Smoke & Mirrors Tour 2020 starts this weekend vs Michigan. Anybody think they will be as good as last year? Any chance vs Michigan?
I think Bateman opted out way back when the virus hit…..did he come back or is he still gone?
Bateman is back.
Oh I’m excited for some maroon and gold football.
Last I read Bateman is playing
He initially declared for the draft when they cancelled the Big Ten season but the NCAA made special exemptions this season so he was able to retract that and play for Minnesota this season.
Although it may not represent a “real” season this year, I would like to see whether last year was isolated success or whether it can continue as more of a consistent pattern from year to year now.
The current Las Vegas line has Michigan favored by 3.
Smoke & Mirrors Tour 2020 starts this weekend vs Michigan. Anybody think they will be as good as last year? Any chance vs Michigan?
I think Bateman opted out way back when the virus hit…..did he come back or is he still gone?
smoke and mirrors?? 
where’s your faith in the gophers dutchy?? 
you sound like me with cousins. 
It pains me to say it, but Minnesota is the favorite in the Big 10 West this year. It would be their first time winning the division, but it has a strong likelihood.
As for this weekend, the only reason the line isn’t Minnesota by 3.5 or 4.5 is the program names. Michigan is Michigan in the eyes of many betters, while Minnesota is not Michigan. However, Michigan is starting 4 new guys on the offensive line. They are starting a new QB with new receivers as well. The game is on the road in Minnesota. All of these seem to spell disaster when put together. Give me the Gophers for the W on Saturday.
Looking down the road, the Covid chaos has changed a lot of things for a lot of teams and helped a select few. Luckily, Minnesota did not graduate a ton of its key offensive pieces. They bring back the best qb in the division (the only comparable was the Badgers returning starter who is hurt), an All-American receiver, their offensive line, Mohamad Ibraheim who is probably the best returning back in the West, and a schedule that isn’t overly daunting. These components together are crucial when most Big 10 programs are starting noticeably behind with Covid. Minnesota’s offense should hit the ground running without issues. The defense has some holes, but they will cover them well as the Big 10 West isn’t full of offensive powerhouses.
Interesting to note, 4 out of 6 of the CBS Sportswriters chose MN to win the Big 10 West.
I’ve been jacked for the season ever since the Gophs beat Auburn in what was like a home game for them. Auburn beat ‘Bama last year, and almost beat LSU only losing by 3. Auburn wasn’t just legit. Auburn was freaking good.
This is the year. I’m all in. Eight game B1G with no cupcakes playing just balls to the wall!?
What more could you want?!
Gophs throttle Michigan and win by a Million. Harbaugh is about to get “Flecknitized.”
Wisconsin is favored to win the west. These are the current over/unders for each big ten team this season. Cesar’s sports book is the source. I could see Minnesota winning the west division.
Ohio State: 8.5
Penn State: 7.5
Wisconsin: 7
Michigan: 6.5
Minnesota: 6.5
Indiana: 5.5
Iowa: 5
Nebraska: 5
Northwestern: 4
Illinois: 3.5
Michigan State: 3.5
Purdue: 3.5
Maryland: 2.5
Rutgers: 1.5
I don’t want to throw any negatives here but this is sounding very similar to the beginning of the vikings post earlier will see if it ends the same way. I am excited to watch all the big ten schools play especially starting with the game tomorrow night. Go Badgers. FYI “I hope know one says that there team played bad because of no pre-season, they are all on the same playing field”
I will not jinx anything but the QB is solid.
I think the gophers and the badgers are the cream of the crop in the west. I believe the Badgers have some injuries that could affect them, especially at QB.
I’m a Nebraska guy….it’s been a tough few years but GO BIG RED!!!!
I’ll take my Badgers. We got embarrassed 2 seasons ago. Jimmy will have a game plan To make sure that doesn’t happen again. Bracket coverage on Bateman with 2 veteran safeties and sell out to stop the run.
I believe Fleck is the real deal though.
I’ll take the badgers too . Not sure what poll buckybadger was looking at , but i havnt seen any picking the gophers . Until the gophers actually win something , i don’t buy it. The badgers are consistently the best team in the division .
While I think Fleck is nothing more than a self-promoting slogan generator I think they will beat Michigan. Michigan is pretty much ‘rebuilding’ and are not in the same class as OSU anymore to just plug in the next 5 star recruit. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fleck is Michigan’s coach next year.
ESPN’s football playoff projector gives WI the 4th best chance in the country to be in the playoffs That should guarantee Bucky 2 or 3 loses.
