Holy Man,
As of this morning, the Gophers' overall nonconference schedule ranks as the 5th most difficult among Big 10 schools according to CollegeRPI.com.
1. Iowa (#52 nationally)
2. Purdue (#60)
3. Wisconsin (#76)
4. Illinois (#91)
5. Minnesota (#98)
6. Michigan State (#126)
7. Michigan (#167)
8. Northwestern (#179)
9. Ohio State (#243)
10. Indiana (#265)
11. Penn State (#299)
As a comparison, here are current RPIs of the two "most difficult" home opponents for each school, using the RPI as the measuring tool:
A. Illinois -- Vandy (47), Western Michigan (66)
B. Indiana -- Kentucky (15), *Maryland (93)
C. Iowa -- *Virginia Tech (60), Duquesne (87)
D. Michigan -- UConn (10), *Boston College (99)
E. Michigan State -- Gonzaga (20), Oakland (59)
F. Minnesota -- Saint Joseph's (121), Morgan State (140)
G. Northwestern -- Butler (18), Stanford (152)
H. Ohio State -- *Florida State (55), Eastern Michigan (84)
I. Penn State -- Virginia Tech (60), Sacred Heart (182)
J. Purdue -- West Virginia (1), *Wake Forest (30)
K. Wisconsin -- *Duke (2), Oakland (59)
Based on the data we have so far, an honest question for anyone looking at this. ...
Of the games listed, which schools' fans got the best deal in terms of getting to see a couple decent opponents at home amongst all their creampuffs, and which ones got the rawest deal? You don't necessarily have to go by the (RPI) numbers, either, when making your vote. Include name recognition and conference affiliation, which in truth is probably more important to fans.
If you twisted my arm, I'd vote for:
J. Purdue as most desirable, with B. Indiana a close 2nd; and
F. Minnesota as least desirable (one of only 2 without a Big 6 opponent and the other one -- MSU -- played played Gonzaga), with I. Penn State next.
*denotes ACC Challenge opponent
I understand that scheduling isn't as easy as 1-2-3. But that doesn't change the fact that I think our home schedules have been particularly weak the last 3 years.