B1G Media Poll via clevelanddotcom has Gophers 6th in the west ahead of only Illinois

Schnauzer

Pretty Sure You are Wrong
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East
1 Michigan
2 Ohio St
3 Michigan St
4 Penn St
5 Indiana
6 Maryland
7 Rutgers

West
1 Nebraska
2 Iowa
3 Wisconsin
4 Northwestern
5 Purdue
6 Minnesota
7 Illinois

Champion
Michigan 17 votes, Ohio St 14, Nebraska 2, Northwestern 1
 


Picked 6th, but got a first place vote, which was one more than Purdue.
 

I don't quite get the Nebraska hype.

Great QB, but confused beyond that. They won four of their last 6 which is positive, but...



October 20 2:30 p.m. Minnesota BTN W 53–28 89,272
October 27[a] 11:00 a.m. Bethune–Cookman* BTN W 45–9 88,735

November 3 11:00 a.m. at No. 8 Ohio State FOX L 31–36 104,245
November 10 11:00 a.m. Illinois BTN W 54–35 88,316
November 17 11:00 a.m. Michigan State FOX W 9–6 88,793
November 23 11:00 a.m. at Iowa FOX L 28–31 65,299

Was it the close loss at Iowa that gave them so much steam?
 

I think the media guys voted Michigan so they can write more Jim stories....
 


The Rodney Dangerfield routine has worked for Fitz for years and here we go yet again. Nebraska has probably the best QB in the conference but I wouldn’t put them at 1 either. I’m not sure I’ve heard PJ use the disrespect angle yet but he hasn’t felt we are ready to compete until this year, it seems. I’d guess the tone changes soon.
 

It is a wide open race and although I consider both Northwestern and Purdue to be dark horses (good coaches tend to keep their teams in contention even when there have been big graduation losses), I really feel the wide open part of the race to first place in the west will come down to Iowa as the front runner, Wisconsin and Nebraska as logical challengers, and our Gophers as legit contender although perhaps a year early. With that in mind, between MN, NE, WI, and IA: one of these four teams will have to finish a disappointing 4th or 5th. This media poll suggest the Gophers not only will have a disappointing season, but a huge drop off compared to expectations that would probably lead to coach-hot-seat conditions. I'm having a hard time believing that, although anything is possible and there are big surprises every year. Last year at this time people were weighing Wisconsin's prospects to be in the CFP.
 

If I had to pick them:
East:
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Indiana
Penn State
Maryland
Rutgers

West:
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Nebraska
Northwestern
Purdue
Illinois
 

I think the reality is that right now everyone in the West outside of probably Illinois has a shot at the top spot so the predictions will be all over the map and the margin between the teams is razor thin.

In fairness we are a tough team to get a read on because we ended the year so well but also had some major stinkers during the season against bad teams. Nebraska is the shiny team everyone is latching onto but it will almost certainly be a wide open race in the West. Michigan seems like the fairly clear cut favorite in the East most places.
 



Nobody is going to run the table in the West. Whoever wins the division is probably going to have at least 1 or two losses within the division. And - if everyone is beating up on each other - the deciding factor will be cross-over games. whoever does the best on their cross-over games will have a big advantage.

It is entirely possible that the team that wins the West could be 8-4 in the regular season. it is also possible that things wind up with a 2-way or even 3-way tie in terms of records, and we have to go to multiple tie-breakers to determine who is named as the division champs.
 



Nobody is going to run the table in the West. Whoever wins the division is probably going to have at least 1 or two losses within the division. And - if everyone is beating up on each other - the deciding factor will be cross-over games. whoever does the best on their cross-over games will have a big advantage.

It is entirely possible that the team that wins the West could be 8-4 in the regular season. it is also possible that things wind up with a 2-way or even 3-way tie in terms of records, and we have to go to multiple tie-breakers to determine who is named as the division champs.

I think it is very probable that you are right given the lack of a clear cut favorite or much obvious separation between the bulk of the teams.
 



