Gopher's Sched 5th Toughest In Nation

[GoAUpher]

According to Phil Steele, Minnesota has the 5th toughest schedule in all of college football (behind Iowa State, South Carolina, UCLA, and Missippi State). Rittenburg has the breakdown on how the rest of the Big Ten ranks here.

 

[Gophers507]

Look wisky at # 85 what a shocker. It's like the H.S. kid who beats up on 3rd graders and then thinks he has street cred because of it.

 

[GVBadger]

Look wisky at # 85 what a shocker. It's like the H.S. kid who beats up on 3rd graders and then thinks he has street cred because of it.

The Badgers have to play the Gophers every year, that would kill any strength of schedule.

Gophers fans crowing about tough schedules have very short memories.

 

[Gophers507]

The Badgers have to play the Gophers every year, that would kill any strength of schedule.

Gophers fans crowing about tough schedules have very short memories.

No, i'm not talking about us. i'm talking about wisky fans thinkin their up with elite teams or some how way ahead of the gophers and then they play some of the most cup cake ass teams year in and year out. Really? brag about beatin teams like that. I know we played um too but we didn't act like somthin we weren't. why not actually challenge your team? and besides you guys have had close games with crap teams just like we do.

 

[Ski U Master]

No, i'm not talking about us. i'm talking about wisky fans thinkin their up with elite teams or some how way ahead of the gophers and then they play some of the most cup cake ass teams year in and year out. Really? brag about beatin teams like that. I know we played um too but we didn't act like somthin we weren't. why not actually challenge your team? and besides you guys have had close games with crap teams just like we do.

At year's end all people see is the record, they don't care who you play.

 

[Gophers507]

At year's end all people see is the record, they don't care who you play.

That's what sucks...because it does make a huge difference IMO.

 

[ConferenceChamp]

According to Phil Steele, Minnesota has the 5th toughest schedule in all of college football...

Pure insanity, if you ask me, to load up on the NC portion of the schedule this way

But I'm sure it gives a certain someone a handsome 'psychic reward' that he can use out on the recruitng trail ....and at the Big 10 coaches meetings

It also gives message board devotees an off-season opportunity to talk a little trash, that they might not otherwise have...

 

[Ole]

Pure insanity, if you ask me, to load up on the NC portion of the schedule this way

But I'm sure it gives a certain someone a handsome 'psychic reward' that he can use out on the recruitng trail ....and at the Big 10 coaches meetings

It also gives message board devotees an off-season opportunity to talk a little trash, that they might not otherwise have...

You've got be to be one of those old timers who did a nice quiet golf clap to cheer on the 66-0 rolling of Lousiana Tech A&I College of the arts when we played them in the dome. I was bored by the 2nd quarter.
Most fans are excited at the opportunity to play big time competition and give us shots at top programs. You want to get better? Play better competition. Or you can roll a cupcake schedule and win 2-3 conference games every year.

 

[RodentRampage]

You've got be to be one of those old timers who did a nice quiet golf clap to cheer on the 66-0 rolling of Lousiana Tech A&I College of the arts when we played them in the dome. I was bored by the 2nd quarter.
Most fans are excited at the opportunity to play big time competition and give us shots at top programs. You want to get better? Play better competition. Or you can roll a cupcake schedule and win 2-3 conference games every year.

I appreciate a good desecration of an opponent as much as anyone does, but those games weren't exciting. I stayed for the whole game. I remember one of those games, I got to watch from the 50 yard line because the people who had the best seats were bored and went home.

But the Gophers had gotten a reputation for having a weak schedule, and this didn't help anything. It was partly undeserved, other teams had weak schedules, but they didn't get this reputation.

He's just bashing the Gophers to bash the Gophers. If the Gophers played a creampuff schedule again, he'd be bashing the Gophers for that.

 

[Goldmember]

I continue to be completely shocked that Minnesota agreed to play MTSU in Murfreesboro. This just doesn't make any sense to me at all.

If you're in the mood to give away a road game against a good opponent you may as well pick a team that someone outside of the die-hard college football fans have heard of. (Almost anyone will take a home game with a return trip 10 years later.) Nothing can be gained by beating MTSU, and a lot of credibility can be lost.

 

[Monty519]

I continue to be completely shocked that Minnesota agreed to play MTSU in Murfreesboro. This just doesn't make any sense to me at all.

If you're in the mood to give away a road game against a good opponent you may as well pick a team that someone outside of the die-hard college football fans have heard of. (Almost anyone will take a home game with a return trip 10 years later.) Nothing can be gained by beating MTSU, and a lot of credibility can be lost.

There's not many good games you can schedule on the road when starting your season, which is the bad place Minnesota is in the next few years. People laughed off Syracuse as well. It's hard to find a game that is worthwhile traveling for, but isn't too difficult of an opponent. MTSU probably is tougher than you'd like, but I don't think the options were as plentiful as you may think.

 

[dpodoll68]

There's not many good games you can schedule on the road when starting your season, which is the bad place Minnesota is in the next few years. People laughed off Syracuse as well. It's hard to find a game that is worthwhile traveling for, but isn't too difficult of an opponent. MTSU probably is tougher than you'd like, but I don't think the options were as plentiful as you may think.

I agree, but at least Syracuse is BCS. I think Goldmember's point is that the least the Gophers could've done is find a BCS school, even if it is a lower-tier. At least then people would give the win some consideration. (We all know MTSU is no pushover, but casual fans will give the Gophers absolutely no props whatsoever for winning that game.)

 

[WolfontheProwl]

I think the Gophers have made a mistake.

