It’s the first time in a good long while that University of Minnesota finds itself in a bowl game that we’ve actually heard of before. After years of Insight Bowls and Texas Bowls and some other bowls that we’ve all tried to block out of our memories, the Gophers will be playing in the Citrus Bowl against Missouri.
It’s been a good long while since the Gophers and the Tigers have faced off, too.
The Gophers and Missouri have meet up eight times on the football field and the Gophers stand with a 3-4-1 overall record. This will be the first time the two teams meet up since 1970, a game the more northern U of Mers lost 34-12 in Missouri.
In fact, the Gophers have lost three in a row to Missouri. Here’s the all-time results between the two schools from most recent to the first meeting.
- 1970 – at Missouri – Tigers won 34-12
- 1966 – at Missouri – Tigers won 24-0
- 1965 – at Minnesota – Tigers won 17-6
- 1962 – at Minnesota – Tie 0-0
- 1961 – at Minnesota – Tigers won 6-0
- 1945 – at Minnesota – Gophers won 34-0
- 1944 – at Minnesota – Gophers won 39-27
- 1943 – at Minnesota – Gophers won 26-13
So there it is in black and white, the Golden Gophers haven’t defeated the Missouri Tigers since 1945 and have never defeated their opponent outside of the state of Minnesota.
While the Gophers had a solid year, it was a year that saw the Big Ten Conference down as a whole. It will interesting to see what the Gophers can do in a game against a member of the almighty SEC.