When Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck looks at his team’s 2023 schedule, he sees opportunities.

When ESPN, through its Football Power Index computer model, looks at Minnesota’s schedule, it sees the second-toughest slate in the land, behind only Ole Miss.

Opportunity and challenge collide for the Gophers beginning Aug. 31 against Nebraska at Huntington Bank Stadium. Along with starting the season with a Big Ten West Division foe, the Gophers will face the following in an ambitious schedule:

“We presented it to [the players] in January, basically, and said, ‘Hey, listen, this is the second-most opportunistic schedule in America,'” Fleck said. “That’s the way that our team has been talked to since January and what we’ve been preparing for.”

Here’s a game-by-game look at the schedule: