The Minnesota Golden Gophers need a win over Wisconsin on Saturday to become bowl-eligible this season. The Golden Gophers have lost each of their last three games to Illinois, Purdue, and Ohio State - all in different but disappointing fashions.

The Badgers enter this weekend 6-05 on the season including 4-4 in conference play. They achieved bowl eligibility last weekend against the Nebraska Cornhuskers with a 24-17 win in overtime, snapping a three-game losing streak.

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When: November 25, 2023 - 2:30 p.m. CT

Where: Minneapolis, MN (Huntington Bank Stadium - 50,850)

TV: FS1 | Jeff Levering (PxP), Mark Helfrich (Analyst)

Radio: KFAN | Mike Grimm (Pxp), Darrell Thompson (Analyst), Justin Gaard (Reporter)

SiriusXM: 388/SiriusXM App

Minnesota - P.J. Fleck (7th year at Minnesota ; 11th overall)

- Career Record: 79-55

- Record at Minnesota: 49-34

- Record against Wisconsin: 3-4

Wisconsin - Luke Fickell (1st Full Year at Wisconsin; 8th overall)

- Career Record: 70-30

- Record at Wisconsin: 7-5

- Record against Minnesota: 0-0

Minnesota has won two straight in the series for Paul Bunyan's Axe after Wisconsin dominated the series for much of the last two decades which included a 14-year winning streak.

Wisconsin is a small favorite entering Friday with the spread currently at -3 in favor of the Badgers, up a point from the opening of Wisconsin -2. The over/under for the game is set at 43.5 points.

According to Accuweather, Saturday will be a cold day in Minneapolis with a high of 32 and a low of 25. No precipitation is expected and wind is expected to be minimal.

Courtesy of the Minnesota Athletic Department

1. Minnesota (5-6, 3-5 B1G) closes out the regular season Saturday as it hosts Wisconsin (6-5, 4-4 B1G) at 2:30 p.m. on FS1 with radio coverage on the Gopher Radio Network. The most played FBS rivalry in college football history at 132 games, with an even mark of 62-62-8 between the schools, Saturday will be the 10th straight year that the Gophers and Badgers face off in the regular season finale.

2. The all-time series has been played 132 times, but Saturday marks the 75th battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe, a full history of which can be found on Page 50. First played for in 1948, the all-time series record for the Axe is tilted in Wisconsin's favor at 44-27-3, but Minnesota has won two in a row and three of the last five meetings.

3. Saturday is Senior Day for Minnesota. There are 28 players on the Minnesota roster who hold the distinction of being a senior or older. However, with the extra year of eligibility from the 2020 COVID season, many still have multiple years remaining to play. Of the 28 seniors, 14 are in their final year of competition: Chris Autman-Bell, Kyler Baugh, Nathan Boe, Chris Collins, Corey Crooms Jr., Darnell Jefferies, Tre'Von Jones, Tyler Nubin, Ryan Selig, Karter Shaw, Brevyn Spann-Ford, Sean Tyler, Brady Weeks and Bryce Williams.

4. Gopher history was made when Jordan Nubin was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after his standout performance against Michigan State on Oct. 28. His win marked the ninth time this season that Minnesota had a weekly honor from the Big Ten, breaking the program record of eight set in 2018 and matched in 2019. In addition to Jordan Nubin's honor, Tyler Nubin has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week twice, while Dragan Kesich can say the same for Special Teams Player of the Week. Freshman of the Week has gone to Darius Taylor three times, tying a program record, and Zach Evans has won it once. Since Freshman of the Week was introduced in 2010, the only other season that Minnesota has won all four awards came in 2014. More information on each weekly award winner can be found throughout the notes.

5. The 2023 campaign is the seventh for head coach P.J. Fleck at Minnesota, where his record is 49-33. He is fifth in program history for overall wins, Big Ten wins (29) and games coached (82). Fleck's .598 win percentage is third best among Minnesota coaches with at least 45 games under their helm behind only Henry L. Williams (.786, 1900-21) and Bernie Bierman (.716, 1932-41, ‘45-50). In his 11th season overall as a college head coach, Fleck is 79-55 (.590).

Courtesy of the Wisconsin Athletic Department

-Wisconsin is set to renew college football’s oldest rivalry by squaring off with Minnesota for the 133rd time in the regular-season finale Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, live on FS1.

- Despite the Gophers claiming a victory in each of the last 2 seasons, the Badgers have secured the Axe 16 times over the teams’ last 19 meetings. „ After holding on to the Freedom Trophy with an overtime win over Nebraska last week, UW has won 27 of its last 34 games with a traveling trophy on the line.

- Wisconsin has qualified for a bowl game for a 22nd-consecutive season, the 3rd-longest active bowl streak in the nation. With a win at Minnesota, Wisconsin could also secure a winning season for the 22nd-straight season, the longest streak in all of FBS football.

- Defensively, S Hunter Wohler has been the game-changer for the UW unit. A Muskego, Wis., native, Wohler has been a playmaker all over the field in DC Mike Tressel’s system. Wohler leads the Badgers and all Big Ten DBs with 101 tackles this season. Wohler’s 67 solo tackles rank 4th nationally and lead all DBs.

- Wohler’s 67 solos are the most for a Badger since LB TJ Edwards totaled 73 (113 total) in 2018. ƒ Wohler is the only defensive back in the country to have 100+ tackles and multiple interceptions this season.

- Wohler missed the second half of Wisconsin’s win over Nebraska due to an upper body injury. „ In the secondary, CB Ricardo Hallman is tied for the Big Ten lead with 5 INTs and is one of 10 players nationally to grab 5+ picks.

- Hallman’s 5 INTs are the most for a Badger CB since Jamar Fletcher picked off 6 passes in 2000. „ OLB C.J. Goetz has dominated the edge as an every-down OLB. He’s tallied multiple TFLs in 5 of the last 7 games and ranks 5th in the Big Ten with 11.0 this season. „ Despite being hampered by a lower body injury, RB Braelon Allen returned to form against Nebraska in the Camp Randall finale last weekend.

- After rushing for 62 yards and 2 scores against Nebraska, Allen ranks 2nd in the Big Ten with 81.9 rushing yards per game and 10 rushing scores.

- QB Tanner Mordecai has returned to start back-to-back games after missing 3 due to a broken throwing hand. Mordecai returned just 28 days after breaking the hand in Wisconsin’s Oct. 14 matchup with Iowa.

- Mordecai directed the Badger offense in the 14-point comeback win over Nebraska. He ran for 51 yards, the most for a Badger QB since 2013.

- WR Will Pauling ranks 2nd in the Big Ten with 64 catches this season. With 2 games to play, Pauling needs 14 catches to match the Badgers’ all-time single-season reception record (78 - Jared Abbrederis, 2013).

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