Y'all are depressing as hell and my buzz from Saturday is gone.
Two conference games most of us had marked as "toss-ups" prior to the season = two losses.
Maybe it's the alcohol but a lot of this board's Saturday reaction is more dramatic than being around my wife. (In that case, I should cancel my wife subscription because she costs much more than TGR).
If my memory serves, most realists here were saying 8-9 wins is a good season this year. A first year offensive coordinator, easy schedule and senior quarterback coupled with a young defense. Reading the posts here, I should probably get my hotel room in Detroit ready for a late December post-season appearance.
But the "coaching hot board" posters and "Throw Leidner from the Train" rhetoric seems a little soon. And here's why, I think 8 wins is still very possible.
Without further ado, I present the remaining schedule, complete with Sagarin rank differential compared to Minnesota, which currently sits at 60 in his rankings:
@Maryland (+2)
Rutgers (-59)
@Illinois (-30
Purdue (-50)
@Nebraska (+38)
Northwestern (+9)
@Wisconsin (+46)
I've marked the "losses" in that gross blue color, the perceived wins in something close to maroon and the toss-ups in aqua.
If they win the "wins" and manage to beat Maryland on the road along with Northwestern at home, Claeys gets to 8 wins without any miracle required.
Soft schedule or not, 8 wins at Minnesota is something the program has done just five times since 1968. In that case, buy stock in bronze because Claeys will probably get an extension and we'll have to start hoarding to buy the materials required for his statue. That's something we can all applaud.
Two conference games most of us had marked as "toss-ups" prior to the season = two losses.
Maybe it's the alcohol but a lot of this board's Saturday reaction is more dramatic than being around my wife. (In that case, I should cancel my wife subscription because she costs much more than TGR).
If my memory serves, most realists here were saying 8-9 wins is a good season this year. A first year offensive coordinator, easy schedule and senior quarterback coupled with a young defense. Reading the posts here, I should probably get my hotel room in Detroit ready for a late December post-season appearance.
But the "coaching hot board" posters and "Throw Leidner from the Train" rhetoric seems a little soon. And here's why, I think 8 wins is still very possible.
Without further ado, I present the remaining schedule, complete with Sagarin rank differential compared to Minnesota, which currently sits at 60 in his rankings:
@Maryland (+2)
Rutgers (-59)
@Illinois (-30
Purdue (-50)
@Nebraska (+38)
Northwestern (+9)
@Wisconsin (+46)
I've marked the "losses" in that gross blue color, the perceived wins in something close to maroon and the toss-ups in aqua.
If they win the "wins" and manage to beat Maryland on the road along with Northwestern at home, Claeys gets to 8 wins without any miracle required.
Soft schedule or not, 8 wins at Minnesota is something the program has done just five times since 1968. In that case, buy stock in bronze because Claeys will probably get an extension and we'll have to start hoarding to buy the materials required for his statue. That's something we can all applaud.
