One AP poll voter doesn’t think Gophers are a top-10 team

Suddenly, Minnesota is getting a lot more love.

Despite being undefeated, the Gophers were still only ranked No. 13 in last week’s Associated Press top-25 poll. A win over then-No. 5 Penn State changed that.

In this week’s top-25 poll, the Gophers moved up to No. 7, their highest ranking since 1962.

Only nine voters had Minnesota listed as a top-10 team last week, and of those eight had the Gophers at No. 10. The Boston Globe’s Michael Vega was the lone exception; he had Minnesota at No. 9.

This week it’s a different story.



Sixty-one voters had Minnesota in the top 10, with only six of those having the Gophers at No. 10.

Twenty-two voters think the Gophers are a top-six team and 12 had them in the top five. The highest ranking Minnesota got was No. 4, by four voters.

Of course, all that being said not everyone is buying the Gophers. And by that, specifically we mean Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.

Wilner has Minnesota ranked … 15th. Oof.

Here’s his top 15: LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Oregon, Florida, Oklahoma, Penn State (yes, Penn State is 10th), Michigan, Utah, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Minnesota.

Wilner gave his explanation in an article where he lists his top 25 on the day of the poll’s unveiling:

"This deep in the season, a single result — even ahead-to-head outcome, only counts so much if all other factors are not equal. And in the case of Penn State and Minnesota, the other factors are not equal. The Gophers played a soft schedule (South Dakota State, Georgia Southern and Fresno State) and have just one quality win (Penn State). The Nittany Lions have beaten Michigan and Iowa and edged Pittsburgh (6-3) in a non-conference affair."

The reality is Wilner’s vote didn’t cost Minnesota anything in the poll – the Gophers are 60 points behind No. 6 Oregon. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see one person’s insight – whether you agree with him or not.

Here’s how all the AP voters cast their ballots in Week 12 compared to last week:

Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns