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Bowl eligibility big deal for Illinois, Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS - When Illinois and Minnesota finish playing, no traveling trophy will be hoisted by the winners.

For the Golden Gophers, there will be no prime-time kickoff or top-15 opponent to get pumped up for. Beating the Fighting Illini does not serve these days as a signature victory.

Make no mistake about Minnesota's motivation for today's game, though. There is plenty to go around.

"They're coming to our house this year, and we're excited about that," Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner said. "It's definitely a game where we've got some revenge for 'em."

The Gophers took a four-game winning streak last season to Illinois, where a slow start and a late fumble led to a 28-24 loss to a team that dropped 24 of its previous 25 Big Ten games.

There's also the matter of qualifying for a bowl game. The Gophers (4-6, 1-5) need to beat Illinois and Wisconsin to be eligible.

"We don't want to go home early," defensive tackle Andrew Stelter said.

Following consecutive night games against Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa, which were 15th, first and eighth in the Associated Press rankings at the time, a letdown would be natural for any team. The Gophers, though, learned a hard lesson about that at Illinois last year.

"We definitely won't be making that same mistake this week," wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky said.

Furthering the necessity of maximum focus, intensity and effort for the Gophers is the fact that the Illini (5-5, 2-4) are also chasing bowl eligibility. With the regular season finale against rival Northwestern, currently ranked 20th, Illinois also might need to win this one.

"I think it would be a heck of an accomplishment if we could get one of these games and get them to a bowl game," interim coach Bill Cubit said. "We've been through a lot."

The Illini have shown some life under Cubit. Four losses have come to teams currently in the Top 25, including three in the top 12 spots: Ohio State, Iowa, North Carolina and Wisconsin. With Penn State, the cumulative record of the five teams that beat them is 44-6.

The schedule for the Gophers has been tough, too. Their six defeats have come to teams with a combined 50-11 mark.

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