Minnesota Goes to the Rose Bowl in 2020, 2021, 2022?

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BroncoRedux

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Boy howdy, did I get a full glass of kool aide tonight. I had read swingman's written history of Fleck's lookout on Illinois (thank you again) but seeing it really jacked me up. This team will win a big ten title in 2019, 2020, or 2021. I've NEVER been so optimistic about a Gopher team in the past 50 years. Yep, 50, that's long time. Maybe I'm a delusional old man but I really believe in this team. Tell me why you agree or disagree. I'm all in with PJ Fleck and his program.

https://youtu.be/cm1mlpHxS3I
 

Give me whatever your drinking!! Seems like a happy place to he.
 

I just watched his press conference. The line of questioning from the reporters seemed to be more of a "maybe PJ's on to something" rather than more skeptical nature.

I'm excited about the team and the direction.
I don't know if we'll ever get to a Rose Bowl, or if we'll do it in the next 3-5 years, but it sounds like we'll be competing at a level that might have us in the conversation more often.
And if not, we might get to enjoy the success of players getting some national attention.

Watching an NFL draft will be interesting as well as more possible players get drafted and play pro. If we miss Rose Bowl's but have more of these type of conversations, and conversations of being in the CFP top 15 in future seasons on a regular basis, I'd be pretty happy.

Edit:
We are heavy with sophomores with Bateman, Morgan, Annexstad, Faalele, Ibrahim, CAB, Douglass, etc. If those guys all stay until seniors it would be the 2021 season.
 

I’m picking up what you are putting down. I kind of feel like this year is the team’s best chance and here is why:
1. Softer schedule
2. Very healthy at this point
3. Several stand out seniors. It’s not a large senior class but these players are all really good- Tyler Johnson, Carter Coughlin, Kamal Martin, Chris Williamson, Thomas Barber, Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks.

I like the way the team started a little slow but figured out ways to win. They shouldn’t be over confident. Yet they should have the confidence to compete against PSU, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

So take it one game at a time and hopefully there will be a chance for really meaningful games through November.
Beat Illinois!
 

I’m not going to predict a Rose Bowl just yet, but they’ve won 6 in a row, 7 of their last 8, and 8 of their last 10. How many here predicted that half way through the 2018 season? I’ll guess zero.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


If it's going to happen this is the year to do it. The 2020 season/2021 game would likely require going undefeated so that's a longshot. 2021 season/2022 game is harder because Ohio State is on the schedule. This year the Gophers have an easier than normal schedule and Iowa and Wisconsin both have tougher schedules. Iowa still has Penn State, at Michigan, and at Wisconsin. Wisconsin still has Iowa, Michigan State, and at Ohio State. A 1 loss regular season should do it if someone from the East makes the CFB playoffs and a 2 loss season could as long as those losses aren't Wisconsin and Iowa.

Even if they fall short of that, 9-3 and a good bowl game would do a lot for recruiting which would help 3+ years out. But of course the Gophers have 4 wins right now so they need to win some more games first.
 

On the one hand, I'm really excited about the season because of the spectacular potential on offense. On the other hand, reality hits...the defense is nowhere close to championship caliber. The Gophs are giving up 30 points per game so far to respectable but not great teams. I'm not sure the defense can hold up in the inevitable games where the opposing team keeps the Gophs offense at bay...they don't play in the Big 12 where there's no defense.

Regardless, I'll be watching, rooting and enjoying.
 

This year would be a good year to face a Pac 12 team...………….
 

Rose Bowl means you finish in second place or you have at least one loss.

I'm glad you are tempering expectations.

I'm holding out for the final four! ;)
 



Only year 3 guys. Everyone knows nothing happens till year 4. Unrealistic to think any different.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

BroncoRedux said:
Boy howdy, did I get a full glass of kool aide tonight. I had read swingman's written history of Fleck's lookout on Illinois (thank you again) but seeing it really jacked me up. This team will win a big ten title in 2019, 2020, or 2021. I've NEVER been so optimistic about a Gopher team in the past 50 years. Yep, 50, that's long time. Maybe I'm a delusional old man but I really believe in this team. Tell me why you agree or disagree. I'm all in with PJ Fleck and his program.

https://youtu.be/cm1mlpHxS3I
Click to expand...

This year (2020 Rose Bowl) is Gophs best chance in the near future. 2021 Rose Bowl is a CFB playoff game.
 

The Rose Bowl in of itself holds no romance for me. I'd rather the Gophs win the Big Ten.

