RandBall: The 5-7 Gophers are going to a bowl game. What should we call it?

Donate To GopherHole



The players better call it the 'must win' Bowl. If we finish 5-8, it is worse than not going at all. If they go and get blown out, make that doubly bad.
 



Some guy said:
You should petition the ncaa to change the rules
Until then, they probably legally have to follow their own rules
Click to expand...
+1

If Michigan goes to the CFP despite flagrantly breaking the rules, I don't see why we need to apologize for going to the bowl we qualify for under the rules. Doesn't mean we should break ground on a statue of the coach or having a victory parade at the state capitol, but we should enjoy the bowl.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
+1

If Michigan goes to the CFP despite flagrantly breaking the rules, I don't see why we need to apologize for going to the bowl we qualify for under the rules. Doesn't mean we should break ground on a statue of the coach or having a victory parade at the state capitol, but we should enjoy the bowl.
Click to expand...

This is an excellent post.

Another point that has been passed over, to an extent: the Gophers qualified for this bowl in part by doing well in the classroom.

Doesn't that count for anything in 2023? I think we all know that if the reverse were true, and the players were winning on the field but not going to class, Reusse, Barreiro and the rest would be very, very, very quick to point that out.

If we're striving to cover this subject in a fair and balanced way, let's make sure to tell the entire story rather than just the one side of it.

As for those Gopher Holers who are sneering at this bowl game as unworthy, please remember that you don't have to watch it. There is no need to waste your time if you feel that strongly about it.
 

BleedGopher said:
Per RandBall:

Here are five other options after a long Monday morning of pondering such things:

The Readjustment Bowl: Per Fleck's description of this season after Saturday's 28-14 loss to Wisconsin. "I named it the readjustment year," Fleck said of the 2023 season. "There are a lot of things to adjust moving forward."

College Knowledge Bowl: If you haven't been paying attention and are wondering how on earth a 5-7 team will even get a bowl game invite, Randy Johnson has a good recap.

Culture Bowl: That 2015 team was coached first by Jerry Kill and then Tracy Claeys. Fleck and Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle talked about changing the culture of the program when Fleck took over in 2017, a sentiment that did not sit well with Kill. It's far-fetched to imagine Fleck's Gophers and Kill's New Mexico State team meeting in a bowl game given current projections, but if they do let's get the popcorn ready and call it the Culture Bowl.

Aloha Bowl: This used to be an actual bowl game before it became the Hawaii Bowl a couple decades ago, but I'm hoping they'll let us have it.

(Un)fair Catch Bowl: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is still mad about the invalid fair catch signal that upon further review nullified a punt return touchdown and gave the Gophers a 12-10 win over the Hawkeyes. But If not for that play and win in Iowa, the Gophers would be stuck on four wins and not even their college knowledge could save them.

www.startribune.com

The 5-7 Gophers are going to a bowl game. What should we call it?

We'll know the true identity of the bowl game the Gophers are headed to soon enough. In the meantime, a reader suggested we have a little fun with the process.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
I
BleedGopher said:
Per RandBall:

Here are five other options after a long Monday morning of pondering such things:

The Readjustment Bowl: Per Fleck's description of this season after Saturday's 28-14 loss to Wisconsin. "I named it the readjustment year," Fleck said of the 2023 season. "There are a lot of things to adjust moving forward."

College Knowledge Bowl: If you haven't been paying attention and are wondering how on earth a 5-7 team will even get a bowl game invite, Randy Johnson has a good recap.

Culture Bowl: That 2015 team was coached first by Jerry Kill and then Tracy Claeys. Fleck and Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle talked about changing the culture of the program when Fleck took over in 2017, a sentiment that did not sit well with Kill. It's far-fetched to imagine Fleck's Gophers and Kill's New Mexico State team meeting in a bowl game given current projections, but if they do let's get the popcorn ready and call it the Culture Bowl.

Aloha Bowl: This used to be an actual bowl game before it became the Hawaii Bowl a couple decades ago, but I'm hoping they'll let us have it.

(Un)fair Catch Bowl: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is still mad about the invalid fair catch signal that upon further review nullified a punt return touchdown and gave the Gophers a 12-10 win over the Hawkeyes. But If not for that play and win in Iowa, the Gophers would be stuck on four wins and not even their college knowledge could save them.

www.startribune.com

The 5-7 Gophers are going to a bowl game. What should we call it?

We'll know the true identity of the bowl game the Gophers are headed to soon enough. In the meantime, a reader suggested we have a little fun with the process.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
I like the College Knowledge Bowl
 




RememberMurray said:
This is an excellent post.

Another point that has been passed over, to an extent: the Gophers qualified for this bowl in part by doing well in the classroom.

Doesn't that count for anything in 2023? I think we all know that if the reverse were true, and the players were winning on the field but not going to class, Reusse, Barreiro and the rest would be very, very, very quick to point that out.

