Minnesota football bowl projections following week 11
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are coming off their second bye week of the 2025 season and enter week 12 of the college football season with a 6-3 (4-2) record, with a date against the No. 9-ranked Oregon Ducks on the horizon.
The Golden Gophers are already bowl eligible after a 23-20 win in overtime against the Michigan State Spartans in week 10, marking the fifth consecutive season the program has achieved bowl eligibility, tying a program record.
Now, the only question for P.J. Fleck’s program is where the Gophers will be headed this postseason. Below, Gophers Nation takes a look at the latest bowl projections for Minnesota.
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On3 (McMurphy): Pinestripe Bowl (Dec. 27 – Bronx, NY) – Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota
On3’s Brett McMurphy projects the Golden Gophers to the Pinstripe Bowl, a change from last week’s projection to the Rate Bowl in Phoenix. Minnesota and Pittsburgh have met 12 times, with their last matchup in 1992. The Panthers have won the last three contests between the two programs dating back to 1958.
Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan): Music City Bowl (Dec. 30 – Nashville, TN) – LSU vs. Minnesota
Lassan has been projecting Minnesota to the Music City Bowl for several weeks now and continues to do so. The Gophers’ projected opponent continues to be the SEC’s LSU Tigers. The two programs have never met on the gridiron.
CBS Sports: Rate Bowl (Dec. 26 – Phoenix, AZ) – Iowa State vs. Minnesota
CBS Sports projects the Golden Gophers to head to Phoenix for the holiday season with a projected opponent of Iowa State. The two programs have met 26 times all time, with the Gophers winning 22 of those previous 26 matchups. Their last meeting came in 2009, a 14-13 win for the Cyclones in the Insight Bowl.
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Pinestripe Bowl (Dec. 27 – Bronx, NY) – Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota
Kyle Bonagura from ESPN projects the Gophers to the Pinstripe Bowl to face the Pittsburgh Panthers, much like Brett McMurphy.
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Music City Bowl (Dec. 30 – Nashville, TN) – LSU vs. Minnesota
Another repeat projection, Mark Schlabach projects Minnesota to Nashville to face the SEC’s LSU Tigers in the Music City Bowl. LSU is currently led by interim head coach Frank Wilson.
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