The “whoa” factor

Tempe, Ariz. — Who wants to be here more? That’s the angle that many media members took during this morning’s final press conferences for both teams.

Sure, the Gophers have been here, in Tempe, for three out of the past four seasons. Advantage…or disadvantage?

That all depends on whom you ask.

“I think it gives us an excellent advantage,” said Minnesota linebacker Lee Campbell. We have been past that “wow” factor. Just from the standpoint of most of the seniors on this team and the leadership, we mean business. We’re here to get the win and to do whatever it takes. We’ve had 15 great practices, and our guys are really excited to play tomorrow.”

Minnesota seemed like a determined football team this morning, to me at least. Then, there’s Iowa State’s side of this debate.

“We’ve approached it certainly as a game week and we have been through 12 games this season with this football team. Today is Friday of game week, and our routine is very normal,” said Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads. “I think we go a little bit overboard in keeping our tem informed every single step of the way, what exactly it is they’re doing, why they’re doing it and how long they’re doing it for. I don’t believe anything has caught our team off-guard this week in what they have had to do. I think we will roll into tomorrow night’s game ready for kickoff just like we have for 12 previous games this season.”