Saturday’s blowout win over Illinois at TCF Bank Stadium wasn’t enough to convince the voters that the undefeated Gophers belong in the Associated Press Top-25 poll.
Coming in at No. 26 is Minnesota (5-0), making them one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the FBS who aren’t in the top 25. The other: Appalachian State (4-0).
In all, there are 16 undefeated teams in the FBS, so 14 of them are in the AP Top-25 poll, and Minnesota is the only undefeated team from a power five conference that isn’t ranked.
The Gophers are ranked in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll – barely – as the 25th-ranked team in the country.
Minnesota is 5-0 for the first time since 2004 and can make it 6-0 with a home victory over Nebraska on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. A win there and the Gophers have a very real chance of starting 8-0 as they finish October with games at Rutgers and at home against Maryland.
November is when the schedule gets daunting against No. 10 Penn State, No. 17 Iowa, Northwestern and No. 7 Wisconsin.
