Gophers vs. Cal in Sioux Falls

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I don't know how they've done in the portal, but they were a middle-of-the-road ACC team last year. I'll take it. Hopefully it's Q2.

Get a good home game (Q2).
Get a good road game (Q1).

And I'll be satisfied.

Edit: Just saw the summer practice videos. I want Duke at Cameron.
 
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Cal was 9 and 9 in the ACC. Their leading scorer transferred. Their 2nd leading scorer transferred.
Their 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th leading scorers were seniors. Their 7th leading scorer transferred.
Their 8th, 9th and 10th leading scorers...were seniors. 6-11 Mantas Kocanas was their 11th leading scorer...he might be on the team?
247 shows 5 guys incoming from the portal...their class was ranked #61 by 247.
 



60's Guy said:
Cal was 9 and 9 in the ACC. Their leading scorer transferred. Their 2nd leading scorer transferred.
Their 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th leading scorers were seniors. Their 7th leading scorer transferred.
Their 8th, 9th and 10th leading scorers...were seniors. 6-11 Mantas Kocanas was their 11th leading scorer...he might be on the team?
247 shows 5 guys incoming from the portal...their class was ranked #61 by 247.
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I don’t think the transfers are included in that ranking.

Their transfer class is interesting… 4/5 were super highly rated coming out of high school with multiple years of eligibility remaining. They’ve underperformed their hs rankings at the power 5 level.

Then they have 1 solid Horizon league guy coming in.

There’s definitely some raw talent there. Seems like they are following a similar playbook as us regarding transfer strategy.
 

topos said:
I don’t think the transfers are included in that ranking.

Their transfer class is interesting… 4/5 were super highly rated coming out of high school with multiple years of eligibility remaining. They’ve underperformed their hs rankings at the power 5 level.

Then they have 1 solid Horizon league guy coming in.

There’s definitely some raw talent there. Seems like they are following a similar playbook as us regarding transfer strategy.
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Agreed, but they have nothing coming back. Wonder if we will play them in San Jose, San Fran or Sacramento, or something next year?
 

topos said:
I don’t think the transfers are included in that ranking.

Their transfer class is interesting… 4/5 were super highly rated coming out of high school with multiple years of eligibility remaining. They’ve underperformed their hs rankings at the power 5 level.

Then they have 1 solid Horizon league guy coming in.

There’s definitely some raw talent there. Seems like they are following a similar playbook as us regarding transfer strategy.
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It is the transfer rankings list...I didn't compile it...just reporting what it says...Screenshot 2026-06-11 at 10.22.48 PM.pngScreenshot 2026-06-11 at 10.24.38 PM.pngScreenshot 2026-06-11 at 10.25.00 PM.png
 

topos said:
I don't know how they've done in the portal, but they were a middle-of-the-road ACC team last year. I'll take it. Hopefully it's Q2.

Get a good home game (Q2).
Get a good road game (Q1).

And I'll be satisfied.

Edit: Just saw the summer practice videos. I want Duke at Cameron.
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My crazy coach scheduled Duke at Cameron (at Champaign the following year). Plus UConn on neutral, at Texas Tech, Missouri on neutral. Rumor is that he is still going to add North Carolina and Houston. 🤦🏻
 











so....not exactly, but in round numbers we play there about every two years....I agree with whoever said we should play there every year. Then another neutral site vs somebody good at TWolves and Wild arenas alternating years. Expand the fan base...make it interesting for the players and my gosh...play some better teams.
Can't expect people to be interested in your team playing NET 275 and above teams...plus it does not help you get better and every team I coached the players hated playing crappy teams.

We are in the Big Ten...win 10 games...you are in the tournament. The wins against lousy teams are bad in so many ways.
 

60's Guy said:
so....not exactly, but in round numbers we play there about every two years....I agree with whoever said we should play there every year. Then another neutral site vs somebody good at TWolves and Wild arenas alternating years. Expand the fan base...make it interesting for the players and my gosh...play some better teams.
Can't expect people to be interested in your team playing NET 275 and above teams...plus it does not help you get better and every team I coached the players hated playing crappy teams.

