Wisconsin made a bold move, do we have the nerve to do the same?

[MNVCGUY]

I had a long post written out, but decided to delete it. I don't buy any of the excuses why Minnesota can't or shouldn't be more successful than Iowa or Wisconsin in football. The bottom line is people here are more tolerant of failure. Depending on your perspective that means Minnesotan's either live much more well rounded lives and sports teams performance isn't that important to them or they simply aren't as competitive.

I would argue that we are in a very similar place to Iowa and Wisconsin right now. The question is reaching that next tier and honestly in this current college football landscpae I don't think Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Iowa has a legit chance of competing with the best of the best.

 

[kisarazu]

I would argue that we are in a very similar place to Iowa and Wisconsin right now. The question is reaching that next tier and honestly in this current college football landscpae I don't think Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Iowa has a legit chance of competing with the best of the best.

Wisconsin and Iowa are no better off with NIL and they aren't going to be. They, along with all of the west (aside from Nebraska - for now), are in the same problematic boat that will not be solved by a change at captain.

 

[Live in the now]

The Badgers also draw from Milwaukee, which is a little over an hour away. Milwaukee metro is 1.5 million. That doesn't even take into account the other mid-size cities in easy driving distance.

Omaha is one hour from Lincoln. Omaha metro is 1 million. It's not as if these places are in the middle of nowhere.

And nobody from here would ever refer to it as "Minnie."

Got me on that one. I’m right across the river. Can see Minnie from my house even. But we do get all the same media so grew up watching the twins, north stars and the gophers. Kind of got off topic but I firmly believe the gophers lack of big time support comes from all the options the twin cities has to offer.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Wisconsin and Iowa are no better off with NIL and they aren't going to be. They, along with all of the west (aside from Nebraska - for now), are in the same problematic boat that will not be solved by a change at captain.

Yep....pay for play....local talent base....the way the current landscape is setup.....are all going to make it really hard for non helmet schools to compete at the highest level. It is not a reality that a lot of fans want to accept but it is reality. In the new look Big Ten next year it will be very tough for anyone not named Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, USC and maybe Washington to crack the top part of the league.

 

[Jack jones]

I keep writing, we - the rest of the B1G not in the top tier - need to get the hell out and start their own conference. Really not fair to the players and coaches to try and compete against the upper tier when the playing field is not level.

 

[swede2]

The counter argument to the "competition" business is the fact that when Gopher teams are winning, fans show up. Do the Vikings, Twins, Wolves, Wild, Lynx, Loons, First Ave, Hennepin Theater Trust, Ordway, Walker, MIA, MIAC schools, Community Theater, High Schools, Pop Warner or anyone else selling tickets suffer?

 

[swede2]

Yep....pay for play....local talent base....the way the current landscape is setup.....are all going to make it really hard for non helmet schools to compete at the highest level. It is not a reality that a lot of fans want to accept but it is reality. In the new look Big Ten next year it will be very tough for anyone not named Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, USC and maybe Washington to crack the top part of the

Wisconsin football was nothing before Barry Alvarez. It's hard to imagine a Wisconsin type rise in the modern era, except a lightning in a bottle type hire like Deion Sanders, or an extremely wealthy fan buying a team through NIL.

 

[disco]

The counter argument to the "competition" business is the fact that when Gopher teams are winning, fans show up. Do the Vikings, Twins, Wolves, Wild, Lynx, Loons, First Ave, Hennepin Theater Trust, Ordway, Walker, MIA, MIAC schools, Community Theater, High Schools, Pop Warner or anyone else selling tickets suffer?

It gets back to the value for the entertainment dollar. If the Gopher Football and Basketball teams put out a good product, people will pay to see it.

I don't know how you could realistically track "if team A is good and team B sucks - dollars flow from B to A" but I know studies have been done regarding the effects of teams in a market affecting discretionary entertainment spending. It's what's used by opponents of public funding of pro sports facilities to show that people spend the same on entertainment - it just goes to a different source of entertainment.

I used to be very critical of the so-called "fair weather fans." Not anymore. A team has to put out a product I'm willing to part with my money and time to watch.