MN vs. FCS championship game teams

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alphagopher

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Watching the Villanova-Montana game...curious what the consensus is out there about how we'd match up against either of these teams, and if we'd have a shot at winning...they both look tough and could probably beat a good amount of lesser fbs teams...talent wise there's no contest, obviously, but execution and game planning by these teams looks to be high and tight.
 

Our Sagarin predictor score says we'd beat Montana and lose to Villanova. Though, Montana would basically be a toss-up.
 

When Nova goes to the Wildcat, all I see is Kafka running ape-poopy over the Gophers circa 2008.

Sidenote, pre-internet, I'd have been 100% behind Montana before this game. A certain poster on this board fueled my Grizzly hatred. Suck it, Richard Cranium.
 

I have been beating the FCS / mid-major drum for a couple of years now, not because I have a horse in that race, but since it seems obvious there has been a narrowing gap in quality. Okay, don't start in about Texas et al because I'm not talking about FCS teams competing for the BCS title. However, it seems evident that the last 10 or fifteen years have brought 1) restricted numbers of scholarships 2)more quality players than ever to fill available scholarships and 3) a growing number of sophisticated, effective coaches that are settling in at all levels of college ball. Add to that the BCS penchant for scheduling a load of "lesser" programs, which has as a by-product a hardening effect on what might otherwise be less confident teams and you have upsets and increased parity. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You guys can do the research on upsets and the like the last several years if you're of a mind to.

Regarding the two teams I saw tonight: Neither one looked as good as the NDSU team that came in here a couple years ago and ran all over Central Michigan (who had beaten Purdue) the same season. However, that team was ineligible for playoffs because it was during their probationary period being served while stepping up in class level.
 

I feel the same way about Montana and NDSU for the same reason. Also, SDSU, but that's because their fans at the game were a-holes.
 


I was going to NDSU in 07 when they beat the Gophers and if the Bison were eligible for playoffs, I don't think the playoffs would have generated anywhere near the same excitement going to the dome did. People on campus, and in Fargo in general, had been talking about it from the time they barely lost to the Gophers in 06 til that day when they beat them in 07. It was the super bowl, maybe beyond that. And they were good, a better team than the 1-11 Gophers. Therein lies the problem with playing the FCS teams. Any time they get a crack at a BCS conference team, they get extra jacked. Maybe not to the point NDSU was jacked to play us, but it's a big deal. The extra emotion added to the fact that most of these teams have some real playmakers on the field, at times even more than we have (a la the afore-mentioned NDSU game) and boom, we're in tough games with FCS opponents. It's a no win situation for us to play these teams.

In this case, I think we should be able to beat both of the teams that were playing tonight, but to make sure of that we'd have to play sharp, just like any other game in the B10. I think we have proven by now that we can't take any FCS team lightly.
 

well considering we beat SDSU and SDSU was completely dominating Montana before their epic collapse in the 4th quarter...I think we should be able to beat them if our offense were able to score...
 

Why doesn't TCU and Boise St drop down and play these teams - it is clear the NCAA doesn't view them as equal to BCS Conference schools. They will not get a chance to show how good they are against a 'big boy.'
 

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