How Gophs stack up

2009 NFL draftees coming from colleges in Big 10 States or states near Minnesota
(for kicks we'll throw in Oregon, Utah, Connecticut, Mississippi and Hawaii, states smaller in population)
Tie-breaker to state with smaller population. Boy, this so-called improvement in MN sports blinds me!


1. Ohio: 16 (Ohio State 7, Cincinnati 6, Ohio U 1, Kent State 1, Miami 1)

2. Oregon: 13 (Oregon State 7, Oregon 6)

3. Utah 7 (Utah 4, BYU 2, Weber State 1)

4. Pennsylvania: 8 (Penn State 4, Pittsburgh 3, Temple 1)

5. Mississippi: 6 (Mississippi 4, Southern Miss 2)

6. Oklahoma: 6 (Oklahoma 5, Oklahoma State 1)

7. Michigan: 6 (Western Michigan 2, Michigan 2, Eastern Michigan 1, Michigan State 1)

8. Missouri: 5 (Missouri 5)

9. Indiana: 5 (Purdue 2, Ball State 2, Notre Dame 1)

10. Illinois: 5 (Illinois 3, No. Illinois 1, Western Illinois 1)

11. Nebraska: 4 (Nebraska 3, Omaha 1)

12. Connecticut 4 (Connecticut 4)

13. Iowa: 4 (Iowa 4)

14. Wisconsin: 4 (Wisconsin 4)

15. Hawaii: 3 (Hawaii 3)

16. Arkansas: 2 (Arkansas 1, Arkansas State 1)

17. Colorado: 2 (Colorado State 1, Colorado 1)

18. North Dakota: 1 (North Dakota State 1, from Prescott WI)

19. Kansas: 1 (Kansas State 1)

20. Minnesota: 0 (Gophers 0)

GopherKISS said:

2009 NFL draftees coming from colleges in Big 10 States or states near Minnesota
(for kicks we'll throw in Oregon, Utah, Connecticut, Mississippi and Hawaii, states smaller in population)
Tie-breaker to state with smaller population. Boy, this so-called improvement in MN sports blinds me!

Click to expand...

Hooray! A new troll! Now my Monday is truly complete.

I was about to respond with logic but realized you weren't making a real argument here and decided not to waste my time. I'll get this out the way early b/c I can tell you are going to deserve it many times...

YOU. ARE. A. TOOL. Now flame away.

GopherKISS said:

2009 NFL draftees coming from colleges in Big 10 States or states near Minnesota
(for kicks we'll throw in Oregon, Utah, Connecticut, Mississippi and Hawaii, states smaller in population)
Tie-breaker to state with smaller population. Boy, this so-called improvement in MN sports blinds me!


1. Ohio: 16 (Ohio State 7, Cincinnati 6, Ohio U 1, Kent State 1, Miami 1)

2. Oregon: 13 (Oregon State 7, Oregon 6)

3. Utah 7 (Utah 4, BYU 2, Weber State 1)

4. Pennsylvania: 8 (Penn State 4, Pittsburgh 3, Temple 1)

5. Mississippi: 6 (Mississippi 4, Southern Miss 2)

6. Oklahoma: 6 (Oklahoma 5, Oklahoma State 1)

7. Michigan: 6 (Western Michigan 2, Michigan 2, Eastern Michigan 1, Michigan State 1)

8. Missouri: 5 (Missouri 5)

9. Indiana: 5 (Purdue 2, Ball State 2, Notre Dame 1)

10. Illinois: 5 (Illinois 3, No. Illinois 1, Western Illinois 1)

11. Nebraska: 4 (Nebraska 3, Omaha 1)

12. Connecticut 4 (Connecticut 4)

13. Iowa: 4 (Iowa 4)

14. Wisconsin: 4 (Wisconsin 4)

15. Hawaii: 3 (Hawaii 3)

16. Arkansas: 2 (Arkansas 1, Arkansas State 1)

17. Colorado: 2 (Colorado State 1, Colorado 1)

18. North Dakota: 1 (North Dakota State 1, from Prescott WI)

19. Kansas: 1 (Kansas State 1)

20. Minnesota: 0 (Gophers 0)

Click to expand...

