Sports Illustrated and Sporting News magazine are making identical predictions for the Gophers. In last week’s issues both national publications have Minnesota finishing with a 7-5 overall record, 4-4 in the Big Ten Conference.
That won’t deliver yet on coach Tim Brewster’s mantra since day one of becoming Big Ten champs but such records figure to impress for a couple reasons. First, with 11 potentially challenging opponents and only one “cupcake” (South Dakota State), the Gophers’ schedule could be among the more difficult in the country, certainly the most formidable for the local school in a long time. Second, the Gophers haven’t won four conference games since 2005.
Sporting News predicts Ohio State will win (big surprise!) the Big Ten with Penn State finishing second. Michigan State and Iowa will tie for third, followed by Illinois, and then the Gophers and Michigan, with identical overall and conference records, will tie for fifth. Sports Illustrated has the same schools ahead of the Gophers but predicts a three way tie for fourth place between Northwestern, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The Gophers haven’t played in a January bowl game since 1962 but they will change that in 2010, according to S.I. The publication predicts a Papajohns.com Bowl match- up in Birmingham between Minnesota and Cincinnati on January 2. If Sporting News is correct the Gophers will be in Tempe, Arizona for the Insight Bowl and a game against Missouri. (Last year in the Insight Bowl the Gophers lost to Kansas).
Gophers’ wide receiver Eric Decker and cornerback Traye Simmons are selections by Sporting News for its All-Big Ten offensive and defensive teams. Both made the publication’s best of the Big Ten list, Decker for his hands, Simmons for man-to-man coverage.
The Gophers open their schedule at Syracuse on September 5 and the Orange are a consensus pick by both publications to finish last in the Big East. Air Force, which helps open TCF Bank Stadium here on September 12, will be a .500 team, according to S.I. while Sporting News doesn’t predict a record. California, at TCF on September 19, is ranked No. 21 in the country by Sporting News and both publications see a big year for the Golden Bears.