But I'm certain it still does, for some fans.
 

Would agree that the future (and current state) of the offense is pretty bright, much less so for the defense. We lose nearly all key contributors on that side of the ball after this year. That’s why we really need to take advantage this year.
 



BroncoRedux said:
Boy howdy, did I get a full glass of kool aide tonight. I had read swingman's written history of Fleck's lookout on Illinois (thank you again) but seeing it really jacked me up. This team will win a big ten title in 2019, 2020, or 2021. I've NEVER been so optimistic about a Gopher team in the past 50 years. Yep, 50, that's long time. Maybe I'm a delusional old man but I really believe in this team. Tell me why you agree or disagree. I'm all in with PJ Fleck and his program.

https://youtu.be/cm1mlpHxS3I
Click to expand...

Brew, is that you?
 

I was going to start my own thread similar to this topic and since it is so similar, I'll just put my thoughts here.

Ever since 1995 I have been asking myself "When are we going to have that magical season that Northwestern had when they went to the Rose Bowl?"

I was such a fan of Northwestern that year. They seemed to bolt out of nowhere to take the college football world by storm. Since that naturally became my blue print, I have since figured this kind of magical season will require some or all of the following:

1. Good luck on the injury front. It seems like every year the Gophers have critical injury issues. Not so this year, knock on wood.
2. Good luck on the schedule. 1995 Northwestern avoided Ohio State. 2019 Minnesota avoids Ohio State.
3. Good luck in general. 2019 Minnesota may look back on the first four games as a launching pad to something special. In fact, the Northwestern "model" even had the leeway of their second game loss to Miami OH, while the Gophers got scares but managed to beat lowly Georgia Southern and FCS South Dakota State early.
4. Signature wins. 2005 Northwestern got one right out of the gate with #9 Notre Dame and went into #7 Michigan and took home a victory. 2019 MN has a shot with Penn State, at Iowa, and Wisconsin
5. Notable stars on offense and defense. Northwestern had Fitz and Darnell Autrey. MN has an uninjured Winfield, Coughlan, Bateman, Johnson, and a potential to have Morgan be a huge national story if he remains in the top 5 in QB ranking and yards per attempt.

Of course all this is still a long shot but I start with the '95 Northwestern dream every season and I typically get to file it away pretty early in the season. I at least get to keep dreaming, for now.

Northwestern kept it up all year and finished 8-0 in the B1G, 10-1 overall. The Gophers are only one third the way into the season so this remains a dream, and even with the success so far, still very much an unlikely one. Plus, 1995 Northwestern avoided Ohio State completely but 2019 MN would have them waiting in the conference championship game if the dream continued through 12 games. I have the luxury of being able to dream like this as a fan, but of course all that can really be attempted to be controlled this week is in the hands of the Gophers and it is Illinois. The odds are still against all of this and the chances of pulling up this thread in the future and saying "what were we thinking?" are very high.
 
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The only "problem" is that we can't really avoid Ohio State this year, if we want to win the conference. They'll be waiting, in Indy. Unlike back in 1995, when there were no championship games.

But again, if the Rose Bowl in of itself holds romance and importance for you, then losing the championship game could land us there in theory, although winning the West doesn't guarantee a 2nd place finish in the Big Ten I don't think?


Actually, that brings up another good point: it's funny that you compare to NW, because our season this year could be similar in some sense to NW's season last year. They went 0-3 in non-con games, but went 2-1 vs the East (lost to Michigan, beat Mich St, beat Rutgers), and then were 6-0 vs the West. Didn't play Ohio St in the regular season, but then lost to them in Indy. If they had gone 2-1 in non-con instead of 0-3, they'd still have finished 10-2 and lost the head-to-head tiebreaker to Michigan, still no Rose Bowl even if Ohio St had made it into the CFP. They ended up with the Holiday Bowl.
 

MnplsGopher said:
The only "problem" is that we can't really avoid Ohio State this year, if we want to win the conference. They'll be waiting, in Indy. Unlike back in 1995, when there were no championship games.
Click to expand...

Yes, which I did call out in my comparison.
 

Schnauzer said:
Yes, which I did call out in my comparison.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was only replying to this: "2. Good luck on the schedule. 1995 Northwestern avoided Ohio State. 2019 Minnesota avoids Ohio State."

Now I see you did mention it in the last paragraph.
 

So what say you Schnauz .... let me give you a hard one, an unfairly hard one.

