MN Daily Column: Gophers deserve top-25 spot

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per the Daily:

While Minnesota’s consistent middle-of-the-pack rankings in multiple statistical categories against the Big Ten might not make it seem like a candidate, losses by other top-25 teams should have propelled Minnesota.

The Gophers were ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll released on Sunday.

Still, if Minnesota continues its hot streak into next week’s game against Illinois and beyond, there is no reason that the Gophers shouldn’t find themselves with numerals before their name in the AP poll sometime this season.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/football/2014/10/19/column-gophers-deserve-top-25-spot

Go Gophers!!
 

We gained 25 votes after our win versus Purdue in the AP poll.

I'd be surprised if beating Illinois got us into the AP Poll. For some reason they are very hesitant to give us the benefit of the doubt. It's looking more and more like the AP isn't going to let us in unless we beat Iowa.

Meanwhile, we'll probably be around 20th in the coaches poll before we even play Iowa. Doesn't really matter, but it's interesting.
 

afurry91 said:
We gained 25 votes after our win versus Purdue in the AP poll.

I'd be surprised if beating Illinois got us into the AP Poll. For some reason they are very hesitant to give us the benefit of the doubt. It's looking more and more like the AP isn't going to let us in unless we beat Iowa.

Meanwhile, we'll probably be around 20th in the coaches poll before we even play Iowa. Doesn't really matter, but it's interesting.
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Last year we went into the Wisconsin game unranked at 8-2. I don't think the AP respected our schedule & it's insulting because even though we lost the last 3 games of the season we gave Mich State & Wiscy all they could handle.
 

thailleagle said:
Last year we went into the Wisconsin game unranked at 8-2. I don't think the AP respected our schedule & it's insulting because even though we lost the last 3 games of the season we gave Mich State & Wiscy all they could handle.
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I'd be interested to see when the last time a Power 5 team was 4-0 in conference and unranked.
 

Its tough to argue we got jobbed when we really don't have a good win on our schedule. At this point, our loss was to a very good team, but the best team we beat is Northwestern (who is not receiving any votes in either poll). So all we can say is that we are somewhere between TCU and Northwestern, and having watched both games, we looked a lot closer to Northwestern than we are to TCU. To deserve to be ranked, you need to be able to compete with ranked opponents, and we will have two chances to do that if the current rankings hold up until our games against Nebraska and OSU.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
Its tough to argue we got jobbed when we really don't have a good win on our schedule. At this point, our loss was to a very good team, but the best team we beat is Northwestern (who is not receiving any votes in either poll). So all we can say is that we are somewhere between TCU and Northwestern, and having watched both games, we looked a lot closer to Northwestern than we are to TCU. To deserve to be ranked, you need to be able to compete with ranked opponents, and we will have two chances to do that if the current rankings hold up until our games against Nebraska and OSU.
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Agree, the current record that included a win over Wisconsin, Nebraska, or OSU and I would question the ranking process but not with the schedule to date. Beat Illinois and split the last four and I would think they would be ranked
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
Its tough to argue we got jobbed when we really don't have a good win on our schedule. At this point, our loss was to a very good team, but the best team we beat is Northwestern (who is not receiving any votes in either poll). So all we can say is that we are somewhere between TCU and Northwestern, and having watched both games, we looked a lot closer to Northwestern than we are to TCU. To deserve to be ranked, you need to be able to compete with ranked opponents, and we will have two chances to do that if the current rankings hold up until our games against Nebraska and OSU.
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If you read the article, a valid point is who has NE beaten? The only justification is their futile 4th-quarter comeback against MSU when they let up after taking the Huskers to the wood shed.
 

afurry91 said:
I'd be interested to see when the last time a Power 5 team was 4-0 in conference and unranked.
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Would you have guessed Texas?

Last year, the Longhorns were spanked by BYU and Ole Miss in consecutive games in September and did not re-enter the polls until they were 6-0 in the Big 12 following an OT win vs. West Virginia on November 9th.

