College Football

2024 Minnesota football predictions: Ranked No. 72 by RJ Young

Updated Aug. 12, 2024 10:32 a.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

Minnesota Ranking: 72/134

[Check out RJ Young's ultimate 134 college football rankings here]

Conference ranking: 11th in Big Ten (+18000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Marshall (71), South Florida (70), UNLV (69), California (68), Jacksonville State (67)
Teams behind them: Old Dominion (73), UCLA (74), Northwestern (75), Houston (76), Miami of Ohio (77)

[Minnesota 2024 schedule]

RJ's take: Since Minnesota's banner 11-win season in 2019, P.J. Fleck's rowboat has faced little chop. There was that 3-4 season in the COVID year, but Fleck followed that with consecutive nine-win seasons before turning in last year's 6-7 — his worst since his first year on the job in 2017 (5-7). It's gonna be tough to get nine wins out of a schedule that not only features Michigan, Iowa, USC and Penn State but five conference games on the road.

On the other hand, if graduate transfer QB Max Brosmer ends up being the kind of impact portal addition I think he's going to be, nine wins are within reach.

At New Hampshire last season, Brosmer threw for 3,459 yards with 29 TDs and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award — given to the nation's top offensive player in FCS. He also earned First Team All-America recognition by the AFCA. Brosmer threw for 300 or more yards in six games, including 493 with four TDs against Central Michigan.

The Gophers have been looking for a steady and productive quarterback to return the program to its 2019 heyday. Brosmer might be the man to lead them back in the most competitive year the Big Ten Conference has seen yet.

Minnesota's Win Total Odds: Over 5 (-160) Under 5 (+135)

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