Ski-U-Mah! Gophers Win Leads To Huge AP Rankings Jump

It was a hell of a game and a hell of an ending...

I will admit, I haven't watched a lot of Gophers football in the last several years. They were always disappointing. It seemed like there was always a new coach and that particular coach was going to be the one to turn the program around. It always failed.

Even when they hired P.J. Fleck I couldn't help but think...I like his enthusiasm but will it change anything? It will probably be the same old, same old. Well, it looks like I'm wrong.

When the Golden Gophers upset Penn State on Saturday I thought...that should put them around the top 10 right? Or at least just outside it...but I didn't expect this.

The Gophers 31-26 win over #5 ranked Penn State propelled the #13 ranked Gophers to #7. That's the best ranking the Gophers have had in almost 60 years. You have to go back to 1962 when they were ranked #5.

Basically, it's been so long that those rankings didn't really matter as much. At least in terms of the way college teams are now and how much rankings and national championships matter. It's so much bigger now. There's a lot more money involved and  there are so many more college's and so many more great programs.

So, what will happen now? First off, let's not get crazy with National Championship talk.  The Gophers have some big games ahead with #17 Iowa on Saturday and currently #7 ranked Wisconsin to end the regular season. And then there is the Big Ten Championship.

But it looks like they should finish with a really good record and will be able to consider it a very successful season. It will certainly bode well for future recruitment for Coach Fleck and that's an area that this program has not done well in like....ever. For the first time in a long time, the future looks bright for this program. Ski-U-Mah!