of coverage we are going to get because it plays to the casual fans who for the most part still see Gopher football as a non factor on the local sport scene.

When was the last time we've come close to beating Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio St? Why schedule a non-conference team like those teams? What, so we can prove we can get our asses kicked by some other conferences better team? I hope Kill gets the Gophers good enough to schedule a tougher opponents, right now we aren't there.
 

When was the last time we've come close to beating Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio St? Why schedule a non-conference team like those teams? What, so we can prove we can get our asses kicked by some other conferences better team? I hope Kill gets the Gophers good enough to schedule a tougher opponents, right now we aren't there.

+1
 

That is BS and you know it. No one is saying the Gophers need to play all great teams in the non-conf, just play one from a top BCS conference or Notre Dame like everyone else in the conference does. It is a non-issue next year because TCU qualifies as a quality opponent but it is a totally valid gripe about this season even if it is played to death. Until the team actually starts beating some Big Ten teams this is the kind of coverage we are going to get because it plays to the casual fans who for the most part still see Gopher football as a non factor on the local sport scene.

Go ahead and name those quality teams from top BCS conferences that "everyone else in the conference is playing". Go ahead, I've got all week.

Also, as you're naming those teams that "everyone else in the conference is playing in non-conference" tell me which ones were better than San Jose St. last year. Again, I have all week, I mean all month, or whatever you need. Also, how come San Jose St. was not brought up in defense to these radio hacks???

Lastly, it's called building a program. It's called being smart. A lot of people like you don't have very good memories. You make arguments like this program was a top 50 program when Kill took over. It was in shambles! Plain and simple. 2 vacant recruiting classes. Lack of discipline, 1/3 of team not going to class and on the verge of failing. Look at the starters the last 2 plus years, a lot of 18, 19, and 20 yr olds. It was one of the worst programs in the country when Maturi chose Kill out of the thousands of applicants pining for the job. Stop bitching, you actually have a good University President and AD who get it, try to keep them there and make it an attractive place to be.
 

I think there's not much to see here. Barreiro believes that you can't measure the progress of the Gophers this year, and couldn't after most preseasons going back to the Mason years, because they've played no one of substance thus far. The 2013 slate has so far featured a UNLV team that last had a winning season in 2000, a New Mexico State team that's hanging on to FBS status by a fingernail and last had a winning season in 2002, and an FCS Western Illinois team coming off two very bad years. Even if you disagree, he's making a point worthy of consideration, that there's no way to gauge progress. That TCU and Oregon State are on future schedules is good, but does little for the present or past. In the end, it's only the opinion of Dan and Jon. Everyone is free to agree or disagree.
 


Dumb thing for them to say. Gophers can barely beat the non-cons on their schedule now. TCU could knock them out of a bowl each year they play them.
 

It's Jon Krawczynski or @APkrawczynski, that's just a bit on KFAN, like Funkadelic Flip...Flip obviously still has a last name ;).

I gotta get AP Jon's back here - he doesn't hate Gopher sports, and he actually knows a ton about it. He's probably one of the most knowledgeable writers I've met, and I got to him frequently to get his opinions and see what he's heard. He's all over the place, and covers everything Gopher related with Dave Campbell.

And before Unregistered User slams a guy he never heard of for not using his real name.

You may have heard of an actor named "John Krasinski"... sounds a bit like "Jon Krawczynski", which I would just bet is part of the reason he is normally called "AP Sports Guy Jon Krawczynski".

There would be a lot of angry women if Barrerio said he was going to have "John Krasinski" on the show and Krawczynski shows up.
 

I normally like Krawcynski, but I thought this was a rough segment for him. He was pretty much Barreiro's little sycophant the whole time (which I'm sure made Gaardsy a bit jealous). Krawcynski pulled out the ol' "Gophers fan base is tiny and provincial" line to describe why most fans are defending Kill. Don't jump to "we're rational, thinking people capable of forming our own thoughts on the impact of Kill's Epilepsy on the direction of the program, and most of us come to a similar conclusion." Nope, just provincial. That's like saying that popular opinion thought that Django Unchained was a good movie only because Tarantino fans are provincial. Maybe it was just a good movie, and most people came to that conclusion on their own after watching it. Plurality of opinion does not equate to provincialism.

Barreiro also said that fans who support Coach Kill are patronizing him. His argument: Coach Kill doesn't want sympathy, so people who support him as coach are patronizing him. That's a pretty perverse take, to say the least.

