Stewart Mandel of SI says Gophers are a "wild card" in Big Ten race

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BleedGopher

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per SI:

Big Ten

• Favorite: Ohio State

The perception that the Buckeyes (4-0) are head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league has only intensified following shaky starts by Michigan and Nebraska. They haven't missed a beat playing the past two games without star quarterback Braxton Miller, and they're much more explosive on the ground than they were last year, averaging 6.7 yards per carry in 2013.

• In the mix: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan

The Buckeyes play the Badgers (3-1) and Wildcats (4-0) over the next two weeks. Wisconsin's sole blemish was its controversial loss at Arizona State. Northwestern sleepwalked through Saturday's game against Maine, but otherwise has been impressive. Michigan (4-0) has been iffy at best, narrowly escaping Akron and UConn, but I'm not ready to rule the Wolverines out just yet.

• Wild card: Minnesota

The Gophers (4-0) trounced visiting San Jose State 43-24 and are well on their way to the program's first winning season since 2008. But they may run into trouble with a tough conference schedule.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/co...ge-football-overtime/?sct=hp_t12_a2&eref=sihp

Go Gophers!!
 

The Gophers aren't Big Ten contenders, even as outsiders. However, I do think they have the capacity to be a wildcard in the sense of upsetting a more prominent team like Northwestern or Wisconsin and monkey wrenching that school's conference title hopes.
 



Sports_Realist said:
The Gophers aren't Big Ten contenders, even as outsiders. However, I do think they have the capacity to be a wildcard in the sense of upsetting a more prominent team like Northwestern or Wisconsin and monkey wrenching that school's conference title hopes.
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Here's the thing. Players and coaches don't think like this and sometimes that means unexpected results. Thank goodness.
 


People talk about us getting the "tough" conference games at home, like it should be a negative; that we should want to play the bottom feeders at home and the big dogs on the road because we're gonna lose anyway. I'm not feeling this way right now. Sure we don't have the luxury of playing Purdue or Illinois this year, but I like the fact that we're playing well, and could give some of the top teams a game. I want to play those top tier teams at home. That gives us the best chance to knock them off.

Scoring on MSU is gonna be tough, and stopping WI an Nebby on defense is going to be a challenge, but they also have to deal with our running attack. I think our defense will improve substantially as the year goes on. If we can beat Iowa and get one of the other three at home, if not more, then beat Indiana at their place, we're looking at a successful year. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if we were to win 8 games this year. That's what good teams do. They beat good teams at home, and we're gonna do it this year!
 

RunGopherRun said:
Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if we were to win 8 games this year. That's what good teams do. They beat good teams at home, and we're gonna do it this year!
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I love this optimism. I'm not there yet myself, but I want to get there.
 

Eventually, we will have a signature win under Kill. It all depends on when and against whom. For Mason, the turning point was Penn State in 1999.
Who will Kill's be against. We are getting to the point where we are gonna pop somebody.
 

I only see 2 games the Gophers should not have a chance in, Wisky and NW.
Iowa- Gophers win
Michigan- They have issues. See Akron and UConn
Neb- No D
MSU- No O
IU- Issues on both sides.
PSU-No depth, issues.

This will be an entertaining 8 weeks!
 



popeyoung5 said:
I only see 2 games the Gophers should not have a chance in, Wisky and NW.
Iowa- Gophers win
Michigan- They have issues. See Akron and UConn
Neb- No D
MSU- No O
IU- Issues on both sides.
PSU-No depth, issues.

This will be an entertaining 8 weeks!
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No chance against Northwestern? Huh? The same Northwestern who we always play close games with? The same Northwestern who we match up with from a talent standpoint? The same Northwestern who was out gained by Maine? You are right, we have no chance.
 

I'll reserve judgment on Wisky until they play OSU. ASU should have beat them by more than 2 and ASU was boat raced by Stanford.

I also agree that the Gophers match up well with northwestern. The Gophers should be in a lot of interesting games this year, no doubt.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
I'll reserve judgment on Wisky until they play OSU. ASU should have beat them by more than 2 and ASU was boat raced by Stanford.

I also agree that the Gophers match up well with northwestern. The Gophers should be in a lot of interesting games this year, no doubt.
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never trust the transitive property. any given saturday man...
 

There are some games that set up well for the Gophers and very few that don't. Take a good look at some of the opponents schedules the few weeks before they play the Gophers. That's what I'm looking at.

