Minnesota ranked #10 in final AP Poll

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OddStack said:
I've seen some publication and writer rankings for next year already. We haven't even been listed in top 25. Iowa was also absent in both.
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I just got an alert from ESPN...Schlabach's "way too early" rankings
We come in at #19

OSU (2), PSU (9), Bucky (14), Mich (15), Iowa (23).......Auburn (12)

19. Minnesota
2019 record: 11-2, 7-2 Big Ten
Returning starters: nine offense, two defense, one special teams
Key losses: WR Tyler Johnson, RB Rodney Smith, DB Antoine Winfield Jr., LB Kamal Martin, LB Thomas Barber, DB Chris Williamson, DE Carter Coughlin, DB Benjamin St-Juste

Outlook: Talk about rowing the boat. In coach P.J. Fleck's third season, the Gophers won their first nine games and finished with more than 10 victories for the first time since 1904. They capped the breakout campaign with a 31-24 victory over Auburn in the Outback Bowl. Now the challenge is sustaining the success, and Minnesota will have to rebuild its defense to do that in 2020. Only two defensive starters are expected back from a unit that allowed 22.5 points per game. The Gophers will lose Smith, a 1,100-yard runner, and Johnson, who had 86 catches for 1,318 yards with 13 scores. Quarterback Tanner Morgan is coming back, along with receivers Rashod Bateman and Chris Autman-Bell and all five starting offensive linemen. After Ciarrocca left for Penn State, Fleck hired Mike Sanford Jr. as offensive coordinator and promoted Matt Simon to co-offensive coordinator.

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...ege-football-top-25-where-do-lsu-clemson-land
 

McMurphy's too early 2020 top 25 is missing the Gophers and the USA Today too early top 25 is also missing the Gophers.
 

BeerFueledFF said:
I checked a few articles, and I couldn't find any bonuses tied to AP top 10

Bonuses I found:
Bowl eligible - $75,000
Winning a share of the Big Ten West - $100,000
Winning the Big Ten - $150,000
Rose Bowl - $150,000
Collage Football Playoff - $200,000
National Title - $300,000
National Coach of the Year - $100,000
Big Ten Coach of the Year - $50,000
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No wonder Coach Fleck has been so adamant about calling themselves "Big 10 West Co Champs".

I don't blame him, more power to him.
 

bonin21 said:
Look at those names
1 LSU(62) 15-0 1550 —
2 Clemson 14-1 1487 1
3 Ohio State 13-1 1426 1
4 Georgia 12-2 1336 1
5 Oregon 12-2 1249 2
6 Florida 11-2 1211 —
7 Oklahoma 12-2 1179 3
8 Alabama 11-2 1159 1
9 Penn State 11-2 1038 4
10 Minnesota 11-2 952 6
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Jesus. It doesn't seem real. But it is no doubt well deserved. The Iowa game should have gone our way. Wisconsin had our number. Bouncing back against a very good Auburn team was awesome. We can get Wisconsin back....every year. But it's hard to imagine the Gophers playing or taking down an SEC royalty anytime soon again.
 

stocker08 said:
Jesus. It doesn't seem real. But it is no doubt well deserved. The Iowa game should have gone our way. Wisconsin had our number. Bouncing back against a very good Auburn team was awesome. We can get Wisconsin back....every year. But it's hard to imagine the Gophers playing or taking down an SEC royalty anytime soon again.
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IA loss stings more because the game was there for taking...we just....
 


There's no doubting PJ now. The win vs Auburn confirmed this was a very, very good team.
 


PitinoFan said:
Well, they got it mostly right. We should have been above Penn State.
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But by that logic, you could argue WI should be ahead of us given the head to head and their only 1 pt. loss to a high ranked Oregon. I didn't think we'd crack the top 10, so I'm fine with where the chips landed. PSU had a convincing win over Memphis (though I think most any B1G team would have beaten them that was in a top bowl).
 




JWG said:
But by that logic, you could argue WI should be ahead of us given the head to head and their only 1 pt. loss to a high ranked Oregon. I didn't think we'd crack the top 10, so I'm fine with where the chips landed. PSU had a convincing win over Memphis (though I think most any B1G team would have beaten them that was in a top bowl).
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No.

Wisconsin has 4 losses. We have 2.

One of Wisconsin’s 4 losses was to Illinois. How many points did we beat Illinois by again? It wasn’t even remotely competitive.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I'm thinking the statue would be PJ towering over TCF Bank Stadium, his legs straddling Oak St. and pointing down onto the field ... like the Colossus of Rhodes or something.
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"PJ FLECK STADIUM" has the same number of characters as "TCF BANK STADIUM", so it would be really easy to change the signs... just saying...
 

MNVCGUY said:
Little higher then I was thinking we would end up and we may drop a few spots in the initial poll next season but very cool to finish the year in the top 10!