Barreiro and Krawcynski also spent the first part of the segment talking about why it should be fair to ask questions and have a discussion about Kill's health. I agree with that, but try this on for size: Actually frickin' talk about it then! How does that grab you? It seems like everybody who's said Kill's Epilepsy "is something that we should be able to talk about" never actually talks about it. Actually have the conversation, instead of just waxing intellectual about the possibility of having the conversation. If you can't follow up from "we should talk about it" with an actual conversation about it, maybe there's not actually that much to discuss.

I didn't hear the interview so I'm a bit out of my depth, but this is pretty much how I feel. I don't think Kill wants sympathy (although it kind of ticked me off when he pulled out the anonymous e-mail bit during his show after his seizure last season). He understands he has a health problem and that it is a pretty serious health problem. I think he understands the concern many have and as long as they aren't nasty about, I think he's professional enough to handle it.

Bottom line, Kill is a competitor. I want to see him succeed because he wants to succeed so badly. Outside of basic health concerns I have for the guy, my only concern for the program is that his health status will likely be used as negative recruiting material by other programs.

Can't believe how thin-skinned this place is regarding media reaction to just about everything.

As per the schedule, Kill pretty much said he didn't think that the program was ready to face North Carolina and he wants to go to a bowl game to build the program. Hence, the addition of another piece of pastry to the schedule.
 

Go ahead and name those quality teams from top BCS conferences that "everyone else in the conference is playing". Go ahead, I've got all week.

Also, as you're naming those teams that "everyone else in the conference is playing in non-conference" tell me which ones were better than San Jose St. last year. Again, I have all week, I mean all month, or whatever you need. Also, how come San Jose St. was not brought up in defense to these radio hacks???

Lastly, it's called building a program. It's called being smart. A lot of people like you don't have very good memories. You make arguments like this program was a top 50 program when Kill took over. It was in shambles! Plain and simple. 2 vacant recruiting classes. Lack of discipline, 1/3 of team not going to class and on the verge of failing. Look at the starters the last 2 plus years, a lot of 18, 19, and 20 yr olds. It was one of the worst programs in the country when Maturi chose Kill out of the thousands of applicants pining for the job. Stop bitching, you actually have a good University President and AD who get it, try to keep them there and make it an attractive place to be.

It is pointless but what the heck

Illinois - Washington
Indiana - Missouri
Iowa - Iowa State
Michigan - Notre Dame
Michigan State - Notre Dame
Nebraska - UCLA
Northwestern - Cal, Syracuse
Ohio State - Cal
Penn State - Syracuse
Purdue - Notre Dame
Wisconsin - Arizona State

Good enough for you? Didn't even take all week to come up with it.
 



It is pointless but what the heck

Illinois - Washington
Indiana - Missouri
Iowa - Iowa State
Michigan - Notre Dame
Michigan State - Notre Dame
Nebraska - UCLA
Northwestern - Cal, Syracuse
Ohio State - Cal
Penn State - Syracuse
Purdue - Notre Dame
Wisconsin - Arizona State

Good enough for you? Didn't even take all week to come up with it.

Doubt you will get a response....
 

It is pointless but what the heck

Illinois - Washington
Indiana - Missouri
Iowa - Iowa State
Michigan - Notre Dame
Michigan State - Notre Dame
Nebraska - UCLA
Northwestern - Cal, Syracuse
Ohio State - Cal
Penn State - Syracuse
Purdue - Notre Dame
Wisconsin - Arizona State

Good enough for you? Didn't even take all week to come up with it.

I don't want to get in the middle of your argument but I will point out a few things:

1. If we were playing a team like Iowa St., California, or Missouri this year, some of these same people would be complaining about how we're just facing bottom feeder teams in the BCS conferences. Iowa St. may not win more than two games this year. California won 3 games last year, Missouri just 5. Someone just a few days ago on here was complaining about not playing anyone last year either even though we beat Syracuse who tied for the Big East championship. Most could argue that San Jose St. was a better team last year than IA St., California, and Missouri.

2. It's one year. Yes, it would be nice to have played someone more recognizable and this is a little frustrating. But I don't understand why some people are acting like we're back to the Mason days of scheduling. We're not! We faced a quality opponent last year and will in the future as well. Our schedule in 2015 could be extremely difficult.
 

