With Max Brosmer at quarterback and Darius Taylor lining up behind him, this is the most balanced Minnesota offensive attack of PJ Fleck’s tenure, which includes the most prolific offensive season in University history, 2019. Their defense has been even better, ranking 9th in the country in yards allowed per game and 12th in points allowed.

Minnesota Gophers snubbed in top 25 polls

Unfortunately, neither NCAA coaches or media members believe in the 6-3 (4-2) Minnesota Golden Gophers. On Sunday afternoon, both Associated Press and USA Today updated their top 25 college football polls. PJ Fleck’s 2024 squad was on neither. But hey, at least they got some votes (14) in the coaches poll (USA Today). They didn’t even get one vote from media members (AP).

POLL ALERT: Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, Miami and Texas top AP Top 25 ahead of first CFP rankings, unbeaten Indiana into top 10.

Full poll: https://t.co/7dTTUiSC1j pic.twitter.com/PIeopaPWDg

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) November 3, 2024

Look, I was hopeful the Gophers would find their way into the top 25, but knew they might fall short. But how in the world do they not get any votes from the media voters, who hold votes in the Associated Press Top 25?

Has nobody been watching Big Ten football this season? If there are any AP voters that are located in Minnesota, they need to answer to why the Gophers were not in their top 25. How do you watch this team on a week-in, week-out basis, and still not vote them in?

Related: What We Learned About Bowl Bound Minnesota Gophers in Crucial Victory Over Illinois

Next, the Minnesota Gophers will travel to Piscataway, NJ, to play the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Then, they’ll get their real test, when Penn State comes to town. No matter where they rank now, the only poll that matters in college football these days is the CFP Poll. That drops Tuesday. If the Gophers win out, they will be in the conversation for the first ever 12-team college football playoff.

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. USC
7. Kentucky
8. Tennessee
9. Oklahoma State
10. North Carolina State
11. Penn State
12. Utah
13. Oregon
14. Ole Miss
15. Washington
16. Baylor
17. Texas A&M
18. Oklahoma
19. BYU
20. Arkansas
21. Minnesota
22. Wake Forest
23. Florida State
24. Pittsburgh
25. Kansas State

It’s the first time the Gophers have been ranked in the AP Top-25 since the 2020 season. Next Saturday, Minnesota will welcome Purdue to Huntington Bank Stadium, when they’ll have a chance to climb even higher.

The USA Today Coaches Poll also released on Sunday. There, the Minnesota Gophers debuted at #23 in the country.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Defense, under coordinator Joe Rossi (The Guru), has become the Gophers’ calling card. Transfer portal additions in the secondary could make the difference in success and failure in 2022. Minnesota’s schedule, one of the most favorable in the conference, should help.

On Monday, the Associated Press released their annual preseason top-25 poll. PJ Fleck’s newest iteration of football Gophers weren’t able to sneak into the official rankings, but they did receive plenty of votes. 31 votes, to be exact; good for 32nd most in the country. Six Big Ten teams ranked higher than the Minnesota Gophers. Nine teams received votes. USC (#14) received 711 votes and UCLA received 2 votes. Both teams will leave the PAC-12 and join the Big Ten in 2024.

Note: #Gophers football team received 31 votes in preseason Associated Press poll released Monday. The U is effectively 32nd ranked team in the nation. Minnesota's opponents: No. 15 Michigan State; No. 18 Wisconsin; Iowa (163 votes); Penn State (160); Purdue (17); Nebraska (1).

— Andy Greder (@andygreder) August 15, 2022

• (2) Ohio State – 1,506 votes
• (8) Michigan – 1,203 votes
• (15) Michigan State – 631 votes
• (18) Wisconsin – 365 votes
• (28) Iowa – 163 votes
• (29) Penn State – 160 votes
• (32) Minnesota – 31 votes
• (34) Purdue – 17 votes
• (47) Nebraska – 1 vote

Wide Open West

The top of the Big Ten lives in the East Division, at least for now. We’ll see what the conference does with the additions of USC and UCLA, possibly others, over the next few years. And it’s still ruled by Ohio State, who’s likely to represent the Big Ten in the 2022-23 College Football Playoff.

What does the AP Poll tell us about the Gophers’ chances in 2022? That the West Division is, again, wide open. Yes, the Wisconsin Badgers are heavy favorites, deservedly, but that’s been the case for the last two seasons. And in both 2020 and 2021, the Badgers sat home on Championship Weekend. Something they aren’t used to.

Since splitting into two divisions in 2011, Wisconsin had never missed out on two straight Big Ten Championship games, until Northwestern took the title in 2020 and Iowa beat out the Gophers in 2021. Now, Bucky is in danger of sitting home for three-straight years.

