Yes, you read that headline correctly.
When Wisconsin reclaimed Paul Bunyan’s Axe yesterday with its dominant 28-14 win over rival Minnesota, a subscript from the game was the Golden Gophers finishing the season at 5-7 and missing a bowl game.
Not that the game needed any more juice or importance in the eyes of the Wisconsin football program and its fans. But with Minnesota entering yesterday at 5-6, the opportunity to keep a rival from playing in a bowl game was an attractive one. And Wisconsin appeared to do exactly that.
For context, the Gophers sat 5-3 just over a month ago. Then a collapse ensued with losses to Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State and now Wisconsin. That program needed a win yesterday in the worst way, and could not get one.
In any normal year, Minnesota’s season would be over. But somehow, the Golden Gophers are going to a bowl game anyway.
We finished with 79 bowl-eligible teams for 82 spots.
James Madison and Jax State both get in.
And so does 5-7 Minnesota (highest APR) if it so chooses.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 26, 2023
That’s right. Minnesota has the highest APR, or Academic Progress Rate, of the five-win teams. So despite a horrible month and forgettable season, the Gophers get to experience all the benefits of bowl season because the program is good at academics.
There’s that side of it. There’s also how the spot opened up, which happened between Hawaii and Colorado State late last night:
Everything about this play is wild
Including the fact that Hawaii making this field goal makes 5-7 Minnesota bowl eligible
College football really is the best https://t.co/PhYYeR3cMi
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 26, 2023
The last-second field goal kept Colorado State at five wins, which meant there would be 81 of the 82 required bowl-eligible teams.
This is not the news any of us expected to wake up to. File this under the unexpected twists and turns of college football.