Not too good at counting are you?

love how he fails to mention how many minnesota born kids were drafted saturday/sunday and only focuses on whether they played at the U of M or not during the last 3 years of transition in the gopher football program.

flame on troll!

It goes in cycles, the Gophers have a bunch of talented guys in the NFL already and they will get guys drafted in the future.

Sure, no picks this year is disappointing, especially for WVS, but its not a shock when all our talented players are going into their soph and jr years.

...if this guy is a troll, he is not doing a good job.

pretty realistic picture of the talent Brewster inherited.

What Up Guy said:

It goes in cycles, the Gophers have a bunch of talented guys in the NFL already and they will get guys drafted in the future.

Sure, no picks this year is disappointing, especially for WVS, but its not a shock when all our talented players are going into their soph and jr years.

...if this guy is a troll, he is not doing a good job.

Click to expand...

I have no problem with this post either. Its a one year snapshot, no big deal.

No Troll just know my facts...

Got an email from somebody saying that the new stadium will change everything...

My response:

There is that MN mentality again relying on 'wishful thinking' that a new arena or stadium will be the cure all to everything.
What do they talk about with the Wild? It's not titles, because they don't have any. Instead they talk about the 'building' being the best in the league, along with the fans. Same thing about Williams Arena for Rodent Hoops — talk about the raised floor, how old the building is and hang banners of individuals (Brewer, McHale, Tucker, etc.) because there are no real title banners to put up.
When I went to dozens of FB games at old Memorial Stadium, Gophers pulled some huge upsets, but stunk when it came to consistency.

Many bitched about the cold, and said the 'cozy' indoor Metrodome would draw bigger crowds and attract better recruits. It didn't. As dome years went on, fans complained about the indoor atmosphere and how it prevents blue chip recruits. Now the cycle has reversed again. What's it going to be? Indoors or miserable cold?

I admit the first two or three years of outdoor football returning will be romantic — especially those 60 degree autumn days! BUT will the new stadium improve the culture of H.S. football in Minnesota? If it doesn't, which is my gut feeling, why will the Goofs be any better? You're only as good as your homegrown H.S. talent. And if you don't have tons of homegrown talent like Lincoln or Madison, there are ways to make up for it with extra interest, enthusiasm or funding toward football that can attract better out-of-state recruits. MN doesn't match this interest, passion or enthusiasm toward football, therefore never will be Lincoln or Madison.

GopherKISS said:

Got an email from somebody saying that the new stadium will change everything...

My response:

There is that MN mentality again relying on 'wishful thinking' that a new arena or stadium will be the cure all to everything.
What do they talk about with the Wild? It's not titles, because they don't have any. Instead they talk about the 'building' being the best in the league, along with the fans. Same thing about Williams Arena for Rodent Hoops — talk about the raised floor, how old the building is and hang banners of individuals (Brewer, McHale, Tucker, etc.) because there are no real title banners to put up.
When I went to dozens of FB games at old Memorial Stadium, Gophers pulled some huge upsets, but stunk when it came to consistency.

Many bitched about the cold, and said the 'cozy' indoor Metrodome would draw bigger crowds and attract better recruits. It didn't. As dome years went on, fans complained about the indoor atmosphere and how it prevents blue chip recruits. Now the cycle has reversed again. What's it going to be? Indoors or miserable cold?

I admit the first two or three years of outdoor football returning will be romantic — especially those 60 degree autumn days! BUT will the new stadium improve the culture of H.S. football in Minnesota? If it doesn't, which is my gut feeling, why will the Goofs be any better? You're only as good as your homegrown H.S. talent. And if you don't have tons of homegrown talent like Lincoln or Madison, there are ways to make up for it with extra interest, enthusiasm or funding toward football that can attract better out-of-state recruits. MN doesn't match this interest, passion or enthusiasm toward football, therefore never will be Lincoln or Madison.

Click to expand...

Lincoln or Madison?

