Expert predicts Gophers will play in Mayo Bowl

You know you're struggling to come up with new content when you start creating betting favorites in bowl game predictions four months in advance.

Dec 27, 2023; Charlotte, NC, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown gets covered in mayonnaise after the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

It is officially game week in the college football world with six FBS teams preparing for season-opening Week Zero games, so there is no time better than the present to look at preseason bowl predictions.

National college football analyst Brett McMurphy has released a projection for every single bowl game and he thinks the Minnesota Gophers will be going to the Duke's Mayo Bowl against Louisville on Jan. 3, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. .

If you think specific, preseason bowl predictions are as crazy as putting mayo in coffee, than you'll really think that it's crazy to make Louisville a 13.5-point favorite over Minnesota in this hypothetical matchup. Alas, here we are...

The Mayo Bowl was originally the Continental Tire Bowl from 2002-04, then the Meineke Car Care Center Bowl from 2005-10, and lastly the Belk Bowl from 2011-19 before taking its name today. The Gophers have never played in any iteration of the game.

McMurphy's projections have Minnesota as one of the 12 Big Ten teams playing in a bowl game this season. With the debut of the new 12-team College Football Playoff this season, the entire postseason and meaning attached to bowl games will be different than in years past.

A Jan. 3 game would be Minnesota's first bowl game in the new year since the Outback Bowl in 2020 against Auburn.