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2022 Week 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers Rankings

Main Poll Voters

User	Rank	Reason
_fastball	10
bakonydraco	12	78.92
MWiatrak2077	12	You may potentially be asking yourself, "what the fuck? Minnesota 12th? who is this loser?", and while I don't think anybody is actually going to read any of this: let me explain. P.J. Fleck inherited a program, that while not in disarray, looked very far behind its competitors, and didn't seem they would ever compete for a B1G title. Fleck's inaugural season, Minnesota had a talent composite (per 247sports.com), of 535.44, which ranked 12th in the Big Ten. Starting his Minnesota career with a tumultuous 10-13 record, things looked worrying, Minnesota missed a bowl game for the first time in 6 years in 2017, and was on the verge of missing another one in the 2018 season, with a 5-6 record, here's what happened next. Minnesota had to face long time rival, Wisconsin, who had beaten Minnesota in 14 straight attempts, dating back to 2003. In 2017, Wisconsin had shutout Fleck's Gophers 31-0 in a route. To make a bowl game, Fleck would have to slay the Badgers for the first time in nearly 1.5 decades, - and he did it. A 37-15 victory in Camp Randall led to the Quick Lane Bowl, which Minnesota won 34-10 against Georgia Tech. Since that fateful day against Wisconsin, Minnesota has gone 27-10, or a 72.9% win percentage, their best since the 1960s. Anyway, back on topic, - Minnesota finally broke out in 2019, with an incredible 8-0 start (including a win over #4 Penn State), QB Tanner Morgan was posting incredible numbers with his newfound NFL receivers and offensive line, and soon-to-be-starter RB Mo Ibrahim was blossoming into one of the best RBs in the Big Ten - after a slightly disappointing loss to Wisconsin, Minnesota defeated Auburn in the Outback Bowl to finish 11-2. Minnesota had hoped to run it back in 2020, however, the COVID year truly fucked up everything, - lack of practice, organization, and training camp led to an abysmal 3-4 year, however Minnesota had retained a veteranized senior class for 2021. Minnesota started their 2021 campaign against Ohio State, where Mo Ibrahim and Morgan got off to hot starts, taking a 21-17 lead midway through the 3rd quarter. However, disaster struck when Mo Ibrahim who had rushed for 161 yards and 1 TD at this point, got severely injured in the mid 3rd quarter, and would remain out for the entire season. Minnesota lost to OSU 45-31. Things looked grim after a humiliating upset at the hands of Bowling Green, in a dismal 14-10 loss, - however, Minnesota continued to win, and came within seconds of beating Iowa for the first time since 2014, but without their star RB, it was futile. However, they ended the season on a positive note, upsetting Wisconsin (who would've faced Michigan in Indy with a win), and winning the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against West Virginia, finishing their season 9-4. Anyway, onto now: Mo Ibrahim has returned, as has super-senior Tanner Morgan, both of which have looked extremely sharp, former-OC Kirk Ciarrocca, who captained a 34.1 PPG offense in 2019, has returned after leaving for Penn State between 2020-2021. Despite being an easy opponent, Minnesota has looked extremely potent in their first two games, completely throttling Western Illinois 62-10 in their first 60pt game since 2006, - they outgained the Leathernecks 679-194, as Mo Ibrahim rushed for 130 yards, 2 TDs, on a 5.7 YPC. With Iowa and Wisconsin's recent losses to ISU and WSU, respectively, Minnesota looks primed to make a run for Indy, - Minnesota will travel to East Lansing in two weeks to open up their Big Ten play, and if they come out with a win, they should be regarded as the overwhelming favorites to win the Big Ten West. Their current talent composite is now 649.53, which looks to be the best in team history. P.J. Fleck has done a wonderful job with this blooming program, and, barring disaster, I believe will join the Iowa/Wisconsin tier of teams, and will contend for the foreseeable future.
BigBoutros	13
ThePelvicWoo	13	Boring but effective
BlueFalcon89	14	Does PJ finally have a B1G West champion?
Daigotsu	14
Charlemagne42	15	Computer ranking: 23
The_Horse_Joke	15
Maladroit44	16
RobertNeyland	16
CommodoreN7	17
crownebeach	17	I have upgraded Minnesota to division favorite. I really like these guys, especially on offense.
dabul-master	17
ScarletFever333	17
Sometimeswelose	17
Staind075	17
52hoova	18
bwburke94	18
DataDrivenPirate	18
Foxmcbowser42	18
noahthearc	18
ya111101	18
12panther	19
dicky_________seamus	19
jjjoebox	19
typicaliconoclast	19
corundum9	20
digdat0	20
EpicSchwinn	20
Hobbes_121	20
I_am_bot_beep_boop	20
rain_parkour	20
RheagarTargaryen	20
crimsonlaw	21
Helifino	21
PHubbs	21
Conglossian	22	+2
kflinderman	22
KJdkaslknv	22
LeWoofle	22	Im high on Minnesota, and I believe conference play will prove that they should be higher than 22.
monkeymatt1836	22
placid_salad	22
r0sco	22
spsellers	22
ThaCarter	22
BosskOnASegway	23
DisraeliEers	23
DrKennethJNoisewater	23
lillipup03	23
plannedsickdays	23
tmothy07	23
Fmeson	24
royrules22	24
cinciforthewin	25
grjohnst	25
Our-Gardian-Angel	25	Both SP+ and FPI peg Minnesota as a top-25 team, even if the pollsters don't (yet). Even if they've played a couple cupcakes, the Gophers still don't usually obliterate even inferior teams the way they have thus far. This might be the best team of the PJ Fleck era in the Twin Cities and they don't have Mike Sanford dragging them down as offensive coordinator. No one should be surprised if they emerge as Big Ten West champions this year. (Week 2: Minnesota 62, Western Illinois 10; Record: 2-0)
tdeff19	25

Provisional Poll Voters

User	Rank	Reason
Amane_VIII	2
grahamca	6
RJEP22	9	(2-0) 34.894 points
Ruhrgebietheld	11
zachismadewell	11
mcdsmaster8824	13
Huntkv	14
CanAWoodChuckChuck	15
Spacesurfer6	15
BearsAreGreat1	16
Dawg-Bite	17	This team is gonna win the Big 10 West
JBonkies	18
notsmartprivate	19
bethe2ndmouse	20
buckeye4249	20
Cooliamabeast	20
FourteenClocks	20
jaybigs	20
PolitiBob	20
RedassAddict	20
JustinMSU21	21
mthompson2320	21
samspopguy	21
Dan20698	22
MrOrcaDood	22	Looking like the favorites in the B1G West. Will beat up Colorado next week, then the MSU game should tell us a lot about who they are.
Megalomanizac	23
PaulMSURon	23
perspicacious_crumb	23
Guhraffe	24
the_lost_carrot	24
TimHowardsHands	24
TwoStepCEO	24
mill1634	25	Dropped: Notre Dame (8), Florida (13), Wisconsin (15), Pitt (18) Next best: Notre Dame, Florida, Oregon State, Oregon, Marshall

Blue = Human
Red = Computer
Green = Hybrid

Bold = before the AP poll was published
Normal = after the AP poll was published

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