Your post was about UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA players in the draft. Now you are talking about MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL players being the reason our talent has been lacking. These are not the same thing. There are plenty of Minnesota players that have gotten to the NFL via other schools, which is what Brewster is helping to curb. Obviously we need to recruit other states to, but think before you type.

alright ill play, Minnesota- larry fitzgerald, marion barber, james lauranitus (sp?) michael floyd, just to name a few minnesota HS talents, what does wisconsin bring to the table?

GopherKISS said:

... homegrown talent like Lincoln or Madison...

Click to expand...

HA! Lincoln is definitely not where the Huskers get their talent. As a former resident of Husker Central and a frequent attendee of the high school football games there I can speak from experience.

Nebraska's best talent has almost always come from great national recruiting. Some of their best stars have come from California and Texas. Every now and then there will be some hometown hero in Nebraska that will make a name for himself, but the fact is that it was not local talent that won National Championships.

It's the same story for all the schools from smaller states: Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, heck even Alabama's roster is full of people from Florida. It's important to get the local boys, but it's just as important to land the big fish from Texas, Cali, and Florida - something Brewster has been making great strides in.

However, I can't vouch for Madison.

GopherKISS said:

Got an email from somebody saying that the new stadium will change everything...

My response:

There is that MN mentality again relying on 'wishful thinking' that a new arena or stadium will be the cure all to everything.
What do they talk about with the Wild? It's not titles, because they don't have any. Instead they talk about the 'building' being the best in the league, along with the fans. Same thing about Williams Arena for Rodent Hoops — talk about the raised floor, how old the building is and hang banners of individuals (Brewer, McHale, Tucker, etc.) because there are no real title banners to put up.
When I went to dozens of FB games at old Memorial Stadium, Gophers pulled some huge upsets, but stunk when it came to consistency.

Many bitched about the cold, and said the 'cozy' indoor Metrodome would draw bigger crowds and attract better recruits. It didn't. As dome years went on, fans complained about the indoor atmosphere and how it prevents blue chip recruits. Now the cycle has reversed again. What's it going to be? Indoors or miserable cold?

I admit the first two or three years of outdoor football returning will be romantic — especially those 60 degree autumn days! BUT will the new stadium improve the culture of H.S. football in Minnesota? If it doesn't, which is my gut feeling, why will the Goofs be any better? You're only as good as your homegrown H.S. talent. And if you don't have tons of homegrown talent like Lincoln or Madison, there are ways to make up for it with extra interest, enthusiasm or funding toward football that can attract better out-of-state recruits. MN doesn't match this interest, passion or enthusiasm toward football, therefore never will be Lincoln or Madison.

Click to expand...

I do agree with a lot of what you said as it will be a challenge for Minnesota to compete for players in the midwest with the likes of Nebraska because even with TCF they have superior facilities, significantly better fan support, and with the new coaching staff, they have should return to national prominence a lot easier than Minnesota who hasn't been there for a long long time. With their new staff in place and recruiting underway they are already coming in and trying to get some of the better players in the state as they used to do in the old days. It will be a challenge but we need to start with a large loyal fan support which Minnesota does not have a good track record of. In regards to Wisconsin, they do not worry me as much but they do have a good following.

GILBball said:

HA! Lincoln is definitely not where the Huskers get their talent. As a former resident of Husker Central and a frequent attendee of the high school football games there I can speak from experience.

Nebraska's best talent has almost always come from great national recruiting. Some of their best stars have come from California and Texas. Every now and then there will be some hometown hero in Nebraska that will make a name for himself, but the fact is that it was not local talent that won National Championships.

It's the same story for all the schools from smaller states: Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, heck even Alabama's roster is full of people from Florida. It's important to get the local boys, but it's just as important to land the big fish from Texas, Cali, and Florida - something Brewster has been making great strides in.

However, I can't vouch for Madison.

Click to expand...

I think his grammer and punctuation may have been incorrect and meant to say that when you don't have a ton of local talent like Lincoln or Madison you have to make up for it in other ways as he listed.

