CBS: Big Ten football power rankings 2026 (9. Minnesota; The Golden Gophers are worth keeping an eye on)

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Backus:

9. Minnesota​

Minnesota flew under the radar in 2025 while winning eight games for a second consecutive season under coach P.J. Fleck and they're flying under the radar again entering 2026. The Golden Gophers are worth keeping an eye on, though. They return a wealth of starting experience on offense, including top running back Darius Taylor and starting quarterback Drake Lindsey, and the defense is anchored by stars like defensive end Anthony Smith.

www.cbssports.com

Big Ten football power rankings 2026: Indiana at No. 1 post-transfer cycle

Indiana holds the top spot fresh off its national title, but how does the rest of the conference look?
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!
 




It is pretty crazy that the gophers have won 8 games or more in 4/5 seasons and 5 of the last 6 full seasons.
Last time that happened was 1900-1905

Strong bet on 7+ wins next year in the regular season.

Which means at a minimum they’re finishing middle third.


The gophers have finished with a winning conference record 4 of the last 5 seasons. And 5 of the last 7.

Last time that happened was 1963-1969
 


Seems a lot like last year in terms of overall conference expectations. Top 3 have separated to a degree and then it is a big jumble after that.

Thankfully we are near the upper portion of that jumble as opposed to near the back end where Sconnie rightfully resides these days. :)
 

MNVCGUY said:
Seems a lot like last year in terms of overall conference expectations. Top 3 have separated to a degree and then it is a big jumble after that.

Thankfully we are near the upper portion of that jumble as opposed to near the back end where Sconnie rightfully resides these days. :)
Click to expand...

Beat: (3-0)
Eastern Illinois
Akron
UCLA

Beat most of: (3-1)
@wisconsin
Northwestern
@Purdue
Mississippi state

Beat a couple of: (2-3)
@washington
Michigan
Iowa
@indiana
@ Penn State

You’re 8-4


The schedule is pretty easy if Michigan and Penn state are top 40 teams rather than top 15 teams.
If Michigan and Penn state are top 15 teams and Indiana also is a top 15 team…then it’s a really tough schedule.
I guess we will know at the end of the year.
 











Some guy said:
It is pretty crazy that the gophers have won 8 games or more in 4/5 seasons and 5 of the last 6 full seasons.
Last time that happened was 1900-1905

Strong bet on 7+ wins next year in the regular season.

Which means at a minimum they’re finishing middle third.


The gophers have finished with a winning conference record 4 of the last 5 seasons. And 5 of the last 7.

Last time that happened was 1963-1969
Click to expand...
It's a promising sign that we can win 8 games and the season still feels like a disappointment due to letting 2-3 games get away from us. The B1G is more of a gauntlet now than 2019 but we can absolutely be a 10 win team if the stars align
 

GophEnEspaña said:
It's a promising sign that we can win 8 games and the season still feels like a disappointment due to letting 2-3 games get away from us. The B1G is more of a gauntlet now than 2019 but we can absolutely be a 10 win team if the stars align
Click to expand...
I don’t necessarily agree it is more of a gauntlet now than 2019

2026 6/18 are top 25 teams (33%)
2019 6/14 were top 20 teams (43%)

2026 you play 53% of the conference
2019 you play 70% of the conference


In 2026 the league schedules have more variance than 2019. In 2019 you are less likely to have an easy schedule. Everyone Was guaranteed to play at least 2 top 20 teams based on the structure with the possibility of playing 6.


In 2026 the hard schedules are harder but the easy schedules potentially easier.
 

Some guy said:
In 2026 the hard schedules are harder but the easy schedules potentially easier.
Click to expand...
How can you say this but then disagree with me?

In 2026 you can have more variance than 2019 and incorporating West coast trips, even if it's at a bad UCLA (who won't be bad this year and are bound to improve) are entirely new variables. Agree to disagree, I think 11 wins in the B1G is harder today than it was in 2019. Your numbers don't negate that, by the way.

The B1G was also much more top heavy in the 2010's than it is now.
 

GophEnEspaña said:
How can you say this but then disagree with me?
Click to expand...
Because in 2026 you’re more likely to get a schedule with 0-1 ranked teams than 2019
GophEnEspaña said:
In 2026 you can have more variance than 2019 and incorporating West coast trips, even if it's at a bad UCLA (who won't be bad this year and are bound to improve) are entirely new variables. Agree to disagree, I think 11 wins in the B1G is harder today than it was in 2019. Your numbers don't negate that, by the way.
Click to expand...
In 2019 50% of the conference had 8 wins
In 2026 50% of the conference had 8 wins
GophEnEspaña said:
The B1G was also much more top heavy in the 2010's than it is now.
Click to expand...
The data just doesn’t back this up.
I’m not saying 2019 was harder. I’m saying there isn’t much evidence to say now is harder.

11 wins was always hard.
In 2019 21% had 11 wins
In 2026 17% had 11 wins

In 2019 7% had 12 wins
In 2026 17% had 12 wins



We can agree to disagree.
I’m just saying when in post two of your argument you say that UCLA will eventually be back (UCLA had had 4 ten win seasons since 1990) it means there isn’t much data to show it’s significantly harder now.


I would agree. It’s marginally harder to win 11 games. It’s also marginally easier to win 7 games with most schedules. I would say it isn’t very different and the variance in schedule is a bigger consideration of if it’s harder or easier than 2019 vs 2026. 2026

In 2026 Wisconsin had a schedule harder than anyone in 2019.
But in 2026 Michigan had 7 conference wins and beat one team with a winning conference record (5-4 Washington).
Iowa had 6 conference wins and beat one team with a winning conference record (5-4 Minnesota)
Minnesota went 5-4 and beat 0 teams with a winning conference record.
 
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I know the OC went to Northwestern and UCLA won all their games when he took over the offense.
But, the UCLA QB can beat any team all by himself if he's in the mood. UCLA likely won't be easy if he's healthy and scrambling for first downs. At Washington probably pretty tough game to win.
Just a couple comments on our schedule.
 

60's Guy said:
I know the OC went to Northwestern and UCLA won all their games when he took over the offense.
But, the UCLA QB can beat any team all by himself if he's in the mood. UCLA likely won't be easy if he's healthy and scrambling for first downs. At Washington probably pretty tough game to win.
Just a couple comments on our schedule.
Click to expand...
I am much more comfortable playing UCLA in November in Minnesota than I would be playing them in September or on the road
 

I think the key difference in any 2019 schedule and any 2025 schedule in the big ten west. You might draw 3 games against some tough east teams but you still had a 1 in 3 chance of playing in the big ten title game, big difference than your odds in 2025 which is maybe 1 in 50 at best. All big ten west teams should miss the big ten west days.
 

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