Every year there is a lot of talk about the creampuff non-conference schedule that the Gophers play. Most of what I hear are complaints about the teams played and that victories over these teams have no value. Implications are that things would be better if the schedule was more difficult. For those who subscribe to this thinking I have some questions for you:
1. Show me a team that is outside of the consistent top ten teams nationally who doesn't pad their schedule.
2. Explain to me why, considering the recent history of the program, Minnesota warrents playing these teams and beyond that why a top team would want to play us.
3. Most importantly, is upgrading the schedule going to make the program better?
Lets apply this theory to this years schedule. If the Gophers had a more difficult non-conference schedule with opponents that either end up in a bowl or are competing for a bowl what would the record and the end of the non-conference schedule be? 0-4? 2-2? Maybe, but certainly not 4-0. So now that the team is at 2-2 at best how is that better? The road to a top tier bowl that everyone covets just got that much more difficult. The team would need 4 Big Ten wins just to become eligible let alone anything more than the Motor City Bowl. At 2-2 after non-conference this year and with the Big Tens wins at 3 the team is 5-7 and not going to any bowl. At this point what have we achieved? You can certainly say that the schedule was more difficult and you can tell people that the losses were to good teams but so what? Are people suggesting that losses to good teams mean more that wins to bad teams? Does a player take value in that? Is this more difficult schedule going to make more fans interested? Was the dome going to fill with fans willing to watch them get pasted by USC, Florida or maybe even just an average team like Kentucky. If the team is 0-4 or 2-2 at the end of the non-confernce schedule against tough teams will that increase Big Ten ticket sales or will it be an early excuse for people to write off the rest of the season? How does the more difficult schedule help recruiting? Only the very best teams are going to attract top talent by putting together the most difficult schedules. A top player is willing to risk losing in a difficult non-con schedule at USC not Minnesota. To get players interested in coming here we need as many wins as we can get. And certainly if getting blown out by Iowa is bad for recruiting how can getting blown out by USC be any better. We need to face reality here. Minnesota is not in a position to complain about any opponent because we have a enough trouble beating the ones we play. In reality I don't like the weak schedule any better than the rest of you but I think its folly to think that making the schedule harder will automatically make things better.
1. Show me a team that is outside of the consistent top ten teams nationally who doesn't pad their schedule.
2. Explain to me why, considering the recent history of the program, Minnesota warrents playing these teams and beyond that why a top team would want to play us.
3. Most importantly, is upgrading the schedule going to make the program better?
Lets apply this theory to this years schedule. If the Gophers had a more difficult non-conference schedule with opponents that either end up in a bowl or are competing for a bowl what would the record and the end of the non-conference schedule be? 0-4? 2-2? Maybe, but certainly not 4-0. So now that the team is at 2-2 at best how is that better? The road to a top tier bowl that everyone covets just got that much more difficult. The team would need 4 Big Ten wins just to become eligible let alone anything more than the Motor City Bowl. At 2-2 after non-conference this year and with the Big Tens wins at 3 the team is 5-7 and not going to any bowl. At this point what have we achieved? You can certainly say that the schedule was more difficult and you can tell people that the losses were to good teams but so what? Are people suggesting that losses to good teams mean more that wins to bad teams? Does a player take value in that? Is this more difficult schedule going to make more fans interested? Was the dome going to fill with fans willing to watch them get pasted by USC, Florida or maybe even just an average team like Kentucky. If the team is 0-4 or 2-2 at the end of the non-confernce schedule against tough teams will that increase Big Ten ticket sales or will it be an early excuse for people to write off the rest of the season? How does the more difficult schedule help recruiting? Only the very best teams are going to attract top talent by putting together the most difficult schedules. A top player is willing to risk losing in a difficult non-con schedule at USC not Minnesota. To get players interested in coming here we need as many wins as we can get. And certainly if getting blown out by Iowa is bad for recruiting how can getting blown out by USC be any better. We need to face reality here. Minnesota is not in a position to complain about any opponent because we have a enough trouble beating the ones we play. In reality I don't like the weak schedule any better than the rest of you but I think its folly to think that making the schedule harder will automatically make things better.
