Phil Steele gives forecast for Minnesota in 2023

Minnesota has an interesting forecast for the 2023 season, according to Phil Steele. The trajectory from PJ Fleck’s squad was interesting after a historic 2019 campaign.

Since then, there’s been flashes, but never that breakthrough to the Big Ten Championship Game. It doesn’t get any easier in the final year of the Big Ten before expansion.

In his annual college football preview magazine, Steele looked back at the 2019 season for Minnesota and where it led the team today.

“In 2019, Minnesota was the first team since 1985 to open 4-0 with all four wins by one possession,” Steele wrote. “Minnesota got to 9-0 for the first time since 1941’s national title team. They beat 8-0, No. 5 Penn State at home 31-26 (first win vs. top five team at home since ‘77).

“The No. 7 Gophers (highest rank since 1962) lost at Iowa but had a 494-232 yard edge vs. Auburn to finish 11-2 and No. 10! Minnesota had five players selected in the draft (most for seven rounds). The Gophers had five net close wins in ‘19 and rated a -5.0 on my SMI (both signs pointing down).”

2020 was a weird year for everyone, but Minnesota had quite the let down during the shortened COVID-19 season.

“They went just 3-4 with a depleted roster at the end of 2020,” Steele wrote. “In ‘21 Minnesota returned 20 starters. Minny went 9-4 including a bowl win. Last year, they only had 12 returning starters but opened a powerful 4-0 (+40 ppg!) then lost three in a row. They rebounded to win their next three, but then lost a key game to Iowa. They did beat Wisconsin and won the bowl (sixth straight bowl win) to finish a solid 9-4 and ended the year just outside the top 25.”

The bounce back was real and Minnesota was solid. But Fleck and the Gophers want more.

Does it get any easier? Of course not.

Minnesota gets, arguably, the top two teams in the Big Ten on the schedule in 2023.

“This year, they draw both Michigan and Ohio State from the East and are in the Going Down box for a tougher schedule and are a -1.9 on my Stock Market Indicator,” Steele wrote. “The Gophers have had four straight winning seasons and four straight bowl wins in non-COVID years and will ust need to win their bowl game to keep both streaks alive.”