Everybody loves to root for the underdog.

And in the case of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, there hasn’t been any other underdog that has been bigger this year. After finishing 1-11 last year and basically getting blown out of many games, Tim Brewster’s team actually had a coup in terms of recruiting in getting one of the nation’s better classes. With that kind of momentum, while the media (and myself) thought they would be improved for sure, they didn’t envision anything close to a bowl.

And then–they suddenly took off like a rocket, jumping to 7-1 and boasting a greatly improved defense, plus a national ranking of up to #16 at one point. And then–suddenly–the bottom fell out. A heartbreaking loss to Northwestern on an INT TD return at the end of the game lead to an embarassing rout by Michigan, who is less than stellar this year–at home, no less. So the question is now that the Gophers are 7-3 is–were they just simply overhyped?

Looking at the schedule, really the only teams of significance that the Gophers have beaten are Illinois and Bowling Green, and not even they are giants by any means. In games that have actually been against decent teams like NU and Ohio State, the Gophers haven’t shown up. Now they travel to Camp Randall where they face a rejuvenated Wisconsin Badger team and then finish the season at home against Iowa.

I know that Golden Gopher fans are ecstatic that the team has 7 wins and could possibly end up with 8-9, which would far surpass anyone’s expectations. My worry is that they are going to get an Illinois-USC type match up in a bowl and have all that momentum for the year squashed in a rout against someone like LSU or something.