This year’s Rose Bowl is expected to be the last to feature a power PAC-12 vs Big Ten matchup, given the PAC 12 may not even exist after the 2022 season. If that’s really the case, a return of the once dominant Minnesota Gophers, who haven’t been in the Rose Bowl parade since 1962, almost feels too romantic for reality…

Coaches Poll

Until the College Football Playoff Rankings released during the season, the AP Poll is the most trusted. But the USA Today Coaches Poll is also referenced early and often, throughout the year. Those preseason rankings released over the weekend. The Minnesota Gophers received 6 votes, good for 44th in the nation.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Richard Pitino and the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team is officially in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll (AP Poll), voted on by college basketball writers across the country.

They debut at #21 and there are now NINE Big Ten men’s basketball teams in the AP Top-25.

Hello, @AP_Top25 pic.twitter.com/XGiMivoVnQ

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) December 28, 2020

This is the first time the Gopher men’s basketball team has been ranked since 2017-2018, when they jumped out to a hot start, climbing to #12 overall, before Reggie Lynch assault accusations derailed a hope-ridden season. Minnesota finished 15-17 that year.

The Coaches Poll will release a bit later today, but I expect them to fall around the same area.

Back Tonight

The Minnesota Gophers are back in action tonight vs Michigan State, at The Barn. MSU is coming off back-to-back losses to start Big Ten play and have dropped to #17 in the AP. They’ll be hungry but Pitino’s Gophers should be too.

This is only the second game in a gauntlet stretch of 7 ranked teams in 7 games.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

College football is right around the corner…at least for some teams. Even after the Big Ten bowed out of fall football this season, the preseason AP Top-25 Poll was released Monday morning, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers ranked 19th.

Preseason @AP_Top25 poll. All teams considered WHETHER THEY PLAY THIS FALL OR NOT

1-Clem
2-OhSt
3-Bama
4-UGA
5-OU
6-LSU
7-PSU
8-UF
9-Ore
10-ND
11-Aub
12-Wis
13-A&M
14-Texas
15-OkSt
16-Mich
17-USC
18-UNC
19-Minn
20-Cincy
21-UCF
22-Utah
23-ISU
24-Iowa
25-Tenn

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 24, 2020

Let Us Cry For a Moment

All Division I schools were eligible for the preseason poll, regardless of their plans to play or not this fall. Yet with the Big Ten and PAC-12 cancelling (postponing, whatever) their fall seasons, this will be the first and last poll any teams from those conferences are a part of.

Alongside the Gophers, five other Big Ten teams made the list. Those teams included Ohio State (2), Penn State (7), Wisconsin (12), Michigan (16), and Iowa (24).

With the ACC, Big 12, and SEC continuing with their plans to play this fall, it will be interesting to see what the upcoming rankings hold, being they aren’t expected to rank teams that aren’t playing games. Basically, it’s an SEC fan’s wet dream.

19 is the highest the Gophers have placed in the preseason poll, since 1969. That season, the Gophers lost their first game to Arizona State, and immediately fell from the rankings. They lost six of their first seven games that season (tying with the University of Ohio in week 2). It’s safe to say, that’s not something the 2020 Gophers were planning on doing.

I guess we’ll never know, either way.

via GIPHY

2020 Hype is All We Have

Hype around the 2020 Minnesota Gophers squad was rightfully high, pre-cancellation. They were hoping to push for a Top-10 spot, by mid-season, and a Big Ten West championship when it was all over. But, that is all out the window after Big Ten commissioner, Kevin Warren (along with university presidents) put the kibosh on the season.

Hopefully we get to see the Gophers play, come January, but I’m sick of guessing and hoping, at this point.

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan

Here's a full look at the November 2️⃣6️⃣ #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee Rankings.

Is your team in this week?

?? pic.twitter.com/AaGN1tMsUz

— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 27, 2019

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The College Football Playoff Rankings just dropped and they get more and more interesting (and important) as the weeks tick by. This week, Minnesota landed at #8, coming in as the 2nd-lowest of all 1-loss teams, who still have a chance to make the playoff (MN | #8, Utah | #6, Alabama | #5, Georgia | #4, Oklahoma | #7, Baylor | #9).

