Next 5 games

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station19

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The general consensus was that we needed to go at least 3-2 in our first 5 games. What about the next 5 games. Is 3-2 good enough or do we need 4-1? Thoughts.

@ Indiana
Mich St
Northwestern
@ OSU
@ Penn St
 

station19, I am unwilling to commit to the next 5 games. All I can commit to is the next game @Indiana and we need to go 1-0.

Go Gophers!
 

11- 7 should make us a NCAA no-brainer. If you look at the next 9 games we have a real chance to salt this thing away. There's no game we can't win and only one game that would be a real upset (@OSU). If we are improving we should go 4-1 this next 5 games and at least 7-2 for the next 9 games.

Then you are sitting at 10-4 or better with 4 games to go and a home game with Iowa among them. We have a great schedule this year- if we would have won last night the schedule really set up well for us to have competed for the Big Ten title.

Next 9
@ Indiana
Mich St
Northwestern
@ OSU
@ Penn St
Mich
@NW
Wisky
Indiana

7-2? 10-4?

Last 4

Purdue
@Illinois
@Mich
Iowa

2-2? 12-6?
 

Dr.Don said:
station19, I am unwilling to commit to the next 5 games. All I can commit to is the next game @Indiana and we need to go 1-0.

Go Gophers!
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Don- generally, nothing bad happens if a fan looks ahead 5 games. If the players look ahead 5 games that could be an issue.
 

bga1 said:
Don- generally, nothing bad happens if a fan looks ahead 5 games. If the players look ahead 5 games that could be an issue.
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Dr Don is busy doing research on OT board. He said something about taking one game/wallet at a time.
 


I'd be satisfied with 3-2. 4-1 would be nice.

*NW @ home is about the only game I'd put in the "close to a lock" category.

*The rest are toss-ups at best. @ Indiana & @ Penn St. would be the next most confident, but If either PSU or Indiana get mildly hot from 3 we probably don't win either road game with our terrible road offense. I'd put both as a 50/50 proposition. Maybe 60% @ Indiana given my mood that day.

*Mich State @ home I'd put as a toss-up.
*@OSU I would put as about only a 10% chance to win.

I think Sunday's game is huge. We have a week to prepare for Mich St. at home, so they will be rested for that one. Last night's game was a tough one, so hopefully our offense doesn't come out and start out in the same funk it was in.
 

station19 said:
The general consensus was that we needed to go at least 3-2 in our first 5 games. What about the next 5 games. Is 3-2 good enough or do we need 4-1? Thoughts.

@ Indiana
Mich St
Northwestern
@ OSU
@ Penn St
Click to expand...

3-2 is OK. 4-1 would be excellent. @OSU is not a game you expect to win. MSU is one of 3 home games (MSU, Purdue, Wiscy) of which we must win at least 1. @PSU and @Indiana are in group of 4 remaining road games of which we must win 3. Even 2-3 would not be a complete disaster, but it would put us severely behind the 8-ball. The absolute must-wins of this stretch are @Indiana and home with NW.
 

Win the next 2 -- which would include a signature victory that our resume so sorely lacks -- and I think we can start legitimately thinking about "not" being a bubble team. Then all the Gophers would have to do is go 6-5 the rest of the way to get to lock city (11-7) heading into the BTT.

But until we beat one of the big guys (MSU, Pur, Wis), our (current) resume screams out bubble territory.
 

bga1 said:
Don- generally, nothing bad happens if a fan looks ahead 5 games. If the players look ahead 5 games that could be an issue.
Click to expand...

I understand that, Beej. However, I am of the age the only the next game matters. After that, I will deal with the next one, etc. I kind of like Yogi Berra's philosophy..."It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future."
 




4-1.We need to beat ohio st. on the road to show we've grown, if ralph brings the same effort as last night we should win there
 


My feeling on the next five games is that they need to win two road games. If they don't win two road games, they've suffered a bad loss.

They really have nothing to lose in the Michigan State game because they will be underdogs. I have concerns about the Indiana game. I think the Hoosiers might give the Gophers all they want.
 



I think 4-1 if they want to contend for a top 3 B10 finish, 3-2 will keep them on the NCAA bubble..
 

josh087 said:
I'd be satisfied with 3-2. 4-1 would be nice.

*NW @ home is about the only game I'd put in the "close to a lock" category.

*The rest are toss-ups at best. @ Indiana & @ Penn St. would be the next most confident, but If either PSU or Indiana get mildly hot from 3 we probably don't win either road game with our terrible road offense. I'd put both as a 50/50 proposition. Maybe 60% @ Indiana given my mood that day.

