Can Minnesota Win Another National Championship?

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hungan1

hungan1

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Can Minnesota win another national championship title?

Can PJ Fleck transform Minnesota Football and win a national title?

It is quite possible.

But, the odds are enormous, and I would not bet the farm on it until I see how far he can take this team. Maybe we will have answers in 2021. The focus is to first win consistently. Then, win the B1G West title followed by the B1G championship title. Maybe then... who knows????

Let's look at the historical perspective:

With the shifting sands of historical events - birth of the sport, WWII, desegregation, technological revolution, innovations in the game like the introduction of the forward pass, scholarship limits, NCAA minimum eligibility requirements, etc... all influenced and shape the game. Population increase and changing demographics with population shifts to the midwest, south and west all influenced where football champions were crowned - wherever talent were or wherever it can be accessed.

Bill Connelly SB Nation (Feb. 29, 2016) has a very good article on the history of college football by every decade: Ranking the 10 best college football programs of each decade.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...ahoma-michigan

Football championship history began with dominance of Ivy League schools in the game's inception in the 1800s. Then, soon followed by the rise of the Rust Belt, and WWI & WWII. Football dynasties come and go - Princeton, Yale, Minnesota, Notre Dame, etc,... Then come the rise of the power schools in the modern era - Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Miami, LSU, Florida, Florida State, Alabama. That is 148 years of football history.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/

These two charts summarize the teams with the most football champions all time (1869-2015), and in the Poll Era (1936-2015):

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS - ALL TIME 1869 -2015.jpg

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS - POLL ERA 1936-2015.jpg

Today, the super football schools like Alabama dominate. But, history proves that there are schools that came out of nowhere and win singular championships in spite of the dominant powers: Chicago 1905, Penn 1908, California 1920, Stanford 1926, TCU 1938, Texas A&M 1939, Maryland 1953, Iowa 1958, Syracuse 1959, Ole Miss 1960, Arkansas 1964, Georgia 1980 (with Herschel Walker), BYU 1984, Colorado 1990, and Washington 1991. It is quite possible that a school out of the blue can win a national championship again.

Back to our question: Can PJ Fleck resurrect the national championship aspirations in Minnesota?

PJ Fleck has to be a master magician to pull off a stunt for the ages. He has to have the horses to do it. The sands of time again and again, and the shifting of the tides will etch out new chapters in college football history. Maybe Minnesota will be another new shiny pebble.

Don't bet the farm on another championship for Minnesota YET. Let's see some body of work first.
 

Until we can grow more hometown talent like the state does in BB and Hockey...I don't think so. Much more likely we win a BB Championship before we win a FB one.
 

Wisconsin was close to having their shot this year. If they can be that close so can the gophers. The new sports facility is a big first step. Now hopefully Fleck builds his program.
 

Hate to say it - but I just don't see it happening. So much would have to go exactly right. I think we can get program to the "Michigan State" level so I guess there's a chance. We would likely have to have a convergence of the Gophers having a "peak" year with the rest of the Big10 powers having somewhat down years - plus the rest of country not having an unbeatable-type Super Team. Also, being Minnesota we will likely have to go undefeated to make the playoff.

All of this makes 2017 all the more delicious from a wisconsin perspective. I think this year was the badgers' best shot at a title and they are still left out.
 

I think the odds are higher that a shift in tectonic plates causes half of California to collapse into the ocean. But, sure, there's a chance...
 


If Oregon can make it to the finals then it’s possible if the stars align the right way. Fleck could be that guy if he can build a winner.
 

Maybe... but let's win the B1G West before we start worrying about the next National Championship
 

No, it will never happen. Best we can hope for is a 7-2 B10 record and West chip'
 




Pompous Elitist said:
If Oregon can make it to the finals then it’s possible if the stars align the right way. Fleck could be that guy if he can build a winner.
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Can you do me a favor and start the new #1 selling and coolest athletic apparel and equipment company on the planet and keep the company based in Minnesota while pouring all kinds of money into the Gopher athletic program and giving Minnesota first dibs on wearing all the best and newest stuff? That would help a lot.
 

Two separate questions here:

1. Is it theoretically possible? Yes. As others have said, it would be a long shot, but if all the cosmic dominoes lined up the right way in the right year, it is possible.

2. Is is possible under Fleck? too early to tell. the U would probably have to have back-to-back recruiting classes in the top-20 range or higher, and then, they would need to land that 'one' player who makes the difference. A QB, RB or a stud WR/return guy who finds that magic and elevates the rest of the team. After that, all the other elements like staying healthy, avoiding costly penalties, etc, and a little bit of luck. OK, a big steaming pile of luck. But, it is possible. Is it likely? That is a different conversation.
 

Not even on my radar for the Gophers right now. Get to the Northwestern/Iowa tier in the Big Ten first, then hopefully to the Wisconsin/MSU tier...then you might get your chance every couple of years or so.
 




Can we? Yes, absolutely. Will we? Probably not.
 


The top expectation to have for Minnesota football that is reasonable, in my opinion, is 2015 Iowa/2016 Wisconsin/2017 Wisconsin type seasons. Anything beyond that is unreasonable, again IMO.

Why? Here is my pessimist answer: to get to or be at the very, very tip top of the country, the truly elite level, requires the truly elite, best of the best of the best players in the country. And there just aren't very many of those guys that come up each year. And the ones that do come up get automatically gobbled up by the elite, mega-programs. Sure, a fair share of those guys bust. And of course, you can develop elite level talent from players who started at a lower level than that.

But my main point is that there are very few of the types of players you need to get over that very last hump -- ie, Wisc not being able to beat Ohio St in the end, this year -- and schools like ours just have little chance at them.

