Tubby and players at the fair

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Saw Tubby, DJ, Al and Blake all at the U of M stage at the fair today. Nothing too exciting to report, but it's always fun seeing the Coach. He looked like he was having a ball -- telling jokes, teasing the players and just seeming very relaxed. One thing of note -- DJ reports that he has gained 20 lbs. this summer. I asked Coach if there was any talk about going to a 20 game conference schedule. He said he didn't see it happening but he would like it if they did.
 

"I asked Coach if there was any talk about going to a 20 game conference schedule. He said he didn't see it happening but he would like it if they did."

Would love to see that happen, but it'll never see the light of day. Maybe Tubby & Bo (also in favor of 20 games) can start twisting the arms of their fellow Big 10 coaches.
 

20 game schedule...

It would be great if there was a balanced schedule and we could crown a true champion. And we wouldn't end up with years where we only play Wisconsin once.
 

Just curious what the arguement is against a 20 game big ten season. Lop off the last week of cream puffs in the preseason and you have your extra week for the games. Yes players may be a little more rusty the first couple of games but everyone is at the same place.
 

"Just curious what the arguement is against a 20 game big ten season."

You answered your own question. Coaches would have to lop off a couple guaranteed wins from their coaching records. Heaven forbid they have to play 2 additional games that aren't automatic Ws the minute their players lace up their sneakers.

I can only imagine what the Gophers' nonconference schedule will look like if a full round robin in the Big 10 comes to fruition. But I'll take the trade-off in a heartbeat if it gets us a true regular-season champion. Not always, but too many times who a team plays and doesn't play helps determine the champion. That's not how a regular-season conference championship should be decided.
 


watertown 1987 guy n said:
Just curious what the arguement is against a 20 game big ten season. Lop off the last week of cream puffs in the preseason and you have your extra week for the games. Yes players may be a little more rusty the first couple of games but everyone is at the same place.
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I'd assume money also comes into play. You would most likely be giving up 2 home games for 1 home game. I don't have any figures, but losing a home game I'm sure would hurt a bit financially.
 

We should be shortening the season, not lengthening it. Add a team to get to 12. Two divisions of 6 each. Ten home & home games within division. Six games with the other division. 16-game conf season. Reduce non-conf schedule to 8 games. 24-game regular season. More than enough for STUDENT-athletes.
 

Who's talking about lengthening the season?

Play the same number of games. Increase the number of games played in the Big 10 season, reduce the number of games played outside of the league. Instead of (roughly) an 18-10 split, make it 20-8. Simple solution. Moot point, however, as the coaches will never let it happen.
 

We would not have unbalanced conference schedules if it wasn't for the greed of bringing in Penn State for it's draw as a football power. It made no sense for basketball -- Penn State has a lousy history in that sport (much worse than Northwestern) and they didn't fit geographically either.

The Big Ten should have stayed at Ten! GREED, GREED, GREED!
 



MMoves,

12 teams with two divisions is the current model. See Big 12 and SEC.

SSunday,

The season's too long for several reasons. A 20-8 split doesn't solve that problem.
 

Gopher4Life said:
The season's too long for several reasons. A 20-8 split doesn't solve that problem.
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I see no reason that college students can't handle a 28-game regular season. One weekend game and one weeknight game for 18-weeks isn't that much to handle. Roughly five of those weeks are spent with no class in session. What makes this such a crisis in your mind?

Gopher4Life said:
12 teams with two divisions is the current model. See Big 12 and SEC.
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So, because TWO of the six power conferences have 12 teams, that makes it the current model??? I'm confused. Why is that the current model? The Big 12 doesn't even split into two divisions for the purposes of the standings despite playing an unbalanced/division-based schedule. And, if that is indeed the current model, wouldn't the Big Ten, Pac Ten, ACC, and Big East all disagree with you? None of them split into divisions, and only the ACC even has 12 teams.
 

tjgopher,

I just believe the priority should be on academics, difficult with all the trips. Ask the profs who take attendance and you'll find that players usually miss class on the day of game plus day after game. A recent change has been to enroll many athletes in strictly internet courses, but the jury's still out on the effectiveness of an internet class schedule for students who may already be distracted. Don't forget the season extension with a conference tourney and March Madness. Many student-athletes don't read well and need extra tutoring in order to make legitimate academic progress...and let's not even discuss the illegitimate sort.

Twelve schools in two divisions would be helpful for both FB and BB and perhaps other sports as well. More than five games vs non-conf patsies are unnecessary, IMO.
 

Gopher4Life said:
I just believe the priority should be on academics, difficult with all the trips. Ask the profs who take attendance and you'll find that players usually miss class on the day of game plus day after game.
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I'm not particularly buying that. In fact, I tend to go the other way and suggest that the student-athlete in a big time conference is actually at more of an academic advantage compared to the regular student at a university.

Most Big Ten teams have academic counselors who's sole function it is to make sure the kids are going to class, getting the proper tutelage, are on progress towards a degree, attending the required study halls, and monitoring grades, etc. In fact, it is my understanding that the academic counselor many times travels with the team to conduct study halls on the road.
In addition, Big Ten teams charter flights to and from their games for the sole purpose of not missing class the day after or the day before a game. Years ago it was commercial flights and bus trips and that was certainly tough. Not so much nowadays.

In other words, I think they do a nice job right now balancing academics and athletics. In fact, I would argue that there's never been more emphasis and resources devoted to academics for athletes at the U than what's happening right now.
 



For what it's worth, DJ said he has graduated and will be going to grad school. Pretty sure the exhaustive game schedule hasn't hurt him. Where did this idea of cutting the number of games come from? I'm pretty sure the Gopherhole is about athletics and not academics. Perhaps a new board celebrating academics could be started.
 

Yes, by all means the Big 10 should model itself after the Big 12 and SEC.

(sarcasm intended)

If the Big 10 is going to model itself after a conference (not that it should, or needs to), it should be the Pac 10.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Yes, by all means the Big 10 should model itself after the Big 12 and SEC.

(sarcasm intended)

If the Big 10 is going to model itself after a conference (not that it should or needs to), it should be the Pac 10.
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Absolutely right.

In one breath G4L states that academics should be the priority, and in the next he states that we should follow the model of the B12 or SEC. Those two opinions are polar opposites.

There are maybe 2 or 3 schools in those conferences who are in the same stratosphere academically as the B10 (Vandy, Texas...er...).
 

There are maybe 2 or 3 schools in those conferences who are in the same stratosphere academically as the B10 (Vandy, Texas...er...).
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er...KENTUCKY of course! No school values academics more than KY.:eek: Right?
 

sec105 said:
er...KENTUCKY of course! No school values academics more than KY.:eek: Right?
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UK won an award from NCAA for the academic results of its basketball team in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The award was for cumulative APR score (those 4 years) in Top 10% of Div I schools.

Almost all of the players were recruited by Tubby, and 3 of the 4 teams were coached by him.
 

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