Tag: Minnesota Golden Gophers

First AP Poll from 1936 filled with unexpected football programs

The 1936 AP college football preseason top 25 featured Notre Dame and USC, but also Yale, St. Mary’s, Holy Cross, and Marquette.

The 2024 college football preseason AP poll was released on Monday, giving fans an early look at the projected top teams in the country with the season getting underway in about two weeks.

This is a tradition dating back to 1936, when the first AP poll was released ahead of the first week of the season, ranking the top 20 teams in the nation.

Some of the names on the inaugural list from 1936 look pretty familiar: USC, Notre Dame, and Washington all come in next to each other at six, seven, and eight, while LSU (13) Texas A&M (14) Nebraska (15) and SMU (19) remain candidates to show up in the polls year in and year out.

However, it’s the other names on the list that make this a fun exercise:

Minnesota, Duke, Army, Northwestern, and Purdue is a wild, wild top five. At least all five of those programs still play football, however, which cannot be said for No. 12 St. Mary’s or No. 20 Marquette. Likewise, while Yale (10) Duquesne (11), Fordham (16), and Holy Cross (17) all still have football, each program competes at the FCS level.

As amusing as this list looks now, it apparently was a pretty good predictor in 1936, at least at the top, as the Golden Gophers did in fact win the national title that season.

Where Penn State lands in USA TODAY Sports’ 2024 Big Ten football preseason poll

USA TODAY’s preseason Big Ten media poll has been released. Here is what 13 beat writers see the conference shaking out in 2024.

The USA TODAY Sports Network released its 2024 Big Ten football preseason poll on Monday ahead of the conference media days this week in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The pool takes votes from 13 beat writers who cover the conference for USA TODAY. This is the first edition of the poll featuring the 18-team Big Ten as it enters its first season of expanded play. Newcomers Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC are likely to make a major impact on the season, with the Ducks being a heavy title favorite.

Related: Penn State’s 2024 schedule with game-by-game score predictions, 2024 Big Ten media days full schedule

The two teams that met in the national championship game do not even crack the top two, as 2024 represents a year of rebuilding for the Huskies and Wolverines.

It is always challenging to predict the end-of-season standings, especially with the conference entering an entirely new dynamic this year. However, both preseason polls we have looked at so far put Penn State at No. 3 in the conference.

As we near that point, here is a complete 2024 Big Ten football preseason poll courtesy of our colleagues at USA TODAY:

1. Ohio State (8 first-place votes)

2. Oregon (5 first-place votes)

3. (tie) Michigan

3. (tie) Penn State

5. USC

6. Iowa

7. Wisconsin

8. Nebraska

9. Washington

10. Rutgers

11. Maryland

12. Michigan State

13. Minnesota

14. UCLA

15. Illinois

16. Indiana

17. Northwestern

18. Purdue

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Penn State picked third in unofficial Big Ten football media poll

This year’s unofficial Big Ten media poll has been released. Here is what the Big Ten media voters think.

Most conferences organize their own official preseason media polls during the various conference media days. The Big Ten is one of the conferences that does not conduct its own preseason media poll, which is why Cleveland.com’s sports staff took up the task of organizing an annual preseason media poll. And as the Big Ten football media day event is about to get underway in Indianapolis this week, this year’s unofficial Big Ten preseason media poll is out. Penn State is expected to be among the top contenders in the conference this season according to those who voted.

Penn State received the third-most points in the media poll organized by Cleveland.com. The Nittany Lions finished with seven more points than defending Big Ten and national champion Michigan, who is fourth in the preseason poll. Ohio State was the runaway favorite among the voters with 21 first-place votes out of a possible 27. Ohio State received a total of 480 points in the voting. New Big Ten member Oregon received the remaining six first-place votes and 448 total points in the voting.

Here is a look at the 2024 Cleveland.com Preseason Big Ten Media Poll:

  1. Ohio State (*21 first-place votes) – 480 total points
  2. Oregon (6) – 448
  3. Penn State – 418
  4. Michigan – 411
  5. Iowa – 363
  6. USC – 346
  7. Wisconsin – 313
  8. Nebraska – 293
  9. Rutgers – 249
  10. Washington – 236
  11. Maryland – 185
  12. Minnesota – 183
  13. Illinois – 145
  14. Northwestern – 138
  15. UCLA – 124
  16. Michigan State – 119
  17. Indiana – 76
  18. Purdue – 65

So, how accurate has this preseason poll been over the years? Since 2011, this poll has correctly predicted the Big Ten champion just four times. The poll correctly predicted Ohio State to win the Big Ten in 2017, 2018, and 2020, and Michigan in 2023.

