Every Big Ten team's best, worst case scenario in 2025: USC plays for league title? A three-loss Penn State?

[MisterGopher]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...ays-for-league-title-a-three-loss-penn-state/

Minnesota​

Odds to win conference: +13000

Best Case 10-2: The Gophers do that thing they do where they aren't good enough to beat Ohio State and Oregon on the road, but their rushing attack is effective enough to keep them in games against everybody else. Drake Lindsey isn't asked to do a lot at QB, but he makes enough big throws to keep defenses honest as Darius Taylor, AJ Taylor and Cam Davis grind them down. Koi Perich emerges as a Thorpe Award candidate in the secondary, leading a defense with plenty of returning production. It's not exciting, but dammit, it works, and the Gophers finish 10-2, sneaking into the playoff as the 11-seed.


Worst Case 4-8: Losses on the offensive line prove too much to overcome, and Minnesota is unable to run the ball effectively against any defense with a pulse. This leads to far too much being put on Drake Lindsey's shoulders offensively, and he can't handle it. On defense, the unit starts the season well but wears down physically as the season progresses, leading to injuries that put too many inexperienced players at key spots. The only wins come against Buffalo, Northwestern State, Rutgers and Purdue, as the season ends with six straight losses

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Fair IMO...

 

[Gophergrandpa]

The bad is pretty bad …

 

[gopherbadgerman]

The bad is pretty bad …

And the good is really good. I think that is a fair best case/worst case.

 

[Schnauzer]

I think that this is fair. I do feel like the actual results will be in the middle of those two predictions but it is best case / worst case and I agree with both of these extremes and don't feel like either one is impossible.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I think that this is fair. I do feel like the actual results will be in the middle of those two predictions but it is best case / worst case and I agree with both of these extremes and don't feel like either one is impossible.

In the world of off season fluff this one is pretty solid for a change. Think they nailed the extremes and yeah most likely the actual results fall somewhere in the middle hopefully closer to the high end.

 

[mngg11]

I could fathom the worst case scenario happening. I don't think it will, but if the line sucks and we can't run, forcing Drake to shoulder the offense will not be ideal. And even if the defense plays like rockstars, time of possession will kill them as the season goes on if we're constantly punting.

I'm still in the 8 victory boat. Winning is a common theme within this program and when something like that is the norm among the players and the staff, they'll fight like hell to maintain it when the going gets tough. We saw it last year when we started slow. This team could've given up but they played through it and the coaches, especially PJ, got out of their own way and brought the season back to a good place.