Minnesota Gophers football fans rank near bottom of ‘Happiness Index’
By Travis Young
Minnesota Gophers fans have had enough. Gophers fans rank near bottom of ‘Fan Happiness Index’
The ESPN poll of college football fans through the Fan Happiness Index is based on a system of six categories, which includes program power, rivalry dominance, coaching stability, recruiting trends, revenue growth and twitter buzz. The Minnesota Golden Gophers‘ fan base indicated it is currently at the ‘distraught’ level, finishing in 107th of 128 FBS teams.
But, let’s be honest, the school has had more than its share of scandals over the years, primarily in the highest profile of all sports – football. It is certainly not a stretch to believe that these issues played into the consciousness of the Gophers fan base during this survey. These feelings of disillusionment lead straight to discontentment and apathy.
While P.J. Fleck has brought a stick of dynamite to the party with his frenetic enthusiasm for the program, fans of the gridiron Gophers are rightly in a wait and see mode. After decades of brutal to mediocre results, can anyone blame them? No matter who has led the Gophers for the past 50 years, the best we have seen are low level bowl appearances.
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Fleck sure talks and promotes a good game, but talk is cheap. Perhaps he can elevate the program to a top 15 finish and an upper echelon bowl game in the near future. Let’s wait and see how his own recruits develop and perform in the next 2 – 3 years. Who would have ever thought that the Western Michigan Broncos would have ever appeared on the national football landscape?
While fans of the Gophers placed 11th out of 14 in Big Ten rankings for their level of football satisfaction, fans of other Gopher teams would undoubtedly rank higher. It is hard to fathom that fans at any other school would be happier with the consistent championship level of the Gophers wrestling and hockey teams. Even the men’s basketball team is pointing in the right direction for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, nothing moves the meter like football in the world of collegiate athletics.
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