Yeah, the Gophers are probably getting screwed again but, I’ve been on this soap box for weeks now, winning will cure all of that. Obviously, as long as we beat Wisconsin on Saturday, we’re Rose Bowl bound, at the least. Now, if you beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship on December 7, then everything gets REAL interesting. IF we win out, beating both Wisconsin and Ohio State over the next two weekends, here’s how the Gophers get into the CFP:

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Recapping Northwestern and previewing GameDay/Wisconsin with Ryan Burns (GopherIllustrated.com)

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Utah still has to play Oregon in the PAC-12 Championship but even if they win, they won’t have 2 straight wins over top-15th teams like the Gophers would, should they win out (Wisconsin, Ohio State). If Utah beats Oregon in the PAC-12 Championship, the committee would have quite the decision on their hands.

Oklahoma plays @ Oklahoma State this weekend, who is ranked in the Top-25. The Big-12 doesn’t have a Conference Championship Game though, so win or lose, I don’t know how they would keep them ahead of the Gophers, after the two big victories they would need to be in this situation.

Georgia and LSU will play each other in the SEC Championship next weekend. As long as LSU wins, Georgia will be out of the conversation. If Georgia wins… well blow up everything.

Alabama will probably be the team that any of these other one-loss schools will be dealing with. They are sitting in the 5-spot right now and, unless another team finds a way to jump them before, they will be the natural team to slide in if Georgia exits.

The College Football Playoff is still very much alive for the Gophers but first, you need to beat Wisconsin on Saturday. As long as you do that and clinch a Rose Bowl birth, everything else is just a bonus.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

PSA: The Gophers also moved up earlier this week in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll, to #9.

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Meanwhile, Scotty Frost is still upset about how Minnesota football players took the warm-up field vs them, before fans are allowed into the stadium. He’s upset about kids wearing hoodies, I guess? But he is wearing a hoody in that press conference… Idk, he’s a strange fellow. But like I mentioned to many who were discussing this on Twitter, we had a bunch of guys who weren’t wearing shirts at all before that cold and snowy game… so that cancels the guys who Frost was upset about, who had hoodies on, I think.

Lots to unpack here but I’ll go w/ the 2 obvious ones for Scotty Frost…

1.) You should probably just worry about winning another game this year.

2.) You’re wearing a hoodie.. pic.twitter.com/jYUnJaRCqP

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 27, 2019

Lol the shirtless guys make up for the hoodies right? pic.twitter.com/CJq1f7VEhs

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 27, 2019

But now, we have some new fodder (that also doesn’t really matter). The new Coaches Poll and AP Poll just dropped and the Gophers are moving on up, as expected. The now sit at #13 in each poll. Here are the polls now:

AP Poll:

1. LSU
2. ALABAMA
3. OHIO STATE
4. CLEMSON
5. PENN STATE
6. FLORIDA
7. OREGON
8. GEORGIA
9. UTAH
10. OKLAHOMA
11. AUBURN
12. BAYLOR
13. MINNESOTA
14. MICHIGAN
15. SMU
16. NOTRE DAME
17. CINCINNATI
18. WISCONSIN
19. IOWA
20. APPALACHIAN STATE
21. BOISE STATE
22. KANSAS STATE
23. WAKE FOREST
24. MEMPHIS
25. SAN DIEGO STATE

Coaches Poll:

1. ALABAMA
2. LSU
3. CLEMSON
4. OHIO STATE
5. PENN STATE
6. FLORIDA
7. GEORGIA
8. OREGON
9. OKLAHOMA
10. UTAH
11. BAYLOR
12. AUBURN
13. MINNESOTA
14. SMU
15. MICHIGAN
16. NOTRE DAME
17. WISCONSIN
18. CINCINNATI
19. IOWA
20. APPALACHIAN STATE
21. BOISE STATE
22. WAKE FOREST
23. MEMPHIS
24. TEXAS
25. KANSAS STATE

There are a few fun things I take from this. First, we are finally ranked higher than anyone else in the Big Ten West just BARELY. At the same time, we are by far the lowest-ranked 8-0 team in a power five conference. The top-5 have perfect records and so do the Baylor Bears (#11 in Coaches & #12 in AP) but the rest all have at least one loss. Don’t feel slighted though. The “experts” aren’t wrong about who the Gophers have played. The schedule isn’t impressive. That’s fine.

Here’s what they don’t know yet, that I do. It isn’t going to matter. The Gophers are really good, no matter the opponent. The only thing I’m upset about, is that we have to wait two weeks before we get to prove it to the nation. I don’t care if College Gameday is there or not. The Gophers are winning this game vs Penn State. Then, they’ll go to Iowa with a chance to make their own history over the last two games of the regular season.

So, while we all fodder about things that really don’t matter in the long run… everyone is really just waiting, for 13 days from now with a clenched lip, when we can open some eyes for real.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan