As disappointing as the beginning of the season has been, things can turn around immediately with a win on Saturday. The Golden Gophers have been the class of a very weak West division so far. They have won all four games in blowout fashion with a dominant defense and solid offense. The non-conference opponents were relatively week, but walking into East Lansing last week and smacking around the Spartans opened a lot of eyes. As a result, the Gophers are now in the top 25.
Minnesota has been an especially frustrating opponent to play of late. PJ Fleck is 4-1 against Purdue and the gophers have won eight of the last nine in the series.