Who will be the crossover opponent?

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The Gophers have the third-best winning percentage in the West. Maryland has the third-best winning percentage in the East.

Still, here’s hoping they end up playing the Skunks. Bring home the Axe!
 

pk2 said:
The Gophers have the third-best winning percentage in the West. Maryland has the third-best winning percentage in the East.

Still, here’s hoping they end up playing the Skunks. Bring home the Axe!
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They wouldn't play Maryland twice. It's either Penn State or Wisconsin.
 



It will be announced Sunday, but it seems like the strong rumor is Gophers at Wisconsin next week for the Axe.

Far more important game than any other crossover next week. (Other than title game).
 

If we play a crossover game it won't be Maryland, they will avoid rematches.

That said, I hope we play wisconsin.
 


Would be weird to have crossover games for all teams except Wisconsin and Minnesota. Also, Wisconsin, losing today, would be a tough opponent. If Alvarez is this powerful in bending rules, he'll also want the game in Madison.
 



Here's my little dream scenario:

!) Play Wisconsin next week; beat them. Get The Axe, for the second time in the last three seasons. That would give the Gophers a winning record in the B1G, for the second consecutive season. The Gophers would finish third in the B1G West, ahead of Wisconsin.

2) A win over Wisconsin would make Minnesota 4-3. That record would almost certainly get them a bowl game, possibly against a decent/middling opponent, say, someone like Missouri or Ole Miss. This gains valuable extra practices and game experience for the younger players. I still recall Minnesota sneaking into a bowl game in 2018, and thoroughly beating Georgia Tech as underdogs. I really believe that experience was an important factor in the success of the 2019 Gopher team.

3) If things indeed played out this way, there's even an outside possibility that the Gophers at season's end could be ranked in the very bottom of the Top 25. With a bowl game win, Minnesota would finish with a record of 5-3. Well, Missouri was 5-3 last week and they were ranked #25 in last week's CFP Rankings.

We could still have some interesting Gopher football to enjoy in the weeks ahead!
 

Lots of unknowns right now, like which schools can actually field teams next week. Maryland can play MSU (if I remember right) as they were cancelled as an East non cross-over.

If we play Wisconsin, it will definitely be in Madison as thats where the game was scheduled to be this year. No issue there in my mind.
 

I think it's a toss-up. The original plan, according to the TV experts, was to have the two divisions play their cross-divisional counterparts with the same standings. In other words, the #3 team in the East, would play the #3 team in the West, and so on and so on. Whether that has changed, is anybody's guess.
 

go4rob said:
I think it's a toss-up. The original plan, according to the TV experts, was to have the two divisions play their cross-divisional counterparts with the same standings. In other words, the #3 team in the East, would play the #3 team in the West, and so on and so on. Whether that has changed, is anybody's guess.
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Well, they already changed the rules to let OSU play in the championship game so not sure anything is set in stone. I think the BIG likes to brag about "the longest running, consecutive season" rivalry in college football. Having Barry push it doesn't hurt either.
 



I hope it’s WI, but that’s not really a crossover game is it?
 

Minnesota has played Wisconsin 113 consecutive years, the longest in FBS history. And after watching Wisconsin play vs. Iowa, they can be beaten. Not afraid of them at all.

I would much rather play them then a crossover opponent such as Penn St. or Michigan St. The game just means a lot more!!
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Would be weird to have crossover games for all teams except Wisconsin and Minnesota. Also, Wisconsin, losing today, would be a tough opponent. If Alvarez is this powerful in bending rules, he'll also want the game in Madison.
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That's more or less the way I feel. I'd like to stick with the plan and play an eastern division team and it should be one we haven't played this season. We play Wisconsin every year and although they look beatable I'd rather improve the odds of a win. We haven't played Michigan State since Fleck's first season and only once in the last six years. We haven't beaten them since 2009. They also were on our schedule originally.
 

I think (hope) they will fudge a few games to give the people what they want:

OSU - Northwestern
Indiana - Purdue (lost due to Covid)
Iowa - Michigan
Minnesota - Wisconsin (lost due to Covid)
Michigan St - Maryland (lost due to Covid)
Illinois - Penn State
Nebraska - Rutgers

No repeats, rivalry games get played, no unfair matchups. I could see Indiana playing Iowa instead of Purdue if Indiana wanted one more ranked opponent for their NY6 bonafides.
 



fmlizard said:
I think (hope) they will fudge a few games to give the people what they want:

OSU - Northwestern
Indiana - Purdue (lost due to Covid)
Iowa - Michigan
Minnesota - Wisconsin (lost due to Covid)
Michigan St - Maryland (lost due to Covid)
Illinois - Penn State
Nebraska - Rutgers

No repeats, rivalry games get played, no unfair matchups. I could see Indiana playing Iowa instead of Purdue if Indiana wanted one more ranked opponent for their NY6 bonafides.
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This could work but will Purdue and IU be cleared to play after covid? If not it would not affect the above schedule. If one of them can't go, then wouldn't the other team be sidelined as well? WI, MN & MD missed two weeks but OSU was able to come back after just missing one game against MSU.

The BIG has to make a decision today or as late as tomorrow which would result in some concern from coaches. But that may happen due to covid monitoring. I had read where the BIG was considering both Friday and Saturday games and using campus sites versus traveling to nuetral domes.

A IU/Iowa matchup would be a very interesting contest.
 

cjbfbp said:
That's more or less the way I feel. I'd like to stick with the plan and play an eastern division team and it should be one we haven't played this season. We play Wisconsin every year and although they look beatable I'd rather improve the odds of a win. We haven't played Michigan State since Fleck's first season and only once in the last six years. We haven't beaten them since 2009. They also were on our schedule originally.
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Booooooooooooo
 

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