GopherKISS said:

Got an email from somebody saying that the new stadium will change everything...

My response:

There is that MN mentality again relying on 'wishful thinking' that a new arena or stadium will be the cure all to everything.
What do they talk about with the Wild? It's not titles, because they don't have any. Instead they talk about the 'building' being the best in the league, along with the fans. Same thing about Williams Arena for Rodent Hoops — talk about the raised floor, how old the building is and hang banners of individuals (Brewer, McHale, Tucker, etc.) because there are no real title banners to put up.
When I went to dozens of FB games at old Memorial Stadium, Gophers pulled some huge upsets, but stunk when it came to consistency.

Many bitched about the cold, and said the 'cozy' indoor Metrodome would draw bigger crowds and attract better recruits. It didn't. As dome years went on, fans complained about the indoor atmosphere and how it prevents blue chip recruits. Now the cycle has reversed again. What's it going to be? Indoors or miserable cold?

I admit the first two or three years of outdoor football returning will be romantic — especially those 60 degree autumn days! BUT will the new stadium improve the culture of H.S. football in Minnesota? If it doesn't, which is my gut feeling, why will the Goofs be any better? You're only as good as your homegrown H.S. talent. And if you don't have tons of homegrown talent like Lincoln or Madison, there are ways to make up for it with extra interest, enthusiasm or funding toward football that can attract better out-of-state recruits. MN doesn't match this interest, passion or enthusiasm toward football, therefore never will be Lincoln or Madison.

Click to expand...

You used Goofs. You are a troll. That is all.

GopherGod said:

I think his grammer and punctuation may have been incorrect and meant to say that when you don't have a ton of local talent like Lincoln or Madison you have to make up for it in other ways as he listed.

Click to expand...

Whoops. I should probably make some excuse about being tired or something and not reading his post thoroughly...

Bronko Nagurski Gopher said:

love how he fails to mention how many minnesota born kids were drafted saturday/sunday and only focuses on whether they played at the U of M or not during the last 3 years of transition in the gopher football program.

flame on troll!

Click to expand...

Response: KNEW I'd get that response. But you mean Minnesota-natives, different than MN-born? If so, that's two — (Laurinaitis & Murtha). 239 drafted with two being from Minnesota makes less than 1%. Considering MN ranks 21st out of 51 in population, that's a poor ratio.

And two, Laurinaitis and Murtha picked Ohio State/Nebraska over MN because they knew there was more commitment toward football, which is another knock on Gopher football. This opposite mentality is how Wisconsin and Nebraska has been able to contend in the last 20-something years, because it draws better out-of-state recruits than the Gophers.

And if you state homegrown talent "comes in cycles" well there you go. States with colleges that usually dominate, don't have homegrown blue chip players in cycles — they just reload almost every year. I realise Fitzgerald, Barber, Birk, Setterstrom, Spaeth, Utecht, Carlson, Laws have made their splash in the NFL, but that's a select group, as culture and overall high school football talent in Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska still has an edge over Minnesota. Which means the Hawkeyes, Badgers and Huskers already have an advantage!

Speculation, but even if Laurinatis, Murtha & Swift (signed with Broncos) were on the 2008 Gophers, they still would have screwed it (season) up. To back up my speculation, one year the Gophers had Barber, Maroney, Setterstrom, Spaeth, Tapeh, Eslinger — that's SIX guys on the same team who went on to the NFL as starters! BUT, where were they in college when it mattered? Their 2003 team blew that three-TD lead to Michigan that cost them a Rose Bowl berth. Is that because the 2003 team underachieved, were poorly coached, couldn't handle the pressure, or didn't have supporting cast to complement them? I'd say couldn't handle pressure because of state's lousy FB tradition along with a poor supporting cast, because the Gophs have to always rely on out-of-state recruits for the other half of lineup. And if you rely on out-of-state recruits, you usually have leftovers that weren't wanted by universities from their home state, which means you're likely going to collapse in the big games.