I thought 2019 was going to be a good year but this season far exceeded any expectations I had for it going in.

Offense should hopefully be even better in 2020, if the defense and special teams come along for the ride we could be in for something really special. But regardless of what happens next year, 2019 was a very special season for a program that hasn't had many of those in the past 50 years.
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Agreed.

It feels weird and dirty to boost the Badgers, but I think they're underrated due to the four losses. A one-point loss to a great Oregon team shouldn't have booted them out of the top 10 and behind the Gophers. And Penn State ends up overrated. I'd at least switch those two teams.
 

1579022069549.png

We end up above two teams we lost to and behind one team we beat haha! Gotta love it tho!

Go Gophers!
 



bonin21 said:
Look at those names
1 LSU(62) 15-0 1550 —
2 Clemson 14-1 1487 1
3 Ohio State 13-1 1426 1
4 Georgia 12-2 1336 1
5 Oregon 12-2 1249 2
6 Florida 11-2 1211 —
7 Oklahoma 12-2 1179 3
8 Alabama 11-2 1159 1
9 Penn State 11-2 1038 4
10 Minnesota 11-2 952 6
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I hate to admit it, but I got just a tiny bit emotional reading your post. That's a veritable "who's who" of CFB...and Minnesota is right there. It's just incredible. We've all been waiting for this for so long!

SUM, RTB, GG!
 



Bad Gopher said:
Agreed.

It feels weird and dirty to boost the Badgers, but I think they're underrated due to the four losses. A one-point loss to a great Oregon team shouldn't have booted them out of the top 10 and behind the Gophers. And Penn State ends up overrated. I'd at least switch those two teams.
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Lets be clear here, a great team does not loose to Arizona St.
 

Nice! Can't believe TX ended up ranked.
 


PMWinSTP said:
Nice! Can't believe TX ended up ranked.
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I can't believe Nebraska didn't end up ranked. Texas and Nebraska seem to warm the emotions of a lot of poll voters because YESTERYEAR.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Agreed.

It feels weird and dirty to boost the Badgers, but I think they're underrated due to the four losses. A one-point loss to a great Oregon team shouldn't have booted them out of the top 10 and behind the Gophers. And Penn State ends up overrated. I'd at least switch those two teams.
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Out of any of those teams, Oregon is the one that's overrated. The Pac-12 was terrible this year and they only put up 204 yards against Wisconsin. Bucky fumbled that game away.
 

Going forward, I believe the big question is how does this impact recruiting. If the Gophers are going to be a fixture in the top-20 or even higher, then they need recruiting classes that are top-20 level.

Even with great coaching and a little luck, it's going to be tough to be a top-10 level team if you're bringing in recruiting classes ranked 32nd in the country. if they can bump that up into the top 20, then the Gophers have a much better chance of sustaining the program at a consistent level.

So, I will be interested to see where the Gophs wind up in the 2021 and '22 recruiting classes.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Going forward, I believe the big question is how does this impact recruiting. If the Gophers are going to be a fixture in the top-20 or even higher, then they need recruiting classes that are top-20 level.

Even with great coaching and a little luck, it's going to be tough to be a top-10 level team if you're bringing in recruiting classes ranked 32nd in the country. if they can bump that up into the top 20, then the Gophers have a much better chance of sustaining the program at a consistent level.

So, I will be interested to see where the Gophs wind up in the 2021 and '22 recruiting classes.
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I honestly believe that Fleck and Co can be a top 20 frequently recruiting in the low 30-40 range.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Kicking all crap out of an overrated Utah in the bowl game definitely had an impact.
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Yeah I just don't know what Utah's bad loss says about the PAC. Oregon clearly had a nice game against Wisconsin.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I honestly believe that Fleck and Co can be a top 20 frequently recruiting in the low 30-40 range.
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Iowa/Wi aren't consistently recruiting top 20, it's probably not a feasible goal.
 

salzie said:
Iowa/Wi aren't consistently recruiting top 20, it's probably not a feasible goal.
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Was just going to say the exact same thing...in order to be top 20 and beat out multiple teams from down south we have to have decades of success. We have to start winning more recruiting battles with Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Michigan schools to even sniff top 25.
 

tmvander said:
Was just going to say the exact same thing...in order to be top 20 and beat out multiple teams from down south we have to have decades of success. We have to start winning more recruiting battles with Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Michigan schools to even sniff top 25.
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What? We were top 10 this year.
 

salzie said:
Iowa/Wi aren't consistently recruiting top 20, it's probably not a feasible goal.
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Right, just have to get a few under the radar guys and coach them up. Look at Tanner Morgan. How many high major offers did he have?
He goes into next season as a Heisman candidate and just had one of if not the best season ever in the history of Gopher QBs for cripes sakes. Sometimes heart and soul as are important as actual athletic ability.

Get guys like that in here, coach em up and sprinkle a few guys like Batemen that everybody wanted and they will do just fine.
 



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