BleedGopher
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Per Randy:
In Fleck’s third season as Minnesota’s coach, the Gophers opened with one-score victories over South Dakota State, Fresno State and Georgia Southern and mostly breezed through five Big Ten games, reaching 8-0 and No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings. A 31-26 win over No. 4 Penn State moved the Gophers up nine spots to No. 8 in the CFP rankings.
That’s as high as they would get, falling to No. 10 after a loss at Iowa, bouncing back up to No. 8 after a win over Northwestern, then finishing the regular season 10-2 and No. 18 after a loss to Wisconsin. The Outback Bowl win over Auburn left them No. 10 in the CFP, Associated Press and coaches polls – their best final ranking since 1962.
That 2019 season was played with a four-team playoff. Had there been 12 playoff spots – as there are this year for the first time – the two-loss Gophers still would have been outside looking in, while a one-loss team would have made it. If, and likely when, the playoff expands to 16 teams, a scenario like what played out for the Gophers in 2019 would have had them near the bubble of making the field.
“How cool would that have been for our fan base?” Coyle said.
Fleck likes how the expanded playoff field offers hope to programs that might not be consistent title contenders, a category the Gophers occupy.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
An example of hope
If you’re looking to see when the Gophers last competed at a national level, you need to go back only five years, when the 2019 team went 11-2.In Fleck’s third season as Minnesota’s coach, the Gophers opened with one-score victories over South Dakota State, Fresno State and Georgia Southern and mostly breezed through five Big Ten games, reaching 8-0 and No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings. A 31-26 win over No. 4 Penn State moved the Gophers up nine spots to No. 8 in the CFP rankings.
That’s as high as they would get, falling to No. 10 after a loss at Iowa, bouncing back up to No. 8 after a win over Northwestern, then finishing the regular season 10-2 and No. 18 after a loss to Wisconsin. The Outback Bowl win over Auburn left them No. 10 in the CFP, Associated Press and coaches polls – their best final ranking since 1962.
That 2019 season was played with a four-team playoff. Had there been 12 playoff spots – as there are this year for the first time – the two-loss Gophers still would have been outside looking in, while a one-loss team would have made it. If, and likely when, the playoff expands to 16 teams, a scenario like what played out for the Gophers in 2019 would have had them near the bubble of making the field.
“How cool would that have been for our fan base?” Coyle said.
Fleck likes how the expanded playoff field offers hope to programs that might not be consistent title contenders, a category the Gophers occupy.
New reality for Gophers football: A bigger Big Ten without the cushy West Division
Prognosticators aren’t predicting big things for the Gophers, whose challenge just got greater with the Big Ten’s expansion to 18 teams.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
