I would love to have Michigan on a regular basis. We don't play them much but it is a good time when we do. Also miss the Wiski games they were pretty fun as well.
27,000 is crazy but I would say 10,000 easy. There were alot more people I talked to trying to get tickets that had no interest in NYC. On top of that there will always be a good crowd against the gophers.
I lived in Minneapolis for a while. I would say it is pretty close to the basketball program in terms of coverage. The football program is definitely #1.