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

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

The latest NCAA men’s basketball AP and Coaches Polls won’t release until Monday afternoon. Still, there are ways to feel around for where the Minnesota Gophers might land on such lists, come Monday, after upsetting the #4 Iowa Hawkeyes on Christmas night.

Jeff Goodman (an AP Poll voter) of Stadium.com releases a daily top-25 every day on Twitter and he just dropped Saturday’s version in the last hour. Richard Pitino’s Gophers made their 2020-21 debut at #18.

Updated Goodman Top 25

– One Big Ten team replaces another (Minnesota for Michigan State)
– Iowa drops
– Now there’s no Duke, UK, Louisville, Virginia or Michigan State pic.twitter.com/hUIDHRC70c

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) December 26, 2020

Friday night’s victory also moved the Gophers to 1-1 in Big Ten play, good for 7th, and 8-1 overall. They’ll have plenty of opportunities to move up the conference and national rankings over the next three weeks.

Upcoming schedule

The Minnesota Gophers will not play vs non-ranked opponents in that span. It starts Monday vs the (#12) Michigan State Struggling Spartans. We’ll see if Izzo remains top-25 on Monday after back-to-back losses vs Northwestern and Wisconsin.

Speaking of skunks, they will welcome Pitino and Co to the Kohl Center on Thursday. So if you thought Friday night was a rollercoaster… you’d better buckle up. That was only a sample of what’s to come. Welcome to the 2020-21 Big Ten men’s basketball conference.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team was underrated entering this season. Pitino’s jumbled squad of transfers and home-town boys have already proven that with a 6-0 start, even if most Americans wouldn’t recognize the universities they’ve defeated.

The Gophers have only played two teams inside the KenPom national top-135. They beat Loyola Marymount TWICE (#133) and Boston College in the B1G/ACC Challenge. BC is barely hanging on to their top-100 spot, at 97.

So while there’s no need for Richard Pitino to apologize for any of his team’s wins so far, the Minnesota Gophers still have a lot to prove. But they’ll get two opportunities to show they’re “for real” this week.

The #Gophers have Illinois on Tuesday and Saint Louis on Sunday. https://t.co/FdaYG7dwS2

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) December 14, 2020

Tuesday, Dec. 15 – 6:00P: @ #6 Illinois (4-2)

The Fighting Illini were supposed to “be back” in 2020, touting two of the best players in the nation (both preseason All-B1G) in Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu, but the start of their season has been shakier than expected. The new AP and Coaches Polls will drop this afternoon but, as you can see above in Jeff Goodman’s rankings, the Illini will fall down both.

Missouri surprised everyone when they upset Illinois on Saturday, handing them their second loss of the season. The first came vs #2 Baylor, but wasn’t really held against them.

Still, the Illini barely snuck past Ohio University 77-75 on November 27, when the orange allowed future NBA point guard, Jason Preston go off on them for 31 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. If you haven’t heard about Ohio’s Preston, I recommend you do some digging.

He’s the underdog story (Steph Curry style) of the 2020-21 college basketball season. Ohio should make the tourney this year and it wouldn’t shock me to see them make a run. shooting Preston into immediate stardom. But on Tuesday, the Illini play against another team with an NBA point guard, in the Gophers’ Marcus Carr.

So both teams enter Tuesday’s game with plenty to prove. The Minnesota Gophers need to prove they belong in conversations with the other NCAA Tournament teams in the Big Ten. Illinois needs to prove they’re not all preseason hype. If they lose, they will take a long tumble down (and possibly out of) the rankings next week.

Sunday, Dec. 20 – 7:30P: vs Saint Louis (4-0)

Saint Louis is trying to become the latest mid-major basketball program to turn itself into a powerhouse via the right coaching hire. They hired Travis Ford before the 2016 season, after he and Oklahoma State “mutually parted ways”, following a rough three-season stretch from 2013-2015. He made 5 NCAA tournaments in 8 seasons at OSU.

Here is the trajectory of Saint Louis basketball after hiring Ford.

Saint Louis is already knocking on top-25 rankings around the country. You can see them tied for #25 in Jeff Goodman’s rankings above and Seth Davis (The Athletic) has them ranked #19 overall.

The Billikens aren’t the only team that has Seth Davis’ eye, however. If the Minnesota Gophers can split these two games, they could climb into Davis’ rankings next week. If you didn’t know, Seth Davis’ top-25 rankings count toward the AP Poll.

