USA Today Big Ten Power Rankings

Gophers_4life

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Didn't see a thread on this, or a general thread for pre-season rankings. Feel free to move this, if there is one.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...2018-ohio-state-wisconsin-nebraska/792154002/

1 - Ohio St
2 - Wisconsin
3 - Penn St
4 - Michigan
5 - Mich St
6 - NW
7 - Iowa
8 - Nebraska
9 - Indiana
10 - Purdue
11 - Maryland
12 - Gophers
13 - Rutgers
14 - Illinois

12. Minnesota

Hiring P.J. Fleck may eventually work out for Minnesota, if only because his ability on the recruiting trail will inevitably bolster a roster that needs a significant influx of talent to be a factor in the West. As for this year’s team: Minnesota doesn’t seem capable of making much noise even with a power vacuum behind Wisconsin. The process continues.
 

One thing I will say: goodness, how terrible must it be in Champaign??

Not that it has been a traditional football power .... but, the program is stating to remind me of Kansas.
 

It sickens me that Purdue has already jumped ahead of us in the eyes of some, but it's hard to argue based on the way we finished last season. I've been worried about Indiana making a move for a few years, too, but they haven't quite gotten enough traction.

Edit: I see that Indiana is ahead of us in this listing, but it's not as disheartening to me as Purdue. Plus, Indiana has been at our near our level in these pre-season guesses for a few years.
 

One thing I will say: goodness, how terrible must it be in Champaign??

Not that it has been a traditional football power .... but, the program is stating to remind me of Kansas.

And they've still been able to make it to a Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl in the last 20 years.
 

I struggle to see why Indiana should be that high.


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I struggle to see why Indiana should be that high.

When Ohio St, Penn St, and Michigan are in your division ... there's only maybe room for one more great team. Those three are just way too far ahead in terms of fan support, donor support, and money. And the last several years, that team has (for the most part) been Michigan St. They've done very well for themselves on the field, and they draw about like Wisconsin/Nebraska level of fans.

Makes it really tough sledding for Indiana, Maryland, and Rutgers to ever gain traction ... save for a once in a blue moon type season.
 

Are they factoring in the intangibles for the Gophers, or do they simply ignore those?
 

I think will sneak up on a couple of teams. I could see us beating Nebraska and Purdue and then ****ting the bed against either IU or Illinois. Take 3/4 there, win the non con games and beat Iowa and I'll say good season.

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Maybe they read that Coach Fleck still believes he is in year zero. Having 2 year zero situations in succession claimed by the coach is not the stuff "high" pre-season rankings guesses would be based upon. As for me: I'll count Big Ten wins for all the teams and tell you how my post-season rankings play out.Now GOPHER: beat that stinking badger...
 



Gophers have to prove it to get respect..... 60 years of not proving it will do that.
 

If the Gophers needed any Bulletin Board Material this year the media sure has provided plenty this off-season.
 

Clearly USA Today doesn’t know about all the “maturity, depth and talent” on this loaded Gophers roster.

And those intangibles. Didn’t even consider those in their rankings.


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Here are the B1G West standings from last year.
1) Wisconsin
2) Northwestern
3) Purdue
4) Iowa
5) Nebraska
6) Minnesota
7) Illinois

USA Today is only making one change to that, which is to have Purdue move behind Iowa and Nebraska. I don’t think they really put much thought into these “power rankings.”
 



Fucx usa today. They did zero research.
 

And they've still been able to make it to a Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl in the last 20 years.

Also went to the Rose Bowl in 1983, with one of the captains being Tim Brewster.

Still not sure I understand why the Rose Bowl picked Illinois over Michigan for the 2007-08 season. Michigan beat Illinois in Champaign, was higher ranked, and had an identical record. Illinois did beat Ohio St late in the season, which was ranked #1 at that time.


Cubit was a mistake. You can look at his record as HC at WMU before coming to Illinois as a coordinator, and see that it didn't make sense. But Lovie has been a disaster. If he doesn't show signs of life after this year, and I mean winning at least 4-5 games ... I think it's over.
 

The whole ranking is basically identical to how the teams finished last year. Michigan got the Harbaugh media bump past MSU.

In college football, unlike pro football where you have free agents, the draft, well-established players, etc to measure improvement from the past year, we've basically just got historical notions of prestige, old recruiting rankings on unknown kids, how well the coach did at his past job, and if the past season's QB is still there or not.
 

The whole ranking is basically identical to how the teams finished last year. Michigan got the Harbaugh media bump past MSU.

In college football, unlike pro football where you have free agents, the draft, well-established players, etc to measure improvement from the past year, we've basically just got historical notions of prestige, old recruiting rankings on unknown kids, how well the coach did at his past job, and if the past season's QB is still there or not.

I no longer fall for that one.
 

Can't really argue any of this. Regardless of the rank, the fact that Power Rankings are even coming out means football is getting real close...And that's exciting.
 




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