I didn't hear the interview so I'm a bit out of my depth, but this is pretty much how I feel. I don't think Kill wants sympathy (although it kind of ticked me off when he pulled out the anonymous e-mail bit during his show after his seizure last season). He understands he has a health problem and that it is a pretty serious health problem. I think he understands the concern many have and as long as they aren't nasty about, I think he's professional enough to handle it.

Bottom line, Kill is a competitor. I want to see him succeed because he wants to succeed so badly. Outside of basic health concerns I have for the guy, my only concern for the program is that his health status will likely be used as negative recruiting material by other programs.

Can't believe how thin-skinned this place is regarding media reaction to just about everything.

As per the schedule, Kill pretty much said he didn't think that the program was ready to face North Carolina and he wants to go to a bowl game to build the program. Hence, the addition of another piece of pastry to the schedule.

I don't think Kill wants sympathy. At the same time, I don't think anybody who supports Coach Kill does so out of sympathy. What rubbed me wrong about Barreiro's commentary is that he essentially suggested that people only support Coach Kill out of sympathy. According to Barreiro, if a guy doesn't want sympathy, and you support him in any way, you're patronizing him. That's a harebrained take that denigrates the general outpouring of support for Kill from the fan base.
 

It is pointless but what the heck

Illinois - Washington
Indiana - Missouri
Iowa - Iowa State
Michigan - Notre Dame
Michigan State - Notre Dame
Nebraska - UCLA
Northwestern - Cal, Syracuse
Ohio State - Cal
Penn State - Syracuse
Purdue - Notre Dame
Wisconsin - Arizona State

Good enough for you? Didn't even take all week to come up with it.

No, not good enough. Can we eliminate Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin? Why? Because none of the opponents you listed finished last year as a top 25 team. Did San Jose State finish in top 25? I'll let you check smart guy. Also, didn't we play Syracuse last year? Point is, Minnesota has a team on their non-conference schedule who was ranked higher to end the season last year than 7 of the 8 you listed above. I'll wait for your response now. Go ahead and tell me how we're talking BCS teams, not quality of opponents. Here I thought we were talking quality of opponents. But beyond that, re-read my other points. Your welcome lakesgopher. mnvcguy, maybe you should have taken longer to try and find a better list or taken more time to understand what I was saying. Pointless, but still enjoyable.
 



I didn't hear the interview so I'm a bit out of my depth, but this is pretty much how I feel. I don't think Kill wants sympathy (although it kind of ticked me off when he pulled out the anonymous e-mail bit during his show after his seizure last season). He understands he has a health problem and that it is a pretty serious health problem. I think he understands the concern many have and as long as they aren't nasty about, I think he's professional enough to handle it.

Bottom line, Kill is a competitor. I want to see him succeed because he wants to succeed so badly. Outside of basic health concerns I have for the guy, my only concern for the program is that his health status will likely be used as negative recruiting material by other programs.

Can't believe how thin-skinned this place is regarding media reaction to just about everything.

As per the schedule, Kill pretty much said he didn't think that the program was ready to face North Carolina and he wants to go to a bowl game to build the program. Hence, the addition of another piece of pastry to the schedule.

So you say the bolded, then say people are thin-skinned about the media? You don't believe Souhan was being nasty in his article?

That’s not how it worked on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium, where the University of Minnesota’s football program, and by extension the entire school, became the subject of pity and ridicule.

Kill suffers a seizure on game day as the coach of the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium exactly as often as he wins a Big Ten game. He’s 4-for-16 in both categories.

No one who buys a ticket to TCF Bank Stadium should be rewarded with the sight of a middle-aged man writhing on the ground.

Really?
 

Coach Kill

Did not make the call to schedule TCU. Gary Patterson DID NOT want to schedule the game.




They're discussing the Gopher's soft scheduling and about how they'd like to see them schedule at least one decent opponent to measure themselves against. I decided to email them to point out the scheduling of TCU the next 2 years. Here is the exchange:
-------------------------------
Dan and AP Sports Guy,

Please do some research and see that the Gophers are actually doing EXACTLY what you're begging them to do....scheduling a good opponent in non-conference play:

2014: TCU
2015: TCU

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/future-schedules.html

Regards,

g1976b

---------------------

RESPONSE:

This is 2012. We are evaluating this program now.
 

