Mayo bath incoming for Minnesota Gophers P.J. Fleck

For quite some time a ceremonial Gatorade bath has been the way to congratulate a coach following a victory. The Duke’s Mayo Bowl dumping a condiment all over the dome of the winning head coach is the new wave. That’s exactly what P.J. Fleck could be looking at in a couple of weeks.

Source with #Gophers football tells me it’s likely the team will be heading to Charlotte for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Jan 3. Nothing definitive yet but it’s trending in that direction

— Pierre Noujaim (@TheNoujFOX9) December 1, 2024

Although Noujaim cautions that nothing is official, he is plenty connected. As a host of the P.J. Fleck Show on Fox 9, the reporter has a direct line to the top source in the Gophers football program. Bowl announcements will start to trickle out in the coming days as conference championship week is upon us.

Bowl projections have shifted for weeks and multiple destinations for Minnesota have come up. The Gophers became bowl eligible after knocking off a ranked Illinois team on the road. They could have aimed even higher by playing to their abilities against Rutgers, or finishing a complete game against Penn State. Even still, the 7-5 record is better than what was expected of them, and a January bowl game is hardly a bad result.

MAYO BATH pic.twitter.com/GQh03Beue1

— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@DukesMayoBowl) December 30, 2021

Related: 2024 Minnesota Gophers Bowl Projections

The Duke’s Mayo Bowl takes place on January 3, 2025. They have had representatives in person at Huntington Bank Stadium, and there have been multiple results that make them a worthy selection. The opponent won’t be known until a further level of confirmation is achieved, but Syracuse has been a rumored name. The Orange have former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord under center, and they knocked off #8 Miami on Saturday to finish 9-3. A win for Minnesota against an opponent of that ilk would be a substantial one.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Rise Back Up College Football Rankings

Daniel Jackson with an AMAZING catch for @GopherFootball. pic.twitter.com/yOngaMWf43

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 29, 2024

A bowl game will be the final opportunity to see Max Brosmer and Daniel Jackson in a Gophers uniform. The quarterback will go down as one of the best in program history, and both should find themselves as legitimate draft prospects in April.

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!

🎟️ https://t.co/qWJI4UrAeV #transperfectmusiccitybowl #collegefootball pic.twitter.com/834sCYV4aA

— TransPerfect Music City Bowl (@MusicCityBowl) November 11, 2024

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:

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

— Last Night's Game (@LastNights_Game) December 27, 2023

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.

Non-eligible Gophers bowling thanks to high APR

How? A very high APR (Academic Progress Rate), which measures academic success for student athletes, proving it pays off to excel in the classroom as a football program, something Fleck has always taken very seriously.

Related: How Much NIL Can Gophers Pay vs What Transfer QBs Actually Cost?

If all 6-win teams across FBS nation do not fill all of the spots during bowl season, the NCAA turns to APR to decide what 5-win teams they turn to next. Of all the 5-7 teams in the country, the Minnesota Gophers (.992 – 8th in CFB) have the highest APR.

Minnesota Gophers Bowl Projections 2023

So, where will they play and who will their opponent will be? Many of the most reliable projections changed course on their Minnesota bowl pick, after Alabama beat Georgia in Saturday’s SEC Championship game.

The bowl landscape’s latest shuffle now has the Gophers’ most likely destination, in pretty overwhelming fashion, as Phoenix, AZ for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The Quick Lane Bowl (Detroit, MI) had been the favorite, entering Saturday. It’s still possible, but much less likely.

Related: Phenom Freshman Darius Taylor Announces He’s Staying in Minnesota

Opponent projections line Minnesota up against a variety of teams, some power 5, some not. The Gophers’ most likely foe, according to the projections below, is the Kansas Jayhawks. Bleacher Report went outside the box and even has the Gophers in Nashville for the Music City Bowl vs Auburn.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Football Transfer Portal Tracker 2023

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