And should you stumble upon a coach and/or a new method of doing something, a way that hasn't been done before (think, perhaps, lifting weights in the 1960's/70's, or nutrition programs in the 1980's/90's, etc.), well the word will quickly get out and the mega-programs will simply start doing for themselves whatever new thing you came up with. Or will just hire your coach away. IE, you won't be able to maintain any type of special edge for very long.
 

It's strikes me that the pool of legit contenders for the national football championship is kind of like the pool of world powers, or maybe just the pool of nations who are olympic powers. The pool of contenders isn't very large and it changes rather slowly.

Yes, Wisconsin had a chance this year but, in the end, they fell to a perennial member of that pool in a qualifying game. Michigan State got into the playoff two years ago but promptly showed that they were not a legitimate member of that pool.
 

rugger14 said:
Can you do me a favor and start the new #1 selling and coolest athletic apparel and equipment company on the planet and keep the company based in Minnesota while pouring all kinds of money into the Gopher athletic program and giving Minnesota first dibs on wearing all the best and newest stuff? That would help a lot.
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I hear you, but Oregon has not historically recruited at a top 10 level. They’ve come close to top 10 a few times but their teams are generally in the top 20 to 30 range depending on who you believe. They recruit similarly to Nebraska IMO.

Like others said, a transformative QB and the right coaches (with the right system for those players) can make it happen.
 


What we have to realize is CFB hasn’t had a legitimate playoff to crown a champion...ever AFAIK. It is very likely a playoff expansion will result in non-helmet schools stealing crowns from time to time. The current system is a self-perpetuating machine.
 


First of all it's easy to think negatively this week because it is colder than a grave diggers a** in the northern tier of states. Ask this question again in the summer when MN climate is at it's best.

I think Fleck has been told "no" at every level he has been. Playing in high school, college, the NFL, coaching in college and finally at WMU and he has success at each level. I don't pretend to be able to predict the future but I do know that some guys, and maybe Fleck is like this, will not be stopped short. He has already raised the bar here in recruiting. It is too early to tell how high the bar will go and that is part of it; we don't know.

Culturally, we have a lot going for us here at the U in Minneapolis, more employment options than Madison, more than Iowa, more than Columbus, more than any other Big Ten location and for the NFL bound we have an NFL team in the Metro so they are not going to be overlooked. This location can attract enough high quality players and coaches to get it done (Ed Warriner). UW Madison fell short this year and yes they have a good (yet boring) coach and not much to offer kids after graduation except a great UW education. Madison? Really? Madison vs Minneapolis. East Lansing vs. Minneapolis. Ann Arbor vs. Minneapolis. No. Not even close; Minneapolis is on another level and Fleck can sell that. I see opportunity here for Fleck and I think he can take this team a long way.

My guess: Yes, in the next 10-15 years we will get to the CFP. Disagree? The guy is a human nuclear reactor with matching energy and he knows how to surround himself with the right people. I would not underestimate him.
 

Would have to have the perfect storm like our schedule the year we had TCU at home to start. In 2015, had we won out including the Big championship, we would have been a #2 seed. That type of schedule is not on the docket for the foreseeable future. So the answer is no.
 

I once won the National Championship 6 seasons in a row with the Gophers in NCAA Football 2007 on PS2. So it can happen.
 

gopherjay said:
Would have to have the perfect storm like our schedule the year we had TCU at home to start. In 2015, had we won out including the Big championship, we would have been a #2 seed. That type of schedule is not on the docket for the foreseeable future. So the answer is no.
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The winner of the Big Ten, if it has 1 or fewer losses in the regular season, goes to the playoff. Doesn't matter how piss-poor your non-conf schedule is.

And let that be a lesson to scheduling too strong of non-conf matches during the regular season!
 

Yes anything is possible. Luck, injury free, good players and good coaches can make anything happen. So are others saying only about 5 teams qualify to win a championship?
 

Just need to win the lottery and get that one special QB who makes everyone else around them better. Who knows, maybe Vic is that guy and we are closer than everyone thinks!
 

We are in the Big Ten, that makes it very doable. We are in the West, that helps. It is certainly possible. I think a gauge will be how much PJ continues to talk about it. In year zero he threw it out there often. That's the goal, that's the intention, that's the expectation. If PJ continues to verbalize it in his press conferences going forward, you know he's talking to the team about it. You'll know PJ believes it is possible. If we got that, then I think there is a much better chance. If Vic or Zack are some combination of Joe Kapp and D. Watson...we are closer than we think. (We do need our best players to stay healthy...doubt we ever excel with the backups doing their next man up routine. We can get a few difference makers) Look at Garrapolo with the 49ers. It's football but one guy can make a huge difference in team performance. Winfield could win a game all by himself on a given day for instance.
I know we have had no receivers like the TCU guys last night...will we next fall?
 

The Dance Line can definitely win again. Football, not so much.
 

Since the BCS started the only schools to play for the title that weren't traditional helmet schools were TN (though they can be argued to be a helmet school), Va Tech (kind of a step below helmet school but they're in one of the most talent rich areas of the country and had maybe the best CFB player in the past 20 years in Vick), Oregon (only been used as a marketing tool for Nike for the past 20 years) and Clemson even though they can be considered a helmet school too by some. So basically you need to either be a helmet school or a team that is also one of the most talented teams in the country over a 4-5 year period like Clemson, Va Tech, Oregon and TN were at the times of their title game appearances. None of the recently solid programs have made it. No Michigan States, Stanfords, Baylors, aTms, KSUs, etc have made it despite having some nice runs. So no, I doubt we ever even get to a title game to be honest. A playoff game in the 4 team format is extremely unlikely even if we turn it up a few notches
 

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