Gophers Bowl Bound: From Phoenix to the Pinstripe, Minnesota’s postseason projections heat up
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are bowl-eligible after a 23-20 overtime win over the Michigan State Spartans last Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium. By being bowl eligible, the Gophers will tie a program record with their fifth straight bowl game and their seventh overall bowl appearance in nine seasons under head coach P.J. Fleck.
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On3 (McMurphy):
Last week, McMurphy had the Gophers in the GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit. This week, the Gophers are now projected to play in the Rate Bowl at Citi Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The Gophers’ projected opponent is currently the Baylor Bears of the Big 12. The Gophers and Bears have met only once, a 34-9 win for the Golden Gophers during the 2000 season in Waco.
Athlon (Lassan):
Lassan continues to project Minnesota to head to Nashville this December for a trip to the Music City Bowl on December 30. The Gophers’ projected opponent continues to be the LSU Tigers. The Gophers and Tigers have never met.
CBS Sports:
CBS Sports continues to project Minnesota to play in the GameAbove Sports Bowl on December 26 with a projected opponent of the Ohio Bobcats. The Gophers have won nine of 11 matchups against the Bobcats all-time, all regular-season matchups. Their last meeting was in 2015 in the Twin Cities, a 27-24 Minnesota victory.
ESPN (Bonagura | Schlabach):
Both ESPN bowl experts are now projecting the Golden Gophers to play in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinestripe Bowl. Bonagura projects the Gophers to play the Pittsburgh Panthers, while Schlabach has the Gophers set to face the SMU Mustangs.
Minnesota and Pittsburgh have played 12 times all-time. The Gophers won each of the first nine matchups between the two programs but lost each of their last three matchups in 1958, 1991, and 1992. The Gophers’ last matchup against SMU was in 1967, a 23-3 win over the Mustangs in Minneapolis.
USA TODAY (Smith):
USA TODAY’s Erick Smith continues to project Minnesota to the Big Apple to play in the Pinstripe Bowl, with their projected opponent being the ACC’s Clemson Tigers. The Gophers and Tigers previously met once in 1985, a 20-13 win for Minnesota in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana.
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