ESPNs Mitch Sherman says Gophers are a dark horse for College Football Playoff

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per Sherman:

The season begins next week -- huzzah! -- and so does the chase for the four spots in the second College Football Playoff.

Ohio State is a heavy favorite to return to the playoff, and Michigan State has also been mentioned as a strong candidate. But are there any other Big Ten teams with a shot? Remember that TCU came pretty much out of nowhere last year to almost make the field.

Who is a Big Ten playoff sleeper? Let's discuss.

Mitch Sherman: Minnesota

Stop laughing. I realize the Gophers open with No. 2 TCU and must play at Ohio State in Week 10. Forget for a moment, though, about November and consider only what would happen if Minnesota beats the Horned Frogs next week in Minneapolis. Is it a long shot? Sure, but it's not inconceivable behind a shutdown secondary and an experienced quarterback in Mitch Leidner, who will limit mistakes and an energized atmosphere. So let's say the Gophers take down TCU. They may just roll off eight wins to open the season, which brings us to Nov. 7 at the Horseshoe. No, I don't give Minnesota much of a shot to win at Ohio State. But we're looking for a dark horse here. It's safe to say that of legitimate contenders to win a Big Ten division, Minnesota best fits the profile of a sleeper. And the Gophers actually get a chance to prove their worth against the nation's best.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/122643/b1g-roundtable-playoff-sleepers

Go Gophers!!
 

That is a heck of a dark horse pick....picking a team that has to open the season with #2 and would probably have to beat the loaded defending national champions twice in order to get to the CFP. Don't get me wrong, would love to see it happen but to me at this point the CFP isn't even in my thought process outside of that dream shocking scenario that rarely happens. Beat Wisconsin, Win the West, and win a bowl game....that is where this team is at right now, not CFP level.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is a heck of a dark horse pick....picking a team that has to open the season with #2 and would probably have to beat the loaded defending national champions twice in order to get to the CFP. Don't get me wrong, would love to see it happen but to me at this point the CFP isn't even in my thought process outside of that dream shocking scenario that rarely happens. Beat Wisconsin, Win the West, and win a bowl game....that is where this team is at right now, not CFP level.
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It's fair to say at least that our schedule is hard enough to warrant consideration.
Should we run through the season to 11 wins somehow I think we'd all be pretty pissed to not be considered.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is a heck of a dark horse pick....picking a team that has to open the season with #2 and would probably have to beat the loaded defending national champions twice in order to get to the CFP. Don't get me wrong, would love to see it happen but to me at this point the CFP isn't even in my thought process outside of that dream shocking scenario that rarely happens. Beat Wisconsin, Win the West, and win a bowl game....that is where this team is at right now, not CFP level.
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A 2 loss team can make it. We'd have to be 10-2 and coming off a victory over #1 Ohio St in the Big Ten Championship game. Could we set a record and play Ohio St. 3 times this year?!?!?
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is a heck of a dark horse pick....picking a team that has to open the season with #2 and would probably have to beat the loaded defending national champions twice in order to get to the CFP. Don't get me wrong, would love to see it happen but to me at this point the CFP isn't even in my thought process outside of that dream shocking scenario that rarely happens. Beat Wisconsin, Win the West, and win a bowl game....that is where this team is at right now, not CFP level.
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I think we'd have to beat OSU only once to make it with our schedule. 12-1 with wins against OSU, TCU, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, etc would likely be good enought. But yeah, it's not even on the radar unless we beat TCU. Then I might dream a little.
 



Even I, one of the biggest Gopher homers, got skeptical seeing this headline, but hey we only have 6 more days of hope left so let's roll with it.
In order to be number one you have to knock off number 2. Jerry keeps the team level headed going through a series of potential trap games, setting up Nov 7. I doubt Ohio St will question our ability to challenge them with how the game was played last year, unless they put that performance 100% on the weather and Dilly Bar Dan. Meanwhile, Michigan St knocks off tOSU in conference play giving MSU the division title and a chance to play the Gophers in Indy. Magic happens, MSU team comes down with the flu and their 3rd string team gives us a battle, but the gophers win on a last second 48 yard field goal from Santoso.

Again, we have 6 days left to dream, make em count.
 

The big "what if" most people don't realize coming out of the Michigan debacle in 2003 is that, in all likelihood, the Gophers would have gone to Iowa City for the season finale with a spot in the BCS Championship on the line. Assuming the first-half Michigan State hangover didn't occur and they won that game, Minnesota would've been 11-0 and already had the Rose Bowl clinched. 10-1 Ohio State was ranked #2 at the end of that weekend.

