Minnesota comes in at 96th in Rivals 120 Ranking

[BarnBoy]

It's just a list. It's just a number. But sometimes it's nice to see the 30,000 foot view.
How many teams can we claw our way past in the next 12 months?

I say anything better than 50th will be a success. What say you?

Source: Rivals 120

9. Wisconsin
11. Michigan State
16. Michigan
21. Nebraska
22. Penn State
38. Iowa
42. Ohio State
45. Illinois
60. Northwestern
67. Purdue
96. Minnesota
113. Indiana

 

[Nate]

Dangit, Western Michigan gets us again!

 

[GophersInIowa]

No winless teams this year

 

[RoyalGopher]

How can any B1G team, in this case Indiana, come in at 7th to last when they already have 20 commitments?

 

[Sparlimb]

How can any B1G team, in this case Indiana, come in at 7th to last when they already have 20 commitments?

This isn't recruiting rankings. It is a power ranking of this year's performance...

 

[GoAUpher]

How can any B1G team, in this case Indiana, come in at 7th to last when they already have 20 commitments?

This isn't a recruiting ranking. It's a top to bottom ranking of how they view the FBS teams this season.

 

[MaxyJR1]

We beat two teams 50 spots ahead of us. 6-6 and a 6 game losing streak gets you to 45th. That alone tells you how bad rankings are.

 

[RoyalGopher]

This isn't recruiting rankings. It is a power ranking of this year's performance...

Ahh, I see. There was a lot talk of recruiting rankings today, so I assumed it was recruiting rankings. My bad.

 

[e.bigelow]

Can't believe Colorado is ranked ahead of us. I think that is a little ridiculous. They got pounded by UCLA two weeks ago 45-6, who was then pounded be USC 50-0. Also big losses to oregon, USC, ASU, Stanford, Washington. Got beat by Wash St. as well as Hawaii.

But, I suppose our NC losses really hurt us. Not too mention getting blown out by MICH, WISC, PURDUE. Just seems to me that if we played colorado next week, we would win pretty handily IMO.

 

[GoAUpher]

Can't believe Colorado is ranked ahead of us. I think that is a little ridiculous. They got pounded by UCLA two weeks ago 45-6, who was then pounded be USC 50-0. Also big losses to oregon, USC, ASU, Stanford, Washington. Got beat by Wash St. as well as Hawaii.

But, I suppose our NC losses really hurt us. Not too mention getting blown out by MICH, WISC, PURDUE. Just seems to me that if we played colorado next week, we would win pretty handily IMO.

Doing a proper Top 25 is a crap shoot most of the time (20-25 can often be an number of combos based on your criteria). The Gophers suffer in the rankings for the reasons you list. Bad NC losses followed by bad B1G blowouts drop us low. Once that happens, any subsequent improvement in the remaining games is discounted or only moves us up a few spots. Keep in mind, we were having the kind of season early on that had some folks wondering if this could be the worst B1G team of all time. Obviously we were nowhere close to that, but early perceptions are hard to change...especially when our 2 B1G wins are against a meh Iowa team and the only FBS team to lose their last 6 after starting 6-0.

 

[e.bigelow]

Doing a proper Top 25 is a crap shoot most of the time (20-25 can often be an number of combos based on your criteria). The Gophers suffer in the rankings for the reasons you list. Bad NC losses followed by bad B1G blowouts drop us low. Once that happens, any subsequent improvement in the remaining games is discounted or only moves us up a few spots. Keep in mind, we were having the kind of season early on that had some folks wondering if this could be the worst B1G team of all time. Obviously we were nowhere close to that, but early perceptions are hard to change...especially when our 2 B1G wins are against a meh Iowa team and the only FBS team to lose their last 6 after starting 6-0.

Good points. I suppose when you get to that 75-120 range it is pretty much up to someones objective opinion on whoever is putting together the list. Those teams are all pretty bad and I guess I was just splitting hairs. Good point on early perception as I thought we may be one of the worst teams ever in the B1G as well, but I'm am happy we were able to show some improvements towards the end of the season.

 

[Nokomis]

Illinois 15 spots above Northwestern & 22 spots above Purdue1? Purdue pulled out a .500 B1G record. You want to put Minnesota at #96, fine. But Illinois at #45!? That I cannot figure out.

 

[GoAUpher]

Illinois 15 spots above Northwestern & 22 spots above Purdue1? Purdue pulled out a .500 B1G record. You want to put Minnesota at #96, fine. But Illinois at #45!? That I cannot figure out.

Combo of laziness and being ranked too high too early. They kept dropping the Zookers after each loss but with how high they were early that only gets you to 45. I'm also betting that the rankings guy never took the time to reevaluate how teams within a conference were viewed against each other. The difficulty and subjectivity of a list like this are pretty high.

 

[mcsmitty12]

poor indiana, lol. i wonder what kevin wilson is thinkin' down in Bloomington. poor guys couldn't take down a 1-a team this year. played hard against ohio state and penn state, though.

 

[Parski1]

Can't believe Colorado is ranked ahead of us. I think that is a little ridiculous. They got pounded by UCLA two weeks ago 45-6, who was then pounded be USC 50-0. Also big losses to oregon, USC, ASU, Stanford, Washington. Got beat by Wash St. as well as Hawaii.

But, I suppose our NC losses really hurt us. Not too mention getting blown out by MICH, WISC, PURDUE. Just seems to me that if we played colorado next week, we would win pretty handily IMO.

Ummmm not sure with last years team we could win in Boulder. Tough place to play.

 

[MNBadgerGuy]

Boulder is a tough place to play? I've seen three games in boulder and the fans are more interested in smoking pot than watching the game

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Boulder is a tough place to play? I've seen three games in boulder and the fans are more interested in smoking pot than watching the game

For as bad as they've been over the last 3 years, they are over .500 at home with some decent wins (Georgia, #17 ranked Kansas, K. State on a decent year, Texas A&M) and some close losses to good teams. I don't think it's a really tough place to play, but Colorado is not usually an easy win in Boulder.

 

[zambam]

poor indiana, lol. i wonder what kevin wilson is thinkin' down in Bloomington. poor guys couldn't take down a 1-a team this year. played hard against ohio state and penn state, though.

Gotta ask, what is your signature about?

 

[Buck_Buchanan]

Boulder is a tough place to play? I've seen three games in boulder and the fans are more interested in smoking pot than watching the game

+1
Reminds me of my dad's definition of Boulder: "5 miles surrounded by reality"