Minnesota’s loss to Mississippi State on Saturday looked ugly on the field, and the numbers behind the Gophers’ roster budget make it look even worse.
At Huntington Bank Stadium, in front of a full crowd and in their first home game against an SEC opponent since 1959, the Golden Gophers were beaten 38-13 by the Bulldogs. The gap showed everywhere. Mississippi State was more talented at nearly every spot and deeper on top of that, which made the game feel lopsided from the start.
By Wednesday, a clearer picture had emerged of why Minnesota may be getting left behind. According to The Athletic, the Gophers are spending somewhere between $18 million and $22 million on their 2026 roster, a figure that places them 16th in the Big Ten.
The conference reportedly averages more than $27 million per roster. Only Iowa, at $17-21 million, and Purdue, at $16-20 million, are listed below Minnesota.
That puts the Gophers in the bottom 20 among power conference programs in talent spending, and more than 20 spots behind Mississippi State, the team that just handled them in Minneapolis.
For PJ Fleck and his staff, the message is plain: after a rough showing against the Bulldogs, there’s no hiding from the money race. Minnesota has to turn around and face Akron this weekend while also figuring out how to come up with more spending power before next offseason.
The Athletic’s report also backs up something that has been floating around all summer - Fleck has been doing a lot with less, especially when it comes to the talent he can afford. There were reports that he gave up some of football’s roster budget to help support Gopher basketball, and the estimate is that Minnesota football gets about $15 million of the $23 million allotted by the House vs NCAA settlement, which allows schools to directly pay athletes.
If those figures are accurate, that would mean the football program has brought in only $3 million to $7 million in NIL money for this season.
In Other News...
Twins Lose On A Very Strange Night In San Francisco
A strange night in San Francisco wound up touching just about every corner of the Giants' clubhouse, from the field to the postgame scene. Bo Davidson made his major league debut and immediately made it memorable, collecting a hit, a stolen base and a run scored in his first game, a debut line the Giants had not seen from a player since 1931.
The game itself ended with San Francisco taking the win, even as the club remains eliminated from the 2026 National League playoff race. But the part of the night that will linger around the team is what happened after the final out, when a cameraman followed Davidson into the locker room and a naked teammate quickly moved away on seeing the camera, a jarring coda to an already odd evening. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Deadline Pitching Moves Now Carry A Bigger 2027 Question
The Twins went to the 2026 trade deadline looking for pitching help that could push them into October, and for a while the front office could point to a flurry of moves as proof it was serious about the chase. Minnesota never got the payoff it wanted, though, and now the attention has shifted from the short-term rescue mission to what those deadline swings actually mean for a roster still trying to sort out its pitching depth.
Some of the newcomers have already given the club a mixed read, with Nance, Minter and Kremer each leaving behind a different impression about value and fit. The bigger issue now is how those outcomes line up with the contracts attached to each arm, since a few still come with years of team control while others are headed for free agency, leaving the Twins with a 2027 decision that could matter almost as much as the deadline itself. [Read more 🡒]
Former Twins Pitcher Is Forcing An Unexpected MLB Question
Chris Paddacks move overseas was supposed to be a quiet reset after a rocky major league season, but his work with the Samsung Lions has turned into something more interesting than a simple fresh start. After pitching for three MLB teams in 2025 and posting a 6.79 ERA over 57 innings, the former Twins right-hander signed a one-year deal in Korea and has settled in quickly, giving the Lions a much steadier version of himself on the mound.
The numbers in the KBO tell a very different story, with Paddack carrying a 2.93 ERA and helping a Samsung club that sits second in the standings and is in position to reach the postseason. For Minnesota, it is the kind of reminder that pitching careers can change fast, and that a former Twin now looks like he may have found the kind of groove that kept eluding him back in the majors. [Read more 🡒]