Looking at the schedule....

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Goldy Gopher said:
imthewalrus said:
I disagree with the bolded part the basketball team got into the tournament because of their high profile wins, good RPI, and a pretty good overall strength of schedule. The Gopher's basketball non-conference schedule included high profile teams which gets more people excited like Duke, Florida State, Memphis, Stanford, USC, and also inclued a tournament team South Dakota State. I do think not having the North Carolina game gives this team a better chance to get to a bowl game but it is not like North Carolina is a great football team ad we would have been severly overmatched. I really wanted to see this team play against a more well known school and a school that would also provide some good competition like North Carolina but I guess we have to wait another year or 2 to see something like that.
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So, did the "high profile" little early season "tourney" wins over teams like Memphis mean as much as NOT playing those teams very early in the season on a non-neutral court? Some of those 'high profile' little games the hoopsters have really are not like having a home game and then a road game against Memphis. And, this Duke game thing just doesn't cut it in football. In football, it really doesn't matter if you played them close....a loss is a loss is a loss. Hoops is a pretty easy sport to find a way to hang your hat on something. ALL those ooc games. ALL those pre-season tourneys...all those conference tourneys that EVERY team in the conference qualifies for. An 18 game conference schedule.

Did Tubby's "high profile games keep him from being extended, bought out and fired all in less than a full year? Your talk of "higher profile" ooc games makes a case that perhaps Tubby should not have been fired...? (wink...wink...wink...) ; 0 )

I really want to see my Gophers play a game against a name team that they are not severely overmatched with at the END of the season in a NEUTRAL Site Stadium. You know a BOWL game. I've been to the Carolina-type places before, I'd rather go to B1G Conference cities to take in a road game and play in a neutral site.

And, by throwing in the Conference Schedule, the Gopher's football schedule is probably more than tough enough for them right now.

I want a season that ends with a bowl game. That will do this football program more good than not having the season end with a bowl game, that's for sure. And, B1G road games are as good as it gets. To me, that's what college football is all about...the tradition of seeing some games on your traditional rivals campus on a Game Day Saturday. In Football we only get four of those road trips to conference foes stadiums four times a season. Conference play is what it's all about. And then end the season with a bowl game invitation to get a sense for some of the other teams across the land...That's what I'd vote for any way...

; 0 )
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We can debate the creampuff thing all we want but the fact of the matter is creampuff non-conf schedules are here to stay as long as Kill is in charge so we may as well just get used to it. Mason did it, Brew tried to up the competition and now Kill will go back to what Mase did and get the easiest possible games on the schedule to secure 4 wins. We can pretend he will up the competition but if you listen to him it is very clear what his scheduling philosophy is. He want all home non-conf games, you don't get those by playing good teams because the only way to play good teams is to agree to a home/home.

As it was with Mason the expectation now becomes an undefeated non-conf schedule so any projection for this team needs to start with 4-0. From there they need to figure out a way to win 3 conference games this season. With the experience we have coming back anything less than 7 wins this season or more importantly 3 conference wins would be a disappointment for year 3 of Kill's tenure.
 

imthewalrus said:
Goldy Gopher said:
So, did the "high profile" little early season "tourney" wins over teams like Memphis mean as much as NOT playing those teams very early in the season on a non-neutral court? Some of those 'high profile' little games the hoopsters have really are not like having a home game and then a road game against Memphis. And, this Duke game thing just doesn't cut it in football. In football, it really doesn't matter if you played them close....a loss is a loss is a loss. Hoops is a pretty easy sport to find a way to hang your hat on something. ALL those ooc games. ALL those pre-season tourneys...all those conference tourneys that EVERY team in the conference qualifies for. An 18 game conference schedule.

Did Tubby's "high profile games keep him from being extended, bought out and fired all in less than a full year? Your talk of "higher profile" ooc games makes a case that perhaps Tubby should not have been fired...? (wink...wink...wink...) ; 0 )

I really want to see my Gophers play a game against a name team that they are not severely overmatched with at the END of the season in a NEUTRAL Site Stadium. You know a BOWL game. I've been to the Carolina-type places before, I'd rather go to B1G Conference cities to take in a road game and play in a neutral site.

And, by throwing in the Conference Schedule, the Gopher's football schedule is probably more than tough enough for them right now.

