Our side
MoneylineNU to win
ours 31%
Projected score
27–19
NU – MINN
2026-11-21 · kickoff TBD
Huntington Bank Stadium · Minneapolis, MN
B1G game
Early season
The books
No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.
Series
Minnesota lead
56–38–5
· 99 meetings since 1892
2025 unit ranks —
last completed season, from games actually played
Run game
even
38 ranks apart
Northwestern Wildcats #79 rush offense
Minnesota Golden Gophers #117 run defense
Pass game
edge Minnesota Golden Gophers
90 ranks
Northwestern Wildcats #170 pass offense
Minnesota Golden Gophers #80 pass defense
Run game
even
11 ranks apart
Minnesota Golden Gophers #224 rush offense
Northwestern Wildcats #213 run defense
Pass game
even
21 ranks apart
Minnesota Golden Gophers #129 pass offense
Northwestern Wildcats #108 pass defense
Northwestern Wildcats
Balanced · 56% run
Ball-control
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Balanced · 44% run
Ball-control
David Braun · 19-19
P.J. Fleck · 87-50
Ranked by team-unit strength
(rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265
D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the
2025 season.
The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above
Who carried each team in 2025
Northwestern Wildcats
DB
Braden Turner
7 tkl · 3 PD
#97 DB
DB
Robert Fitzgerald
14 tkl · 1 PD
#113 DB
DB
Damon Walters
9 tkl · 1 PD · 1 INT
#114 DB
DL
Brendan Flakes
4 tkl · 1.0 sacks · 1.0 TFL
#225 DL
Minnesota Golden Gophers
DL
TJ Bush Jr.
11 tkl · 1.0 sacks · 2.0 TFL
#92 DL
RB
Darius Taylor
71 rush yds · 3 TD · 4 rec
#139 RB
LB
Maverick Baranowski
15 tkl · 1.0 TFL
#208 LB
QB
Drake Lindsey
543 pass yds · 1 TD · 0 INT
#77 QB
Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their
position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no
2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for
these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.
Power breakdown
Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).
Where the number comes from
Northwestern offense vs Minnesota defense-2.0 pts
Minnesota offense vs Northwestern defense-12.2 pts
An efficiency adjustment from season-to-date EPA and success rate applies once teams have
played enough games; before then it is 0 and the number is the power rating alone.