Please provide YOUR ranking of Minnesota's 12 foes from 2019?

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Where do the Gophers fit? On any one day, did the results (win or loss) of HTH competition not reflect the relative strength of the teams? (devalue the Margin of victory/loss on first consideration)

Where do you place Iowa, PSU, and Wisconsin based of the big picture?
 


Penn State stable high - Can play anywhere
Wisconsin stable ascending - Can play anywhere capable of beating themselves
*Minnesota improved ascending, over three years. Competitive in conference needs maturity and depth.
Iowa stable very good - much better at home

Illinois Fluid disorganized
Nebraska descending unstable
Purdue Fluid descending

Fresno fluid unknown
Northwestern fluid high potential

Maryland near bottom of barrel /
Rutgers needs help. New hire of former coach might be the ticket

Georgia Southern* was not able to watch

South Dakota State, for one game, can play with probably beat through Illinois every once in awhile

Next year's schedule requires ready for conference level play much earlier in the slate.
 

This is how I’d rank them.
on a given day anyone within the same tier could be better than the others.

Tier 1
Penn State
Wisconsin
Iowa

Tier 2
Nebraska
Illinois
Purdue
Fresno State
South Dakota State
Georgia Southern
Northwestern
Maryland

Tier 3
Rutgers
 

This is how I’d rank them.
on a given day anyone within the same tier could be better than the others.

Tier 1
Penn State
Wisconsin
Iowa

Tier 2
Nebraska
Illinois
Purdue
Fresno State
South Dakota State
Georgia Southern
Northwestern
Maryland

Tier 3
Rutgers

Quite possible that I missed it, but which tier would Minnesota be in?
 


  1. Penn State. Still feel they’re the most talented team we played.
  2. Wisconsin. They’re in good shape, despite a shocking loss to Illinois.
  3. Iowa, definitely a strong team. Have to credit how competitive Ferentz keeps the program.
  4. Nebraska. From a talent perspective, a good team, and if a few plays go differently they’re in a bowl. I suspect Frost will have them a winning season next year
  5. Illinois. Smith might have actually turned a corner, earning a bowl is a step forward. Will be curious what they look like next year.
  6. Purdue. Brohm’s team is puzzling. They had a step back season this year, but if he keeps at it the Boilermakers could be a consistent offensive threat and go bowling often.
  7. Georgia Southern. Team is 7-5 now with a chance to have eight wins in their bowl. A solid G5 team.
  8. Fresno State. Finished 4-8, but was hampered by injuries and suffered a lot of close losses. They of course played us tough and then were defeated by two points by Utah State, seven by Nevada and one by San Jose State. Another team where if things go the other way, they’re looking at a bowl/winning season.
  9. Northwestern. Down year, but Pat will likely turn things around fairly quickly. Seems to happen every so often at Northwestern, they will probably bounce back and they have some solid players.
  10. South Dakota State. Yes they’re FCS, but they’re a good FCS squad. We know all too well that FCS teams can compete. This is a solid team
  11. Maryland. Such an up-and-down squad. I think for the most part Maryland is below average but they can occasionally show a powerful offense.
  12. Rutgers. Total disaster. Worst team by far this season.
 

Quite possible that I missed it, but which tier would Minnesota be in?
I’d put Minnesota in tier 1

they are unbeaten against tier 2 and tier 3
They are 1-2 against tier 1

I think on a given day they could beat all 3 in tier 1 and on a different given day they could lose to all 3 in tier 1.

Tier 1 is a combined 20-1 against tier 2 and tier 3 if you include Minnesota with the one loss being Wisconsin @ Illinois.
 

According to Sagarin who compiles these lists professionally and without bias. The B1G stacks up this way.
1 Ohio State 5-0 against top 25
7 Wisconsin 3-1
8 Michigan 2-3
11 Penn State 2-2
16 Iowa 2-3
25 Minnesota 1-2
By any measurable statistic Wisconsin was your toughest game
You were much better against Penn St. than even Iowa. Your win against Penn St was no fluke.
 

According to Sagarin who compiles these lists professionally and without bias. The B1G stacks up this way.
1 Ohio State 5-0 against top 25
7 Wisconsin 3-1
8 Michigan 2-3
11 Penn State 2-2
16 Iowa 2-3
25 Minnesota 1-2
By any measurable statistic Wisconsin was your toughest game
You were much better against Penn St. than even Iowa. Your win against Penn St was no fluke.
Can only trust Sagarin to a certain extent and then comes the “human factor”. I think these rankings are probably correct in terms of raw talent and experience. I think Fleck pumps players up to feel like they’re more than what they actually have in the tank. That factor is what won us the game against Penn State, plus the crowd and that energy. I believe if that same energy existed at the Badger game we’d have ran away with that one too. Fleck and the team don’t want to admit it, but that weather was a factor. I think the Badgers were more prepped mentally to power through that weather. I think the fans had trouble being as loud and energized in that cold wet weather. We started out strong, but a lot of people watched Gameday and had been up since 5-6am and were out in the cold for quite a few hours before we even started that game. Myself, my wife, and my cousins included. It was tough keeping up the noise and excitement. We were pretty drained. But we did our best. I just felt like at a certain point, kind of around the same time Faalele went down, our fans were really burned out. I think if that Iowa game had been played at home instead of Kinnick, we’d have won that one too. We truly needed home field against them. We’d have had the same turnout as the Penn State game, and the weather would have been decent. I think that game ends so differently if we played that at TCF.

this is all hypothetical coulda, woulda, shoulda’s. But my gut tells me I’m right on a lot of it.
 