To me, Nebraska is the game that most does NOT set up well. Between now and Minnesota, the Huskers get Illinois at home and at Purdue before two weeks to prepare for Minnesota. Not exactly a meat grinder. But some others look pretty favorable;

- Two weeks to prepare for Northwestern, who will be coming off home against OSU and at Wisky. They could be beat up, mentally and physically

- Indiana could be on a 4-game losing streak, sitting at 2-5, coming off consecutive road games at MSU and Michigan, bowl hopes all but destroyed perhaps

- Penn State, with suspect depth already, will have already played Michigan and OSU, and a road game at Indiana as well. A couple injuries and bruised egos and the Gophers could/should be favored at home

- Closing with MSU, while they're coming off a home game with Michigan, followed by road games at Nebraska and at Northwestern, they could be beat up as well, again, mentally and physically

- Wisconsin could be rolling, but at least they get two weeks get healthy and prepare for the Badgers

Plenty of ifs, but with some good fortune and avoiding any major injuries, things could actually fall halfway decent for them. Anything could happen tho. It could all go to he!l too, what do I know.
 



Ogee Oglethorpe said:
There are some games that set up well for the Gophers and very few that don't. Take a good look at some of the opponents schedules the few weeks before they play the Gophers. That's what I'm looking at.

To me, Nebraska is the game that most does NOT set up well. Between now and Minnesota, the Huskers get Illinois at home and at Purdue before two weeks to prepare for Minnesota. Not exactly a meat grinder. But some others look pretty favorable;

- Two weeks to prepare for Northwestern, who will be coming off home against OSU and at Wisky. They could be beat up, mentally and physically

- Indiana could be on a 4-game losing streak, sitting at 2-5, coming off consecutive road games at MSU and Michigan, bowl hopes all but destroyed perhaps

- Penn State, with suspect depth already, will have already played Michigan and OSU, and a road game at Indiana as well. A couple injuries and bruised egos and the Gophers could/should be favored at home

- Closing with MSU, while they're coming off a home game with Michigan, followed by road games at Nebraska and at Northwestern, they could be beat up as well, again, mentally and physically

- Wisconsin could be rolling, but at least they get two weeks get healthy and prepare for the Badgers

Plenty of ifs, but with some good fortune and avoiding any major injuries, things could actually fall halfway decent for them. Anything could happen tho. It could all go to he!l too, what do I know.
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Only way the U isn't competitive in every game is if they have to become one dimensional due to being behind early and panicking. Slow tempo combined with run game will keep them in every game.
 

Losing to Wisconsin again would infuriate me. We have lost too many in a row to them, we have them at home, we think this is an up year for us, and they have a new coach. It is time to do it.
 

I still fear Nebraska and Michigan more than wisconsin. Their programs are just more 'big time.' wisconsin has a great system, but they still don't get the players the other two programs get.
 

I'll just be happy with a winning record every year in football. That means at some point we will contend for a Big Ten title or two. Anything more than that is gravy. Mason years are better than Brewster years.
 

I don't know who it was, but someone on this board once said, before the first game of the year he buys a nice bottle of scotch. Before the first kickoff, he and his friends toast to Gopher Football knowing that at that time it is the best they'll feel about the Gophers all year. In years past, this has been true and I've taken this tradition on myself.

Until this year.....something is different and I'm feeling better about Gopher Football all the time.
 

RunGopherRun said:
People talk about us getting the "tough" conference games at home, like it should be a negative; that we should want to play the bottom feeders at home and the big dogs on the road because we're gonna lose anyway. I'm not feeling this way right now. Sure we don't have the luxury of playing Purdue or Illinois this year, but I like the fact that we're playing well, and could give some of the top teams a game. I want to play those top tier teams at home. That gives us the best chance to knock them off.

Scoring on MSU is gonna be tough, and stopping WI an Nebby on defense is going to be a challenge, but they also have to deal with our running attack. I think our defense will improve substantially as the year goes on. If we can beat Iowa and get one of the other three at home, if not more, then beat Indiana at their place, we're looking at a successful year. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if we were to win 8 games this year. That's what good teams do. They beat good teams at home, and we're gonna do it this year!
Click to expand...

Besides the Iowa comment, I feel like frickin' Nostradamus!! Let's get to 8 wins this week!
 

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