Do we need to start 4-0 to get the casual Minnesota sports fan interested?

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Stan

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Obviously no casual fan will be interested after a 2-0 start with the level of competition, and I don't think a 3-0 start with Colorado moves the needle. If Michigan State wins their next two, and is top 11-12 when we go to East Lansing, I have to think if we start 4-0 it will create some local buzz and the casual MN sports fan who loves to jump on a bandwagon will have their interest level up. Thoughts?
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Over the last few years I think I’ve seen more and more casual fan interest generally.

It’s not just a season to season thing.
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I agree with this. I have seen more interest in general too, and that is what we really want to build. For this season, though... yes, I think 4-0 would be enough to really get some excitement going.
 

My knee-jerk reaction/answer to the question:

— Minnesota isn't a football hotbed. We're nothing like an Alabama or a Texas, where people are fanatics about the sport.

— We have many other sports entertainment options. Gopher football, especially, has to compete to some degree with the Vikings for the attention of whatever football followers there are. That isn't the case in Iowa City, Lincoln, etc.

I think P.J. Fleck has made it his personal goal to get Minnesotans fired up about Gopher football. I hope he succeeds, but as a life-long Minnesotan I think he's up against a daunting task.

Most Minnesotans' peak level of enthusiasm is: "Ya. Not too bad. Could be worse."
 


Some older casual fans will have a hard time warming to PJ. He’s just different it took me some time to warm to him and I’m a crazy Gopher’s fan and am still embarrassed by how I bought Brewster’s schtick hook, line and sinker. That said, I think if we keep beating Wisconsin regularly and start beating Iowa the rest will fall into place; we will go to the B10 championship game once in awhile and we will solidify our fan base. To me, it’s about sustained, elevated success.
 

Yes I think it will take 4-0, but they could lose to MSU and still make noise in 2022. As with all Gopher seasons there will be abundant opportunities for respect in Big Ten play.

If the Gophers are really good, it will get noticed.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Over the last few years I think I’ve seen more and more casual fan interest generally.

It’s not just a season to season thing.
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This is my feeling as well. I was a bit surprised with the large crowd for a terrible opening opponent last week. That shows that there has been a shift in the casual fan being interested from the beginning.

If the Gophers dominate the next two games like they should, and MSU takes care of business, there will be a lot of buzz for our B1G opener even though it's on the road.
 



I think there is already some excitement in the air around this team. A lot of people know there is a chance this year could be special so there is some interest from casual fans already. The non-fans will need something more like 6-0 to start paying attention.
 

Gopherchase said:
Some older casual fans will have a hard time warming to PJ.
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I doubt that's it. Fans, especially casual fans, aren't overly concerned about head coaches unless there is something notably negative or controversial about the person (for example, an extreme hothead like Billy Martin or Woody Hayes or someone who provokes controversy for some other reason). Fleck isn't that flamboyant of a coach. He's just more youthful, fit, and exuberant than the average head coach.

Fleck has been here for only a relatively short time. He's done well but he hasn't put together back-to-back good seasons yet. He has a great opportunity to do that this season and that's why this season is a critical one for the program. The program will be embraced by more people if and when it can establish a lengthier period of relative success.

Take Kirk Ferentz as an example. He's about as bland as unseasoned cream of wheat but a casual Iowa fan would recognize him as an institution and would call Iowa a consistently successful football program. Now, go to Iowa message boards and you can see that the hard core fans complain about him quite a bit because of some issues (like offense).
 

Go4 said:
with the way the schedule set up, if we start 4-0 we’ll be top 20 and the buzz will be there
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Yup. Assuming MSU beats Washington....and the Gophers don't lay an egg against Colorado....it could potentially be a Top-25 matchup in East Lansing.....considering the Gophers are currently sitting right outside the AP polls right now. Regardless of ranking coming into that game....the Gophers would get some well deserved buzz if they won that game. This schedule isn't really that daunting. Penn State and Wisconsin are the two best teams on it....and neither should be considered on another plane as the Gophers. Everything is set up for a historic year (considering the last half century) in terms of what could be accomplished.
 

