Minnesota Football: Gophers ranked No. 18 in penultimate College Football Playoff rankings

The Minnesota Golden Gophers dropped to No. 18 in the penultimate rankings from the College Football Playoff selection committee, following a 38-17 loss to Wisconsin in the regular season finale. Beating the Badgers would have set the stage for a Top 10 showdown with Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, but instead the Gophers will be watching from home, awaiting word on their bowl destination. Minnesota checked in at No. 8 in last week’s rankings.

The Buckeyes retained the top spot in the rankings, followed by Wisconsin at No. 8. Penn State stood pat at No. 10, improving to 10-2 with a 27-6 win over Rutgers. Michigan dropped to No. 14 after recording their eighth consecutive loss to Ohio State. Iowa rounds out the Big Ten at No. 16, needing a last-second field goal to escape Nebraska with a win.

So Minnesota beat Penn State and finished with the same overall record, but is somehow eight spots behind them because of losses to the teams ranked at No. 8 and No. 16.

Huh.