No, not good enough. Can we eliminate Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin? Why? Because none of the opponents you listed finished last year as a top 25 team. Did San Jose State finish in top 25? I'll let you check smart guy. Also, didn't we play Syracuse last year? Point is, Minnesota has a team on their non-conference schedule who was ranked higher to end the season last year than 7 of the 8 you listed above. I'll wait for your response now. Go ahead and tell me how we're talking BCS teams, not quality of opponents. Here I thought we were talking quality of opponents. But beyond that, re-read my other points. Your welcome lakesgopher. mnvcguy, maybe you should have taken longer to try and find a better list or taken more time to understand what I was saying. Pointless, but still enjoyable.

who cares if they finished top 25 last year? we aren't playing last years teams. that's similar to ndsu fans that think they beat a top 5 kstate team cause that's where they finished last year. playing bottom to mid tier bcs conference teams is much much better than beating teams like nmsu, unlv, western ill, and sjsu. not sure why people have such a tough time admitting that our schedule is terribly weak this year? next year this topic wont be an issue because of tcu.
 

I love how these schedule quality whiners completely forget or gloss over the fact that we played USC in a home-and-home in 2010 and 2011. And Cal before that. Yet any media member or casual Gopher 'fan' will tell you that all we've ever played in the last decade is creampuffs. It's a testament to the complete lack of attention some pay to Gopher football, but feel comfortable commenting on it anyways. Just leave it to us 'Cult members', guys. We've got this.

Yes, the non-con schedule has been light in 2012 and 2013, but that was part of Kill's plan to build the program back up (and one Teague endorses). It's pretty plain to anybody who follows college football what Kill's doing here.Getting to a Bowl game - ANY Bowl game is important to the program right now. TCU comes online in 2014 and 2015, and will provide a good check to see where the program is at in year 4/5.
 

No, not good enough. Can we eliminate Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin? Why? Because none of the opponents you listed finished last year as a top 25 team. Did San Jose State finish in top 25? I'll let you check smart guy. Also, didn't we play Syracuse last year? Point is, Minnesota has a team on their non-conference schedule who was ranked higher to end the season last year than 7 of the 8 you listed above. I'll wait for your response now. Go ahead and tell me how we're talking BCS teams, not quality of opponents. Here I thought we were talking quality of opponents. But beyond that, re-read my other points. Your welcome lakesgopher. mnvcguy, maybe you should have taken longer to try and find a better list or taken more time to understand what I was saying. Pointless, but still enjoyable.

Personal shots aside, the schedules are made years in advance. When SJSU was scheduled they were scheduled as a creampuff. They had a great year last year but historically they are a very bad program. Clearly no matter what I say you are going to attack me so I am not going to waste anymore time on this one.
 

1- The schedule was suppose to be REAL weak this year.
2. San Jose's improvement has upgraded it.
3. Kill wants a VERY weak Non-Conference Schedule, for good reasons.
4. Delaney and the Big Ten do NOT want paper-soft schedules for Conference Teams for economic and strength of schedule reasons.

San Jose State was a pretty good team last year and looks like they may be again this year. That's not why they are on the schedule though. The Gophers scheduled them when they had a history of being pretty bad. Mason wanted a paper-soft Non-Conference Schedule. Remember his over-the-top whining when they scheduled Cal? Brewster wanted to upgrade the schedule and feature teams from places where he had recruiting bases or wanted to develop them. Thus Southern Cal, Texas and North Carolina appeared on the schedule.

We all know how well THAT worked out.

Kill came in complaining loudly about having any strong teams on the Non-Conf. He also has stated again and again that he wants eight Home Games too. He got Teague to dump North Carolina, something Teague mentioned often when the firestorm broke-out after people started looking at the upcoming schedules.

There was no announcement, remember that?

Teague tried to help Kill out with the schedule. Ended-up getting a Home and Home with NMSU because that's the best he could do. Then the Big Ten leaned on every school to upgrade their schedule to feature at least one BCS team every year.

Thus TCU appeared on the schedule. Kill hasn't said that he's okay with it, only that he's willing to upgrade the schedule after they get 4 or 5 full recruiting classes under his belt.

TCU, Oregon State and Colorado are on the schedule in 6 of the next 9 years. Who knows what will happen in those other three years. It's probably a good bet to think that there will be Home-and Homes with mid to lower level BSC teams in those years.

Schedules are incredibly tough to manage, but they're a lot of fun to argue about!
 

who cares if they finished top 25 last year? we aren't playing last years teams. that's similar to ndsu fans that think they beat a top 5 kstate team cause that's where they finished last year. playing bottom to mid tier bcs conference teams is much much better than beating teams like nmsu, unlv, western ill, and sjsu. not sure why people have such a tough time admitting that our schedule is terribly weak this year? next year this topic wont be an issue because of tcu.

+1. You said it much better than I did. Some Day...Is Coming! will still blast it but I think you are spot on.
 

nailed it!

1- The schedule was suppose to be REAL weak this year.
2. San Jose's improvement has upgraded it.
3. Kill wants a VERY weak Non-Conference Schedule, for good reasons.
4. Delaney and the Big Ten do NOT want paper-soft schedules for Conference Teams for economic and strength of schedule reasons.

San Jose State was a pretty good team last year and looks like they may be again this year. That's not why they are on the schedule though. The Gophers scheduled them when they had a history of being pretty bad. Mason wanted a paper-soft Non-Conference Schedule. Remember his over-the-top whining when they scheduled Cal? Brewster wanted to upgrade the schedule and feature teams from places where he had recruiting bases or wanted to develop them. Thus Southern Cal, Texas and North Carolina appeared on the schedule.

We all know how well THAT worked out.

Kill came in complaining loudly about having any strong teams on the Non-Conf. He also has stated again and again that he wants eight Home Games too. He got Teague to dump North Carolina, something Teague mentioned often when the firestorm broke-out after people started looking at the upcoming schedules.

There was no announcement, remember that?

Teague tried to help Kill out with the schedule. Ended-up getting a Home and Home with NMSU because that's the best he could do. Then the Big Ten leaned on every school to upgrade their schedule to feature at least one BCS team every year.

Thus TCU appeared on the schedule. Kill hasn't said that he's okay with it, only that he's willing to upgrade the schedule after they get 4 or 5 full recruiting classes under his belt.

TCU, Oregon State and Colorado are on the schedule in 6 of the next 9 years. Who knows what will happen in those other three years. It's probably a good bet to think that there will be Home-and Homes with mid to lower level BSC teams in those years.

Schedules are incredibly tough to manage, but they're a lot of fun to argue about!

The good thing about playing small schools nobody has ever heard of is that the stadium is a lot less full so its easier to take my kids to the games. Maybe I am in the minority here, but I was excited when USC came to town. I'd rather watch us play real teams then beat up on FCS schools any Saturday.
 

who cares if they finished top 25 last year? we aren't playing last years teams. that's similar to ndsu fans that think they beat a top 5 kstate team cause that's where they finished last year. playing bottom to mid tier bcs conference teams is much much better than beating teams like nmsu, unlv, western ill, and sjsu. not sure why people have such a tough time admitting that our schedule is terribly weak this year? next year this topic wont be an issue because of tcu.

On the flip side then, I'm not sure why some people have a tough time admitting the non-conference schedule was on par with most other Big Ten teams the past few years and will be in the future? This year's schedule is weak. But, no doubt about it, there are fans and media members who act like our schedule is bad every year.
 

TCU comes online in 2014 and 2015, and will provide a good check to see where the program is at in year 4/5.

The conversation on the radio was about checking where the program is at this year not last or next year. The point was at this time they didn't think they could judge the program where it is at right now based on the schedule played so far. They felt once conference season started that is when you could check to see where the program is at for this season.

People can disagree about that but that is what I took out of the conversation. I certainly didn't take it as a shot at the program.
 

The conversation on the radio was about checking where the program is at this year, not last or next year. The point was at this time they didn't think they could judge the program where it is at right now based on the schedule played so far this year. They felt once conference season started that is when you could check to see where the program is at for this season.

People can disagree about that but that is what I took out of the conversation. I certainly didn't take it as a shot at the program.

That's fair. I'll admit I'm still trying to figure out how good this team is. The first 3 games haven't told us much, and I think most Gopher fans would agree.
 

Wow. I had no idea this was such a difficult issue to get a grip on. So they ditched a team like UNC in Year Three. Big deal. People want to make this a bigger issue than it is, imply that this is what we might expect EVERY year. I'd bet a month's salaray that if the UNC game had been NEXT YEAR, there would have been no consideration to buy their way out of it. No chance.

Bottom line: If a win over NMSU rather than a possible loss to UNC means the difference between being bowl eligible this year and not, or the difference between playing in the Gator Bowl and playing in the Meineke Bowl or Heart of Dallas Bowl, than it would be the best money the school ever spent.

This year is a big year for rebuilding the program. With a true sophomore or RS FR at QB and hardly any SR's on the offensive side of the ball, the roster is still relatively young. Not being bowl eligible could be a fairly big step back for the program; they know that. YES, if they're buying their way out of games like UNC in Years 4, 5, 6, and beyond, that is a REALLY REALLY big problem. This year? I don't have that much of a problem with it.
 

On the flip side then, I'm not sure why some people have a tough time admitting the non-conference schedule was on par with most other Big Ten teams the past few years and will be in the future? This year's schedule is weak. But, no doubt about it, there are fans and media members who act like our schedule is bad every year.

i agree with this also.
 

I think this is one of those no-win issues.

The people who are inclined to criticize the Gopher program will harp about the non-conference schedule no matter who the Gophers are playing. If the Gophers played a "tough" non-conf schedule, and lost those games, then people would say it proves the Gophers can't compete. If the Gophers play a "soft" non-conf schedule, and win the game, people say it doesn't prove anything.

I think it is going to be very interesting to see how the B1G teams adjust their schedules when the conf moves to the 9-game B1G schedule. I would guess that the 'better' teams will still play 1 quality non-conf game, but the teams that are fighting to become bowl-eligible will probably avoid marquee opponents.
 

I don't want to get in the middle of your argument but I will point out a few things:

1. If we were playing a team like Iowa St., California, or Missouri this year, some of these same people would be complaining about how we're just facing bottom feeder teams in the BCS conferences. Iowa St. may not win more than two games this year. California won 3 games last year, Missouri just 5. Someone just a few days ago on here was complaining about not playing anyone last year either even though we beat Syracuse who tied for the Big East championship. Most could argue that San Jose St. was a better team last year than IA St., California, and Missouri.

2. It's one year. Yes, it would be nice to have played someone more recognizable and this is a little frustrating. But I don't understand why some people are acting like we're back to the Mason days of scheduling. We're not! We faced a quality opponent last year and will in the future as well. Our schedule in 2015 could be extremely difficult.

The last time we played Iowa St, we lost. The schedule we have is appropriate at this point of our re-development. As the Gophers continue to improve and win against scheduled competition, they will earn better competition. Until then, let's enjoy the rebuilding.
 

I think this is one of those no-win issues.

The people who are inclined to criticize the Gopher program will harp about the non-conference schedule no matter who the Gophers are playing. If the Gophers played a "tough" non-conf schedule, and lost those games, then people would say it proves the Gophers can't compete. If the Gophers play a "soft" non-conf schedule, and win the game, people say it doesn't prove anything.

I think it is going to be very interesting to see how the B1G teams adjust their schedules when the conf moves to the 9-game B1G schedule. I would guess that the 'better' teams will still play 1 quality non-conf game, but the teams that are fighting to become bowl-eligible will probably avoid marquee opponents.

I think you are probably right about the 9 game conference schedule. At that point it would not be shocking at all to see teams try and avoid any real "tests" in the non-conf portion of the schedule, and for good reason. Personally I can't wait because while I understand the thought process teams use of get as many wins as possible against crap teams to get to a bowl game (this is everyone not just the Gophers) as a fan I would much rather see conference games against teams that belong on the field together over non-conf beatdowns any day. So to me one less patsy is a good thing even if it makes getting to a bowl game a little tougher year in and year out.

Might be a non-issue at some point anyway because eventually there will probably be enough bowls for everyone to play in one regardless of your record. Everyone will get a trophy and pat on the back. :cool02:
 

who cares if they finished top 25 last year? we aren't playing last years teams. that's similar to ndsu fans that think they beat a top 5 kstate team cause that's where they finished last year. playing bottom to mid tier bcs conference teams is much much better than beating teams like nmsu, unlv, western ill, and sjsu. not sure why people have such a tough time admitting that our schedule is terribly weak this year? next year this topic wont be an issue because of tcu.

Actually SJSU returns atleast 9 starters on the offense that was a primary reason they finished in the top 25, so I would say it is a pretty big deal. This game will be tough for us, probably tougher than Iowa
 




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