2026 Big Ten predictions: Game-by-game picks, projecting every team's final win-loss record (MN: Projected record: 5-7, 3-6)

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per CBS:

Minnesota​

Projected record: 5-7, 3-6
Wins: Eastern Illinois, Akron, at Purdue, UCLA, Northwestern
Losses: Mississippi State, at Washington, Michigan, Iowa, at Indiana, at Penn State, at Wisconsin

Unfortunately for the Golden Gophers, a five-win finish would represent a clear regression for P.J. Fleck, especially given the stability he's built in Minneapolis. The Gophers have been competitive in recent years, but a step back in the win column signals roster turnover finally catching up with depth issues on both lines. In a conference that's only getting tougher with new elites, Minnesota could struggle to win close games against upgraded competition this season. Fleck's culture keeps them competitive, but without consistent quarterback play, the margin shrinks fast, and 5-7 becomes a disappointing reality.

www.cbssports.com

2026 Big Ten predictions: Game-by-game picks, projecting every team's final win-loss record

An early-summer projection for all 18 teams in the Big Ten and where they'll end up in the postseason
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!
 


giphy.gif
 

Without consistent quarterback play, despite having a junior quarterback coming in? Also not sure why Mississippi State is viewed at as a possible loss, at home, with them coming off two losing seasons.

Speaking of two losing seasons, how about Wisconsin beating the Gophers in this prediction? The article states: "The Badgers have endured roster turnover and uneven offensive production, yet still have the physical identity to grind out wins in the Big Ten."

Based on what? This isn't the same team of Alvarez/Bielema/Chryst eras. I don't know where that physical identity is now. On top of all that, the same article has Iowa finishing 9-3, with one of their losses against... Minnesota, while in the Gophers' prediction it's also an expected loss.

The article wants to talk about Minnesota's quarterback play consistency, when the piece itself isn't even consistent.
 



IceBoxGopher said:
Without consistent quarterback play, despite having a junior quarterback coming in?
Click to expand...

This cbssports author must not be talking to the 3 or 4 others who had Drake going in round 1.

IceBoxGopher said:
Also not sure why Mississippi State is viewed at as a possible loss, at home, with them coming off two losing seasons.
Click to expand...

Great point. Does even cbs have SEC bias, well maybe, "the SEC on CBS" was popular for a long time haha.

IceBoxGopher said:
Speaking of two losing seasons, how about Wisconsin beating the Gophers in this prediction? The article states: "The Badgers have endured roster turnover and uneven offensive production, yet still have the physical identity to grind out wins in the Big Ten."

Based on what? This isn't the same team of Alvarez/Bielema/Chryst eras.
Click to expand...

The author probably still think Alvarez is the coach.
 

"The Gophers have been competitive in recent years, but a step back in the win column signals roster turnover finally catching up with depth issues on both lines."

Yet the team is ranked somewhere around 7th in the country by ESPN for returning production. Hacks.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
Also not sure why Mississippi State is viewed at as a possible loss, at home, with them coming off two losing seasons.
Click to expand...

I don't think MS State will win that game but they could be better than their record for the last two years suggests. They have a dynamic, dual-threat young QB and a pretty high-octane offense. Their biggest problems recently have been on defense.

I think we're fine on defense for the upcoming season but we still have to prove that we can do better offensively than we did last season. We simply have to be better if we want to improve on (or even equal) last season's record.
 










Read the real article which shows a win versus Iowa and 6-6 record. The post has been edited to say 5-7 and loss to Iowa. The editing is either going for a reaction and showing true bias
 


Same thing every year. Predictions of 5-6 wins and reality is 7-8 wins. A consistent discrepancy but the actual win total isn’t so dramatically better that it registers with these hacks. So, rinse repeat.

Continuously qualifying for baseball park bowls makes it easy for the Gophers to annually fall off a lot of radars. It also makes building up a bowl win streak a lot easier.

As a fan, I tend to get outraged by this stuff but it isn’t worth sending any “I told you so” follow ups when the team goes 7-5 after being predicted to go 5-7 or 6-6.
 

Here's another beautiful piece of hackery (from Maize N Brew) listing Minnesota's schedule as the 13th toughest in the conference:

No. 13 - Minnesota Golden Gophers​

  • Toughest Games: at Washington, Michigan, Iowa, at Indiana, at Penn State
If the expectation for P.J. Fleck is to make a bowl game, he doesn’t have much of an excuse this season. Minnesota brought in a ton of transfers, highlighted by quarterback Drake Lindsey from Arkansas and receiver Perry Thompson from LSU. The duo joins running back Darius Taylor for what could be a much improved Gophers offense this season.

Of course, we know that Drake is not a transfer and Thompson came from Auburn.
 

BleedGopher said:
Per CBS:

Minnesota​

Projected record: 5-7, 3-6
Wins: Eastern Illinois, Akron, at Purdue, UCLA, Northwestern
Losses: Mississippi State, at Washington, Michigan, Iowa, at Indiana, at Penn State, at Wisconsin

Unfortunately for the Golden Gophers, a five-win finish would represent a clear regression for P.J. Fleck, especially given the stability he's built in Minneapolis. The Gophers have been competitive in recent years, but a step back in the win column signals roster turnover finally catching up with depth issues on both lines. In a conference that's only getting tougher with new elites, Minnesota could struggle to win close games against upgraded competition this season. Fleck's culture keeps them competitive, but without consistent quarterback play, the margin shrinks fast, and 5-7 becomes a disappointing reality.

www.cbssports.com

2026 Big Ten predictions: Game-by-game picks, projecting every team's final win-loss record

An early-summer projection for all 18 teams in the Big Ten and where they'll end up in the postseason
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

My mind says 6-6 but my heart says 9-3. My mind is moving slowly closer to 9-3. I'm almost at 7-5...one more week of GopherHole and I'll be there!

