From the moment the Gophers football team became bowl-eligible, coach Tim Brewster has said he didn't care where his team played.
Everybody who plays for, coaches or watches the Gophers will have to wait -- likely until Dec. 6 -- to find out where the Gophers are going. What's more important is where the offense is going.
But first, the bowls.
The Big Ten has contractual connections to seven bowls and has seven bowl-eligible teams. The last two in the pecking order are Michigan State and Minnesota, both at 6-6 overall. The Gophers have the head-to-head edge over the Spartans, but they have one more Big Ten victory.
Ultimately, where the Gophers end up has everything to do with whether the conference gets two teams in the BCS mix. Ohio State is going to the Rose Bowl. Will either Iowa or Penn State -- both 10-2 -- get an at-large BCS bid?
Probably.
At this point it appears the Big Ten would get the edge over the Big East (Cincinnati or Pittsburgh). Ditto for the Pac-10, which has only one two-loss team in Oregon.
So what could mess up a second BCS bid for the Big Ten? Oklahoma State is a two-loss team in the Big 12 and is playing well right now. A convincing victory over Oklahoma on Saturday could put the Cowboys in the BCS mix.
But, at this point, it appears either Iowa or Penn State could wind up in the Fiesta Bowl. And that would mean the Big Ten would not have a team to put in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit.
Then the other pieces would fall into place. The loser of the Iowa-Penn State Fiesta Bowl decision likely would go to the Capital One Bowl. Wisconsin likely would to go the Outback Bowl with surging Northwestern in the Champs Sports Bowl. That could wind up reversed, given Northwestern's victory over the Badgers on Saturday.
That would leave the Alamo and Insight Bowls for Michigan State and the Gophers. The Alamo Bowl has passed up the Gophers a couple of times, and there is no reason to believe it wouldn't happen again. That would mean the Gophers in the Insight Bowl for the second consecutive year and the third time in four seasons.
If Ohio State is the only Big Ten team in the BCS, that would change things, though the Gophers still could avoid Detroit if the Little Caesars folks were able to land Michigan State.
Offense in tailspin
What matters most is how the Gophers will play.
The Gophers offense has slowed to a crawl, finishing the season without scoring a touchdown in the final two games.
After enduring another difficult day against Iowa on Saturday, Gophers quarterback Adam Weber said he continued to believe the offense under coordinator Jedd Fisch eventually will click.
"This offense will be a great offense," he said. "You hate to use excuses. We'll never do that. We showed what we can do against Michigan State. But we've also shown that, if we are not prepared, not hitting on all cylinders, we've shown how bad we can play as well. But we see the potential. We're a young team on offense. We just need guys to step up."
There will be 15 pre-bowl practices once a destination is known. It's unreasonable to think that the Gophers team that plays its bowl game will be fundamentally different from the one that went 2-4 down the stretch, scoring one or fewer offensive touchdowns in four of those games.
Receiver Brandon Green will be back from arthroscopic knee surgery. The young receivers will get more much-needed work.
"We had some good offensive football games this year, and we had some poor output," Brewster said. "Am I pleased? No, I'm not. We're going to continue to work to get better and do the things you do to get better offensively. ... I promise you this much: When you have a group of kids that fights the way our kids fight, and work? They're going to get better. They're going to improve."
Kent Youngblood kyoungblood@startribune.com
