As most of you I'm sure know, Herbstreit has officially picked the Gophers to win the B10 West. (I think I'd have preferred to stay under the radar but oh well, good pub.) Anyway, here he comments on why he picked them.
Checking in to see why you decided to pick Minnesota to come out of the west? What do you like about them? How do you think Coach Tracy Claeys will do in his first season at Minnesota?
Kirk Herbstreit: I'm excited to see what they can do this year. I think first the Big Ten West is wide open. You can talk to any different analyst and maybe get a different answer on what they think might happen. I think conventional wisdom, I guess, would be the Iowa Hawkeyes because of the year that they had a year ago and having C.J. Beathard back and a lot of great players on the defensive side of the football.
There are some people that like Nebraska. There's talk about Wisconsin, Northwestern, you name it. The reason I like Minnesota is I think that their front seven defensively is going to be very, very stout. I think they're going to be physical up there. I know they're inexperienced on the back end, but I think they have a history of playing outstanding pass defense, and I'm kind of counting on, even though they're young, I'm counting on them to still be solid in the secondary. And I think a lot of people are really sleeping on their offensive play makers.
You've got a veteran in Mitch Leidner who has played a ton of football, and I think he could have a great year. They've got some great backs that not a lot of people know much about. They always seem to have a good nucleus on that side of the ball. There are some concerns like every team in that West has. But they don't play Ohio State. They don't play Michigan State. They don't play Michigan. They get Iowa at home.
So if they can beat Oregon State to open the season on Thursday, I think there's a real shot that they could be sitting there looking at maybe 8-1 when they get ready to go to Nebraska on November 12th. Maybe I'm crazy, but I have kind of a weird feeling about them having a great year.
Checking in to see why you decided to pick Minnesota to come out of the west? What do you like about them? How do you think Coach Tracy Claeys will do in his first season at Minnesota?
Kirk Herbstreit: I'm excited to see what they can do this year. I think first the Big Ten West is wide open. You can talk to any different analyst and maybe get a different answer on what they think might happen. I think conventional wisdom, I guess, would be the Iowa Hawkeyes because of the year that they had a year ago and having C.J. Beathard back and a lot of great players on the defensive side of the football.
There are some people that like Nebraska. There's talk about Wisconsin, Northwestern, you name it. The reason I like Minnesota is I think that their front seven defensively is going to be very, very stout. I think they're going to be physical up there. I know they're inexperienced on the back end, but I think they have a history of playing outstanding pass defense, and I'm kind of counting on, even though they're young, I'm counting on them to still be solid in the secondary. And I think a lot of people are really sleeping on their offensive play makers.
You've got a veteran in Mitch Leidner who has played a ton of football, and I think he could have a great year. They've got some great backs that not a lot of people know much about. They always seem to have a good nucleus on that side of the ball. There are some concerns like every team in that West has. But they don't play Ohio State. They don't play Michigan State. They don't play Michigan. They get Iowa at home.
So if they can beat Oregon State to open the season on Thursday, I think there's a real shot that they could be sitting there looking at maybe 8-1 when they get ready to go to Nebraska on November 12th. Maybe I'm crazy, but I have kind of a weird feeling about them having a great year.
