Head coach of Minnesota football P.J. Fleck knew his young, injured team would have a tremendous task if they were to enter the Shoe and compete, much less defeat, Ohio State. He was also aware that it was a fantastic chance.
As it happened, the Golden Gophers’ rather strong first-half performance was quickly reversed in the second half in the third quarter, as Ohio State easily pulled away for a 37-3 victory.
Following his team’s endeavour, Fleck met with the media to talk about what he observed from his team and to share some intriguing remarks about Ohio State. We attended his press conference, and we’re able to share Fleck’s entire remarks below courtesy of our Buckeyes Wire YouTube channel.
Fleck discusses the value of Marvin Harrison to Ohio State, the skill and depth of the Buckeyes, and even the distinctions between Michigan and OSU.
Since you are aware of the week ahead, you can anticipate a plethora of coverage leading up to this Saturday’s big matchup with Michigan. Say what’s on your mind and come back each day until The Game.
In terms of college football hierarchy, no one will mix up the Wisconsin Badgers with Georgia, Oklahoma, and Alabama.
All of those teams have participated in the national title game or won numerous national titles since 2002.
However, Wisconsin’s bowl streak since that year places it in exclusive company.
In a thrilling match at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday night, Wisconsin defeated Nebraska 24–17 in overtime to extend its bowl streak to 22 seasons. The only FBS programmes with longer streaks are Georgia, at 27, and Oklahoma, at 25, while Alabama is right behind Wisconsin as the other programme with 20 consecutive bowl appearances.
This season, Oklahoma is 9-2, but Georgia, the two-time defending national champion, and Alabama, the three-time champion in the CFP era, are once again vying for the title. In contrast, the Badgers are merely 6-5 and well out of the national championship conversation following a largely underwhelming campaign in head coach Luke Fickell’s first year.
However, the programme has consistently concluded its season with a bowl game; this trend began under Barry Alvarez and has been carried out by Bret Bielema, Gary Anderson, Paul Chryst, Jim Leonhard, and now Fickell.
Here are some immediate thoughts on Braelon Allen’s heroic performance leading Wisconsin to victory on Saturday, as well as the Badgers’ bowl game qualification.
The Kentucky football team lost 17-14 to South Carolina on Saturday, dropping to 6-5 overall and finishing 3-5 in the Southeastern Conference. Here are some thoughts on the defeat that go beyond the scoreboard.
Programme heading in the incorrect way
The fact that Kentucky would be playing more teams from the current West Division in addition to new members Texas and Oklahoma in the new-look SEC without divisions had already raised concerns about the program’s ability to sustain its recent success, but the outcomes of the previous two seasons indicate there are even more reasons to be concerned.
It was evident two years ago that Kentucky had risen to the top of the SEC East standings, surpassing South Carolina, Missouri, Florida, and Vanderbilt. Florida is currently the only team in that group that hasn’t defeated Kentucky in the previous two years. Kentucky can no longer think it is ahead of South Carolina and Missouri, but Vanderbilt appears headed for another season without a victory in the SEC. Since Mark Stoops signed the contract extension that put him at the seventh highest paid college football coach, Kentucky is now 7-8.
Whether the SEC decides to maintain its conference schedule at eight games or expand to nine, South Carolina is likely to be one of Kentucky’s yearly opponents going forward, so losing back-to-back to the Gamecocks makes it even more difficult.
to envision Kentucky remaining competitive in the 16-team SEC.
This season, Kentucky had already lost to three ranked teams. To even get to a bowl game, South Carolina still needs to defeat Clemson the following week.
Next week’sKentucky ‘s Cup rivalry game between Kentucky and Louisville, ranked 10th and 10th respectively, will determine whether or not the 2023 season is remembered as anything other than a huge letdown. The manner that disappointment transpired suggests that the ramifications might extend beyond a single season.
The Wildcats’ loss to South Carolina was especially detrimental to their chances of qualifying for a higher-profile bowl because it not only kept them out of the seven-win category but also gave South Carolina an advantage in their meeting should both teams be vying for the same bowl.
In the league’s bowl selection process, the SEC’s “Pool of Six” bowls—ReliaQuest, Gator, Texas, Music City, Duke’s Mayo, and Liberty—all technically carry equal weight. However, because the ReliaQuest Bowl—formerly known as the Outback Bowl—is a New Year’s Day bowl held in Florida, teams vying for those games typically consider it to be their top target. Since the Gator Bowl is the other competition, it also has some extra benefits.game that group played in Florida.
Even if Kentucky defeated South Carolina, both of those games were probably out of reach, but they are now undoubtedly off the table. As should be the case this year, the SEC has sent West Division teams to the Texas Bowl when they were available under the current selection procedure. Since Kentucky played in the Music City Bowl the previous season, it will not be participating this time. The league office also assigns teams to the “Pool of Six” games so as to avoid having teams play twice in a short period of time.
That means Kentucky still has options in the “Pool of Six” with the Duke bowls of Mayo and Liberty. The Kentucky Bowl is where South Carolina last competed, so the Wildcats may still have an advantage there., but if any upsets during the last week of the regular season knock Georgia, Alabama, or Missouri out of the top 10, lowering the other SEC teams in the rankings, then all bets are off.
In that case, Kentucky still has a chance to miss out on the “Pool of Six,” particularly if it falls to Louisville in the regular-season finale. Following that, Kentucky would advance to the Gasparilla or Birmingham bowls. ESPN assigns the teams for those matches.