We aren't close to being a playoff-caliber program at the moment, but reaching that level isn't as far-fetched as it may seem.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is a heck of a dark horse pick....picking a team that has to open the season with #2 and would probably have to beat the loaded defending national champions twice in order to get to the CFP. Don't get me wrong, would love to see it happen but to me at this point the CFP isn't even in my thought process outside of that dream shocking scenario that rarely happens. Beat Wisconsin, Win the West, and win a bowl game....that is where this team is at right now, not CFP level.
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I don't think this would happen but say we beat TCU. We play with confidence and run the table until OSU. Assuming TCU doesn't fall off a cliff we'd likely be a top 10 team (sounds crazy to say). Say we play OSU well but lose by 10-14 there but look good enough to maintain the respect of the poles. Then we finish the season by beating WI and are sitting at 11-1 (crazy). If we beat OSU its reasonable to assume we have a great shot at the playoff depending on what else is going on. Shoot even if we lose to both TCU and OSU but play both competitively and both remain top 5-6 teams all year its possible to be in the playoff hunt at 10-2 going against an OSU team that is undefeated. I don't think we're 10-2 good at first glance but there are only 2 games on the schedule I fully expect to be losses. Every other game we either SHOULD win or are 50/50 or close to it
 



oleboy41 said:
I don't think this would happen but say we beat TCU. We play with confidence and run the table until OSU. Assuming TCU doesn't fall off a cliff we'd likely be a top 10 team (sounds crazy to say). Say we play OSU well but lose by 10-14 there but look good enough to maintain the respect of the poles. Then we finish the season by beating WI and are sitting at 11-1 (crazy). If we beat OSU its reasonable to assume we have a great shot at the playoff depending on what else is going on. Shoot even if we lose to both TCU and OSU but play both competitively and both remain top 5-6 teams all year its possible to be in the playoff hunt at 10-2 going against an OSU team that is undefeated. I don't think we're 10-2 good at first glance but there are only 2 games on the schedule I fully expect to be losses. Every other game we either SHOULD win or are 50/50 or close to it
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I also look for respect from the Polish. Gritty, tough people.
 


Well seeing a headline like that really gets me dreaming.
 




The schedule is hard. The team is better. There huge question marks, reasonable expectations for new faces to make names for themselves, and obvious signs of improvement. Add it all together, mix it up, and I have no clue as to how this team will end up. Yes, the playoff would be a HUGE surprise to me. I would be quite surprised at 6-6 too. But, between there really isn't any season outcome that will surprise me, and I no way care to speculate and predict what it will be. Anything between 7-5 and 9-3 will not be a surprise, along with anything from a first to fourth place finish in the division.
 

If MSU beats OSU, this whole wild fantasy becomes a little more plausible. Beat TCU, lose to OSU, beat MSU in the CCG, and we're in the playoff.
 

I'm willing to settle for the Rose Bowl this year
 



Win the west....lose to playoff bound osu in the championship game... will that get us the rose bowl? Or would the second place team in the east get it?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

To get to the National Playoff, the Gophers would have to win 3 games where they are double digit underdogs (TCU, OSU X2) plus about 7 games where the point spread is +/- 4....could happen, I guess.
 

Imagine beating TCU, OSU, and then MSU in the B1G title game. That means we will have beaten the #1, #2, and #5 teams in the country.
As well as a potentially ranked Neb, Mich, and wisc. That's three top five teams and a potential 6+ ranked teams in one season. Has a team ever beaten three top fives in one season?

We're not there yet (I don't think) but this would be the season of dreams........for any program.
 

GopherHomer said:
To get to the National Playoff, the Gophers would have to win 3 games where they are double digit underdogs (TCU, OSU X2) plus about 7 games where the point spread is +/- 4....could happen, I guess.
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The natl playoff isnt the rose bowl. This year it will or should be a traditional match up
 

I actually think the CFP might be easier than the Rosebowl. It would take close losses to OSU and MSU getting blown out by OSU, or having two losses, for us to leap over MSU in the polls.
 


Jike Spingleton said:
The big "what if" most people don't realize coming out of the Michigan debacle in 2003 is that, in all likelihood, the Gophers would have gone to Iowa City for the season finale with a spot in the BCS Championship on the line. Assuming the first-half Michigan State hangover didn't occur and they won that game, Minnesota would've been 11-0 and already had the Rose Bowl clinched. 10-1 Ohio State was ranked #2 at the end of that weekend.

We aren't close to being a playoff-caliber program at the moment, but reaching that level isn't as far-fetched as it may seem.
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Yes. But Iowa was a superior team that year.
 

Jike Spingleton said:
We aren't close to being a playoff-caliber program at the moment, but reaching that level isn't as far-fetched as it may seem.
Click to expand...
It's possible -- I'll even say likely -- TCU folks were saying that at this time last year. The beauty of college football is that every year there are teams that are locks to make the playoff that have disastrous seasons, and usually a couple that come out of nowhere to get in the mix. I see the program steadily rising under Kill and a lot of reasons to believe this is a year things click.
 


This isn't as far fetched as some are saying. Our tough schedule (the reason most people are mocking this pick) is the reason why we would actually have a chance at making the playoff. If we finish the season as a 1 loss team we should be considered for the playoff. It would mean we beat the #2 team and Ohio st (possible #1 all season) at least once or twice and lost to the #2 team. I guess my biggest question would be if we are Ohio states only loss (say in the B1G championship game) would the playoff committee choose a 1 loss gopher team over a 1 loss ohio state team on the basis they beat us at their home and we beat them on a neutral field? We would have a legit argument for the tougher schedule.
 

I believe that the selection committee has said that championships count and that they would pick the conference champion or no one. I believe that that's what killed the Big 12 last year with their co-champions.
 

bottlebass said:
This isn't as far fetched as some are saying... I guess my biggest question would be if we are Ohio states only loss (say in the B1G championship game) would the playoff committee choose a 1 loss gopher team over a 1 loss ohio state team on the basis they beat us at their home and we beat them on a neutral field?
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OOOK
 

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