Minnesota Football vs. Wisconsin Badgers preview and score prediction

Wisconsin (6-5) vs. Minnesota (5-6)

TV: Fox Sports One // Jeff Levering (PXP), Mark Helfrich (Analyst)

Series: Minnesota and Wisconsin are tied at 62-62-8

Last game:Minnesota win 23-16 in Madison (11/26/2022)

Vegas betting line: Wisconsin (-2.5) with a 42.5 O/U

Weather Report: 33 degrees and a 10 mph west

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1. Minnesota (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) closes out the regular season Saturday as it hosts Wisconsin (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) at 2:30 pm on Fox Sports One 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. 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 completion: 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.

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 (81). 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 79-54 (.594).