The Badgers football program holds its streak of 22 straight winning seasons in high esteem, and rightfully so. It’s the longest such streak among any school in the Power Four conferences.
“Nation’s most consistent program …” Wisconsin states in bold type in its game notes.
But the Gophers have a chance to stop that string of consistency with a win in the regular-season finale on Friday at Camp Randall Stadium. If Wisconsin finishes 5-7 and is kept out of a bowl game, Minnesota’s rivalry win would add a twisting of Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Wisconsin’s wound.
The opportunity seems ripe for Minnesota (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) in Madison, Wis. The Badgers (5-6, 3-5) are a one-point favorites, but have lost four straight games, fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo two weeks ago and have been forced to ride with backup quarterback Braedyn Locke for the past two months.
“Both teams are going to leave everything they have out there, and I don’t think it matters what happened the week before, what happens the week after,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said Monday. “It’s all about that one week. I think that’s fun about rivalries. You know, the records get thrown out the window. What you did in the past gets thrown out the window. You get to learn from everything and go apply it.”
Minnesota failed in an opportunity to take advantage of a transitioning Wisconsin team in Minneapolis a year ago when first-head coach Luke Fickell’s team shut out the Gophers in the second half to win 28-14.
The Gophers were able keep a struggling Wisconsin team down two years ago in Madison, beating interim head coach Jim Leonard 23-16 in 2022. The U had made it two in a row, after a 23-13 win at Huntington Bank Stadium in 2021.
One of Fleck’s biggest achievements at Minnesota has been evening the rivalry with Wisconsin. He snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Badgers in 2018 and is 3-3 in the past six rivalry games with the Badgers.
The Gophers are headed to a bowl game regardless of what happens on Black Friday, but they could sure use a rivalry win — their trophy cases are barren.
Minnesota currently has zero rivalry trophies in its possession after losing Floyd of Rosedale to Iowa and the Little Brown Jug to Michigan in September, then the Governor’s Victory Bell to Penn State last week.
The Gophers have played for all four rivalry trophies in nine other seasons since the Penn State hardware was added to the mix in 1993, and they came away with zero wins only once, in 1997.
That was before Gophers offensive lineman Quinn Carroll was born. But growing up in Edina, the son of former U tight end Jay Carroll, the rivalry with Wisconsin was atop the list.
“It means a lot to me,” Quinn said this week. “Growing up, this was the game.”
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