Voters were also asked to predict how many Big Ten teams will make the College Football Playoff, which expands to 12 teams this season from the former four-team format. Every ballot predicted Ohio State will reach the playoff, and all but one predicted Oregon will reach the playoff. A total of 18 voters believe Penn State will reach the College Football Playoff, and 15 pick Michigan to make a return to defend its national title. Three voters predicted Iowa will make the playoff.

You can view more information in the Big Ten preseason media poll via Cleveland.com.

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The Minnesota Golden Gopher’s College Football 25 celebration is absolutely delightful

The Minnesota Golden Gopher is one of the breakout stars of College Football 25.

As college football fans celebrate this week’s release of College Football 25, the various Easter eggs and little details hidden in the game by its developers are beginning to come to light.

One fun twist that’s already catching fans’ attention is how the Minnesota mascot celebrates a big play for the team.

The Golden Gopher has indeed taken some spotlight with the new edition of the EA Sports game, as the mascot unexpectedly turns his head around a few times in a 360 circle whenever Minnesota is able to make a big splash on the football field.

While mascot celebrations aren’t anything out of the ordinary, watching Golden Gopher spin his head around in a full circle is the kind of unexpectedly hilarious surprise that makes this such a welcome return for a college football video game.

See for yourself how the Golden Gopher twists its head around below.

Apparently, the Golden Gopher has pulled this off in real life, too.

 

 

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UNC football players dabble in golf with Thursday afternoon team bonding session

Several North Carolina Tar Heels took up golf Thursday afternoon, but it wasn’t members of the golf team.

I think I speak for college football fans across the country when I say this: August can’t get here soon enough.

ACC programs Florida State and Georgia Tech officially kick off the regular season on Saturday, Aug. 24 in Dublin, Ireland as part of the Aer Lingus Classic. There’ll be three other matchups that Saturday, including new ACC school SMU, but the big slate doesn’t start until five days later.

If you’re reading this article and excited about college football, you’re probably thinking: when do our North Carolina Tar Heels start playing?

Good question. We have an answer – Thursday, Aug. 29 at the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

This year is going to look a lot different for UNC, highlighted by a new quarterback. That competition is between Texas A&M and former LSU transfer Max Johnson, last year’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl starter Conner Harrell, who impressed in North Carolina’s Spring Game, plus Jacolby Criswell, who transferred back into Chapel Hill from Arkansas.

While the Tar Heels try to finalize their starters and overall depth chart for the 2024 campaign, they took to TopGolf for some team bonding on Thursday afternoon.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9SYIthuior/

If you’re unfamiliar with TopGolf, it’s a multiple-story driving range with a variety of games people can play. Some choose to whack the ball as far as they can, others try to hit the “holes” with netting surrounding the flags, while you even have the option to play a full round.

Before UNC players dial down for the last month of their offseason, it’s refreshing to see them laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves.

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Trojans Wire YouTube show previews USC football vs PJ Fleck and Minnesota

Catch our Trojans Wire look-ahead at the USC-Minnesota game on Oct. 5.

On our USC show at The Voice of College Football, we offered a brief initial look at the Trojans’ 2024 matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers and head coach PJ Fleck. Minnesota and Fleck thrived for a few years at the beginning of Fleck’s tenure in the late 2010s, when he came over from Western Michigan. Minnesota came very close to making its first Rose Bowl since the early 1960s, the longest drought among any longstanding Big Ten school (in other words, schools other than Nebraska, Penn State, Maryland, and Rutgers, which have all joined the league in the past 35 years). However, the Golden Gophers fell short in 2019 and have not come closer since then.

Just how would USC and Minnesota match up on the gridiron when they play on Oct. 5 in Minneapolis? We looked at various factors attached to this game. One thing that should help USC is that Minnesota will be coming off a visit to Michigan when it plays the Trojans. Michigan will physically pound Minnesota (regardless of the outcome of the game). Minnesota will face a stiff physical challenge in playing Michigan and USC in back-to-back weeks.

Our conversation on the USC-Minnesota game and the status of the Minnesota college football program begins at 28:50 in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/live/eEclHR7DrUA?si=P6deHEx8oMMQl3Sd&t=1730

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Minnesota fan goes viral for sharing Gophers tickets on-sale at…Costco

Minnesota fan goes viral for sharing a Gophers tickets sale at…Costco

The Wisconsin football offseason must have entered a slow period because the current online discussion doesn’t center around the team’s prospects, the offense in year two under Phil Longo, the gauntlet schedule, or what to expect in the new Big Ten landscape.

It is focused on the program’s rival to the West, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Specifically, a photo posted on X by a fan showing a full display of Gophers tickets at a local Costco.

Related: Ranking all 18 Big Ten coaching staffs entering the 2024 football season

The deal is two upper-level sideline tickets to a select game for $100. Those possible games for the Gophers in 2024 include vs. North Carolina, Rhode Island, Nevada, Iowa, USC, Maryland and Penn State.

