What's next for the Gophers after upset win over No. 25 Nebraska?

The final five games of Minnesota's season just became substantially more interesting.

Oct 17, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers linebacker Matt Kingsbury (49) celebrates during the second half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

When the Gophers' 2025 regular-season schedule was released, a Friday night matchup with Nebraska immediately seemed like a potential swing game. Minnesota upset the No. 25 Cornhuskers, so what's next?

Iowa game

The next game on the schedule is a road trip to Iowa City in another battle for the Floyd of Rosedale. Minnesota will look to win its second straight game at Kinnick Stadium for the first time since 1979 and 1981.

"Our team doesn't let the circumstance dictate their behavior. We always say a man distracted is a man defeated, and they're not distracted. They stay really, really focused," P.J. Fleck said after Friday's win. "We've got a rivalry week next week. We'll get to work, we gotta get healthy, because we're going to play a really physical Iowa team at Iowa, and we know how difficult it is to play there."

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The Hawkeyes have a night game against a reeling Penn State team on Saturday night. An Iowa win has a real chance to make next week's rivalry game FOX's choice for Big Noon Kickoff. A meeting between two 5-2 teams would be a ginormous game for both Iowa and Minnesota.

Readjusting expectations

Minnesota's penultimate home game lands on Nov. 1 against Michigan State. The Spartans have started 0-3 in Big Ten play, but it could be a prime lookahead spot for the Gophers before their final bye week of the season, and then a road trip to Oregon.

Coach Fleck talked about his team being delusional before the season, and there's now a clear path for them heading into their Friday night, Nov. 14, trip to Eugene as a 7-2 football team with a potential ranking next to their name.

Another game that might look a lot different than people thought before the season is a Nov. 22 meeting against Northwestern at Wrigley Field. The Wildcats have started the season 4-2 and 2-1 in Big Ten play. Ultimately, the Gophers have plenty of intriguing football games left on their schedule before the regular season finale against rival Wisconsin.

What is this team's ceiling? That's a question that I don't think we can answer quite yet. Minnesota showed drastic improvement in less than seven days. They looked like a different team against Purdue compared to the 24-6 win over Nebraska. The Gophers' win over the Cornhuskers has opened the door for an exciting finish to the season.