If we're striving to cover this subject in a fair and balanced way, let's make sure to tell the entire story rather than just the one side of it.

As for those Gopher Holers who are sneering at this bowl game as unworthy, please remember that you don't have to watch it. There is no need to waste your time if you feel that strongly about it.
Click to expand...
The Football Gods chime in...

1701180434455.png
 

DarthGopher said:
It's slow, simple and works well for people with slurred speech who may or may not know the lyrics.

I'd personally like to hear some Tool.
Click to expand...
The first part does make sense for the folks around me. 20 yrs later and I still cannot understand how his music is so popular.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, people will get all bent out of shape about how we qualified for the game but there was a spot to be filled and somebody had to fill it.

Obviously we would all prefer to qualify in the traditional method by having a winning record but the players did well in the classroom and will end up being rewarded for it.

In the end I don't care where we end up or how we qualified. Those extra 15 practices will be very valuable for this team.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Never a bad thing to have extra time to practice. I just hope we do not get further embarrassed because who ever we play will be motivated to beat a BIG team.
 




gopherjay said:
Agreed. Never a bad thing to have extra time to practice. I just hope we do not get further embarrassed because who ever we play will be motivated to beat a BIG team.
Click to expand...
In all likelihood it will be a matchup we should be able to handle with another middle of the road team and hopefully we can actually get some guys back and be far more healthy for a bowl game.

It is what it is though.....that extra practice time is the key. Hopefully we are able to win whatever game it is we end up in but win or lose it won't really have a huge effect on the perception of the season or the program.
 

Are the Fringe Bowl Team guys still around? I always thought that was a clever name.
 


Nokomis said:
Are the Fringe Bowl Team guys still around? I always thought that was a clever name.
Click to expand...
At this point Fringe Bowl Team applies to a good chunk of the teams that qualify for bowl games given how many games there are available these days.
 

If I had a dollar for every funny guy throughout the years that made up a whimsical name for a Gopher bowl game...
 

RememberMurray said:
Doesn't that count for anything in 2023? I think we all know that if the reverse were true, and the players were winning on the field but not going to class, Reusse, Barreiro and the rest would be very, very, very quick to point that out.


As for those Gopher Holers who are sneering at this bowl game as unworthy, please remember that you don't have to watch it. There is no need to waste your time if you feel that strongly about it.
Click to expand...
Absolutely.

And, yes...I will be putting aside work, chores, etc. and turning in. Probably wearing my Gopher sweatshirt too. SUMRTBGG
 

FredCoxRocks said:
If I had a dollar for every funny guy throughout the years that made up a whimsical name for a Gopher bowl game...
Click to expand...
Don't leave us hanging man......how many dollars would you have?.... :)
 



With seemingly no servicable QB, could Gophs get jumped by the next team on the list and not get an invite?
 

I'm good with calling it "That Bowl".
 


MplsGopher said:
That had to be Covid crap. Those are 2020-21 and 21-22 numbers.

No chance in hell. But whatever
Click to expand...
This had me curious so I looked at the criteria for APR rankings. It seems that "staying in school" is a part of the ranking. Service academies have high attrition rates for athletes. I am assuming that this is because they are not allowed to take BS courses just to stay eligible. If they were measuring test scores, then yes... Navy would have an edge. But "smartness" isn't what APR measures. It's basically progress toward graduation. Easy for an SEC school. Just ask North Carolina. All you have to do is make up some courses which give all athletes As and you are good to go. I am guessing this would be frowned upon at the Naval Academy.
 

PMWinSTP said:
With seemingly no servicable QB, could Gophs get jumped by the next team on the list and not get an invite?
Click to expand...
No. This isn't the NCAA Tournament where you would look at a teams resume or roster.
 


Crosby said:
This had me curious so I looked at the criteria for APR rankings. It seems that "staying in school" is a part of the ranking. Service academies have high attrition rates for athletes. I am assuming that this is because they are not allowed to take BS courses just to stay eligible. If they were measuring test scores, then yes... Navy would have an edge. But "smartness" isn't what APR measures. It's basically progress toward graduation. Easy for an SEC school. Just ask North Carolina. All you have to do is make up some courses which give all athletes As and you are good to go. I am guessing this would be frowned upon at the Naval Academy.
Click to expand...
I know four people personally who “washed out” of the service academies - they’re designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. They don’t want officers commanding men who can’t cut it in battle or intense situations.

The first two were in HS - one wasn’t surprising as he was nice academic guy who didn’t play sports and had a meeker personality, while the other was an intense hockey player who hated authority and said screw it, Ill go play hockey in the MIAC, I’m not listening to people bark at me for four years. This was 40 years ago and I’m sure it’s toned down some, but definitely not the average college experience. It’s a fit for some, but not for all - the way it should be.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom