http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2...tennessee-minnesota-cal-temple-southern-miss/
Minnesota
Andy Manis/AP Melvin Gordon’s Badgers crushed Minnesota’s Big Ten West hopes in 2013 and ’14.
Last Three Years: 22-17 (11-13 in Big Ten); five or more losses each season
This Year: Big Ten West champs?
Of all the teams on this list, Minnesota is the one with the least obvious line of demarcation from success to slump: Give or take a handful of respectable campaigns in the Glen Mason era, Minnesota’s slump is well into its fifth decade.3 But it’s also the program with the shortest distance to travel from its most recent efforts to a bona fide breakthrough: Although Minnesota hasn’t claimed a championship of any kind since 1960, after consecutive 8-5 finishes, the gap between the Gophers and a division title doesn’t require a leap so much as a solid, sustained step forward.
In fact, because the past two seasons have followed essentially the same script, we can pinpoint exactly when and where that step needs to come: at home, on November 28, in the regular-season finale against Wisconsin. Two years ago, Minnesota went into the Wisconsin game boasting a surprising 8-2 record and with upsets over Nebraska and Penn State already under its belt; the Gophers subsequently lost to the Badgers, 20-7, then dropped their last two against Michigan State and Syracuse. Last year, Minnesota took an 8-3 mark into Madison, having already scored reassuring wins over Iowa and Nebraska in addition to throwing a scare into Ohio State; again, though, the Gophers couldn’t get past Wisconsin with the Big Ten West title on the line, and settled for another unranked finish after falling to Missouri in the Citrus Bowl.
Admittedly, as improbable as Minnesota’s ascendance to viable West Division contender under coach Jerry Kill has been, it probably wouldn’t be possible at all if not for the ongoing frustration at Nebraska (which fired its coach after last season), Iowa (which may be on the verge of firing its coach), and even Northwestern (which may be starting to think about firing its coach at some point). The Big Ten West is the weakest division in the Power 5 conferences by a mile, but it’s not by random chance that the Gophers have come closer than any of their rivals to exceeding their historical ceiling under Kill, or that they’ve done it in largely nondescript, fundamentally sound fashion. With the question marks facing Wisconsin, there’s a case to be made that the Badgers’ status as de facto division front-runner owes more to inertia than to merit. If so, the time for Minnesota to end the drought is now, because the window for capitalizing on a down division may not be open for long.
Minnesota
Andy Manis/AP Melvin Gordon’s Badgers crushed Minnesota’s Big Ten West hopes in 2013 and ’14.
Last Three Years: 22-17 (11-13 in Big Ten); five or more losses each season
This Year: Big Ten West champs?
Of all the teams on this list, Minnesota is the one with the least obvious line of demarcation from success to slump: Give or take a handful of respectable campaigns in the Glen Mason era, Minnesota’s slump is well into its fifth decade.3 But it’s also the program with the shortest distance to travel from its most recent efforts to a bona fide breakthrough: Although Minnesota hasn’t claimed a championship of any kind since 1960, after consecutive 8-5 finishes, the gap between the Gophers and a division title doesn’t require a leap so much as a solid, sustained step forward.
In fact, because the past two seasons have followed essentially the same script, we can pinpoint exactly when and where that step needs to come: at home, on November 28, in the regular-season finale against Wisconsin. Two years ago, Minnesota went into the Wisconsin game boasting a surprising 8-2 record and with upsets over Nebraska and Penn State already under its belt; the Gophers subsequently lost to the Badgers, 20-7, then dropped their last two against Michigan State and Syracuse. Last year, Minnesota took an 8-3 mark into Madison, having already scored reassuring wins over Iowa and Nebraska in addition to throwing a scare into Ohio State; again, though, the Gophers couldn’t get past Wisconsin with the Big Ten West title on the line, and settled for another unranked finish after falling to Missouri in the Citrus Bowl.
Admittedly, as improbable as Minnesota’s ascendance to viable West Division contender under coach Jerry Kill has been, it probably wouldn’t be possible at all if not for the ongoing frustration at Nebraska (which fired its coach after last season), Iowa (which may be on the verge of firing its coach), and even Northwestern (which may be starting to think about firing its coach at some point). The Big Ten West is the weakest division in the Power 5 conferences by a mile, but it’s not by random chance that the Gophers have come closer than any of their rivals to exceeding their historical ceiling under Kill, or that they’ve done it in largely nondescript, fundamentally sound fashion. With the question marks facing Wisconsin, there’s a case to be made that the Badgers’ status as de facto division front-runner owes more to inertia than to merit. If so, the time for Minnesota to end the drought is now, because the window for capitalizing on a down division may not be open for long.
