1. Stuff’s about to get real.
Penn State and Minnesota, both 8-0, clash Saturday in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It’s the 11 a.m. appetizer to LSU-Alabama. The Gophers have yet to beat a ranked team or a Power Five team with more than five victories. Their top victim is 5-4 Illinois. Or maybe 5-3 Georgia Southern, which just beat 20th-ranked Appalachian State.
The Gophers do have style points, having throttled their last three Big Ten foes by a combined 128-14. But style, in this case, is relative. It’s like wearing a tux to a demolition derby.
Penn State has won with offense (59-0 over Maryland), defense (17-12 against Iowa) and grit (17-10 versus Pittsburgh). Quarterback Sean Clifford and receiver KJ Hamler have been friends since middle school — and it shows. ESPN’s Maria Taylor termed it “my favorite bromance in college football.”
2. We need some rankings — pronto.
..
And where will Minnesota be ranked? Jerry Palm of CBS Sports projects the Gophers will be all the way back at No. 19 because “it is hard to find anything that resembles a quality win.”
That matters because the possibility exists that the Gophers could finish 13-0 and not make the playoff. The Allstate Playoff Predictor says there’s a 21.6% chance that an undefeated Minnesota would get snubbed.
Mike Hall
✔@BTNMikeHall
Espn predictor graphic says Minnesota has a 78% chance to make the playoff if they end up undefeated. WHAT?! 78- that’s it?! If they are undefeated that means they beat Top5 PSU and Top5 OSU and be B10 champs- all in the final month. What the what?!?!
On the one hand, the Gophers would have to beat Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Big Ten East champ (likely Ohio State) to remain unblemished. That would be four quality wins down the stretch. The day an undefeated Power Five champion doesn’t make the final four is the day the offended conference takes dynamite to the four-team playoff.
On the other, consider how many teams the Gophers might have to jump in five weeks.
If two make the playoff from the SEC plus Clemson, Minnesota might have to beat out one-loss champions from the Pac-12 (Oregon) and Big 12 (Oklahoma).
https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...0191103-lu4g64rslzg6bokp3fwjhsk3sm-story.html
Penn State and Minnesota, both 8-0, clash Saturday in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It’s the 11 a.m. appetizer to LSU-Alabama. The Gophers have yet to beat a ranked team or a Power Five team with more than five victories. Their top victim is 5-4 Illinois. Or maybe 5-3 Georgia Southern, which just beat 20th-ranked Appalachian State.
The Gophers do have style points, having throttled their last three Big Ten foes by a combined 128-14. But style, in this case, is relative. It’s like wearing a tux to a demolition derby.
Penn State has won with offense (59-0 over Maryland), defense (17-12 against Iowa) and grit (17-10 versus Pittsburgh). Quarterback Sean Clifford and receiver KJ Hamler have been friends since middle school — and it shows. ESPN’s Maria Taylor termed it “my favorite bromance in college football.”
2. We need some rankings — pronto.
..
And where will Minnesota be ranked? Jerry Palm of CBS Sports projects the Gophers will be all the way back at No. 19 because “it is hard to find anything that resembles a quality win.”
That matters because the possibility exists that the Gophers could finish 13-0 and not make the playoff. The Allstate Playoff Predictor says there’s a 21.6% chance that an undefeated Minnesota would get snubbed.
Mike Hall
✔@BTNMikeHall
Espn predictor graphic says Minnesota has a 78% chance to make the playoff if they end up undefeated. WHAT?! 78- that’s it?! If they are undefeated that means they beat Top5 PSU and Top5 OSU and be B10 champs- all in the final month. What the what?!?!
On the one hand, the Gophers would have to beat Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Big Ten East champ (likely Ohio State) to remain unblemished. That would be four quality wins down the stretch. The day an undefeated Power Five champion doesn’t make the final four is the day the offended conference takes dynamite to the four-team playoff.
On the other, consider how many teams the Gophers might have to jump in five weeks.
If two make the playoff from the SEC plus Clemson, Minnesota might have to beat out one-loss champions from the Pac-12 (Oregon) and Big 12 (Oklahoma).
https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...0191103-lu4g64rslzg6bokp3fwjhsk3sm-story.html
