On the renewed schedule:
Fleck: "First of all, when you play in the Big Ten, there are no easy games whatsoever. It doesn't matter who you play in the cross over games with the caliber coaches we have in this league now every week is a battle and you know that no matter who you are going to play."
"We start with Michigan State at Michigan State. Everybody knows Coach (Mel) Tucker and his NFL history and what he's been able to do and build that program at Colorado and now he's here."
"Then we have three rivalry games, three trophy games in a row. This might be one of the most vigorous September's that Minnesota has seen in a long time."
"You've got Nebraska. Scott Frost is building Nebraska back into a powerhouse into what it once was and will be again someday."
"Indiana, the job that Tom Allen did last year with Indiana was really special. He's got a really good football team coming back, especially on the offensive side of the ball. It's very documented across the country how good they are going to be there."
"Jeff Brohm I think has probably the greatest receivers and one of the greatest receivers corps in the entire country with Rondale Moore coming back and David Bell."
"We play at Illinois. Everyone knows how Illinois finished last year with the huge win against Wisconsin and went to a bowl game."
"Then Northwestern and Maryland. At Northwestern, Pat Fitzgerald has been there for a long time. They are a few years removed from being Big Ten West champs. And Maryland, Coach (Mike) Locksley has gotten a lot transfers and is building that program quickly."
"So, there are no easy games on the schedule. I don't think anybody wants easy games at all. But, we have a very challenging schedule and we're looking forward to having it as well as having the flexibility to move it around if we need too."
Challenges of playing a team that you haven't been preparing for in the offseason (Indiana):
Fleck: "The thing is we have. We knew we were only going to play conference games. We didn't know our exact schedule, but we knew we were going to play a 10-game season. Obviously, we are playing everybody in the west but we thought we would have a lot of same crossovers and maybe adding one, so you're basically game planning everybody in the east too.
"Our coaches did that. We were very proactive about that situation and it's not like we didn't have any time to do that. I mean, we've had a lot of time on our hands in the offseason as we were going through. So, we filled it very proactively. It doesn't guarantee you anything but it does give us a better chance to be prepared. Same games, just different times and maybe different feel of where it is on the schedule. Same intense rivalries across the board."