Finally, what is not speculation, the Gophers haven't played in a major bowl in 46 years? Just four years shy of a half century? Is this coincidence or pattern? I'd say pattern. Just like not having one Gopher make the 2009 NFL draft isn't coincidence? Come on, it all molds together. That's because MN has a TERRIBLE culture toward youth football statewide in comparison to rest of country. You can't just rely on CDH, Eden Prairie, Glencoe-SL, Hutchinson, etc., to carry the load. In a small-midwestern state, the whole state has to focus on football big time, or forget it. Building youth hockey arenas isn't going to build DI football factories.

You do realize, Troll, that you can't judge the current state of the Minnesota Gophers football team by this year's draft. That draft reflects the players that Brewster inherited, in a few years, you can look at the draft to see the talent level that Brewster recruited.

Furthermore, you can't judge the talent level of a state's FB talent by looking at how many players were drafted from colleges in the state. You may not have noticed, but colleges often recruit from outside of the state. If you really want to assess the talent that Minnesota HS football teams produce, you could have to look at what high school the drafted players went to, not which college they went to. Also, it should be noted that in past years, the best talent in this state has slipped through the fingers of the Gophers, but lately the Gophers have been retaining more in-state talent.

And onto the stadium, no one is saying that TCF is going to be a magic wand. But it does have many benefits. The Gophers moved to the Metrodome under political pressure. Memorial Stadium was in need of renovation, and the Vikings were threatening to leave unless they got a new stadium. There was going to be no money for renovation, everything was being put toward keeping the Vikings here in Minnesota. Of course the U put the best possible face on it, but the move wasn't a real choice. The Gophers were served up as another revenue stream for the Vikings.

Some of the benefits of the dome are increased revenues - this one is huge. Playing on campus in a stadium which looks like a Gophers stadium, as opposed to a generic stadium with a few cheap plastic temporary banners, will make a better gameday experience, as well as being better for recruiting.

Come on, it all molds together.

Click to expand...

So does your brain.

I love how this troll points out that the one player drafted from North Dakota State was actually from Wisconsin, yet fails to mention that Laurinaitis and Murtha are Minnesotans. I would guess Laurinaitis was the highest drafted player who was born in Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska or Minnesota. Kind of like how Larry Fitzgerald and Marion Barber III are probably the two best NFL players born in that group of states.

This was a bad year for graduating talent at the University of Minnesota...Gopher FANS knew that, apparently you didn't. Next year we have Eric Decker and Traye Simmons who both will be drafted and guys like Simoni Lawrence, Eric Small, and Tremaine Brock (if he returns which is doubtful) will have a shot to be drafted with big senior years. The best we can hope for this year is that Willie and Jack (signed with the Jets per Brewster's Twitter) make the NFL as undrafted free agents.

I did see Tyrone Carter, Matt Spaeth, and Gary Russell get rings in February...and I saw Laurence Maroney start on one of the best teams in NFL history and score a TD in the previous Super Bowl.

If Brewster keeps most of the best recruits home and continues to compete against big time schools for out of state recruits....you will see the Gophers put quite a few guys in the NFL.

What a stupid post. I can't believe I'm going to waste my time responding to it, but here goes.

Based on your rationale Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas should just take their helmets and pads and go home. In fact, we should probably all go Division II. None of these programs stand a chance of competing in Division I based on your reasoning when you compare them to the states of Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, Ohio, and Virginia. For God's sake, there are small cities that have produced more players in the NFL than the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska combined.

Yes, it's been an extremely long time since we've been to the Rose Bowl or any other major bowl - TOO LONG. However, there is a new commitment from our administration to football, we'll see where it goes before we decide to join the MIAC. In fact, we don't have to look that far for some hope that good things can happen. Before Alvarez took Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl following the 1993 season Wisconsin had not been to any major bowl for 31 years. In addition, in 1989 the average attendance at Camp Randall was only 41,700. In the book "Tales from the Wisconsin Badgers" it was stated, "By the late 1980s, the Badger football program had dipped to one of the true low points in its history" (p. 41). I also remember a quote from Barry Alvarez that when he drove to Camp Randall for his first game he could have shot a cannon in any direction and not feared hitting anyone.