2019 proved that if the Gophers are good a bandwagon will fill up.

The Gophers were selling out games and playing weekly ABC feature games in 2019. Even the Northwestern game was national ABC.

The Gophers hosted two consecutive home games with College Gameday.

Serious national football people once stood on the set of the CFP show and talked about how the Gophers were getting jobbed by ranking below Alabama.
 





It's a Vikings town in a Metropolitan area that has a ton of fans from Iowa, Wisconsin and fans of in-state teams that don't follow the Gophers. Many of whom just want the Gophers to lose

Beat NMSU & now Western Illinois and nobody cares. Beat Colorado? More people will pay attention. Beat the Spartans and a lot of people will pay attention.

Unless of course the Vikings beat the Packers and then the Eagles.:unsure:
 
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Iceland12 said:
It's a Vikings town in a Metropolitan area that has a ton of fans from Iowa, Wisconsin and fans of in-state teams that don't follow the Gophers. Many of whom just want the Gophers to lose

Beat NMSU & now Western Illinois and nobody cares. Beat Colorado? More people will pay attention. Beat the Spartans and a lot of people will pay attention.

Unless of course the Vikings beat the Packers and then the Eagles.:unsure:
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Colorado is terrible. Nobody will pay attention after a blowout next week. Mich St is the game that can make/break season.
 



minnyrules11 said:
Colorado is terrible. Nobody will pay attention after a blowout next week. Mich St is the game that can make/break season.
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Casual fans will not even realize that Colorado is that bad. A win against a name-brand team is always a good win. Still, the start of the Big Ten season will be make or break. Somehow they need to go 3-1 to start the conference season to get some real attention. It won't be easy.
 

Some guy said:
Michigan state is a more important game than Colorado

But Michigan state game can neither make nor break the season
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It can if the goal is to win all 12 regular season games which is doable and want a chance at the college football playoffs.

Mich St looked pretty good today. Lose that game and still go to Penn St and three other conference road games. Certainly that game will set the tone.
 


minnyrules11 said:
It can if the goal is to win all 12 regular season games which is doable and want a chance at the college football playoffs.

Mich St looked pretty good today. Lose that game and still go to Penn St and three other conference road games. Certainly that game will set the tone.
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12-1 big ten champion goes to playoff 100% of the time
 


Goal:
10-2
beat uw
Don't get embarrassed in title game
Bowls are kinda meh but win it against a decent team
 


It's going to take 6-0 to get the casual fans off the sidelines. They will be interested in the white out game if the Gophers are undefeated.

Doesn't help that the Gophers don't really have any marquee games at home this year.
 

to be honest, a lot depends on the Vikings.

like it or not, the Vikings are the #1 team in MN. if the Vikings get off to a good start under the new coaching staff, that will dominate the media coverage. The Gophers will be - at best - the #2 story in town.

and then, when we get into October, you have the Wild and Wolves starting their seasons.

IMHO, the best chance for the Gophers to really grab the attention locally is IF the Vikings lose a couple of games early, and the Gophers post a big win - maybe over Penn State.

But if the Vikings start out hot and keep winning, the Gophers could go undefeated and they will still be at best the #2 story behind the Vikes. I was listening to a podcast and the hosts were saying how the Gophers had a good chance to win the West. but they followed that with "and then they'll get killed by Ohio State in the Conference Championship Game." with Sid gone, the Twin Cities media can't even conceive of a world where the Gophers really matter, compared to the Vikings.
 

Stan said:
Obviously no casual fan will be interested after a 2-0 start with the level of competition, and I don't think a 3-0 start with Colorado moves the needle. If Michigan State wins their next two, and is top 11-12 when we go to East Lansing, I have to think if we start 4-0 it will create some local buzz and the casual MN sports fan who loves to jump on a bandwagon will have their interest level up. Thoughts?
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Yes.
 

I think since 2019 the casual fan pays attention to the Gophers. I think the casual fan also approaches the gophers season like the NFL. Non-Conference is often treated like the NFL preseason where it isn’t worth watching. Playing Colorado will raise a few eye brows but most casual fans also know Colorado is a shell of what they were in the 90s.
 

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