Golden Gophers do NOT deserve a Jan. 1st Bowl

What? The Golden Gophers don't deserve a new years day bowl???

Before all the nay-sayers explode, I am a student at the University of Minnesota, I am an avid fan of the team, I am going to the game and I am very excited to watch.

Jerry Kill? Pretty good coach don't get me wrong..
8-4? Pretty good record this season!
2nd in the Big Ten West? That's pretty good!

Wait... You only won against ONE ranked opponent?
Wait... You only have TWO wins against teams with a winning record? (Iowa and Nebraska)
Wait... You can't sell out your 55,000 seat stadium... EVER?

Now, the real reason the Gophers ended up with the Citrus Bowl is because the Big Ten didn't want the Badgers going back to Orlando for consecutive years and because Ole Miss jumped Michigan State out of no where when neither team played. After all the bowl games were selected and seeing as the Badgers weren't heading back to the Citrus Bowl, the Gophers were left with the Citrus Bowl.

As far as I am concerned, the "wait's" outshine the "Pretty Good's". A 2-3 record against winning teams is nothing to be proud of.... at all..... Especially considering that the Gophers really only blew out one team (Iowa). Why didn't we knock the socks of Middle Tennessee or Eastern Illinois? Nobody really gives a crap about Big Ten Coach of the Year, and if we can't sell out a small stadium, how do we sell bowl tickets...? (Somehow we are doing it though...)

Plain and simple: The Gophers do not deserve the Citrus Bowl.

However, what the Gophers do have going for them is they have, at times, shown brilliance on the field. Against Iowa, Michigan, and the first Quarter at Camp Randall, they made their relatively good or so called "good" opponents look like the Glen Mason seasons I grew up with. They also have a traveling fan base FOR ONCE IN A LIFETIME!!! 8,000 tickets sold just from the U is astonishing! Let alone the tickets from ticket master and Stubhub. I can say for certain that the Gophers are certainly moving in an upward trend and that I am excited to watch them kick some tiger tail in Orlando.