Gophers Football Citrus Bowl Bound

Nov 29, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers running back

(27) carries the football during the first quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve done a lot of things on New Year’s Day. I’ve gone skiing. I’ve played in hockey tournaments. I’ve ate way too much food. I’ve watched the Winter Classic (which should have come to Minnesota years ago yet still hasn’t, but that’s a story for a different column). More than anything though, I’ve watched a ton of college football. What I have never done is watch the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team play on New Year’s Day.

This has not been by choice, of course. While they have played in a decent number of bowl games in the last five decades, none of them have been prestigious enough to fall on the holiday. In fact, the last time the Gophers played on New Year’s was the 1962 Rose Bowl, when I was negative 24 years old. Obviously, this is a step up for the program.

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The hope is this is one step, or brick, as Jerry Kill would say, towards winning conference titles and more. That said, the Citrus Bowl – sorry, the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl – is a very good bowl game. One of my favorite zingers from former Florida, now South Carolina, head ball coach Steve Spurrier was taking a shot at rival Tennessee, saying, “You can’t spell Citrus without U-T.” While he was right that Florida was always getting the upper hand on the Vols in those days by playing for national championships, the fact is that any Florida bowl game on New Year’s Day is a good game and is a major upgrade for the Gophers.

Up until last year, the Gophers most likely destination would have been Tampa Bay for the Outback Bowl, the other Florida bowl game with Big Ten ties. However, the bowls are now avoiding putting the same schools in the same game in back-to-back seasons. Wisconsin played in the Citrus last season, so even though the Citrus Bowl has traditionally picked a team from the Big 10 in one higher of a slot than the Outback, the Gophers instead end up in Orlando.

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As far as the game itself goes, the Gophers drew Missouri, who have been as up and down as it gets, though they did play their best ball in the second half of the regular season. After inexplicably losing to Indiana at home and getting shut out by Georgia, also in Columbia, the Tigers went undefeated until the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. The game should be an interesting contrast of styles, as the Tigers like to attack through the air with Maty Mauk, whereas the Gophers will be sure to lean on their power running game led by David Cobb.

A loss would leave the Gophers with an 8-5 record. The season has had some undeniably great moments, most notably winning The Little Brown Jug in Ann Arbor and blowing the doors off of Iowa to get Floyd back in Minneapolis. Still, the Gophers were also 8-5 last year, so a win to achieve nine wins for the first time since 2003 would be a big-time feather in the Gophers caps.