Gophers football has one of the 30 hardest schedules in the country this season

Minnesota will be challenged in 2025.

Jan 3, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck during the first quarter against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Dukes’ Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Gophers football begins spring practice later this month, which means football season is right around the corner. ESPN's Bill Connelly released his rankings of the toughest schedules in the country based on SP+, and Minnesota has one of the 30 toughest schedules in the country at No. 28.

Now that 2025 CFB schedules are officially set, here's the projected top 40 for SP+ strength of schedule.

(Reminder: The SOS rating is the projected win% an average top-5 team could expect against your schedule. OU and Florida will need to be top-5 caliber to go even 9-3.) pic.twitter.com/Lf3sKcgaLD

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) March 5, 2025

Connelly's SP+ is one of the most well-respected predictive analytical metrics in college football. According to his own post on X, "The strength of schedule (SOS) rating is the projected win% against an average top-5 team could expect against your schedule."

In February, he released his full rankings of every single FBS team in the country, which slotted Minnesota as the 37th-best team in the country. They will open the season against No. 96 Buffalo before taking on FCS Northwestern State, then seven of their final 10 games will come against teams ranked inside the top 60 of Connelly's model.

With the 28th-hardest schedule in the country, Minnesota has the 10th-hardest schedule in the Big Ten. A tricky non-conference game against No. 58 Cal gives them a tougher path to a dominant regular season compared to some other teams in the conference.

Excluding FCS Northwestern State, the three easiest opponents on Minnesota's schedule are Purdue (116), Buffalo (96) and Northwestern (87). The three toughest opponents are Ohio State (1), Oregon (6) and Iowa (21).

With the way that modern conferences are designed, you're always going to have a tough schedule when you play in the Big Ten. Minnesota ranking 10th-hardest in the conference probably plays in their favor. Playing Ohio State and Oregon on the road is incredibly daunting, but the rest of the schedule has a lot of opportunities to pick up wins in 2025.

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