1999 team vs 2003 team

Everyone always talks about the 2003 team. The 99 team is hardly mentioned.
Looks like the 99 team lost all close games by one possession. Were #12 in the nation before losing the Sun Bowl to Oregon. Beat #2 Penn State on the road (just like we will beat them at home in a couple weeks.) anyway who was a better team, who would win if they played each other? Was there any buzz in 99?

Not much buzz in ‘99, as success (even moderate success) was so far in the past. But if we won the OT game against Bucky, we would have been Pasadena-bound.

Head-to-head, I would have given a slight edge to the ‘99 team over the ‘03 team, due to the Tyrone Carter factor. Combining the ‘99 defense and the ‘03 offense would have resulted in a team challenging for the national championship.

99 due to the defense

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There was some buzz in '99 but they were 5-3 going into the PSU game so up to that point it had been a decent season but nothing special. That PSU game and '99 season was a season that made a lot of fans believe that we could be good someday. The '03 team went into the Michigan game 6-0 and it seemed like that game could have been a turning point for the program and Mase could make us a championship contender. I think the '03 would probably win head to head.

After beating 3 nobodies in non conference, the 1999 team lost 3 of first 5 conference games so buzz was minimal. Yes, they were close losses, but it seemed like nobody was too surprised (they could never beat Brees or OSU, so more of the same - even though that was one of the worst OSU teams in memory). The big shocker was the Penn state upset that helped right the season somewhat. It is the last Gopher team to win in Iowa City.

I actually thought there was more hype in mid season the next year - after back-to-back wins against PSU and OSU (in Columbus!) they went to Bloomington IN and gave up 51 points to the last place Hoosiers (Antwaan Randle El generated almost 500 yds of offense himself). This was kind of the start of Mason’s gophers always seeming to choke things away at the wrong time. Season went downhill after that