As you can expect, Wisconsin fans were quick to point out the (somewhat) desperate measure to sell tickets. It may be a common practice among teams and programs, but the optics, paired with Minnesota’s 6-7 2023 season, helped to generate quite the conversation around a simple post.

That, plus single tickets for Wisconsin’s Week 3 home game vs. Alabama aren’t going for any less than $160. The connection between the two rivals and the desperation measure of one is an easy one to draw.

Here is that original post, which is now up to nearly 70,000 views:

Wisconsin enters 2024 after a win over Minnesota at the end of 2023. The Gophers had won two of the last three matchups in the age-old rivalry, but the Badgers are importantly now 1-0 in the Luke Fickell era.

The matchup between the two schools will take place in Madison, Wisconsin this season, so Minnesota fans may have a hard time finding tickets on the shelves at Costco.

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Report: Cam Christie, a projected second-round pick, will remain in NBA draft

Former Minnesota forward Cam Christie will reportedly forgo his remaining college eligibility and remain in the 2024 NBA draft.

Former Minnesota guard Cam Christie will reportedly forgo his remaining college eligibility and stay in the 2024 NBA draft, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Christie, the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers guard Max Christie, was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team this past season after averaging 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 39.1% shooting from 3-point range in 33 games.

He scored in double figures 21 times, including a season-high 23 points and four rebounds on Feb. 28 in a loss to Illinois. He ranked second on the team and ninth in the conference in total 3-pointers (70).

Christie declared for the draft on April 12 and left open the option to return to school. He measured in at 6 feet, 4 1/2 inches barefoot with a 6-foot, 8-inch wingspan and registered the 11th-fastest three-quarter sprint this month at the draft combine in Chicago, Illinois.

He is projected to be an early second-round pick, given his ability to score at all three levels and defensive versatility. He has a smooth jumper and dazzled as a shooter on the catch and move with the Golden Gophers. He will likely intrigue teams in his range as a floor spacer.

Christie, who will turn 19 in July, seeks to become the fifth player from Minnesota drafted since 2000 and the first since Daniel Oturo in 2020 (No. 33).

The 2024 NBA draft will take place June 26-27 in New York City.

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Nebraska softball advances to Big Ten semis following 11-2 win over Minnesota

The Huskers kicked off the postseason with their Big Ten quarter-final game against Minnesota on Thursday afternoon.

The Huskers kicked off the postseason with their Big Ten quarter-final game against Minnesota on Thursday afternoon. Nebraska took off in its opening round, delivering 11 runs to take down the Golden Gophers in five innings.

Though Minnesota struck first, hitting a solo home run of its first at-bat, the Huskers responded with an 11-1 run. Nebraska finished the game with eight hits, including three home runs.

Billie Andrews led the Huskers in the batter’s box, delivering two home runs for four RBIs. Andrews’ second home run occurred in the fifth, putting the game away as she shifted Nebraska’s lead from 8-2 to 11-2.

Emmerson Cope also delivered a multi-run shot over the wall. Cope hit a two-run home run following Minnesota’s 1-0 start, immediately handing the Huskers the lead.

Brooke Andrews and Sydney Gray each pitched in a hit for an RBI. Brooke earned an RBI off a fielder’s choice, while Gray hit an RBI single in the fourth.

Ava Bredwell and Caitlynn Neal also earned RBIs, each coming off a sacrificial fly. Sarah Harness earned the win in the circle, facing 20 batters and only surrendered two runs.

Nebraska will face Indiana in the semi-final game on Friday afternoon. The first pitch is set for 4 p.m. The winner will either play Michigan, Wisconsin or Rutgers in the championship game.

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Huskers’ comeback turns sour in 6-2 loss to Minnesota

Nebraska falls to 30-16 on the season and 12-6 in conference play.

The Huskers finished their three-game series against Minnesota on Sunday afternoon. Though Nebraska clinched the series, the Golden Gophers ended the series with a win, taking down the Huskers 6-2.

Nebraska fell short despite its comeback attempt. The Huskers trailed 3-0 over Minnesota before closing the gap to 3-2. But the Golden Gophers put the game away in the sixth, scoring three unanswered runs to go up 6-2.

Nebraska scored two runs off seven hits, while Minnesota totaled six runs off five hits. Josh Caron led the Huskers in the batter’s box, going 2-for-4 with a double and scoring two runs. Case Sanderson and Tyler Stone recorded the team’s two RBIs.

Sanderson hit an RBI single in the fourth, and Stone delivered a sacrificial RBI in the sixth. The Huskers put six total pitchers on the mound in the loss, combining six strikeouts, five hits, and six runs across 31 batters.

Nebraska falls to 30-16 on the season and 12-6 in conference play. It will return home to face off against South Dakota State in a single-game series on Wednesday night. The first pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. and can be viewed on B1G+.

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