Welcome to the pre-Christmas mailbag, the last one of 2016. We'll try to do better next year.
Until then:
@BennettESPN how much damage will Minnesota's situation cause for the program long term?
— Kyle Fjetland (@KyleFjetland) December 20, 2016
Brian Bennett: That's an excellent question.
Had the Golden Gophers gone through with their National Funding Holiday Bowl boycott, I think there could have been some serious lasting damage. The players may have been well-intentioned and had some legitimate complaints about due process. But the allegations against the 10 suspended players are pretty ugly.