Are Gophers STILL in the bowl mix?
Teams needs to win six games to become bowl eligible, so the Gophers season appeared to end Saturday when they fell to 5-7.
But the NCAA has 40 bowl games now, leaving 80 spots to fill. According to CBSSports.com, 75 teams have qualified for a bowl, and only three more teams can reach the requisite six wins.
That means at least two five-win teams could get picked as replacement teams for the bowl. The Gophers don't expect to get selected, since Nebraska is also 5-7 from the same conference. The Cornhuskers typically travel better to bowls and have a higher score on the most recent Academic Progress Rate – 985, compared with Minnesota's 975.
Here is the list of teams needing one more win to qualify for a bowl with a game still remaining on their schedule: Kansas State (vs. West Virginia), South Alabama (vs. Appalachian State) and Georgia State (vs. Georgia Southern).
And here's the list of other five-win teams that have APR's near the Gophers' 975: Missouri (976), San Jose State (975), Illinois (973) and Rice (973).
JOE CHRISTENSEN