I know all the talk about tougher schedules and all that but I think the Gophers have made a huge mistake in how they have scheduled. I give credit to Tim Brewster he has found a way to add some of the very best schools in the country to our schedule over the next few years. That is great to know it can be done. That being said we are at the point where we are not good enough to beat with those teams barring some huge improvement from inexperienced players on Defense. Maybe the Gophers will shock me this year but looking at the program and how it has grown over the last few years we are putting ourselves in a position to fall hard. Sure being a lower tier bowl team stinks but with a good record comes growth from better recruiting and better bowls based on the record. When the team begins to get better you can then increase the strength of schedule. If the Gophers go out and get pounded this year and miss on a bowl completely or finish at the bottom of the Big Ten it will kill any momentum in getting better players. Sure a couple big wins would be huge but how likely is that?

 

[GoAUpher]

I know all the talk about tougher schedules and all that but I think the Gophers have made a huge mistake in how they have scheduled. I give credit to Tim Brewster he has found a way to add some of the very best schools in the country to our schedule over the next few years. That is great to know it can be done. That being said we are at the point where we are not good enough to beat with those teams barring some huge improvement from inexperienced players on Defense. Maybe the Gophers will shock me this year but looking at the program and how it has grown over the last few years we are putting ourselves in a position to fall hard. Sure being a lower tier bowl team stinks but with a good record comes growth from better recruiting and better bowls based on the record. When the team begins to get better you can then increase the strength of schedule. If the Gophers go out and get pounded this year and miss on a bowl completely or finish at the bottom of the Big Ten it will kill any momentum in getting better players. Sure a couple big wins would be huge but how likely is that?

So do you mind sharing your crystal ball with the athletic department? Because I'm sure they'd love to be able to know when its ok to make the NC schedule tougher by knowing well in advance whether we'll be good enough that year or not. This is the kind of argument that results in the NC schedule staying filled with creampuffs.

 

[Monty519]

I agree, but at least Syracuse is BCS. I think Goldmember's point is that the least the Gophers could've done is find a BCS school, even if it is a lower-tier. At least then people would give the win some consideration. (We all know MTSU is no pushover, but casual fans will give the Gophers absolutely no props whatsoever for winning that game.)

Yeah, I hear ya, and I do agree, I would have liked a better opponent for PR reasons, but what's done is done now, I guess.

As far as saying they made a mistake in their scheduling, we need to remember that a big reason for the tough schedule is the ridiculous Big Ten schedule they have this year, something they have zero control over. All the tough ones at home, toss-ups on the road, just not a good draw for this season in particular considering the opener plus USC.

 

[WolfontheProwl]

It is not easy.

Its a tough situation I know because they do make the schedules so far in advance but USC was not added that long ago. I just think it would have been wise to schedule the teams like USC and Texas several years down the road. Start first with some good solid BCS teams that are beatable like a UNC, Colorado, Syracuse, K-State or Kansas. These teams are usually solid teams though the Orange and the Buffalos have fallen on some hard times as of late but they are good building blocks. After having those type of teams on the schedule that will hopefully build the program then go get a Texas or USC.

I just see adding some of the huge powers as early as we did could result in more negatives than positives.

 

[ruralgopher]

In GL's interview with Beal she asks about when he can play and he specifically says agains USC in the colloseum. Recruits love the schedule, that is why Brew does it.

 

[Goldmember]

Recruits love the schedule, that is why Brew does it.

It's not just that. Fans love it too. And let's be honest, with 4 pro sports teams, there is a lot of competition for eyeballs in Minnesota.

Washington usually has a crazy non-conference schedule too. This year: @ BYU, Syracuse, Nebraska. No D1-AA opponent and they have to play all of the other 9 PacTen teams. That's probably what it takes to maintain demand for 70,000 tickets in an NFL/MLB town.

 

[GoAUpher]

Its a tough situation I know because they do make the schedules so far in advance but USC was not added that long ago. I just think it would have been wise to schedule the teams like USC and Texas several years down the road. Start first with some good solid BCS teams that are beatable like a UNC, Colorado, Syracuse, K-State or Kansas. These teams are usually solid teams though the Orange and the Buffalos have fallen on some hard times as of late but they are good building blocks. After having those type of teams on the schedule that will hopefully build the program then go get a Texas or USC.

I just see adding some of the huge powers as early as we did could result in more negatives than positives.

I understand what you're saying, but A) Texas is several years down the road in 2015 and 2016 and B) because its not easy to put schedules together (as you note) the U has to jump on the opportunities that present themselves for a team like USC. There is no guarantee that USC would be open 7 years down the road.

 

[Gophers507]

In GL's interview with Beal she asks about when he can play and he specifically says agains USC in the colloseum. Recruits love the schedule, that is why Brew does it.

Exactly recruits want to play in big games against big name opponents on a national stage. You have a huge game against USC, Texas, or Florida that helps your stock so much more than beating up on creampuffs your whole career.

 

[ConferenceChamp]

...Most fans are excited at the opportunity to play big time competition and give us shots at top programs. You want to get better? Play better competition...

Good point, Ole.

If one cannot find enough competition inside the Big 10, then it's wise to have Southern Cal, Texas, etc. on speed dial...


P.S. Hi to Sven for me.

 

[Maximus]

Good point, Ole.

If one cannot find enough competition inside the Big 10, then it's wise to have Southern Cal, Texas, etc. on speed dial...


P.S. Hi to Sven for me.

Great point. Minnesota would've been in the Rose Bowl last year if they had played San Jose State instead of Cal.