Nobody is going to run the table in the West. Whoever wins the division is probably going to have at least 1 or two losses within the division. And - if everyone is beating up on each other - the deciding factor will be cross-over games. whoever does the best on their cross-over games will have a big advantage.

It is entirely possible that the team that wins the West could be 8-4 in the regular season. it is also possible that things wind up with a 2-way or even 3-way tie in terms of records, and we have to go to multiple tie-breakers to determine who is named as the division champs.

You’d think that but in short history of the west division I think the division winners combined one loss within the division
 

I like to answer these questions multiple choice style and eliminate the team I know won't win first:

7. Illinois - Dumpster fire. Only question is not if they fire the coach but when.

6. Purdue - The Boilers still don't have the type of defense that can play reliably and will drop enough games to eliminate themselves.

5. Northwestern - Not sure their schedule leads to a top finish considering what they lost. Lots of questions.

4. Wisconsin - They get no break in their schedule at all. Play MSU, Michigan and Ohio State in their crossover games and have to go on the road to Nebraska and Minnesota. Not going to survive that much heat.

3. Iowa - They have to go on the road to play Northwestern, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. They get to play Rutgers but also have to play Michigan in the Big House and host Penn State. Tough to imagine them getting out of that with less than 3 loses.

2. Nebraska - They have a mandatory loss to Ohio State and a tough Indiana game in their crossover to go along with a trip to Maryland. They host all the West contenders except Minnesota, which is why the #1 team in the West is:

1. Minnesota - Crossover games @Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State after a bye week. Biggest game before final three is Nebraska at home or @Purdue. Not exactly murderers row. Last three of @NW, @Iowa and Whisky at home will determine if they win the West! I think we have the backs, receivers and offensive line to bully our way through those final three games and give us a shot at either Michigan or Ohio State!

Screw what the pundits say!
 

It's not surprising to see members of the media pick the Gophers to finish toward the bottom of the West. Most of the other programs have been competitive for a conference title in recent years, we really haven't. We have always been the "sleeper" team, but never gotten there. No issue with the media selections-especially when most of them probably don't do in-depth analysis of every team before voting.

As I look at this Gopher team, it's easy to make the case they can win the West. The questions on the team are ones that, with a little luck, could never really materialize as problems. As I see it, the biggest issues for this Gopher team are:

Offense:
1, QB: When your top 4 QBs have a combined one season of experience (and your top 2 both essentially have a half season under their belts), people will question whether you can win your conference. However, both Annexstad and Morgan played fairly well last season. If they take a step forward, big things could happen.
2. Offensive line depth: This offensive line has the potential to be elite. And they might already be from a run blocking perspective when fully healthy. IF there aren't a ton of injuries at bad times, the offense could really click.

Defense:
1. Interior line: Not a great amount of depth/experience here. If they can find a good rotation, it will help the experienced and talented linebackers be even better.
2. DB depth: This is the one that could be trouble. With some guys who have injury history and not a ton of experience behind them, this is where I'm most nervous about our chances in the Big Ten.

All-in-all, I can see why media members who aren't fully learned on the Gophers would put them sixth. But, i still think they are wrong as I really like the core of this team. I say Minnesota finishes no worse than 3rd with upside of 1.
 

The hype on Nebraska is wild. Frost accomplished a lot at UCF and and I'm sure he'll do fine, but the only reason I see them having this excitement is they're one of those legacy programs. Any other team that comes off with that kind of record last year wouldn't be this hyped.
 

I really like northwestern as a program, but they were bad last year without their quarterback. If the new transfer guy walks in and is instantly as good as Thorson they could win the west, if he has growing pains they could go 1-7 to start the year...personally I think they start 4-4 at best...that is brutal.

@stanford
UNLV
Michigan State
@Wisconsin
@Nebraska
Ohio State
Iowa
@Indiana
 

If they run a conservative ball control offense (with an occasional shot down field) to keep the defense off the field as much as possible, they have a good chance to win any game on the schedule, and as good of a shot of winning the West as any.

If they insist on getting into shootouts with teams with a quick strike offensive scheme, they could just as easily have a losing record, because that defense might not hold up, and I don’t trust either QB to win games like this.




