NE Rivals: MN sleeper pick to win West; Ne-Mn at TCF matchups ranked undefeateds?

swingman

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Some bits from preview by Sean Callahan of Nebraska Rivals site:

The Gophers are arguably the sleeper pick to win the West in 2019, and they have a very favorable crossover draw with Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State.

All three of their top receivers return in All-Big Ten performer Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman and Chris Autman-Bell. Both of their top quarterbacks are back in Tanner Morgan and Zack Annextad, with Annexstad having a slight edge at this point because of his throwing ability. Than they return 1,000 yard back Mohamed Ibrahim at running back, and sixth-year senior Rodney Smith and fifth-year senior Shannon Brooks are also back.

Minnesota Rivals guy Connor Stevens take is included:

"I think that Nebraska game has all the potential for a ranked, night game at TCF Bank Stadium. It could be two undefeated teams with how the schedules set up."

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/spring-opponent-review-minnesota-1
 

Some bits from preview by Sean Callahan of Nebraska Rivals site:

The Gophers are arguably the sleeper pick to win the West in 2019, and they have a very favorable crossover draw with Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State.

All three of their top receivers return in All-Big Ten performer Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman and Chris Autman-Bell. Both of their top quarterbacks are back in Tanner Morgan and Zack Annextad, with Annexstad having a slight edge at this point because of his throwing ability. Than they return 1,000 yard back Mohamed Ibrahim at running back, and sixth-year senior Rodney Smith and fifth-year senior Shannon Brooks are also back.

Minnesota Rivals guy Connor Stevens take is included:

"I think that Nebraska game has all the potential for a ranked, night game at TCF Bank Stadium. It could be two undefeated teams with how the schedules set up."

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/spring-opponent-review-minnesota-1

"Two undefeated teams"? Hmmmm. Nebraska plays Ohio State and Northwestern in the two weeks prior to their game with us.
 


Anything could happen. Perhaps the writer was drinking a bit when he wrote this article.
 

Anything could happen. Perhaps the writer was drinking a bit when he wrote this article.

Rutgers v Kansas BCS National Championship! Everyone's still undefeated!
 


Nebraska finished the year strong, winning 4 of 6 and two narrow losses on the road. If we believe in momentum (some of us do) and believe MN turned a corner late last year it’s fair to say Nebraska is simarly trending up. They lost some key pieces as did we but this will very likely not be a cake walk and will likely be a dogfight. I’m hoping for some major hype around this game.
 

Nebraska finished the year strong, winning 4 of 6 and two narrow losses on the road. If we believe in momentum (some of us do) and believe MN turned a corner late last year it’s fair to say Nebraska is simarly trending up. They lost some key pieces as did we but this will very likely not be a cake walk and will likely be a dogfight. I’m hoping for some major hype around this game.

No question.

But if we're comparing schedules going into this game and guessing if one or both might be undefeated at that point, I'd say Minnesota's schedule is far more favorable. Nebraska would have to beat Colorado on the road as well as Ohio State and Northwestern back to back in Lincoln.

Minnesota has the "easier" early schedule, although no schedule is truly easy.
 

Ohio State is very likely to have some growing pains this year. Northwestern isn’t breaking in a new staff but is breaking in a new QB. Nebraska is lucking out in a sense by catching them earlier in the season.
 

Ohio State is very likely to have some growing pains this year. Northwestern isn’t breaking in a new staff but is breaking in a new QB. Nebraska is lucking out in a sense by catching them earlier in the season.

Would you rather play Nebraska's schedule leading up to this game, or Minnesota's?

MINNESOTA: South Dakota State, at Fresno State, Georgia Southern, at Purdue, Illinois

NEBRASKA: South Alabama, at Colorado, Northern Illinois, at Illinois, Ohio State, Northwestern
 



Choice A, but OSU and NW maybe aren’t quite as scary this year. Colorado had a down year and I don’t know enough about their returning production to comment. I’m hoping for a big game atmosphere for MN-Nebraska.
 

Choice A, but OSU and NW maybe aren’t quite as scary this year. Colorado had a down year and I don’t know enough about their returning production to comment. I’m hoping for a big game atmosphere for MN-Nebraska.

Plus OSU & Northwestern are both in Lincoln.
 

Choice A, but OSU and NW maybe aren’t quite as scary this year. Colorado had a down year and I don’t know enough about their returning production to comment. I’m hoping for a big game atmosphere for MN-Nebraska.

Colorado 43rd in the nation in returning production according to sb nation.

Minnesota 10th in the country, which is best in the B1G.

Wisconsin 29th.

Iowa 49th.

Northwestern 72nd.

Nebraska 93rd.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...9-ncaa-football-returning-starters-experience
 

Ohio State is very likely to have some growing pains this year. Northwestern isn’t breaking in a new staff but is breaking in a new QB. Nebraska is lucking out in a sense by catching them earlier in the season.

So 10-2...:p

Seriously though, Gophs could have been 8-4 in 2018 without question. Another year in the system with a ton of experienced talent returning and I think they take NW in 2019. Fleck needs a big season, and 2019 looks there for the taking...
 



So 10-2...:p

Seriously though, Gophs could have been 8-4 in 2018 without question. Another year in the system with a ton of experienced talent returning and I think they take NW in 2019. Fleck needs a big season, and 2019 looks there for the taking...

Yes, perhaps wishful thinking (2-3 losses would throw Buckeye Nation into pitchfork mode) but I can only see what my eyes tell me and that’s OSU lost their HOF coach, are breaking in a talented but really unpolished QB, and they again lost a ton of guys/ experience. Maybe they plow ahead on the backs of their deep roster but many programs struggle under similar corcumstances
 

I think most people on the outside are forgetting the biggest loss the gophers had over the last year and it is really leading everyone to short play the team.

the biggest loss we had was Robb Smith

that in itself should count for 3 wins and no one is giving us credit for that
 




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