Yes, it's been a long time. It had been a long time for Wisconsin too. You've had a nice run since Barry brought you back from the dead. It took a lot of commitment from administration to make that happen, and as much as I hate the Badgers they did turn it around. However, you do not have a history anything like Nebraska so don't try to compare yourself to them as you did in your original post and a couple since. You do not have more than twenty years of success like you stated, but pretty consistent, decent success since 1993. It has been ten years though since a conference championship, with momentum now going in the wrong direction. So, is that why you are here? You need to try to kick someone while they are still "below" you?

Wisconsin has created a decent program in the past fifteen years, in football and basketball, but it's fans like you who make it so easy to hate Wisconsin rather than be able to admire anything that has been accomplished. You are what you are though, you'll have a good year every now and then - just like other programs that are not one of the top ten programs that have all kinds of built in advantages. You are not Ohio State, Michigan, or Penn State - get over it.

All those thinking the stadium is so fantastic and a better recruiting tool than others have. Wake up, it only brings us up to their standards. Only difference is that they being in 80-100+ thousand and we will have 50. Still at a disadvantage. Best thing about having a spring game at St. Thos. was it was full. Good for recruiting. But others 50- 90. Wow! quite a diff. The program is on the right track and things look bright but a long way to go. Win and things will take care of themselves, don't win and nothing will help.

I don't understand the logic in the post either.

1) I don't need someone to tell me that our recruiting fell off the last few years under Mason. This is neither new information nor relevant to what is happening in the program today because we have a new coach. In three years when freshman that Brewster recruited get to be seniors we can make a final determination about his recruiting/player development. An analysis of Mason's recruits with 2-3 years of Mason coaching and 2 years of Brewster coaching doesn't tell us anything definitively about either coach.

2) By looking solely at what the universities from different states sent to the draft doesn't tell us anything definitively about the local state. Players can go elsewhere so all that it really tells us is the ability of universities in any given state to recruit and develop players.

For instance, should we expect Iowa univerisities or Minnesota universities to put more players in to the NFL?

By looking at percentages we can tell that most NFL players came from DI schools. Minnesota has 1 DI program in the state with 85 scholarship players. Iowa has 2 DI programs in the state (I'll ignore that Northern Iowa is DI-AA). The state of Iowa has 170 scholarships for DI versus Minnesota's 85. Minnesota has a larger population than Iowa but Iowa has more DI scholarships. My thoughts are that based on population the state of Minnesota should produce more NFL players than Iowa. However, because universities are not bound by recruiting only within their borders, and players can leave the state, the 2 universities in Iowa should probably cumulatively produce more NFL players than the 1 university in Minnesota if all three programs are run with the same competence. Minnesota probably has a slight advantage of either indiviual university because in recruiting there is a home town advantage to recruiting and Minnesota has a better HS player to DI program ratio than Iowa but 170 scholarships filled from all over the country trumps 85 scholarships in terms of likelihood of developing NFL players.

GopherKISS said:

Got an email from somebody saying that the new stadium will change everything...

My response:

There is that MN mentality again relying on 'wishful thinking'

Click to expand...

What Minnesota mentality? Please provide a reference from a sociologist or someone qualified that there is a certain Minnesota Mentality that has anything to do with what you're saying on here.

The stadium was only a proposal when this year's class signed-up. And they knew they would never play in it. So I'm not sure what your point is anyway.

Also .. Were you at the Spring Game? 7,500 people were; so if you were not ... there are plenty of qualified individuals to comment here and we don't really need feedback from someone who doesn't even follow football.

I don't know if anybody else remembers this or not, but a certain troll came over here railing about the exact same thing in regards to "football culture" as it relates to Lincoln and Madison and how "building youth hockey arenas is not how you build d1 powerhouses" and was successfully laughed off this board some while back.

Seems this person has returned. This should be fun to watch. Have at him Gopherholers!!!!

it actually would be interesting to make theoretical could have been teams for iowa minnesota nebraska and wisconsin based on home grown talent only from the last 10 to 15 years...my money is on minnesota

Goldmember said:

What Minnesota mentality? Please provide a reference from a sociologist or someone qualified that there is a certain Minnesota Mentality that has anything to do with what you're saying on here.

