It’s the day after the National Championship and already college football fanatics are looking forward to the 2015 season.
ESPN released its ‘Way too Early Top 25‘ on Tuesday, not even 24 hours after Ohio State’s 42-20 national championship victory over Oregon.
Surprisingly, one team jumped ahead of the Buckeyes, according to ESPN. TCU was picked atop the rankings, the same Horned Frogs that come to TCF Bank Stadium to take on the Gophers in the 2015 season opener.
#Gophers host TCU on Sept. 3 http://t.co/tKk8JGKDc0 RT @ESPNCFB: TCU is No. 1 in our first top 25 for 2015.
— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) January 13, 2015
Minnesota was picked 25th in those rankings, but the Gophers won’t have an easy task staying there if the network is anywhere close to accurate, because of a schedule that looks to be one of the most daunting in college football.
The Gophers’ schedule includes three games against opponents ranked in the top 25 of that poll – including the one against the national champion Buckeyes.
But as the Star Tribune notes, following their season opener against the Horned Frogs the Gophers travel to Colorado State – a team that was 10-1 and ranked 21st before back-to-back season-ending losses.
In addition, the Gophers face both of the Big Ten’s high-profile new coaches in Nebraska’s Mike Reilly and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh.
Minnesota’s final road game is in Iowa on Nov. 14, before back-to-back home games to close the regular season against Illinois and Wisconsin.
Here is a full look at the 2015 schedule for Minnesota:
- Thu. Sept. 3 TCU at Minnesota
- Sat. Sept. 12 Minnesota at Colorado State
- Sat. Sept. 19 Kent State at Minnesota
- Sat. Sept. 26 Ohio at Minnesota (Homecoming)
- Sat. Oct. 3 Minnesota at Northwestern
- Sat. Oct. 10 Minnesota at Purdue
- Sat. Oct. 17 Nebraska at Minnesota
- Sat. Oct. 31 Michigan at Minnesota
- Sat. Nov. 7 Minnesota at Ohio State
- Sat. Nov. 14 Minnesota at Iowa
- Sat. Nov. 21 Illinois at Minnesota
- Sat. Nov. 28 Wisconsin at Minnesota
