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In addition to becoming bowl-eligible with their sixth victory, Jerry Kill's Minnesota Golden Gophers used a 17-3 win over Illinois on Saturday to pull into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big Ten Legends Division.
Now tied with the Iowa Hawkeyes and Michigan State Spartans at 2-4 in league play, the Gophers will next try to further disrupt the balance of power in the league with a trip to Memorial Stadium to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Cornhuskers currently sit atop the Legends with a 5-1 mark, and are in a position to control their own destiny in the conference for the remainder of the year.
Minnesota will hope to showcase its improved rushing attack against the Huskers, as sophomore tailback Donnell Kirkwood will be fresh off a career-best performance where he tallied 152 rushing yards and two scores. The 5'10 Kirkwood is averaging 123.8 yards on the ground when he receives 20 or more carries in a game this season, and will need to remain in top form in order for the Gophers to pull off the upset.
Here are the full Big Ten standings through 11 weeks:
| Big Ten - Legends | CONF | OVERALL |
| Nebraska | 5-1 | 8-2 |
| Michigan | 5-1 | 7-3 |
| Northwestern | 3-3 | 7-3 |
| Iowa | 2-4 | 4-6 |
| Minnesota | 2-4 | 6-4 |
| Michigan State | 2-4 | 5-5 |
| Big Ten - Leaders | CONF | OVERALL |
| x - Ohio State | 6-0 | 10-0 |
| Wisconsin | 4-2 | 7-3 |
| x - Penn State | 4-2 | 6-4 |
| Indiana | 2-4 | 4-6 |
| Purdue | 1-5 | 4-6 |
| Illinois | 0-6 | 2-8 |