Beat AP #24 Illinois yesterday, their fourth win in a row and second win against a ranked team this year. With games remaining against Rutgers, Wisconsin, and Penn St, Minnesota has a decent chance of playing on New Year's Day (Citrus Bowl seems likely if they finish 8-4).
I think at this point it can be argued that we really don't have a bad loss this year - four of the teams that beat us are in Sagarin's top 12, and even Minnesota is #28. Iowa (Sagarin #16) is probably the toughest remaining game on our Schedule.