Could the Gophers Be Headed to New York? Minnesota Football’s Latest Bowl Projections
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 5-3 (3-2) and will take on the Michigan State Spartans (3-5, 0-5) this weekend at Huntington Bank Stadium, hoping to rebound from a 41-3 loss to Iowa. As the calendar flips to November, Gophers Nation takes a look at Minnesota’s bowl projections entering the final month of the regular season.
[Sign up for Gophers Nation TODAY and get the ELITE Gophers coverage!]
On3 (McMurphy):
After their latest setback, McMurphy drops the Gophers from the Music City Bowl to the GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit, which used to be named the Quick Lane Bowl. Their projected opponent would be the MAC’s Miami (OH) Redhawks.
The Gophers have won all five previous matchups against Miami (OH), including both meetings in the P.J. Fleck era, a 26-3 win in 2018, and a 31-26 victory in 2021.
Athlon (Lassan):
Lassan still likes Minnesota’s chances to land in Nashville this December. He remains to project Minnesota to face LSU in the Music City Bowl on December 30. The Gophers and Tigers have never met.
CBS Sports:
CBS Sports is staying consistent with its bowl projections. They continue to have Minnesota set to head to Detroit on December 26 for the GameAbove Sports bowl, their opponent, 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):
Two different projections from ESPN. Mark Schlabach likes the Gophers to head to Phoenix for a December 26 matchup in the Rate Bowl at Chase Field against the Big 12’s Iowa State Cyclones. Minnesota and Iowa State have 26 all-time matchups, meeting regularly between 1895 and 1915, but have only met five times since 1923. The last meeting was the 2009 Insight Bowl, a 14-13 victory for Iowa State.
Kyle Bonagura projects the Gophers to return to the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 27) to face the ACC’s SMU Mustangs. Minnesota and SMU have not met since 1967, their only matchup, a 23-3 win for Minnesota in the Twin Cities.
USA TODAY (Smith):
USA TODAY’s Erick Smith has Minnesota also heading 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.
Stay Tuned
Stay tuned to Gophers Nation as we bring the latest updates on the Golden Gophers’ upcoming matchup against Michigan State.
Join Gophers Nation for ELITE Minnesota football coverage!
GophersNation.com provides everything that passionate Minnesota fans expect and want: Wall-to-wall coverage of Gophers athletics and recruiting.
Join the Gophers Nation community and receive all the benefits that come with it:
- Elite team and recruiting coverage of the program you love.
- Interact with other passionate Gophers fans on our Inside Gophers Nation board
- Exclusive access to the Gophers Nation staff, who are always ready to answer your questions.
- Access to the premier network in college athletics (On3 + Rivals)
- Plus much more!
SIGN UP: Join GophersNation’s Minnesota community today for $1.
