2024 Minnesota Gophers Bowl Projections
Last weekend the Minnesota Gophers entered their game against Rutgers with the arrow pointing straight up. They were riding a four-game winning streak, and a victory likely would have had them ranked in the top 25 on Sunday.
Instead, PJ Fleck’s squad stumbled into arguably the worst loss of their season, against the Scarlet Knights and ex-Gopher quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis. Not only did the loss prevent them from being ranked, it pushed their bowl game possibilities down a rung or two, as well.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers picked up their sixth win of the season, against a ranked Illinois team two weeks ago, making them bowl eligible, at least. Not all hope is lost. Minnesota has two games remaining on their schedule.
As of now, here’s what bowl games the Gophers are projected to play in. PJ Fleck is 5-0 in bowl games as Minnesota head coach.
Armed Forces Bowl – December 27, 2024 – Fort Worth, TX
The earliest bowl game currently projected for Minnesota is the Armed Forces Bowl. The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy has the Gophers squaring off against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Minnesota has not previously played in the Armed Forces Bowl, but they saw West Virginia in a recent Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Today, we want to honor and thank all our past and present service members for protecting our country and representing our flag. You are the reason we hold the Armed Forces Bowl.#LMAFB | #BowlForTheBrave | #VeteransDay pic.twitter.com/j2IjZrfmV4
— LM Armed Forces Bowl (@ArmedForcesBowl) November 11, 2024
The Armed Forces Bowl is played at TCU’s home field and was played between James Madison and Air Force last season. West Virginia is 5-4 on the season and has contests against Baylor, UCF, and Texas Tech to end the year. This would certainly be the lowest caliber bowl currently projected for Minnesota.
Related: What We Learned About the Minnesota Gophers in Soul Crushing Loss vs Rutgers
TransPerfect Music City Bowl – December 30, 2024 – Nashville, TN
Arguably the most prominent among current projections, the Music City Bowl certainly boasts the best destination for the Gophers. Nashville is an awesome city, and Minnesota fans would likely travel in droves to escape the winter. The Minnesota Vikings are expected to have a good showing at Nissan Stadium this weekend.
get ready, music city! 🎶 football fans, this one’s for you. join us dec. 30th at Nissan Stadium for the ultimate bowl experience!
— TransPerfect Music City Bowl (@MusicCityBowl) November 11, 2024
🎟️ https://t.co/qWJI4UrAeV #transperfectmusiccitybowl #collegefootball pic.twitter.com/834sCYV4aA
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has the Gophers matching up against LSU, which would be a premier opponent. Despite this being a December bowl game, it’s typically one that hosts a team just on the outside of the College Football Playoff. If this were to be achieved, then it likely comes on the heels of two more wins. LSU is currently 21st in the nation and has games left against Florida, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma.
Related: NFL Draft Expert Not Sold on Minnesota Gophers Left Tackle
If this were to be the matchup and the game, Fleck would have another opportunity for a benchmark victory. The ability to knock off an SEC opponent in a prominent bowl would definitely be a resume builder.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl – January 3, 2025 – Charlotte, NC
The Duke’s Mayo Bowl has drawn eyeballs because of the postgame celebration. It’d certainly be a sight to see Minnesota Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck have a mayonnaise condiment dumped all over his head. If he can guide his team to a January bowl, and they come out victorious, I’m sure he wouldn’t care though.
On this podcast, we give you the info to join the college football bowl season conversation, like:
— Last Night's Game (@LastNights_Game) December 27, 2023
Todays @DukesMayoBowl between @WVUfootball– @UNCFootball using the post-game celebration "mayo dump" to stand out from other bowl games and gain notoriety https://t.co/NzHgE4XDrZ pic.twitter.com/9j5h1MFJEJ
247 Sports has Minnesota matching up with Syracuse in this scenario. The Mayo Bowl pits Big Ten and ACC schools against each other. The Orange are currently 6-3 with games left against Cal, UConn, and Miami.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach also sees the Gophers here, but has them facing off against Louisville. The Cardinals are also 6-3. Their remaining games come against Stanford, Pittsburgh, and Kentucky.
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Minnesota is certainly a popular pick for the Mayo Bowl as The Athletic has them there as well (and facing Louisville). The first is against No. 6 ranked Penn State. Win that, and a lot of things become possible.
If they lose against the Nittany Lions, then PJ better go into Madison and take The Axe back from the Badgers in the season finale. Or… maybe everyone just wants to see Fleck with Mayo on his head.
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