Another Big Ten team, Minnesota, is also undefeated but has just one top-100 win, and that came in overtime at home against rapidly sinking Boston College. The Golden Gophers have a big week coming up with a game Tuesday at Illinois and a home game against Saint Louis on Sunday. If they earn a split, they very well could have a number next to their name next week.

Seth Davis – The Athletic (12/14)

Go 7-1 with one victory over a top-25 team and we could see the Gophers grace the top-25 polls next week…

Eric Strack | 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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pic.twitter.com/RXRdHjB7XY

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 13, 2019

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The Minnesota Gophers are starting to feel that respect we’ve all been looking for… except for Joey Galloway, who helps host the ESPN CFB Playoff Rankings release party every Tuesday, and believes the Gophers are UNDERRATED at their new #8 position in the College Football Playoff Rankings that were just released for this week, about 10 minutes ago.

This is another awesome moment for the Minnesota Gophers. It is crazy to think that one more victory could legitimately have us knocking on the door of the top-4… Even I am starting to be surprised at where this team is. And I’ve been leading the Fleck Rowers since the beginning. But, that’s where we are. And, who are we to doubt PJ Fleck, at this point? We haven’t won in Iowa for 20 years and that’s the exact type of negative statistic the Gopher Football team has been getting off of our back all year long.

As I’ve written and said many times over the last month, these rankings and polls will take care of themselves as long as we keep winning. It sure is getting fun to wait for their release though, isn’t it…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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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

With another win and more positive energy surrounding the program, the Gophers are climbing up both the AP and Coaches Top-25 Polls:

Auburn rejoins the top 10 in the @AmwayUS Coaches Poll as Wisconsin tumbles after upset loss to Illinois. https://t.co/mx5GHHtae4 pic.twitter.com/XNfUtPreju

— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) October 20, 2019

POLL ALERT: Ohio State jumps Clemson to No. 3 behind Alabama, LSU in AP Top 25 presented by @askRegions; all five SEC teams in poll are in top 10.

Full poll: https://t.co/DWCBw9xytP

More AP college football: https://t.co/lyS9Elfx0c pic.twitter.com/PesL3BgsjC

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) October 20, 2019

I’m not upset or ecstatic about where the Gophers landed for Week 9. I love the fact that they are in the rankings and I love the fact that they continue to move up the list. These are very important for recruiting. I don’t really care whether they are overrated or underrated on either list, though. The Gophers are still undefeated and they will have 3 major tests before playing any postseason football.

The 2020 season is almost undoubtedly a success already, unless something catastrophic happens between now and game 12. How big time the season ends up being and where the Gophers finish in the both Top-25 Polls, will be dictated by the final 3 of 4 weeks vs Penn State, Iowa, and Wisconsin. None of that matters right now, though. We saw how quickly your season can turn on its head when Illinois upset Wisconsin this weekend.

Right now, it’s Maryland season. We’ll wait until that season is over, before we start worrying about who comes to town after, where we end up in the rankings, or what bowl game we will play in.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

They received 5 less (2 total) in the AP Poll this week: pic.twitter.com/CuIIN6lHLJ

The latest CFB rankings came out today and the Gophers football team received two top 25 votes in the new AP Top 25 and three in the coaches poll. That’s 5 less votes in the AP and 2 more in the Coaches, compared to the week prior. 

Coming off of a too-close-for-comfort game against one of FCS’ best, South Dakota State Jackrabbits, it’s nice to see these polls acknowledge that SDSU was no cake-walk (like the South Alabama Jaguars should have been for the far less talented Nebraska Cornhuskers). 

However, the Gophers will have their hands full once again on Saturday night in Fresno, California, where they take on the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Gophers barely beat the Bulldogs at TCF last season. If the Gophers are able to beat Fresno, they’d certainly receive more votes next week. An added bonus would be Nebraska struggling or maybe even losing to the powerhouse that is the Colorado Buffaloes.

The Gophers havn’t been ranked since the 2014 season, when they were ranked 22 in the country.  This was when David Cobb, Max Williams, and Mitch Leidner were leading the team. 

This is by far P.J. Fleck’s most talented team, since arriving in Minnesota. With worthy NFL talent on both sides of the ball. Senior leaders Tyler Johnson and Carter Coughlin will look to carry young Sophomore Quarterback Tanner Morgan and the rest of the Gophers while rowing the boat to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena California. 

Cam Thompson | Minnesota Sports Fan