We are in the Big Ten...win 10 games...you are in the tournament. The wins against lousy teams are bad in so many ways.
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Your last paragraph is why the non con doesn't matter, especially with the field going to 76 teams and probably up to 96 or 128 in the not so distant future. 85 to 90 percent of your conference games are going to be quad one or two games. Win 10-11 games and you're dancing as long as you don't lose to a sub 300 team. Also playing at the Grand or Target Center does nothing to expand the fan base. Pentagon a cool idea. Maybe we could play Creighton in Grand Forks or Marquette in Duluth
 

60's Guy said:
Cal was 9 and 9 in the ACC. Their leading scorer transferred. Their 2nd leading scorer transferred.
Their 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th leading scorers were seniors. Their 7th leading scorer transferred.
Their 8th, 9th and 10th leading scorers...were seniors. 6-11 Mantas Kocanas was their 11th leading scorer...he might be on the team?
247 shows 5 guys incoming from the portal...their class was ranked #61 by 247.
Click to expand...
Better than someone like Cal Northridge that we would by 5..
 

The Deliberate Stranger said:
Your last paragraph is why the non con doesn't matter, especially with the field going to 76 teams and probably up to 96 or 128 in the not so distant future. 85 to 90 percent of your conference games are going to be quad one or two games. Win 10-11 games and you're dancing as long as you don't lose to a sub 300 team. Also playing at the Grand or Target Center does nothing to expand the fan base. Pentagon a cool idea. Maybe we could play Creighton in Grand Forks or Marquette in Duluth
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My thought on playing at Grand and Target is several fold...do more people attend because of the more modern venues? Do more people attend because they can get better seats which are tied up by long time season ticket holders at Williams...so maybe different people attending. Plus, you can possibly schedule a more quality opponent at the neutral metropolitan location than in the woods.
The better opponent brings the more casual fan and maybe they get the fever to jump on the band wagon.
Playing top 40 teams anywhere would be a plus. NOBODY is going take the Gophers serious when they play non conference teams nobody has heard of. There's probably a list of 25 reasons the Net 250+ opponents are detrimental to the program.
I think playing a Top 40 opponent in the metro would increase the fan base. Even people who don't go to the game would pay attention to it.
 
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Winning will get the bandwagon fans (and teams more willing to schedule you). You guys are overthinking things. (I get it’s a message board)
 

60's Guy said:
My thought on playing at Grand and Target is several fold...do more people attend because of the more modern venues?
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Target Center is a dump. Yes, Williams is old, but at least it has character. The X is nice but I don't think it would generate attendance in the way you think it will.
 

howeda7 said:
Yes. They beat Vanderbilt in the Pitino era. I believe they're 1-3. Lost to Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and San Francisco.
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I have been to all 4 games and unfortunately only the one victory. The Gophers have never really played very well at the Pentagon. The year they beat Vanderbilt, I had courtside seats. Other than the win, I remember what a physical specimen Jordan Murphy was up close.
 

In this day and age there's no reason to not play that game in the barn, and sounds like we are trying to start a home and home with too 40 type opponent. If we do that, throw in the Cal game, and the two Charleston games, maybe throw in a road game somewhere too, that's a decent non con that won't hurt us, everyone has at least four or five garbage teams on there schedule.
 

GoldRush said:
Target Center is a dump. Yes, Williams is old, but at least it has character. The X is nice but I don't think it would generate attendance in the way you think it will.
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You are ignoring the major point...we gotta get a quality opponent to play us...
Screenshot 2026-06-14 at 4.42.32 PM.png
 


Drake University Gopher said:
Winning will get the bandwagon fans (and teams more willing to schedule you). You guys are overthinking things. (I get it’s a message board)
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#1. You can beat the directional schools but nobody cares. #2 You schedule and beat the directional schools and it does nothing but condition bad habits in your team because you can play poorly and still win. Your winning percentage is good. Your preparation for the conference is not.
#3. Season ticket buyers don't want to pay to watch your team either play poorly versus a bad opponent and win or play well and win by 30. It's no fun...there is no satisfaction...so you give your tickets away.
Beating conference opponents requires non conference preparation versus quality opponents.
Wisconsin has played a Top 25 opponent in preseason for like 25 years in a row.
Michigan State goes all in...which comes first...the results or the mindset? change your best...
Screenshot 2026-06-14 at 5.08.47 PM.png
Michigan State Non-Conference
 

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