Looking Ahead to 2009
National Champs always publishes its Way-Too-Early Predictions for the Opening Polls of the following season in December. That said, in the past they have done a solid job of guessing the top teams.
The good news is that for the teams who would like to forget 2008, the clock starts on 2009. The bad news is that 2009 might not look that different than 2008...
Projected Rank of Big Ten Teams
7. Ohio State
10. Penn State
15. Iowa
18. Minnesota
Yes, bowl results will shake this up. Yes, early-entry decisions will shake this up. But the early projection is another down year for the Big Ten.
6 months ago
Bama Hawkeye
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Minnesota will exit quickly. They are a team that thrived off some ridiculous turnover luck early on. The media didn’t notice. I don’t consider them a top 45 team.
by FSUncensored on
Dec 18, 2008 1:12 PM CST
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I won't argue with that
Plus, the Gophers have a real schedule for the first time in forever. Part of the cost of trying to fill the new stadium.
9-5 @ Syracuse
9-12 Air Force
9-19 California
And that’s before they hit conference play.
by Bama Hawkeye on
Dec 18, 2008 2:09 PM CST
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I don’t disagree that Minnesota will have a much stiffer slate this coming year, but how sad is it that a “real schedule” includes Syracuse and the 2nd best service academy?
by Estrada on
Dec 18, 2008 11:41 PM CST
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Agreed
At the same time, I could see the Gophers losing both of the home games. Especially if they play run defense like they did against the Hawkeyes. Yes, Syracuse blows, but it was hard to realize just how bad they’d be when Big Ten teams booked these games four or five years ago.
To the Gophers credit, their schedule will include more BCS teams in the next 5 years than it has in the past ten. That’s a good thing.
by Bama Hawkeye on
Dec 19, 2008 8:38 AM CST
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way to alienate our Gopher readers…by the way, the new Mini stadium, TCF, is an outdoor arena…Will that be an issue in Minnesota? Or will it play just like frozen Ryan Field or Camp Randall?
I kind of feel like MN needed an outdoor stadium after all the horrible games under a roof and the negative stigma of not having their own field..
by grahamfiller10 on
Dec 19, 2008 9:12 PM CST
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I can’t see whatever the hell they’re calling it being worse weather-wise than Camp Randall, Kinnick, et al. The bigger issue will be if Minny doesn’t fill it. There’s nothing worse than a 55,000+ stadium with 30,000 people in it. That’s part of the reason no one takes Indiana seriously, and why NU guys have such a chip on their shoulder. Wisconsin and Iowa fans will always travel to games there in good numbers due to proximity. Not as sure about tOSU, PSU, etc when Minny needs 15,000-20,000 opposing fans to make it seem full.
by txhawkeye on
Dec 22, 2008 4:13 PM CST
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