It also took Michigan State getting to 4-0 last year before they became ranked.
 

Jike Spingleton said:
Would you have guessed Texas?

Last year, the Longhorns were spanked by BYU and Ole Miss in consecutive games in September and did not re-enter the polls until they were 6-0 in the Big 12 following an OT win vs. West Virginia on November 9th.

It also took Michigan State getting to 4-0 last year before they became ranked.
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I guess it's a fairly common occurrence then, so at least they're consistent. We haven't beaten anyone to deserve a ranking, but if MSU is any indication, you can rise very quickly even if you break in late. Granted, MSU also got to beat the #2 team in the country and it looks like our best case is getting OSU as a fringe top 10 team. Thanks for looking that up!
 



jovs said:
Agree, the current record that included a win over Wisconsin, Nebraska, or OSU and I would question the ranking process but not with the schedule to date. Beat Illinois and split the last four and I would think they would be ranked
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Question: what was Wisconsin ranked when Northwestern beat them? That NW win over a ranked team didn't get them ranked, but maybe should have. Had they been ranked, it would have been harder not to rank us when we beat NW the next week.
 

killme said:
If you read the article, a valid point is who has NE beaten? The only justification is their futile 4th-quarter comeback against MSU when they let up after taking the Huskers to the wood shed.
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There are a couple of things at play in the Nebraska/Minnesota comparison that I thing explain their higher ranking, some are fair, some aren't. First (and unfairly), Nebraska has had more recent success, so in the absence of any wins against good teams, that benefit from the presumption that they are good and would beat some teams in the 15-25 area. We have struggled a lot in recent history, so the presumption works against us.

You brought up their MSU loss. We both have one loss to top 10 teams who took it to us early. The difference is, we curled up and played dead while Nebraska managed to fight their way back into it. I think that is fair to look at. What is unfair and is probably hurting us that when we lost to TCU, they were unranked, but MSU was well-regarded when they beat Nebraska.

Finally, we have one common opponent in Northwestern. Nebraska thumped them in Evanston. We were tied with them in the 4th quarter and one by one score on a special teams play.

I object to margin of victory and the eye test being used, I have always been of the opinion that the only things that should matter in a game is whether you won and who you played. However, acknowledging that the pollsters disagree with me, using their methodology, I don't think Nebraska coming out on top is unfair right now. Either way, it will be moot after we play them. If we are both one loss teams at that time, the winner will be on top afterwards.
 


afurry91 said:
We gained 25 votes after our win versus Purdue in the AP poll.

I'd be surprised if beating Illinois got us into the AP Poll. For some reason they are very hesitant to give us the benefit of the doubt. It's looking more and more like the AP isn't going to let us in unless we beat Iowa.

Meanwhile, we'll probably be around 20th in the coaches poll before we even play Iowa. Doesn't really matter, but it's interesting.
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I think part of it had to do that there weren't a lot of teams ahead of us that lost last week. This week may not be different. With a win we will move ahead of the Utah-USC loser. LSU could lose to Ole Miss and West Virginia could lose at Oklahoma St. Other than that, there isn't any likely losses of those in the 15th-25th range.
 



I am not sure who UCLA ( 5-2 )has beat that justifies a rating ahead of us, other than their thrashing of Arizona State, who may or may not be very good when the year is over.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I think part of it had to do that there weren't a lot of teams ahead of us that lost last week. This week may not be different. With a win we will move ahead of the Utah-USC loser. LSU could lose to Ole Miss and West Virginia could lose at Oklahoma St. Other than that, there isn't any likely losses of those in the 15th-25th range.
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Agreed. Winning against Illinois isn't going to catapult us ahead of anyone we are currently behind unless they lose.
 

This is a great topic & I don't mean to suggest it shouldn't be discussed, but I keep coming back to one thing: All we can control is what we do.

Every win makes it harder for the media to ignore us. Every win makes it harder for top recruits to dismiss us. Every win proves this isn't as fluke. Keep winning & they can't ignore you forever.
 

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