Ranking the Gophers’ top road football games in 2024

College football is coming into the spotlight this week with kick times being released for Week 1. If you are anything like me, this makes you think about a fun weekend in the fall traveling to a Gophers Football game.

Ever since graduating from college, my old roommates and I decided to go to one road game a year as a fun weekend getaway supporting our favorite team. I decided to give my rankings for which game would be the best in case any other Gopher followers want a little light happy-hour discussion. I would love to hear if anyone has any additional thoughts to help us decide.

We will start from the bottom.

• #5 – Rutgers (November 9, 2024)
  • This feels pretty easy, I am not even sure where or how to get to Piscataway, NJ. Sure, seeing our secondary intercept Athan a few times would be fun, but this is very far down my list of Big Ten schools I need to visit.
• #4 – Illinois (November 2, 2024)
  • In November, I would like to go here for a basketball game. Given the other exciting spots below, this falls without too much concern to number 4.
• #3 – Wisconsin (November 30, 2024)
  • The top three on this list are all very good options. If you have never been to Madison, it is an amazing college town for a game. As much as it pains me to say that, they make every Saturday super fun and having the axe on the line always adds excitement. However, for me personally, give that I have already been here and this rivalry will happen every year (more opportunities to go compared to other stadiums), this falls to number three.
• #2 – UCLA (October 12, 2024)
  • The draw here is obvious and awesome. We never get to play against the West Coast teams. No matter how you feel about conference realignment, it will be super cool to have these games against UCLA, Washington, Oregon, and USC to watch at 9 pm on a Saturday night at the local bar. I would love to go to LA for a football game, however, if I am being picky, I would prefer to go there for a USC-Gopher game (hopefully next year).
• #1 – Michigan (September 28, 2024)
  • The house that J.J. McCarthy built (or at least that is my motto now given his landing spot in the NFL). The “Big House” is one of college football’s great stadiums and it would be a blast to be able to see it in person. If you are a college tradition nut like I am, I would absolutely love to be a part of their tradition, singing Mr. Brightside, all 105,000 strong. In addition, there is a ton of turnover at Michigan. They lost a TON of starters to the NFL draft which led to them as well as their coach. The optimist in me says maybe this is our best chance at seeing us win the Little Brown Jug for a while. How often can you see the reigning National Champs play your favorite team? In the Big Ten, not very much.

I very much look forward to debating this with my college friends at length I am sure at our next happy hour because there is no wrong answer on this list (outside of Rutgers). Any Gophers away game brings great memories, and great company with fellow fans.