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I like the way our schedule lays out. It's almost like a fitness training program — start out slowly, gradually add more challenging exercises to the routine, and then finally jump into the high-intensity stuff.

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That being said, there seems to be some concern on Gopher Hole about our team and in particular our QB situation. I'm not worried about that, for these four reasons:

1) Simply put, I like our QBs better than some folks here do.

2) Our offense is far from pass-happy. We won't need to rely on putting up monster passing stats because we're gonna run the ball really well.

3) We have a very good receiving corps. That helps.

4) I believe Fleck and staff have the ability to develop QBs that were never 5-star prospects into excellent college players. They put kids like Zach Terrell in a system in which they are in position to succeed. That's exactly the right approach for a school and a program like Minnesota's.
 

I like the way our schedule lays out. It's almost like a fitness training program — start out slowly, gradually add more challenging exercises to the routine, and then finally jump into the high-intensity stuff.

-------------

That being said, there seems to be some concern on Gopher Hole about our team and in particular our QB situation. I'm not worried about that, for these four reasons:

1) Simply put, I like our QBs better than some folks here do.

2) Our offense is far from pass-happy. We won't need to rely on putting up monster passing stats because we're gonna run the ball really well.

3) We have a very good receiving corps. That helps.

4) I believe Fleck and staff have the ability to develop QBs that were never 5-star prospects into excellent college players. They put kids like Zach Terrell in a system in which they are in position to succeed. That's exactly the right approach for a school and a program like Minnesota's.

I am less worried about QB play than I have been for several years.
 

If your going to pick a team to under perform go all the way and pick them behind Illinois.
 

I can understand this, to a certain extent. We essentially had 2 different seasons last year, pre-Illiniois and post-Illinois. We now have to go out and prove that we've turned the corner in order to garner any attention by the BIG10 "experts". That being said, I don't understand all the hype the Nebraska is getting after just ONE year under Scott Frost. I would have picked the West Division something like this:
Iowa - lot's of returning players and they are always well-coached, but I STILL hate Iowa.
Northwestern - LOVE Pat Fitzgerald and what he does with this program....never rule them out, plus they are the defending West Champs
Minnesota - hope springs eternal and it's okay if we are still under the radar. Let's go catch lightening in a bottle. Best stable of running backs and wide receivers in the BIG10, can we have a defense to go along with it? Keep Winfield, Smith and Brooks healthy all year and we will make a serious run at Indianapolis.
Wisconsin - you can never count the Badgers out of it.
Nebraska - I'm just guessing on the Huskers.
Purdue - I don't think they will be all that good this year. It's just a feeling but their bowl game last year was atrocious.
Illinois - Lovie's struggles continue and the Gophers had better label this as a revenge game at home for sure.
 

The tl;dr of most national media Gopher previews this year: Everyone's back! Even the stars who didn't play most of last year! And they suddenly got worse! :rolleyes:
 

This media poll suggest the Gophers not only will have a disappointing season, but a huge drop off compared to expectations that would probably lead to coach-hot-seat conditions.

This is sheer ludicrous.

Gophers will take another step this year. Hopefully fanbase will not be too thickheaded to realize it.
 

I was a little surprised when I saw this, but am fine with it. We have a weird thing on this board where some posters want the program to get recognition before it's earned it. This is still the same program that hasn't went 6-2 (or now 6-3 or 7-2) in Big Ten play in many of our lifetimes. They don't (and shouldn't) get the benefit of the doubt in these preseason rankings. The Kill team that destroyed Iowa? Many on here acted like we had past Iowa by. If we lose to Iowa this year, it would be the 5th time in a row since that win tying a record for Iowa in the rivalry they set from 1918-1922. I hope the same thing doesn't repeat itself with Wisconsin. Point is this program has to do things more than once to move forward and it certainly has to do them more than once to start getting the benefit of the doubt.

I am personally pretty excited by the Gophers prospects in 2019, but it's probably a good thing that they go in to camp reading that they're predicted near the bottom of the division.
 




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