This needs to be the new norm....

[Hornets]

OK, I'm not greedy. I don't need a national championship to satisfy my Rodent desires. Heck, I don't even need a Rose Bowl victory. TODAY is what I need.....a top notch bowl game that follows up a heckuva season.
Just stay competitive and maybe every 2-3 years play in a significant bowl. That's not asking too much, right?

[salamander]

OK, I'm not greedy. I don't need a national championship to satisfy my Rodent desires. Heck, I don't even need a Rose Bowl victory. TODAY is what I need.....a top notch bowl game that follows up a heckuva season.
Just stay competitive and maybe every 2-3 years play in a significant bowl. That's not asking too much, right?

[bubu dubu.]

As long as PJ is here, I think its doable.

I think this type of season came a little too early, but nothing wrong with raising expectations.

Gophers will be losing a good amount on defense due to graduation, and possibly one very key player on D will go pro early.

On offense they will still likely be able to put up 35 whenever the hell they want. Losing Tyler hurts, but they still got some damn good receivers. Rodney Smith is good, but not too much of a loss with Mo looking like he's ready for the role. Hopefully bringing back the whole o-line too

[cmd24]

I'll preface this by saying that I'm a Hawkeye fan first, and then a Gopher fan. The only time of year I don't want to see the Gophers do well is when they're playing Iowa in anything. That said, I only was able to watch the game right before the last TD, and then listened to the end on the radio. I was excited listening to it. The Gophers being good is good for the Big 10. I feel like they should be on, at the very least, the "Hawkeye" schedule of success. Hover right around that NY Day bowl game/next tier down, and then pop one of the big ones every 5-6 years. Of course it would be nice to have the team be better all the time, I think it's a fair spot to shoot for, given they (Hawks/Gophs) have to go thru a tough conference year in and year out. It would be better if they could become the likes of OSU, obviously, but I don't expect either school to do that. I just want to see a good stretch of 8-10 win seasons.

[Slap Shot]

Gophers will be losing a good amount on defense due to graduation, and possibly one very key player on D will go pro early.

While they lost some starters to graduation most of their depth on defense will not graduate. I think they've proven they have the coaching to keep it together and build on this season's successes.

That said they have a tougher conference schedule this year so it's not going to be easy (and probably unlikely) to repeat an 11-win season.

[bubu dubu.]

Gophers will be losing a good amount on defense due to graduation, and possibly one very key player on D will go pro early.

While they lost some starters to graduation most of their depth on defense will not graduate. I think they've proven they have the coaching to keep it together and build on this season's successes.

That said they have a tougher conference schedule this year so it's not going to be easy (and probably unlikely) to repeat an 11-win season.

agree on everything...

Losing a lot of experience on D, but a more talented wave is coming. This is why I say this kind of success may have come a season or two too early. To the casual fan, this kind of season might become their new expectation (and there's nothing wrong with raising expectations). But for fans that pay attention, they realize they had a favorable schedule, and they are losing a lot of experience, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.

but, shit. Even with a favorable schedule, they took down #4 and #8.

I absolutely think something special is being built right now though.

[Night Train]

Was it an anomaly?