While the top teams in the Big Ten are still hopeful for a spot in the College Football Playoff, the rest of the conference's bowl-eligible teams are already pondering what invitation they might receive.
The newest bowl projections favor the 8-4 Gophers to end up in Nashville's Music City Bowl against an SEC opponent. Only two teams, Tennessee and Washington State, appear more than once in projections as possible bowl opponents for the Gophers.
The Gophers were listed as the Big Ten's representative at the Dec. 30 Music City Bowl in four of nine projections we reviewed. The Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl in San Diego and Dec. 28 Pinstripe Bowl in New York City were other common landing spots for the Gophers.
The Gophers could play Georgia, Tennessee or Arkansas in the Music City Bowl based on projections from Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, Sporting News and College Football News, respectively.
CBS Sports and ESPN each project the Gophers to face off against Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
Here is a look at where the experts expect the Gophers to go bowling:
Sports Illustrated: Music City, Dec. 30, Nashville, Tenn., ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC, Minnesota vs. Georgia
CBS Sports: Holiday Bowl, Dec. 27, San Diego, Calif., Big Ten vs. Pac-12, Minnesota vs. Washington State
