Monday July 13 Links and Banter
WHERE ARE OUR WORLD CUP GAMES
PJ Fleck keeps rowing the damn boat, come hell or high water. And that high water peaked at the 11-2 2019 squad and has slowly, but consistently receded since then. What can be expected from this season in the Twin Cities? Our team of experts (citation not found) dive into the schedule and PJ's 2026 prospects.
Schedule
Predictions
Transient Buckeye: 2026 looks to be a significantly more difficult boat to row than 2025 was for Minnesota. There's a lot more dangerous rocks for the boat to get hung up on. They should be able to sweep the nonconference slate. Eastern Illinois and Akron feel like auto-wins, and while Mississippi State is a P4 team, a) Minnesota gets them at home, and b) Mississippi State is a perennial Cinderblock Special within the SEC trailer park. If that sounds like a criticism of Minnesota for scheduling them, it isn't. Mississippi State is exactly the sort of opponent a team like Minnesota should be scheduling. They're nominally a P4 team, so with a victory you get the street cred that comes with beating an SEC opponent. But they're usually pretty awful, so if you're a mid-tier Big Ten team, you really ought to be able to beat them.
The Big Ten schedule is a lot more daunting, though. I have the Gophers going 4-5 in conference play, logging wins over Purdue and Wisconsin on the road, and UCLA and Northwestern at home. But I don't like their chances against Home Washington, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, or Penn State. If they got PSU in Minneapolis, then maybe I'd feel differently, but that game is in Happy Valley. The problem is that I feel a lot more confident in Minnesota's losses than I do in their wins. So while I'm officially going to slot them in at 7-5 (4-5), 6-6 or even 5-7 seems a lot more likely than 8-4.
Kind of...: P.J. Fleck is going to win his 100th game as a college coach this year. He'll turn 46 two days after the Axe game. 200 wins, usually an indicator of coaching immortality, would seem totally feasible. (If he won 7 games a year, he'd get there before he's 60!)
And, at this moment, his winning % wouldn't leave him eligible for the CFB HOF. And this isn't some sort of Mike Leach, he's an innovator, put him in anyway, edge case. Fleck, for all the initial lingo and flashiness, is turning out to be a very competent plug-and-play coach. But he's also kind of stuck. Minnesota isn't an awful job. But it's not a great one, either. Any juice from 2019 is gone. And that probably goes for Fleck too. He used to have to clarify that he isn't in the running for this or that position. Not so much anymore. And Minnesota's NIL situation is doing him no favors.
One of my favorite sports quotes ever is (former Michigan player, former Minnesota Viking) Leroy Hoard's, "Coach, if you need one yard, I'll get you three yards. If you need five yards, I'll get you three yards." That's Fleck. If you're hoping for five wins, he'll get you seven. If you're hoping for nine wins, he'll get you seven. If you're hoping to just make a bowl, he'll win it for you, too. If you're hoping for an elite bowl, he'll win that second-tier bowl for you. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
So...yeah, book another 8-5 season (he's REALLY good at winning mid-tier bowl games) that makes nary a ripple.
Thumpasaurus:
