School: Minnesota Golden Gophers
First Game: September 29th, 1882
Winning Percentage: .572 (43rd)
Appearances in AP/Rank: 175 (52nd)
Average AP Ranking: 11.9
National Titles: 7
Claim to Fame: Powerhouse pre integration. Sandy Stephens, first black QB to play for Minnesota and only QB to lead them to the Rose Bowl, and first black All-American QB.
Why I have them in my Collection:
While chronicling many sports statistics can be dubious at best when it comes to the history of America and pre integration, one cannot simply discount the history altogether.
What is clear is that prior to World War II, Minnesota was a football powerhouse. They won/claimed 5 national championships between 1934 and 1941. They also had one in 1904 prior to the enshrinement of the forward pass, and another outlier in 1960, which was a part of another golden age for the Golden Gophers.
Despite playing in an incredibly difficult conference for most of their existence, they still maintain an above .500 winning percentage. The new “Big Ten” certainly won’t be any easier, but there are more opportunities to make it to the playoff. I can’t say that I foresee Minnesota making any sort of deep postseason runs moving forward, but there certainly was a time where they absolutely had their finger on the pulse of college football’s national championship landscape.
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