I want a season that ends with a bowl game. That will do this football program more good than not having the season end with a bowl game, that's for sure. And, B1G road games are as good as it gets. To me, that's what college football is all about...the tradition of seeing some games on your traditional rivals campus on a Game Day Saturday. In Football we only get four of those road trips to conference foes stadiums four times a season. Conference play is what it's all about. And then end the season with a bowl game invitation to get a sense for some of the other teams across the land...That's what I'd vote for any way...

; 0 )
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You really didn't get what I was saying at all, I was just trying to say that the basketball team actually had a pretty tough schedule instead of what you said that they had a bunch of cupcake wins. I don't care that Tubby got fired as he deserved it for having teams that rarely overachieved or reached the level they should have. I also said I agree that getting rid of the North Carolina game probably gives them a better chance of getting to a bowl game which everyone wants to see but I do think we could have had a good chance to beat North Carolina this year. Coach Kill felt the team wasn't ready to beef up the schedule a little bit yet and I look forward to that happening in the future when he feels the team can handle that.
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The B1G opener vs. Iowa may be the only conference game the MN Gophers will be favored. They have a huge uphill climb to win 3 B1G games. No Illinois or Purdue so they have to beat someone else for once.
 

B1GSportsGuy said:
The B1G opener vs. Iowa may be the only conference game the MN Gophers will be favored. They have a huge uphill climb to win 3 B1G games. No Illinois or Purdue so they have to beat someone else for once.
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They could easily be favored at Indiana and at home vs PSU as well. 3 B1G wins and 7 wins overall is a reasonable expectation. Anything less than 6 wins is a big disappointment.
 


howeda7 said:
They could easily be favored at Indiana and at home vs PSU as well. 3 B1G wins and 7 wins overall is a reasonable expectation. Anything less than 6 wins is a big disappointment.
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Favored at Indiana? No way. Hoosiers will surprise people. They can put up points. At TCF, Gophers would be slight favorites.

Favored over Penn State at home? Not. Gonna. Happen.
 

everybody knows my name said:
The Gophers lost to Iowa 31-13. They lost to Northwestern 21-13. They lost to Wisconsin 38-13. They lost to Michigan 35-13.

So the 13 figure represents a pattern rather than an average. I think most of us recognize that.
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The word you're looking for is "mode".
 

I said 3 wins in 2012

I said 3 wins in 2012 so I was wrong. offense sputtered so the D spent the year in the soup. tough to get any measure on the d after that
 

Getting to another bowl is important for this team so the soft schedule to start is probably a good thing since we have no easy B1G games this year. Bowl Game = Momentum.
 



I was as sad as anyone to see North Carolina dropped from the schedule. But given what is left, and looking at the NC part of the schedule... I think it will be important to not only win those games, but win them decisively. As someone else said, when is the last time the Gophers dominated the NC portion of the schedule? I can't tell you how many times I have sat down in my seat at TCF Bank Stadium, or on my couch to watch the NC road game, thinking how nice it would be to see a laugher where a large portion of the roster could see action... only to have to sweat through a nailbiting victory (or far worse). I want to see the Gophers come out of the gate and win all the NC games handily for a change. The conference part of the schedule sets up well with a home game against Iowa early. See where things go from there. I do think Indiana will be a hand full. That team looks to be on the right track with its offense and is no longer the complete laughing stock it managed to become during the years they were off the Gopher schedule (of course).
 

I think you have to differentiate between short-term and long-term goals. for the short-term, a less-challenging schedule may make sense to help build confidence for a young team. But, long-term, I think you have to start raising your goals. This year, beating 4 lesser non-conf opponents and getting 2 or 3 Conf wins may be enough to keep some positive momentum. But long-term, if this program is going to take a real step forward, they have to win more Conf games, and I think they also need to face some stronger non-conf opponents.

Beating 4 no-names in non-conf will never get the Gophs in the pre-season rankings, or featured on national TV. And, the lower the team is in the pre-season and early-season ratings, the harder it will be to get into a better bowl game.
 

Considering where the football program has been, I'm not sure why anyone wold call it a cream puff non-conference schedule. Yes, we were 4-0 last year, but only the UNH game was a blowout. It took us 3 OT's to beat UNLV, we beat Western Michigan by 5, and Syracuse by 7. We lost to New Mexico St. 2 years ago and now play them on the road. And San Jose St. was a top 25 team last year.

