Minnesota 2025 Football Schedule: Best & Worst Scenarios, Season Prediction

2025 Minnesota Football Schedule Aug 30 BuffaloSept 6 Northwestern StateSept 13 at CalSept 20 OPEN DATESept 27 RutgersOct 4 at Ohio StateOct 11 PurdueOct 18 NebraskaOct 25 at IowaNov 1 Michigan StateNov 8 OPEN DATENov 15 at OregonNov 22 at NorthwesternNov 29 Wisconsin Who does Minnesota miss from the Big Ten schedule? Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, UCLA, USC, WashingtonIt would be nice to miss Ohio State or Oregon, but not having to play Michigan or Penn State is good enough.

It sounds weird now to think missing Indiana is a positive, but that’s great, and you’re never upset when you don’t have to play USC or Washington.Not playing Maryland isn’t great, but missing Illinois and UCLA this season should help. Minnesota football schedule, the good and the bad The Good:

At least until mid-November, the road games are spread out enough to be okay. The team only leaves Minneapolis three times until November 15th, and the trip to Cal is the lone road date in September.

Even better, after going to Ohio State in early October, the trip a few miles south to Iowa is the only away game in six weeks before going to Oregon.

Two of the road games are Cal and Northwestern, but … The Bad: At Ohio State, at Iowa, at Oregon. Getting one of those will be nice, but you probably need two to be a real player in the Big Ten title chase. There’s a week off before going to Eugene, but that trip in mid-November – followed up by a game at Northwestern – is tough.The first part of the season might be sneaky. Buffalo should be in the mix for the MAC title, and going to Cal won’t be a tap-in.

Minnesota Football Schedule: Best and worst case scenarios Best Case Scenario: The Gophers own the Bank.All seven of their road games can and should be wins, and beating Northwestern isn’t a problem after going to Oregon. Realistically, losses at Ohio State and against the Ducks have to be baked into the cake, but at 10-2 the team is in the mix for an at-large College Football Playoff spot.

Worst Case Scenario: Minnesota loses at Cal, has a hard time in a tough loss to Rutgers, and gets murdered by Ohio State in a 2-3 start. It should be strong enough to get by most of the home games, but it loses the Floyd of Rosedale trophy to Iowa, drops the Oregon date, and needs to beat either Northwestern or Wisconsin to get bowl eligible.

What Will Happen: (Feb 8) Minnesota becomes one of those teams that has a great record and gets a ton of respect, but falls when it has its shot to come up with big moments. It gets off to a big start, but loses at Ohio State, misses on one of the more challenging later home games – like Michigan State, Nebraska, or Wisconsin – and doesn’t get by Oregon. It still makes a bowl game with ease.The What Will Happen will be updated several times this offseason