what's going on YouTube this is sg1 sports and you're watching our college football channel we continue with our schedule preview projected record series the Minnesota Golden Gophers are up next before we get to that 2024 schedule let's look back at 2023 here was the schedule from last season for Minnesota you can see they did go six and seven because they're won they won their bowl game this is actually a 5- seven team they really shouldn't have even made it to a bowl game last season but they got an invite because there were some extra spots but uh you see the schedule and you know they they played North Carolina in the non-conference obviously that was a tough one they lose that game and then you look at who they played out of the East and they played Ohio State on the road but they got to play Michigan State who was not very good this past season and so you you know that's that's a pretty good draw there but then they had Michigan so they had Michigan and Ohio State and anytime you get two out of three between Michigan Ohio State and penate it's going to be pretty tough uh but you know they just really fell apart down the stretch losing their final four games this is a team that went on the road and beat Iowa I know it was a controversial finish but they won that game they beat Michigan State you know the season started okay but really got out of hand there down the stretch let's take a look at this 2024 schedule and let's uh let's break it down first we'll look at the non-conference it'll be North Carolina again Rhode Island and Nevada North Carolina will be at home this time I think Minnesota has a much better chance to win that game um especially just just being at home that makes a difference you look at the entire home schedule in the Big 10 they'll play Iowa USC Maryland and Penn State that's the home schedule that's a pretty tough home schedule I mean they're going to be underdogs probably in all four of those games maybe Maryland they're favored or it's a 50-50 game um but yeah that is a really tough home schedule in the Big 10 and I always say if you're a team like you know a mid-level team you'd rather play your tough games on the road because you're probably not going to win them anyways uh but maybe they can find a way to win one or two of those and then you look at the road schedule um it's it's not as tough Michigan on the road UCLA Illinois Ruckers and Wisconsin so again if you flip this around uh you'd feel really good about Minnesota beating Illinois Ruckers maybe UCLA maybe even Wisconsin at home uh so it's it's not a great draw as far as their home and away but if they can find a way to win you know a couple of those home games and then go on the road and take care of business there you know It could wind up working out pretty well for them so they start with North Carolina on August 29th that'll be a week night game Thursday night to kick off the college football season that's going to be a big game a lot of eyeballs watching that one then on week two they'll play Rhode Island Nevada on the 14th and then Iowa on the 21st still no bye Michigan on the 28th on the road still no bye USC October 5th at home still no bye and finally UCLA on the 12th on the road so they're going to play you know normally it wouldn't be that big of a deal but but they're going to play seven games before their first bye remember the teams get two by weeks this year and you don't normally see you know seven games into the season before you get a bye that's going to be a tough stretch Iowa Michigan USC UCLA two of those games on the road uh that that's that is a really tough stretch right there but if they can start off three and 0 you know that could be their tough stretch like they had last year remember at the end maybe that's their tough stretch but then they get a bye maybe they win one of those games and then the schedule does get a a little bit easier but still it's pretty tough Maryland on the 26th then it's Illinois on the road on November 2nd on the road at Ruckers on the 9th then they get a another bye before playing Penn State on November 23rd and they'll close things out with Wisconsin on the road on November 30th so again there's not a lot of breaks on this schedule there are not a lot of easy wins it's it's overall going to be a very tough schedule in my opinion for Minnesota I think this team's going to be improved but with the schedule how much can they improve their record uh I don't know cuz again it's going to be tough for Minnesota with this schedule in 2024 here were some of those projections from last season Minnesota of course went 5- seven in the regular season our projection had them at six and six but really there was more optimism you know I predicted 7 and5 Athlon predicted 7 and5 the over under was 6 and A2 you can find it maybe as high as 7 and A2 and I think really a lot of that just has to do with PJ Fleck you know he what he had done in Minnesota so far if you look back at the roster last season there were some question marks and you know quarterback position did not come through for them and so you can kind of see how it did get to 5 and seven it was a pretty tough schedule again it's pretty tough schedule this year but I think they made an upgrade with the transfer quarterback they brought in and I think this team's going to be better but let's see what the projection says um again this is the schedule this is the scale that we use if it's under 20 or over 80 those are pretty much guaranteed guaranteed wins or losses 20 to 29 71 to 80 those are games that are counted we figure the spread's going to be pretty big double digits two touchdowns maybe a little more 30 39 61 to 70 games where the spread should be closer to a touchdown 6 78 points and then the 50-50 games in the white games that could go either way we're talking spreads three four five points in those so uh we'll start with the easy win I think Rhode Island is the one pretty much guaranteed win on the schedule I would be shocked if Minnesota lost that game I think Nevada maybe you could put them in the green I'll say Minnesota will be about a 16-point favorite in this game this is not a horrible group of team although I haven't really evaluated them for this year but just looking at them you know traditionally Nevada again they're a an average group of five team they're not one of the better ones they're usually not one of the worst U so yeah we're putting Nevada there in the blue and then we go to the other side of this gamees where Minnesota is going to be an underdog I think Wisconsin you know this is a tough one I I have Wisconsin is a tier three team and Minnesota is a tier four team and because it's on the road that's why this one is in the yellow here on our scale but you know the more I look at Minnesota I I really think that this team might could be a lot improved from where they were last year so this might wind up being more of a 50-50 game but we're going to put it in the yellow again just using the formula that we use and then I think you've got some games in the orange Michigan and Penn State Michigan being on the road Penn State at home but I think Minnesota's going to be at least a two touchdown Underdog in both of those games and so you got again you got three games where they're going to be a pretty big underdog maybe Wisconsin's not too much but definitely Penn State and Michigan and then the rest of the schedule it's really just a bunch of games that could go either way you know I think you know I think USC is probably in a tier above Minnesota I think Iowa is in a tier above Minnesota maybe even Maryland but they get all those games at home I think North Carolina a pretty even matchup and then you got UCLA Illinois and ruggers pretty even matchups those games all coming on the road so you just get a bunch of 50-50 games and really that's the way it is with with a lot of these teams in the big 10 and and a lot really across college football you've got your top tier and then you got your next teams and then there's just a big group of teams Minnesota's in that group I think USC is in that group I think UCLA's in that group I think Maryland probably in that group ruger's in that group Illinois maybe not but that game is on the road and that's why it's a 50-50 game so again you got a bunch of games that can go either way if they win some close games or win a lot of close games I think it's going to be a good season if they lose a lot of these close games they're going to have a very disappointing season so which way will it go of course we we don't know but the averages tell us that uh if everything averages out they're going to go six and six so enough to get to a bowl game a little better little bit better than last year and if you just take Rhode Island and Nevada and count them as wins and then you take Michigan pen State and Wisconsin as losses that would mean there are what seven games left here so they would have to go four and three in those games if they go three and four in those games it's no bowl game but if they can do a little bit better maybe get to 5 and two you know they get to seven and five or who knows maybe they even pull off a big upset maybe they shock Penn State late in the season they beat Wisconsin you know there a lot of different ways this could go but again the projection does come out to six and six that's what the projection was last year and again they went under that I kind of think they have a better chance of going over than under this year but I would have said the same thing last year so we'll see how it plays out but Minnesota projected at 6 and six do you guys agree do you disagree give me your thoughts on this team and your projections down in the comments below