The return of Minnesota Golden Gopher football is almost upon us! But I have to admit... It hasn’t quite hit me yet. That said, I’m sure it won’t take me long before I’m cursing P.J. Fleck’s conservative decision-making during Thursday’s season opener. That’s when I’ll know football season is officially back. For now, all we here at The Daily Gopher have to offer are our predictions for this season. As per usual, I would not expect perfection here. You should not use this to post to make betting, legal, or medical decisions. You are free to point and laugh, though.
Week 1: North Carolina Tar Heels
TDG Confidence Level: 66% (6 out of 9 predict a win)
Week 2: Rhode Island Rams
TDG Confidence Level: 100%
Week 3: Nevada Wolf Pack
TDG Confidence Level: 100%
Week 4: No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes
TDG Confidence Level: 77%
![NCAA Football: Minnesota at Iowa](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oS49kF09wx_jX3YyoKGxrRtAoEE=/0x0:7537x5025/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:7537x5025):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25593848/usa_today_21853610.jpg)
Week 5: @ No. 9 Michigan Wolverines
TDG Confidence Level: 22%
Week 6: No. 23 USC Trojans
TDG Confidence Level: 33%
Week 7: @ UCLA Bruins
TDG Confidence Level: 88%
![NCAA Football: Washington State at UCLA](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zfuUBCLpWD4TzRVOuVOo8FqYimY=/0x0:3670x2447/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3670x2447):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25593850/usa_today_21597578.jpg)
Week 8: BYE
Week 9: Maryland Terrapins
TDG Confidence Level: 100%
Week 10: @ Illinois Fighting Illini
TDG Confidence Level: 33%
Week 11: @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights
TDG Confidence Level: 77%
![Rutgers v Minnesota](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9lL__RQW1SpZugStXi4reHa3HYU=/0x0:4633x3089/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4633x3089):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25593851/1454268626.jpg)
Week 12: BYE
Week 13: No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions
TDG Confidence Level: 22%
Week 14: @ Wisconsin Badgers
TDG Confidence Level: 55%
Full TDG Staff Predictions
![](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uRg86-Mj0Y7UIz0r_oXLFM2rf9o=/0x0:1033x292/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1033x292):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25593868/TDG_2024_Season_Predictions.png)
Comments:
gopherguy05: A 4-0 start to get everyone excited quickly comes back to Earth. They will probably win a game they shouldn’t (Iowa) and lose one they shouldn’t (looking at you Illini... again).
Gopher Nation: They’ll actually lose one game in that stretch of Maryland/Illinois/Rutgers, but I couldn’t decide which one. But if they do, they’ll beat Wisconsin, so it still nets out to 8-4.
mowe0018: My predictions will die so that this season can live. I threw a lot of my general principles out the window to maintain some level of plausibility but also reverse-jinx this season into the stratosphere.
Ustreet: Same as every year.
WhiteSpeedReceiver: Someday I’ll stop being an optimist, but it’s not today.
wildcat00: I don’t like the new expanded B1G and I don’t think the Gophers will either. Sigh. At least we get to keep the Chair forever?
zipsofakron: A rough opener is followed up by three straight wins to get back on track. Things remain pretty normal until back-to-back road losses to Illinois and Rutgers make people want to jump out of a window. Minnesota salvages a season that will look pretty good on paper, with wins over Penn State and Bucky.
What do you think?
Vote in the poll below or put your predictions into the comments!
Poll
How many regular season games will Minnesota win in 2024?
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1%
12
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0%
11
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1%
10
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10%
9
-
18%
8
-
36%
7
-
18%
6
-
8%
5
-
5%
4 or fewer