(Having fun...love you guys... I really am getting closer to 7-8 wins...GoGophers!)
 

BleedGopher said:
Per CBS:

Minnesota​

Projected record: 5-7, 3-6
Wins: Eastern Illinois, Akron, at Purdue, UCLA, Northwestern
Losses: Mississippi State, at Washington, Michigan, Iowa, at Indiana, at Penn State, at Wisconsin

Unfortunately for the Golden Gophers, a five-win finish would represent a clear regression for P.J. Fleck, especially given the stability he's built in Minneapolis. The Gophers have been competitive in recent years, but a step back in the win column signals roster turnover finally catching up with depth issues on both lines. In a conference that's only getting tougher with new elites, Minnesota could struggle to win close games against upgraded competition this season. Fleck's culture keeps them competitive, but without consistent quarterback play, the margin shrinks fast, and 5-7 becomes a disappointing reality.

www.cbssports.com

2026 Big Ten predictions: Game-by-game picks, projecting every team's final win-loss record

An early-summer projection for all 18 teams in the Big Ten and where they'll end up in the postseason
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
Dinks.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Here's another beautiful piece of hackery (from Maize N Brew) listing Minnesota's schedule as the 13th toughest in the conference:

No. 13 - Minnesota Golden Gophers​

  • Toughest Games: at Washington, Michigan, Iowa, at Indiana, at Penn State
If the expectation for P.J. Fleck is to make a bowl game, he doesn’t have much of an excuse this season. Minnesota brought in a ton of transfers, highlighted by quarterback Drake Lindsey from Arkansas and receiver Perry Thompson from LSU. The duo joins running back Darius Taylor for what could be a much improved Gophers offense this season.

Of course, we know that Drake is not a transfer and Thompson came from Auburn.
Click to expand...
What is the source of this Pulitzer Award quality piece.
 

Arminius said:
My mind says 6-6 but my heart says 9-3. My mind is moving slowly closer to 9-3. I'm almost at 7-5...one more week of GopherHole and I'll be there!

(Having fun...love you guys... I really am getting closer to 7-8 wins...GoGophers!)
Click to expand...
10-2; gophers win all rivalry games and get a playoff bid. Historically weak rivalry matchups should make you hopeful.

- Michigan new coach, insiders say underwood can’t throw a ball and we get them at home
- Iowa lost a lot in draft, unknown at qb and we get them at home
- Penn state, new coach and a lot of roster turnover
- Wisconsin looks to be about the same under Fickell
 

GooningGopher said:
10-2; gophers win all rivalry games and get a playoff bid. Historically weak rivalry matchups should make you hopeful.

- Michigan new coach, insiders say underwood can’t throw a ball and we get them at home
- Iowa lost a lot in draft, unknown at qb and we get them at home
- Penn state, new coach and a lot of roster turnover
- Wisconsin looks to be about the same under Fickell
Click to expand...
I tend to agree. First time in a long time Gopher have at least a chance to get the jug, axe, and pig in the same season. OK, OK, the bell too.
 




Schnauzer said:
Same thing every year. Predictions of 5-6 wins and reality is 7-8 wins. A consistent discrepancy but the actual win total isn’t so dramatically better that it registers with these hacks. So, rinse repeat.

Continuously qualifying for baseball park bowls makes it easy for the Gophers to annually fall off a lot of radars. It also makes building up a bowl win streak a lot easier.

As a fan, I tend to get outraged by this stuff but it isn’t worth sending any “I told you so” follow ups when the team goes 7-5 after being predicted to go 5-7 or 6-6.
Click to expand...
To me it's less being upset about predicting fewer wins or having an "I told you so" attitude, and more about the lack of research that this and similar pieces show. The article mentions inconsistency at quarterback despite a returning quarterback with some experience and roster turnover despite it being common these days in the transfer portal. It's just lazy work.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
I don't think MS State will win that game but they could be better than their record for the last two years suggests. They have a dynamic, dual-threat young QB and a pretty high-octane offense. Their biggest problems recently have been on defense.

I think we're fine on defense for the upcoming season but we still have to prove that we can do better offensively than we did last season. We simply have to be better if we want to improve on (or even equal) last season's record.
Click to expand...
So, 15th in the Big is fine on defense now? Our schedule is tougher this year and we struggled to keep Michigan State, Purdue, and Wisconsin in check offensively. That's a 1, 0, and 2-win team in conference.

The defense needs to build on the strengths of last year (sacks and tackles for loss) and figure out a way to stop teams on offense. Whether they have an offense (Ohio State, Oregon - 17 Conference wins) or not (Michigan State and Purdue - 1 conference win between them).

If only we could play Nebraska 9x in conference this year.
 

The schedule doesn't guarantee anything and a few teams will be better or worse than expected. You can't fear every team that wins 7, 8, 9 games. If you want to win 9 or 10 games yourself you have to beat some of them.

Take care of business versus everyone not named Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, Iowa, Washington. Win 2 or 3 against this group and you have 9 or 10 wins.
 


minnesota to lose to WI from a national writer. i'm SHOCKED.
he said 6-6 last year

none of these guys really have much of any magical extra insight more than any of the rest of people who at least peripherally follow CFB

Projected wins: EIU, Akron, Purdue
Projected tossups: Miss St, Wash, Iowa, UCLA, NW, WI
Projected losses: Mich, PSU, IU

The above is what you're going to see in every single national thing with really next to no detailed assessment of the why they go in each category but is why you're going to see about every prediction fall between 5-7 and 8-5 depending on whatever reason they care to pick and how excited *insert random pundit* gets about *transfer portal rankings, a certain player, a certain coach, a certain random statistical quirk, etc.* to build their rankings
 

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