Pre-season college football magazines are predicting the Gophers will finish in 10th or 11th place in the Big Ten Conference this fall. Athlon, Lindy’s and Sporting News all have the Gophers at or near the bottom of the projected standings but Minnesota coach Tim Brewster welcomes the publicity.
“…For the most part, it’s uniformed prognosticators,” Brewster told Sports Headliners. “We feel good about our football team. We feel good about the young talent we’ve infused. It’s certainly motivation when someone says you’re not very good—adds a little something for your team. I love the position we’re in because most prognosticators don’t think we’re very good.”
The predictions about the Gophers will be brought up by Brewster in team meetings. He will talk about internal expectations and sometimes also discuss what others are predicting for the Gophers.
From the perspective of the publications, too much is uncertain to write optimistically about the Gophers. Athlon, for example, forecasts the Gophers for a last place finish, noting that Minnesota will have “at least nine new starters” on defense and offensively last year’s team was last in the conference in scoring, rushing and total offense.
Regarding the top end of the Big Ten, it’s both a similar and different story, according to pre-season publications. Ohio State, which has won or shared the last four titles, is the favorite to be league champion in 2010. But traditional powers Penn State and Michigan figure to chase not only Ohio State but Wisconsin and Iowa, too, in the opinion of many writers.
In the national rankings, Boise State is receiving more pre-season support for a high top 10 finish than ever before. Years ago the Broncos were on a potential scheduling list for college football powers looking for a Charmin-soft opponent. Now, following several impressive seasons and a couple of turn-your-head bowl performances, the little school from Boise and the Western Athletic Conference finds itself mentioned in the same sentences with programs like Alabama, Oklahoma and USC.
“I think it speaks volumes for the job that (coach) Chris Petersen does,” Brewster said. “Boise is no secret. They’ve done as good a job as anybody in the country. They’ve taken on all comers.”