The stadium was only a proposal when this year's class signed-up. And they knew they would never play in it. So I'm not sure what your point is anyway.

Also .. Were you at the Spring Game? 7,500 people were; so if you were not ... there are plenty of qualified individuals to comment here and we don't really need feedback from someone who doesn't even follow football.

Click to expand...

Are you seriously going to brag about having 7500 people at the spring game, when the schools we are competing against have significantly more. I see somewhat what he is talking about when he talks about the Minnesota Mentality, fans are largely fair-weather here and wait for a team to win first before supporting the team. It happened with the Vikings when all of the games used to be blacked out before 1998, then they started winning and everyone came out, then they had some down years recently and a lot of the fans disappeared again. The same can be said about how no one goes to Timberwolves games currently as well because they are not winning. You can also use as a reference how attendance dropped off during the last few years of the Monson era. Minnesota unfortunately does not have a history of supporting their teams through the bad times, they wait to jump on board the bandwagon. Heck, when was the last time the Gophers even sold out half of their games in a season.

littlebigboy said:

All those thinking the stadium is so fantastic and a better recruiting tool than others have. Wake up, it only brings us up to their standards. Only difference is that they being in 80-100+ thousand and we will have 50. Still at a disadvantage. Best thing about having a spring game at St. Thos. was it was full. Good for recruiting. But others 50- 90. Wow! quite a diff. The program is on the right track and things look bright but a long way to go. Win and things will take care of themselves, don't win and nothing will help.

Click to expand...

Just who are these people who think that the new stadium, all by itself will magically bring us to the promised land? These people don't seem to exist except as straw men.

The new stadium will be a far better recruiting tool than what we have. If we had a 100,000 seat stadium, but couldn't fill it, that would be a negative for recruiting. In any case, 100,000+ stadia are not the norm, there are only about 4 or 5 in all of college football. It just happens that 3 of them are in the Big Ten. And 50,000 to 90,000 people for the spring game is not the norm either.

gopheraschells said:

it actually would be interesting to make theoretical could have been teams for iowa minnesota nebraska and wisconsin based on home grown talent only from the last 10 to 15 years...my money is on minnesota

Click to expand...

Interesting thought. I did my best to see what that would look like.

The personnel on offense is ridiculous and allows for versatility in formations (I-formation, 3 WR, 2 TE, etc). I think every player on the offense either made it to the NFL, has a good chance to make it to the NFL, or likely would have if not for MLB. The talent at TE is particularly good and deep; I left John Carlson and Dominique Byrd off the list. We also have great talent at WR but we wouldn't have the depth that we have at TE. The defense doesn't look as strong but it has 4 NFL players.

QB: Mauer
RB: Barber
FB: Tapeh
WR: Fitzgerald
WR: Decker
WR: Floyd
TE: Spaeth
TE: Utecht
OT: Henderson
OG: Setterstrom
C: Hamilton (was he from MN?)
OG: Gjere (tackle but can play OG)
OT: Murtha? Brinkhaus?

DT: Ashley? Binns?
DT: Laws
DE: Van De Steeg
DE: Mobley
LB: Triplett
LB: Maresh
LB: Lauranitis
CB: Lehan
CB: Barber
S: Royston
S: Move Shady Salamon over here? Play Sherels at CB and move Barber here?

Facts don't lie

gopheraschells said:

alright ill play, Minnesota- larry fitzgerald, marion barber, james lauranitus (sp?) michael floyd, just to name a few minnesota HS talents, what does wisconsin bring to the table?

Click to expand...

FACT 1: Last 26 years, in head-to-head competition between WI and MN high schools, Wisconsin leads the series 252-165 over MN schools since 1983. That's a .604 winning percentage, that means Wisconsin has the edge. And don't say Wisconsin teams play all the MN cream puffs. If anything, it's the other way around. Like I've said a gazallion times, MN may have the edge on WI when it comes to select talent, but overall talent the edge goes to WI.

