WHAT'S AHEAD?
Spring practice schedule
Teams can hold up to 15 spring practice sessions. Most will be held inside the Gibson/Nagurski Football Complex. They have practices scheduled Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, March 10 and March 12. The team will be off for 11 days over spring break and then practice March 24, March 26, March 28, March 31, April 2, April 4, April 7 and April 10. The spring game is scheduled for April 11 at TCF Bank Stadium. The first two practices are closed, but the rest will be open to the public.

Fall schedule
The Gophers play the two teams that could open the season ranked No. 1 and No. 2, in some order. Minnesota opens against TCU at home on Sept. 3 and travels to Ohio State late in the season on Nov. 7. The rest of the nonconference slate is at Colorado State followed by home games against Kent State and Ohio. The Big Ten schedule starts with road games at Northwestern and Purdue and eventually brings three new head coaches to TCF Bank Stadium: Mike Riley (Nebraska), Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) and Paul Chryst (Wisconsin).

JOE CHRISTENSEN