We're nearly two weeks away from the release of EA Sports College Football 27, which means they're slowly releasing some ratings. We got the team ratings on Tuesday, offensive players on Wednesday and defensive players on Thursday. Let's break down what it means for Minnesota. Gophers team rating: 81 OVROffense: 82 OVRDefense: 81 OVRBig Ten ratingsOregon: 91 OVROhio State: 90Indiana: 90USC: 86Michigan: 85Nebraska: 83Penn State: 83Washington: 83UCLA: 82Minnesota: 81Iowa: 80Maryland: 80Michigan State: 80Illinois: 79Northwestern: 79Wisconsin: 79Rutgers: 78Purdue: 77The Gophers are the 39th-ranked team based on overall ratings, and the ninth-best team in the Big Ten. They're notably ahead of Iowa, which has an 80 overall rating, and two points ahead of Wisconsin, which will be a 79 overall at the time of release. It's hard to argue that the Gophers deserve to be any higher.Top five offensive players— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) June 24, 2026Greg Johnson: 92 OVRDarius Taylor: 87 OVRAshton Beers: 86 OVRJavon Tracy: 86 OVRDrake Lindsey: 81 OVRJohnson will be tied for the 27th-highest-rated player in the game at release, and he's tied for the third-best guard in the entire game. He moved back to guard last season after playing center in 2024, and he now projects as one of the best players at his position this fall.Dec 26, 2025; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers offensive lineman Greg Johnson (65) against the New Mexico Lobos during the Rate Bowl at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesTaylor is behind the top 10 running backs in the game by three points, but he's still the second-highest-rated player on the offense. Beers and Tracy both got a lot of respect at 86 overall, and Lindsey will clearly still have to prove himself in order to get respect from the national media.Top defensive players— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) June 25, 2026Anthony Smith: 92 OVRMaverick Baranowski: 88 OVRKerry Brown: 87 OVRTJ Bush Jr.: 87 OVRJohn Nestor: 87 OVRAidan Gousby: 81 OVRIn a surprise to nobody, Smith is the highest-rated player on the Gophers' defense, and the fourth-highest-rated edge defender. He opted to put the NFL on pause after a breakout 2025 season, and he now has the chance to be one of the best players in college football this fall.Dec 26, 2025; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive lineman Anthony Smith (0) against the New Mexico Lobos during the Rate Bowl at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesBaranowski got a lot of love with an 88 overall rating. Brown and Nestor are both 87 overall as the leaders in Minnesota's secondary, and Bush is their highest-rated incoming transfer at 87 overall. Lastly, Gousby received an 81 overall. Minnesota will be one of the most fun teams to play with when the game releases later this summer.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow