5 October 2023
The Gophers football schedule in 2023 has gotten a lot of notoriety for its high level of difficulty.
Get used to it.
Minnesota’s Big Ten opponents for the next five seasons were released Thursday and the U will have plenty of challenges on an annual basis in the new 18-team conference.
The U has protected annual rivalries with Wisconsin and Iowa each season, in alternating sites, per usual, and Minnesota will sprinkle in irregular games against existing Big Ten foes as the East-West division format goes by the wayside.
But there are plenty of newcomers peppering future slates. Dates and times of games have not been released.
Here are highlights each year:
2024
The Gophers will play both incoming California schools, hosting Southern Cal in Minneapolis and travel west to play at UCLA.
This is not what fans had imagined when they have prayed for decades that the Gophers would return to the Rose Bowl. Some funny guys and gals will make this destination a punchline.
Also next fall, the U’s schedule will have more-familiar top-tier opponents. The Gophers will play Penn State at home and go to play Michigan at the Big House.
Minnesota also will host North Carolina in the season opener on Aug. 29, the return of a home-and-home series after the Tar Heels beat the Gophers 31-13 in Chapel Hill on Sept. 16.
2025
The Gophers don’t face one of the four newcomers at Huntington Bank Stadium, but will go to Eugene, Ore., to play the Ducks and also heads to the Horseshoe to play Ohio State.
Minnesota, however, will still head to the West Coast for a previously scheduled nonconference game against the Cal Golden Bears in Berkeley on Sept. 13.
2026
The Gophers will host UCLA and travel to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies. The U also has Michigan at home and Penn State in Happy Valley.
Minnesota also starts a series against an SEC foe, with Mississippi State coming to the U that September.
2027
The Gophers will play Washington at home and will head to the L.A. Coliseum to face USC. The Buckeyes also will come to Minneapolis.
The U will finish its two-game series with Mississippi State in a trip to Starkville that September.
2028
The Gophers will host Oregon and make another trip to the Rose Bowl to play UCLA. By then, jokes about going to Pasadena will have become stale.
The U also will welcome Cal to complete that nonconference series.
Gophers’ future Big Ten opponents
2024
Home
Iowa
Maryland
Penn State
USC
Away
Illinois
Michigan
Rutgers
UCLA
Wisconsin
2025
Home
Michigan State
Nebraska
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin
Away
Iowa
Northwestern
Ohio State
Oregon
2026
Home
Iowa
Michigan
Northwestern
UCLA
Away
Indiana
Penn State
Purdue
Washington
Wisconsin
2027
Home
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio State
Washington
Wisconsin
Away
Iowa
Maryland
Nebraska
USC
2028
Home
Iowa
Maryland
Nebraska
Oregon
Away
Michigan State
Ohio State
Rutgers
UCLA
Wisconsin
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