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The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 5-0 for the first time since 2004 and people have begun to take notice. Fresh off their 40-17 Homecoming victory over Illinois, the Gophers have checked in at No. 25 in the Coaches Poll.
The Gophers last appeared in the Coaches Poll in 2014, when they were 8-3 and ranked No. 22 ahead of a matchup with Wisconsin that would decide the winner of the Big Ten West. Their absence from the AP Top 25 extends back much further, to when Minnesota was 7-1 in 2008 under then head coach Tim Brewster and ranked No. 20.
To end that drought in the AP Top 25 and perhaps even move up in the Coaches Poll, Minnesota will need to beat Nebraska on Saturday night in a primetime Battle for the Broken Chair. Kickoff at TCF Bank Stadium is at 6:30 p.m. CT.