Ya, but they also lost to Bowling Green at home. And had they won that game, they would have made the Big 10 Championship.
I do think that this program has gradually improved since Fleck arrived. It used to be a laughing stock. I wish they would schedule better non-conference games though. The three opponents they play in non-conference every season is kind of a joke.
They lost to Illinois that kept them out of the Big10 Championship game, non-conference games don’t impact the conference championship. And non-conference games are pretty standard for every team (including Alabama/Clemson etc.) you schedule 2 patsies and one big conference team that could give you a game. They have Colorado this year, North Carolina the next 2, BYU in 2025 and Cal in 2026/2027.
I don’t understand the hate at this point for Fleck. Sure I was skeptical too when he came in sounding like Brewster x10, but the record doesn’t lie. He had the best season for the Gophers since 1961, that’s 58 years ago, so you would have to be in your 70’s to even remember it ever being this good. His program graduates players, you never hear about them getting arrested or in trouble, one of the highest GPA’s in the country, tons of community involvement and volunteering, routinely recruiting classes near the top of the country, they have players going in draft for the NFL yearly, and he’s gone to and WON a bowl every year he’s been here. But he uses slogans and markets himself differently than some blue hairs like. Ridiculous.