Minnesota Golden Gophers could rise in Big Ten football power rankings

It’s never too early for a “way too early” Big Ten power ranking! Things will change. Players will hurt the portal, players will transfer in, injuries will happen but for the most part, we have a pretty good understanding of rosters after National Signing Day and so much transfer portal movement.

In each part of this series, we will unveil where each of the 18 teams in the new look conference begins. We started at No. 1 with the revamped Ohio State Buckeyes. Then, the Oregon Ducks come in at the second spot. Coming in at No. 3 were the defending National Champion Michigan Wolverines, who are in a bit of a transition period.

At No. 4, we unveiled the Penn State Nittany Lions, who are returning a lot of talent from their 2023 roster. Then we made way for the old reliable, the Iowa Hawkeyes. At No. 6, another new addition to the conference, the USC Trojans. Next up at No. 7, the Wisconsin Badgers came in, followed by the Washington Huskies at No. 8 in the ranking.

Coming in at No. 9, another pretty consistent program with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They come into the 2024 season as a real wildcard. 

Head coach PJ Fleck has done a lot of good things at Minnesota, raising the floor of a program that was very up and down before he came. On offense, you can expect the Golden Gophers to run the football at a high clip. Sophomore running back Darius Taylor put together a tremendous first season and has a really good offensive line in front of him, led by star left tackle Aireontae Ersery.

Minnesota will be breaking in a new quarterback this season with New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer. He comes to the team after putting together a tremendous 2023 season, throwing for 3,464 yards and scoring 34 total touchdowns. He will be the key to trying to be a balanced offense. 

On defense, you should expect the Golden Gophers to put a good product on the field. The team is tasked with replacing Joe Rossi at defensive coordinator after he left for Michigan State this offseason. Former Rutgers linebacker coach Corey Heatherman comes with a good reputation and has a nice core to work with, including talented pass rushers Danny Striggow and Jah Joyner.