*Mich State @ home I'd put as a toss-up.
*@OSU I would put as about only a 10% chance to win.

I think Sunday's game is huge. We have a week to prepare for Mich St. at home, so they will be rested for that one. Last night's game was a tough one, so hopefully our offense doesn't come out and start out in the same funk it was in.
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60% against Indiana? They lost by 25 to an underachieving Michigan team tonight. They're horrible and we're going to crush them.
 

Indiana

I know teams usually look vastly different on the road than at home, but after watching Indiana @ Michigan, IU is a team the Gophers should not lose to. If the Gophers play with a sense of urgency and lock down defensively, which is the norm, they should suffocate the Hoosiers. This is a team the Gophers -- if they come to play -- should manhandle. It would be inexcusable to lose to that outfit on Sunday.
 

howeda7 said:
3-2 is OK. 4-1 would be excellent. @OSU is not a game you expect to win. MSU is one of 3 home games (MSU, Purdue, Wiscy) of which we must win at least 1. @PSU and @Indiana are in group of 4 remaining road games of which we must win 3. Even 2-3 would not be a complete disaster, but it would put us severely behind the 8-ball. The absolute must-wins of this stretch are @Indiana and home with NW.
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Pretty much what I think. (Also I'm lousy at typing so this makes it easier)
 

3-2 would be fine, but I'd be feeling uneasy. We need to grab one of @ OSU and home to Sparty. Then I'll start feeling better about the tourney.
 

They really have nothing to lose in the Michigan State game because they will be underdogs.
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I would not be surprised if we are favored vs MSU at home.
f we defend like we are capable of and get some points of turnovers, we should be be OK at Bloomington. A start like the Iowa game would be nice.
 

The final score may have been 25, but that game was single digits throughout the entire game until the final 4 minutes. More than any other BT team, Indiana has been very different at home vs. road. Beat Michigan, should have closed out Illinois. Crean and the fans bring the energy to get their offense going at home - very much like the Gophers.

Both Indiana and Minnesota are slightly better than they were last year. We won't be able to suffocate IU the way we did Iowa. IU has more & better ballhandlers (particularly Rivers and Jones) than Iowa.

I see the game playing out a lot like last year's close win, and low scoring. I'd still put it at about 60% - like it or not.
 

I do bracketology probably about the same amount as SS. It's not so much as what our record is over the next 5 games, it's who the wins and losses are too. IMHO, this 5 game stretch, is not nearly as important as the the stretch that includes

@PSU
Michigan
@NW
Wisconsin
Indiana

We could very well go 5-0 in that stretch, not to mention home vs. Purdue right after that, which would all but lock up a bid, plus a 1st round bye in the BTT.

3-2 over the next 5 would be fine, putting us at 6-4 in conference with the above stretch ahead of us. Going 4-1 over the next 5 would put us in lock status for now, because that means a win over MSU or @OSU which would be huge resume builders.

We can't overlook how important that win vs. OSU was last week, especially if they start going on a roll with Turner back, as they have lots of home games and mostly winnable ahead of them.

Even taking my Maroon and Gold blinders off, I see us at best 13-5, mostly likely 12-6, and at the worst 11-7, all of which should get us in the tourney fairly safe
 


I'll take any of those records in a heartbeat. 11-7 and we're in back-to-back NCAAs for the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. That would be a nice step for this program to take.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I know teams usually look vastly different on the road than at home, but after watching Indiana @ Michigan, IU is a team the Gophers should not lose to. If the Gophers play with a sense of urgency and lock down defensively, which is the norm, they should suffocate the Hoosiers. This is a team the Gophers -- if they come to play -- should manhandle. It would be inexcusable to lose to that outfit on Sunday.
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That's a dangerous statement. Any Big Ten game on the road is losable, by anyone. You can bet even Iowa -- basically a DIII team -- will pull an upset or two at home. Indiana sure will. It's only 40 minutes, and you're going to get some home cooking refs ... it's not that hard. Every road win in this league is an accomplishment.

On paper of course we should sweep Iowa, Penn State and Indiana on the road, but to actually do so is hard...we probably haven't done it in a long time.
 

I agree. Every Big 10 road win is something to cherish, even if it's as ugly as Ellen Degeneres. Still doesn't change my opinion that I think the Gophers should (and will) smoke IU on Sunday.
 

SS..."...even if it's as ugly as Ellen Degeneres. ..." How dare you insult the word ugly.
 

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