I’m not totally following the Covid ‘no-contest’ guidelines. If a team has 2 games cancelled and goes 6-0 but another team goes 7-1 who wins the division?
If the average number of Big Ten games falls below six, then teams must play no less than two fewer conference games than the average number of Big Ten games played by all teams to be considered for the league championship. The champion will be determined in each division by its winning percentage, unless there is an unbalanced schedule because of the cancellation of games.
If two or more teams have the same number of conference losses, but a different number of wins, head-to-head results will take precedence over winning percentage. If the canceled game was between the two teams with the same winning percentage, the records of the two tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage within their division.
Rumor has it that the entire starting offensive line for the Gophers are out with covid 19. I can’t confirm it anywhere and they don’t disclose it until game day for privacy reasons. If that’s the case, it could be a big blow to the run and pass blocking game.
If true it will be the first step in shutting the program down for the year. Even the whores running the Big$ won’t be able to withstand the storm if some kid was to die from this.
It’s nothing more then a money grab and everybody knows it.
Rumor has it that the entire starting offensive line for the Gophers are out with covid 19.
If there’s any truth to the rumor, then I would think the entire team would have had some exposure.
Is the money so important they’d still let the team go out and exhale spittle on the Wolverines?
If there’s any truth to the rumor, then I would think the entire team would have had some exposure.
I don’t know what the “thresh hold” for the number of players is to post pone a game in the big 10 is but the status quo is next man up. Even if your entire offensive line is out or in quarantine.
I know that the Raiders have the same situation in the NFL this week. They are slated to play the Bucs and their entire offensive line is currently quarantined.
Again, let me stress that this is only an unconfirmed rumor. We won’t know until the players take the field (or don’t).
Next man up is what you do when somebody pulls a muscle or sprains a ankle. If your rumor is true (and you shouldn’t have mentioned it if didn’t think it was) then other members of the team have been exposed. So, they should risk the health of the quarterback and running back by sticking a 2nd string o line on the field. Brilliant.
Other then money their is no reason to play these games.
I was able to get this from the Big 10 covid 19 positive protocol:
The earliest a student-athlete can return to game competition is 21 days following a COVID-19 positive diagnosis.
I was able to get this from the Big 10 covid 19 positive protocol:
The earliest a student-athlete can return to game competition is 21 days following a COVID-19 positive diagnosis.
Some of the main media personnel for the gophers said yesterday on KFAN that they don’t know of any significant starters that are out with covid.
1977 was the last time the Gophers beat Michigan at home. The streak continues as Michigan slapped them around pretty good.
Yep that they did. The start of the game was really strange.
The Gophers offense was mediocre. Bateman is good, but everyone knows it and there has to be another option. Michigan has some very talented players at Safety and LB, and it showed.
The Gophers defense was atrocious. Their LB personel grouping was getting slapped around every time Michigan went with 2-Back personel and a traditional fullback.
Overall, Michigan’s horses were ultimately better. It’s tough to beat a team that’s physically bigger faster stronger and more athletic. The Gophers are still a top notch Big 10 West team. I see them giving my Badgers everything they can handle.
I believe the West has shown it’s self to be the Little Sister of the Big $$ just like the days of the Big 2 little 8 in the Big 10.
That wb for Michigan looks like he could be a future heisman candidate. Has a cannon and can run.
It was also the worst I’ve seen Morgan play. They’ll bounce back when they get all their players back.
They’ll bounce back when the cupcakes come back on the schedule.
Can anybody kick the ball? They need to find a better option if the main kicker is going to be out for any more games.
They’ll bounce back when the cupcakes come back on the schedule.
Yes, I think so too. Other than Wisconsin, the schedule has pretty weak opponents. Clearly the East division is superior this season and it has generally been that way since they aligned it this way. No team from the west division has ever won the big 10 championship.
Looks like the o line rumor was partially true. They were missing two of the regular starters, plus a place kicker for undisclosed reasons.
Looks like the o line rumor was partially true. They were missing two of the regular starters, plus a place kicker for undisclosed reasons.
Weren’t they missing the whole kicking A team? Punter as well? Not good, if it is the cove, they’ll be out for the next game as well.
I didn’t expect them to win this one anyway, but I didn’t see it turning into a 2X ass-whooping the way it did.
Maryland is next, I see they got throttled by Northwestern by 40 points. Good chance for the Gophers to get it back together.
Anybody else see that Penn State fail? Talk about a mental mistake, all he had to do is fall into the dirt anywhere on the field except the end zone and it was over for a Penn State win. More isn’t always more… Yes, questionable TD in OT, but it was Penn that put it there in the first place.
Grouse
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