Shooter: It will be hard for Gophers to miss a bowl game through 2025


Raising the question about bowl eligibility. Even if we assume that some 5-7 teams will sneak into bowls, will the B1G have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill out all their obligations?

On one hand, Shooter could be saying that the Gophers are going to be 6-6 or better every season.

Or, he could just be saying that the B1G has so many bowl affiliations that the Gophers will go to a bowl game no matter how bad they might be.

And let's face it - with Gopher sports, anything is possible. You may think there is no chance in heck that the Gophers will go (let's say) 4-8 next year - but if the right - or wrong - sequence of events happens, anything is possible.
 

If the Gophers go 4-8 next season, with the schedule they have, there are going to be some very disappointed people at the U.

In college football, failure isn't really a fallback option — no matter the 'sequence of events'. There's too much at $$$$$stake.

The real-world, harsh reality is simple: put up, or shut up. Tracy Claeys was fired unceremoniously after a 9-4 season and a bowl win.
 

We all know why Tracy was let go. It had nothing to do with on field results.
 

We all know why Tracy was let go. It had nothing to do with on field results.

Be that as it may, the people up the chain of command have their jobs on the line as well. They are highly paid, and they are paid for results. If this team goes 4-8, with this schedule, can you even imagine what attendance would be like at TCF? Heck, it was pretty bad with a 7-6, bowl-winning team last year.

If this team goes 4-8, with this schedule, don't you think Coyle would be sweating bullets? I certainly think he would be.

We're entering The Put Up or Shut Up Zone.
 
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Might be hard for them to miss just one per season....
 

We all know why Tracy was let go. It had nothing to do with on field results.

Right. It was low attendance numbers and recruiting rankings in December.


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Sorry if I pulled people off track with the 4-8 comment. That was just meant to illustrate a potential worst-case scenario.

But, getting back to the main point - my question was what does Shooter mean? Does he mean the Gophers will be good enough to qualify for a bowl every year - or does he mean that the B1G has so many bowl affiliations that teams will go to bowls no matter how bad they are? Or - wild thought - would they try to dump the 6-6 rule and let teams go to bowls no matter what their record is?
 

Right. It was low attendance numbers and recruiting rankings in December.


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I thought it was something else, but Coyle couldn't say it publicly due to risks of being sued by Claeys.
 



Be that as it may, the people up the chain of command have their jobs on the line as well. They are highly paid, and they are paid for results. If this team goes 4-8, with this schedule, can you even imagine what attendance would be like at TCF? Heck, it was pretty bad with a 7-6, bowl-winning team last year.

If this team goes 4-8, with this schedule, don't you think Coyle would be sweating bullets? I certainly think he would be.

We're entering The Put Up or Shut Up Zone.
Especially with a new Prexy coming in. Won't be a good look if we have half full partial Badger crowd like we did in 2017. Or if opening night with the Jackrabbits feels like a neutral site game. Coyle needs to figure out how to fill these stadiums and arenas. Thank God for TV money and shared bowl revenue

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Sorry if I pulled people off track with the 4-8 comment. That was just meant to illustrate a potential worst-case scenario.

But, getting back to the main point - my question was what does Shooter mean? Does he mean the Gophers will be good enough to qualify for a bowl every year - or does he mean that the B1G has so many bowl affiliations that teams will go to bowls no matter how bad they are? Or - wild thought - would they try to dump the 6-6 rule and let teams go to bowls no matter what their record is?
I think with our non con games, and having Illinois every year. How hard can it be to win two other games?

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I thought it was something else, but Coyle couldn't say it publicly due to risks of being sued by Claeys.

Ha. That’s a new way to look at it. Not sure exactly why you think he was fired that Coyle couldn’t have said? Apparently you think he fired him for some illegal reason. I don’t agree, but to each their own.


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I thought it was something else, but Coyle couldn't say it publicly due to risks of being sued by Claeys.

Are you really saying Claeys was fired illegally? I'd like to hear more.
 



Are you really saying Claeys was fired illegally? I'd like to hear more.

I was thinking the same thing. I also am amused that "Coyle lied to the fanbase about why he fired a coach" is said by people looking to defend Coyle. Seems like the kind of the a critic of Coyle's would accuse him of.
 

With our team's overall GPA being the highest its ever been and three annual cupcake non-conference games, 6 wins should get us to bowl status.

We miss a bowl, coach should be fired.
 

It seemed to be too good to be true: A positive headline regarding Gopher football. And of course it was. The point wasn't "the Gophers are now so consistently good, they can expect to go to bowl games for the foreseeable future." Instead the point is "There are so many bowls with B1G tie ins that even the Gophers will get to go to bowl games on a regular basis."
 

It seemed to be too good to be true: A positive headline regarding Gopher football. And of course it was. The point wasn't "the Gophers are now so consistently good, they can expect to go to bowl games for the foreseeable future." Instead the point is "There are so many bowls with B1G tie ins that even the Gophers will get to go to bowl games on a regular basis."

 

Not sure what Shooters' take is here. The Big Ten with 11 bowl tie-ins really doesn't make it easier or harder for MN to go to a bowl game.

Basically, if they win six games or more, they will go to a bowl. If they win 5 games, they will need that academic thing to happen. If they win 4 or less, they won't go bowling.

That's the way it was prior to this agreement, and that's the way it is after this agreement. The new agreement really has no impact on MN's ability to make a bowl game.
 

Not sure what Shooters' take is here. The Big Ten with 11 bowl tie-ins really doesn't make it easier or harder for MN to go to a bowl game.

Basically, if they win six games or more, they will go to a bowl. If they win 5 games, they will need that academic thing to happen. If they win 4 or less, they won't go bowling.

That's the way it was prior to this agreement, and that's the way it is after this agreement. The new agreement really has no impact on MN's ability to make a bowl game.

It would eliminate the possibility of a 6-6 Gopher team not getting a bowl invitation, unless 12 teams in the Big Ten were bowl eligible. In 2007, Iowa was 6-6 and didn't get a bowl game. A 5-7 Western Michigan team upset them at Kinnick to keep Iowa from getting to 7 wins.

There were 4 bowl-eligible teams last year that didn't get a bowl invitation - Southern Miss, Wyoming, Miami OH and UL-Monroe. But it's hard to imagine that a P5 team would get snubbed for a bow game, with so many new bowl games. Most years the team with the #11 Big Ten tie-in wouldn't get a Big Ten team, but I the affiliation is still worth it to them.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/12/2/18122765/bowl-eligible-teams-snubbed-left-out
 

Sorry if I pulled people off track with the 4-8 comment. That was just meant to illustrate a potential worst-case scenario.

But, getting back to the main point - my question was what does Shooter mean? Does he mean the Gophers will be good enough to qualify for a bowl every year - or does he mean that the B1G has so many bowl affiliations that teams will go to bowls no matter how bad they are? Or - wild thought - would they try to dump the 6-6 rule and let teams go to bowls no matter what their record is?

My guess is Shooter was just talking about the number of tie-ins. He doesn't strike me as having enough knowledge of sports to project anything record wise so I am sure he just saw the 11 tie-ins and assumed that means that every year 11 BIG teams are going to bowl games meaning the odds would be very high that the Gophers would be one of those 14 teams.

The reality of course is that the BIG won't be able to fill all 11 spots every year most likely because teams will fall short of the minimum threshold to get a bowl game and those tie-ins will trickle down to the mid-major schools. Happens all the time where a conference is not able to send a team to an affiliated bowl game.
 




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