*WISCONSIN/MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SERIES LAST 26 YEARS (417 games)
Wisconsin leads 252-165 for .604 winning percentage
Minnesota trails 165-252 for .396 winning percentage
POINTS SCORED: Wis 9,287, Minn 7,478
AVERAGE SCORE: Wis 22, Minn 18
SHUTOUT WINS: Wis 33, Minn 26
*MN Deaf vs. WI Deaf games not included in this summary

FACT 2: Minnesota's two state finalists St. Thomas Academy and Cambridge each lost to Wisconsin schools (River Falls & La Crosse Central) that didn't dominate its Wisconsin competition in 2000. LaCrosse Central (2-3 in its conf.) doesn't qualify for 32-team Wisconsin Division I playoff bracket, yet beats eventual Minnesota state champion, Cambridge-Isanti 18-7. River Falls doesn't crack top-16 in Wisconsin Division 2 playoff bracket, yet wins 23-20 at St. Thomas Academy (MN) in regular season. Following week St. Thomas Academy breaks Hastings MN 25-game regular season winning streak. Hastings #4 in AAAAA MN State Poll before losing to STA 35-19. Cambridge-Isanti beats St. Thomas Academy 24-14 in MN AAAA State Final.

FACT 3: 1990: Wisconsin sweeps all 12 games against Minnesota competition behind Superior 33-0 win over Duluth Denfeld. Minnesota has never swept Wisconsin and has only won the season series four of last 26 years.

FACT 4: Wisconsin outnumbers Minnesota 8-6 with homegrown natives in the NFL Hall-of-Fame. Once again, not dominating, but the edge goes toward Wisconsin.

FACT 5: Camp Randall Stadium sits 80,000 compared to the measly 50,000 that will be at TCF. That is an indicator that FB is more important in WI than MN.

FACT 7: Badgers beat Gophers 12 of last 14.

FACT 8: Badgers since 1993 are 3-0 in Rose Bowls. Gophers haven't been to a major bowl since 1961.


FACT 9: WI doesn't blow MN out of the water with homegrown DI football recruits, but WI is a notch above, and that is a bonus.
MN kids may have the edge when it comes to 'select' talent, but in 'overall balance', that's another story.
The aspects pointing to Wisconsin's favor are small, but a huge advantage when you add it all up.
One is WI puts less emphasis into youth hockey than MN, which is a huge disadvantage for Gopher football! It always will be!
Of course the Badgers wouldn't have won three Rose Bowls in the '90s without outstate recruits, but the fact that Wisconsin high school football is a little stronger than MN, only gives the Badgers another edge.
Funds and donations are much bigger at Wisconsin than Minnesota as football is more important at Wisconsin than Minnesota.
Now mix in the fact the Univ of Wis campus is more football friendly than the UoM, you're able to draw better out-of-state recruits than Minnesota, which is a recipe why the Gophers have lost 12 of last 14 to the Badgers!
What the Hell else would be the reason? The better team with "better balance" of athletes usually wins. If the Gophers had these better athletes those 14 years, then they would potentially beat Badgers in 12 of those. It is what it is. Isn't that why they play games, to prove who is better? How else can you gauge it?
Another Badger advantage over Minnesota is no varsity baseball at Madison which allows more focus for football.
A former assistant Gopher coach explained all this to KFAN after PA & Dubay said "Both states are equal."
The coach snapped back, "NO, both states are not the same!" Something what I've been saying all along! So if I'm an idiot, I guess that makes the coach an idiot? After the coach elaborated, PA & Dubay went silent for 10 seconds, blew him off by going to a quick commercial break and never elaborated this coach's comments. That's because PA & Dubay wanted the typical "Yes, both MN & WI are equals" response. Just like much of the state likes to believe. Rather than accept truth, they want a football contender by wishful thinking. This Gopher coach's name, I can't remember. He was a black guy during Mason regime who was responsible recruiting Wisconsin and Minnesota high schools, so I think he knows what he's talking about.