Wisconsin - Didn't feel like we had a chance after the punt even though we lead by 7.
Penn State - We stayed with them and could again if we got to.
Iowa - Shoulda, woulda, coulda, - this was the game we really needed and should have won.

The rest. who cares? We had them.
 

What do people have for overall B1G power rankings?

1. Ohio State

2. Wisconsin
3. Penn State
4. Michigan
5. Minnesota
6. Iowa

7. Indiana
8. Illinois
9. Michigan State
10. Purdue
11. Nebraska
12. Northwestern
13. Maryland
14. Rutgers
 

What do people have for overall B1G power rankings?

1. Ohio State

2. Wisconsin
3. Penn State
4. Michigan
5. Minnesota
6. Iowa

7. Indiana
8. Illinois
9. Michigan State
10. Purdue
11. Nebraska
12. Northwestern
13. Maryland
14. Rutgers

In that case
1. Ohio State. Excellent team they have this year. Can definitely win the national title.
2. Wisconsin. Very good squad. Chryst has a nice thing going there. Hiccup against Illinois but other than that they remain strong.
3. Penn State. This one is super close, but I feel if we played 10 times Penn State might win 6 or 7 and the Gophers would win 3 or 4.
4. Minnesota. Neck-and-neck with Penn State.
5. Michigan. They got back on track there for a while with the Notre Dame win, but the team wasn't perfect. Above average for sure, but still had some issues.
6. Iowa. Another season with 8 or more wins and top 25 rankings for Ferentz. He's consistent and produced another tough team.
7. Indiana. Best Indiana team I've seen in a while. Will be interesting if the success can be sustained by this year was a good group.
8. Michigan State. Down year for the Spartans and it might be time to go for Dantonio, but the team still managed to get bowl eligible. They had some close losses that could have gone the other way and landed with an 8 win season instead. A winning season is still possible.
9. Illinois. I thought for sure the Smith era was over after the Eastern loss. Then they knock off Wisconsin and win four straight. didn't end the regular season perfectly but there's still a bowl game to play.
10. Nebraska. Another team with a lot of close losses. Colorado, Indiana, Purdue and Iowa were all winnable. Things didn't come together perfectly but there's talent there and Frost can still turn things around.
11. Purdue. Was clear from the start that this was going to be a down year for Purdue after that loss to Nevada. Brohm's offenses remain dangerous, though.
12. Northwestern. Down years aren't new for Fitzgerald's teams. The 2013 team also really struggled. Looking back there was probably some senior leadership gone so the team took a stumble. Fitzgerald should have them relatively competitive again, though.
13. Maryland. Team is stuck in a rut, third straight losing season. There are times when the team looks like it has potential, a 63-20 win over another Power 5 school, but then the bottom falls out.
14. Rutgers. Awful, should be a Group of 5 team.
 

Wisconsin
Penn State
Iowa
Illinois
Purdue
Nebraska
Northwestern
Maryland
Fresno State
Georgia Southern
South Dakota State
Rutgers
 



TBH Maryland looked worse against the Gophers than Rutgers did. If we're measuring how they looked against Minnesota, South Dakota State was the 4th toughest game after the Big 3.
 

Thanks for the #7 spot IceboxGopher. I don't know if we really deserve it. If we win our Bowl then maybe #8?:drink:
  1. Penn State. Still feel they’re the most talented team we played.
  2. Wisconsin. They’re in good shape, despite a shocking loss to Illinois.
  3. Iowa, definitely a strong team. Have to credit how competitive Ferentz keeps the program.
  4. Nebraska. From a talent perspective, a good team, and if a few plays go differently they’re in a bowl. I suspect Frost will have them a winning season next year
  5. Illinois. Smith might have actually turned a corner, earning a bowl is a step forward. Will be curious what they look like next year.
  6. Purdue. Brohm’s team is puzzling. They had a step back season this year, but if he keeps at it the Boilermakers could be a consistent offensive threat and go bowling often.
  7. Georgia Southern. Team is 7-5 now with a chance to have eight wins in their bowl. A solid G5 team.
  8. Fresno State. Finished 4-8, but was hampered by injuries and suffered a lot of close losses. They of course played us tough and then were defeated by two points by Utah State, seven by Nevada and one by San Jose State. Another team where if things go the other way, they’re looking at a bowl/winning season.
  9. Northwestern. Down year, but Pat will likely turn things around fairly quickly. Seems to happen every so often at Northwestern, they will probably bounce back and they have some solid players.
  10. South Dakota State. Yes they’re FCS, but they’re a good FCS squad. We know all too well that FCS teams can compete. This is a solid team
  11. Maryland. Such an up-and-down squad. I think for the most part Maryland is below average but they can occasionally show a powerful offense.
  12. Rutgers. Total disaster. Worst team by far this season.
 




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