Given the obvious of beating Wisconsin in the end, I am thinking the game at Indiana could be the game of the year for us. A game like the PSU game that puts us in position to get a chance at national recognition and that last game with a chance at Indy.
Pivotal game this year
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MNVCGUY
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I think that game of the year is more likely to take place one week earlier in Iowa City. If everything is going to plan we should be riding a nice winning streak heading into those final 3 regular season games.
You think beating an Indiana team that will have 3-5 losses already by that point is really going to do that much?
Gophergrandpa
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I agree. PJ has already beaten both Indiana and Wisconsin once. Never beaten Iowa. Lose to Iowa and Smirkin' Kirk yet again, and it takes the wind out of our sails for Indiana and Wisconsin in the closing two weeks. Beat Iowa, at Kinnick, and the stage is set for a power rush through the final two grueling games. I really want to beat OSU, but my reality gene won't let me invest too much emotion in that improbable outcome. But if we are riding a solid winning streak heading into the Iowa game, that will be THE crucial game of the year for me ... because it isn't unrealistic for us to think we should win, and it would give the team great energy to close the season well.
Gophergrandpa
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You assuming Penix gets injured early in the season?
They will be better than that and difficult to beat no matter their record at that point. MNVGUY is right about the week before but I believe this game will be huge for us as well.
A_Slab_of_Bacon
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I'm of the opinion that the Gopher's are yet good enough to look ahead ... every next game is the most pivotal game this season 
MNVCGUY
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If we are where we want to be....competing for the West title....then they will all be huge because it is likely the top teams in the division won't be separated by much.
The weight of the Indiana game will depend a lot on where they are at. There is a lot of similarity in the way Indiana and Minnesota are viewed right now. A lot of uncertainty among the talking heads about what to expect from both teams. Indiana was good in 2019, really good in 2020 but was really bad prior to those two years. Minnesota was really good in 2019, not as good in 2020 but with some obvious reasons for why, and doesn't have a strong record of being more than an also ran prior to that.
Both teams are trying to prove they are here to stay.
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I think even if he is healthy that they will be a worse team. If we change the outcome of the PSU game last year we probably have a different notion of Indiana this year. Additionally they averaged more than 2 picks per game last year. There is a luck component to turnovers and I imagine they will regress to the mean. I just can't get behind the idea that they will be as lucky as they were last year.
noamfromm
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They were a serviceable team -- lost two Purdue in '17 and '18 for a chance to go bowling.
They play and will lose to at least 3 of the following 5 teams
@iowa week 1
Cincinati week 3
@ Penn State week 5
Ohio state week 8
@ Michigan week 10
penix doesn’t need to get hurt, he is already coming off of a knee injury. Indiana lost a ton of talent and were a play away from losing at home to a bad penn state team last year. Their schedule is ridiculous. They had a top 15 season last year but only beat one team over .500 (Wisconsin).
Indiana = 6-7 wins in 2021
MNVCGUY
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With the current bowl landscape, outside of 2020, if you don't qualify for a bowl you were a bad team.
Correct. If you are 5-7 in a major conference you are probably “below average more than “bad” but that’s just semantics
noamfromm
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I don't think anyone considers 5-7 teams "really bad" -- regardless I'll keep your metric in mind for bad teams
MNVCGUY
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Didn't say really bad and like Some Guy pointed out, it is really just semantics.
Point remains, in my opinion at least, if you aren't good enough to qualify for one of the 80 or so bowl spots that are available today then you had a bad year. Doesn't mean the team was horrible but if you weren't good enough to reach bowl eligibility it wasn't a good year.
There was a time in the past when just getting to a bowl game was an accomplishment but those days are long gone with the number of games out there now.
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I only commented on your post because you said really bad
-- regardless your point does remain!They weren't really that good in 2019 at 8-4....had crossovers with three worst teams in Big Ten West that year: 4-8 Purdue, a 3-9 NW, and 5-7 NE...just got by a bad NE, triple OT W vs banged up Brohm team at end of year. Lost to OSU, MI, PSU, MSU...beat 2-10 RU and just got by 3-9 MD...really challenged themselves with U Conn, EIU, and Ball State in non-con.
I like the Indiana game, but winning at Iowa City has always been a difficult feat. Win that game and I really like our chances against Wisconsin.
Gophergrandpa
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Yeah but can they stop anybody?Indiana lost a lot of talent, but it hit the transfer portal even harder than the Gophers did. Take a look at the 9 transfers the Hoosiers brought in, including some real talent at RB and WR. Their schedule will be hard, but they might still be pretty formidable in offense.
Gophergrandpa
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Last game with Indiana was a high-scoring track meet. This year’s might be, too.
It’s just one game. Indiana prediction I’ve revised to 5-7
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Some guy is desperate to win the GopherHole "I told you so!!!!111@@" award for September.