Let's say 2019 is our year. The years after it will be pretty good 8/9 win seasons for a while, but not elite good.

You get to pick either: a) don't win the conference, but go to the Rose Bowl, b) win the conference, try our luck in the CFP.


Say we won't get another crack at it for 5-10 more years down the road (again, not bad seasons, just not elite seasons).


Which do you pick?
 

Great question. For me, it would be easy. Like most, the goal of the Rose Bowl and everything that goes with it is quite intoxicating, but under those two options I would have to reluctantly take B every time. I would love to see some stuff be added to the ring in TCF Bank Stadium and I could live with an asterisk on the missed Rose Bowl situation in favor of the CFP.
 

Spoofin said:
Only year 3 guys. Everyone knows nothing happens till year 4. Unrealistic to think any different.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

"think" / "expect"
 

Schnauzer said:
Great question. For me, it would be easy. Like most, the goal of the Rose Bowl and everything that goes with it is quite intoxicating, but under those two options I would have to reluctantly take B every time. I would love to see some stuff be added to the ring in TCF Bank Stadium and I could live with an asterisk on the missed Rose Bowl situation in favor of the CFP.
Click to expand...

I don't think many knowledgeable people would question our program for not making a recent rose bowl if you were in the CFP.
CFP kind of removes all of the need to discuss Rose Bowl droughts.
 

Oh, and our 2021 schedule.

Ohio St (ESPN Game day will return)
Miami, OH
@Colorado
Bowling Green
@ Purdue
Wisconsin
Off
@ Northwestern
Maryland
Illinois
@ Iowa
Indiana
Nebraska

Same schedule as this year but:
OSU for PSU
Indiana for Rutgers


We have no way of knowing whether OSU then will be better than PSU now.
We also don't know how much better Indiana will be than Rutgers now
Colorado might be better than Fresno was this year, but maybe not
Bowling Green and Miami vs Ga St and SDSU
 

Face The Facts said:
I don't think many knowledgeable people would question our program for not making a recent rose bowl if you were in the CFP.
CFP kind of removes all of the need to discuss Rose Bowl droughts.
Click to expand...

Right. But there are some fans where it still holds a lot of romance and would love nothing more than to make it back one last time.
 

Schnauzer said:
Great question. For me, it would be easy. Like most, the goal of the Rose Bowl and everything that goes with it is quite intoxicating, but under those two options I would have to reluctantly take B every time. I would love to see some stuff be added to the ring in TCF Bank Stadium and I could live with an asterisk on the missed Rose Bowl situation in favor of the CFP.
Click to expand...

A West Division championship probably adds a banner FWIW.

With the addition of Penn State and Nebraska, a modern day BG10 championship would be a bigger deal and that much sweeter than the old 10-team days in my mind.
 

There's lots of reasons to be optimistic about this program. Yeah, I think it's fair to say I've never been more excited about its prospects, either. It's a solid team now, and I think it's only going to get better.

I'm not fixating on titles or bowl games, though. I want entertainment, and I want success ... and this crew has been serving up plenty of both.

JTG
 

Who cares if we play OSU in the Championship game if your goal is the Rose Bowl?

They are going to the FBS games and whoever loses the B1G goes to the Rose!
 

Face The Facts said:
Oh, and our 2021 schedule.

Ohio St (ESPN Game day will return)
Miami, OH
@Colorado
Bowling Green
@ Purdue
Wisconsin
Off
@ Northwestern
Maryland
Illinois
@ Iowa
Indiana
Nebraska

Same schedule as this year but:
OSU for PSU
Indiana for Rutgers


We have no way of knowing whether OSU then will be better than PSU now.
We also don't know how much better Indiana will be than Rutgers now
Colorado might be better than Fresno was this year, but maybe not
Bowling Green and Miami vs Ga St and SDSU
Click to expand...

I'd be shocked if Colorado isn't a Top 4-5 Pac 12 program in 2021. Mel Tucker has them playing some good ball already in Year 1 and he will recruit well to Boulder.
 

Otis said:
Rose Bowl means you finish in second place or you have at least one loss.

I'm glad you are tempering expectations.

I'm holding out for the final four! ;)
Click to expand...

My wife says Rose Bowl or bust. She was pissed when I mentioned the College Football Playoff. She wants to be sure we lose once somewhere along the way.
 

I don’t think it’s correct that the loser of the Big Ten championship game is considered the #2 team for bowl purposes.

I think it’s done by the final ranking.
 

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