Saturday Tradition: Our way to early 2024 Big Ten Power Rankings (16. Minnesota)

[Some guy]

Cool. Thats not an unreasonable take at all, although not one I agree with.

How about we bet a gopher sweatshirt I say they do not finish in the top 9.

Anyone saying anything between 6 and 18 has a pretty rational prediction.

The difference between 6 and 12 may be 5-4 instead of 4-5 or 3-6

Could come down to 2-3 plays to be 6th or 12th



PLUS
Nobody knows who anyone plays next year unless you actually study it. So hard to make projections.
I used to know 6 of every team in the conference’s opponents without looking at the schedule

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Anyone saying anything between 6 and 18 has a pretty rational prediction.

The difference between 6 and 12 may be 5-4 instead of 4-5 or 3-6

Could come down to 2-3 plays to be 6th or 12th



PLUS
Nobody knows who anyone plays next year unless you actually study it. So hard to make projections.
I used to know 6 of every team in the conference’s opponents without looking at the schedule

It could for sure I agree with that. Gophers were a couple plays away from winning five conference games or winning one.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Let me see what happens in te transfer portal. Check back in 10 days.

Deal.

 

[Some guy]

All three have really good coaches compared to us.

Illinois is 25% of the teams in the CFP era without a bowl win. As good as BB might be, he is 23-44 in conference play since 2012 and hasn’t won a bowl game since obama was president

 

[MplsGopher]

This is so predictable. Even when the Gophers come off a good season, the pundits are generally unimpressed. A bad season seems to erase prior successes and the Gophers have to start from scratch in rebuilding credibility. Granted, the Big 18 is now more challenging but the negativity here seems like more of a knee-jerk response rather than a considered one.

You know, ST is just some glorified blog. It's not real media.

I would save this, well deserved, angst for when an actual sports site says something similar.

 

[Clairemont Gopher]

Thank you, but not really feeling any angst. Just noting that lazy media types generally love to simply recycle last year's results in their forecasts. Unfortunately, in this new landscape where money talks more openly, it is easier for them to be right without investing much effort. I have loved following the Gophers for a very long time and am personally impervious to their scribblings.

 

[Allshade]

Go Gophers!!

Sooooo, we have the projected worst teams in B1G football and mens bball. It's very demoralizing. As some posters have said, we should seriously consider moving to a lesser conference. Enough of trying to right the ships.

 

[Some guy]

Sooooo, we have the projected worst teams in B1G football and mens bball. It's very demoralizing. As some posters have said, we should seriously consider moving to a lesser conference. Enough of trying to right the ships.

I get you’re all shade but we aren’t projected worst. We are projected 3rd worst

 

[CentralGopher]

There’s a reason this is way too early

 

[Allshade]

I get you’re all shade but we aren’t projected worst. We are projected 3rd worst

My bad.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Let me see what happens in te transfer portal. Check back in 10 days.

Its been 10 days...

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

It could for sure I agree with that. Gophers were a couple plays away from winning five conference games or winning one.

That always seems to be the case. What coaches should take from that is that the keys to success are (1) have sufficient attention to detail and fundamentals that when you are in a close one you don't give anything away for free and (2) when you play an inferior opponent, keep your foot on the gas so you aren't in a spot where one or two plays can cost you the game.

 

[SHGopher]

Its been 10 days...

Original post:

They just woke up and think AK is still the QB, it looks like.

Lame, lame, lame effort by this rating.

The right answer is #9-10, although I want to see what the secondary and WR's look like to know more.

Still waiting on word about a transfer portal wide receiver signing. Several in waiting. Hoping for a better than average signing for Gophers at WR.

Right now something like:

1. Michigan
2. Oregon
3. Ohio State
4. Penn State
5. Washington
6. USC

And then it's jump ball.

Gophers would be #10 if three "strong main competitors" finish ahead of them and two more "competitors" finish behind them. Who can guess the order of those six teams in that pack?

Gophers having a sound QB changed the dynamic a lot from last year.

 

[Laker]

Not believing it’s a jump ball. Nebraska and Wisconsin taking big swings with coaches, recruits and players. Nebraska to sign Halvorsen as an OC. NW is a wild card. Bruins, Gophers, Hoosiers, Boilermakers, Terps, Hawkeyes, Illini, in a dog fight to breakout of the bottom tier. Does anybody think signing a CPB qb a 4 star prospect and some Mac starters will vault them into the top tier. That would be a historic feat for a 5-7 team

 

[SHGopher]

The more things change the more they stay the same -- like Nebraska a perennial underperform. Like Wisconsin up and then down.

How many players did Wisconsin lose?

And these rankings listing Maryland to finish ahead of Minnesota. Really?





Let's talk running game, offensive line, we assume a solid defense year after year except maybe a one year blip down... Now add a capable QB.

Who can say?

 

[Some guy]

Original post:


Still waiting on word about a transfer portal wide receiver signing. Several in waiting. Hoping for a better than average signing for Gophers at WR.

Right now something like:

1. Michigan
2. Oregon
3. Ohio State
4. Penn State
5. Washington
6. USC

And then it's jump ball.

Gophers would be #10 if three "strong main competitors" finish ahead of them and two more "competitors" finish behind them. Who can guess the order of those six teams in that pack?

Gophers having a sound QB changed the dynamic a lot from last year.

I think you’re probably right on 1-4
Washington’s starting QB next year is from 5-7 MS State
USC might be the best team in the country next year or they might go 7-5
Those two harder to predict. USC is talented enough to win it but strange enough to go 6-6 against a tough schedule.
I think Washington will be closer to the middle of the pack teams than the top of the heap teams. To me, they are a lot like 2022-23 TCU.

 

[SHGopher]

Its been 10 days...

I'll bet a t-shirt that Gophers finish 10th or better in the B1G, assuming WR Driver and DB Robinson do not de-commit.

And then the unknown is, what does the D-line look like? That's a premium position, hard to fill with certainty in college or the NFL, where I think the current guys just need to keep getting better, emerge. Stay the course.