I think we should expect to be 4-0, but it's not a given, and I think we will still learn a lot about the team in each game. If most of the games are close, we're probably similar to last year's team and will win about 2 Big Ten games. If we can start beating most of these teams by a few TD's, that will be significant progress and should lead to more wins in the Big Ten.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I think you have to differentiate between short-term and long-term goals. for the short-term, a less-challenging schedule may make sense to help build confidence for a young team. But, long-term, I think you have to start raising your goals. This year, beating 4 lesser non-conf opponents and getting 2 or 3 Conf wins may be enough to keep some positive momentum. But long-term, if this program is going to take a real step forward, they have to win more Conf games, and I think they also need to face some stronger non-conf opponents.

Beating 4 no-names in non-conf will never get the Gophs in the pre-season rankings, or featured on national TV. And, the lower the team is in the pre-season and early-season ratings, the harder it will be to get into a better bowl game.
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Worry about the 2013 season shortnorwegian! Get the team invited to a bowl game this season.

For the longer run? It looks to me as though the B1G Conference will most likely continue to expand within the next five years or so. Then, every B1G program can play a dozen conference games and it will only leave room for about one worthless ooc game. And, don't worry: the other major conferences will most likely do the same thing.

Then you won't have to cry in your torsk and lefse( I'm 100% Norwegian myself S. O. N.) quite so often wanting that rough, tough, mean and nasty ooc schedule that you think will do so much for our program that is struggling so hard to become more competitive in conference play. It will max out the revenue the B1G NETWORK can kick-back to each conference member school and will make bowl games at the end of the year a hot ticket when the B1G teams get matched up against the SEC, et al conferences.

Just think of how tough that will make our Gophers! (Best start really building the depth at all positions....)

It's going to be a lot of fun...but...give me the schedule that we have in 2013 and let's see what the lads can do this year!

; 0 )
 



I'd like to point out to the people that are concerned about San Jose State that it was a Senior laden team last year. Between the change of Head Coach and the player turn over they are likely to take several steps backward. Iowa appears to be beatable. Northwestern was a MASH unit with all the injuries this spring. There will be a lot of question marks about them. At Indiana, we will be strength against strength, question mark against question mark. Michigan needs to replace both guards and the center, with having only one proven QB,. There's a chance we'll face a true freshman. Nebraska has issues on defense and Michigan State on offense. The only seemingly complete team is Ohio State.
 

I enjoy going to the games no matter who we play. It's nice not to have to worry about that. The season will go on, the games are generally quite entertaining, and I get to have tailgate beer and good food with several friends.
 

CP Gopher said:
I enjoy going to the games no matter who we play. It's nice not to have to worry about that. The season will go on, the games are generally quite entertaining, and I get to have tailgate beer and good food with several friends.
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hear! HEAR! ill drink to that
 

B1GSportsGuy said:
Favored at Indiana? No way. Hoosiers will surprise people. They can put up points. At TCF, Gophers would be slight favorites.

Favored over Penn State at home? Not. Gonna. Happen.
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Both of those games are far enough into the season it's silly to say 'not gonna happen.' Indiana is still Indiana. We could easily start 5-0. It's not that hard to think we might be favored. PSU is going to start feeling the weight of the sanctions on the field and we're at home.
 

I can see 4-4 with next year's schedule, but almost as easily I can see 0-8. The truth likely lies somewhere in between.

The conference opener vs. the Hawkeyes certainly is one the Gophers need to get; it's likely the most winnable of the 4 home games.
 

Unregistered User said:
What? What does this have to do with big TEN wins vs BIG ten losses, which according to you is the ONLY measure of a TEAM and HOW they are doing against OTHER teams in the BIG TEN, and the ONLY way to JUDGE if the TEAM is WORTHY of being a big ten team, and we NEED to see how THEY do vs BIG TEN TEAMS!
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Well struck.
 

John Galt said:
Considering where the football program has been, I'm not sure why anyone wold call it a cream puff non-conference schedule. Yes, we were 4-0 last year, but only the UNH game was a blowout. It took us 3 OT's to beat UNLV, we beat Western Michigan by 5, and Syracuse by 7. We lost to New Mexico St. 2 years ago and now play them on the road. And San Jose St. was a top 25 team last year.

I think we should expect to be 4-0, but it's not a given, and I think we will still learn a lot about the team in each game. If most of the games are close, we're probably similar to last year's team and will win about 2 Big Ten games. If we can start beating most of these teams by a few TD's, that will be significant progress and should lead to more wins in the Big Ten.
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Well told.
 

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