The fact that the Gophers could make a bowl game seemed to come as a surprise to quarterback Mitch Leidner after Saturday's 31-21 loss to Wisconsin.
"What does that mean?" Leidner asked.
Leidner and the Gophers had tunnel vision on beating the Badgers, retaking Paul Bunyan's Axe for the first time in 11 years and letting their 6-6 record guarantee them a bowl game.
Instead, Leidner needed a summary on the scenario of how his 5-7 Gophers could still make a bowl. Only 75 of the necessary 80 teams have reached the six-win benchmark for the record-high 40 bowls, meaning as many as five teams with 5-7 records could be needed to round out the field.