Gophers projected to familiar bowl destination after lopsided loss to Ohio State

The Gophers need to pick up the pieces and regroup after getting blown out by the Buckeyes.

Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck watches during the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Oct. 4, 2025. Ohio State won 42-3. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With a 3-2 record, Minnesota is now five games through its 12-game regular season schedule. Let's reset the Gophers' season-long outlook and expectations ahead of another night game in Week 7 against Purdue at home.

Gophers bowl game projections

• On3 (Brett McMurphy): Frisco Bowl vs. Washington State
• ESPN (Mark Schlabach): GameAbove Sports Bowl vs. Central Michigan
• ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): GameAbove Sports Bowl vs. Western Michigan
• Athlon (Steve Lassan): GameAbove Sports Bowl vs. Ohio
• CBSSports: GameAbove Sports Bowl vs. Ohio

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Dec 26, 2018; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers Head Football Coach P. J. Fleck holds the Quick Lane Bowl Championship Trophy after defeating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 34-10 in the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Leon Halip-Imagn Images | Leon Halip-Imagn Images

The Gophers will need to prove themselves again if they don't want to go bowling in Detroit, Michigan, this December. They're still a relatively unknown team in terms of national recognition this season. The loss to Cal is aging worse by the week, and their win over Rutgers is their only victory over a power conference opponent. An impressive result this week against Purdue would go a long way in establishing themselves as a fun Big Ten team in terms of the bowl game selection process.

Big Ten outlook

Minnesota is one of seven Big Ten teams to start 1-1 in conference play. With games looming against Nebraska, Iowa and Oregon, matchups with Purdue, Michigan State, Northwestern and Wisconsin have become almost must-win if they want to get to a fun bowl game this winter. But they still have plenty of opportunities to get back into the second tier of the conference.

Big Ten standings post Week 6 | Picture via: ESPN

There was no result more surprising in Week 6 than Penn State losing at UCLA. The Nittany Lions have a long road to climb back up in the conference standings. There are a pair of huge games at the top of the table in Week 7 with Indiana-Oregon and Ohio State-Illinois on the schedule. Minnesota is in the middle group of teams, where we still don't really know what their ceiling is.

Liebert's post-Week 5 Big Ten power rankings

1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Illinois
5. Michigan
6. USC
7. Minnesota
8. Washington
9. Nebraska
10. Maryland
11. Iowa
12. Northwestern
13. UCLA
14. Penn State
15. Rutgers
16. Michigan State
17. Wisconsin
18. Purdue

Overall outlook

It's easy to feel disheartened after a 42-3 loss, but the Gophers' result against Ohio State just reiterated the hierarchy of college football. The Buckeyes have a different level of roster, and that was shown on Saturday night. Minnesota still has plenty of opportunities to prove it's in the top half of the conference. P.J. Fleck talks about going 1-0 each week, and they now have a pivotal four-week stretch against Purdue, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan State before their second bye week.