Gopher Picked 16th by Media

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Seems pretty optimistic.
 


For those looking for context:

USA TODAY Network Big Ten basketball preseason poll​

  1. Purdue
  2. Michigan
  3. Illinois
  4. UCLA
  5. Michigan State
  6. Wisconsin
  7. Oregon
  8. Ohio State
  9. Iowa
  10. Indiana
  11. USC
  12. Maryland
  13. Washington
  14. Northwestern
  15. Nebraska
  16. Minnesota
  17. Rutgers
  18. Penn State

2025-26 preseason All-Big Ten basketball team​

FIRST TEAM

  • Braden Smith, Purdue, guard, Sr. (unanimous selection)
  • Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue, forward, Sr. (unanimous selection)
  • Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan, forward, Sr.
  • Donovan Dent, UCLA, guard, Sr.
  • Bennett Stirtz, Iowa, guard, Sr.
SECOND TEAM

  • Bruce Thornton, Ohio State, guard, Sr.
  • John Blackwell, Wisconsin, guard, Jr.
  • Nick Martinelli, Northwestern, forward, Sr.
  • Nate Bittle, Oregon, center, Sr.
  • Andrej Stojakovic, Illinois, guard, Jr.
www.usatoday.com

USA TODAY Network Big Ten basketball predictions, preseason awards, all-conference teams

Purdue is the overwhelming favorite for Big Ten title, and Braden Smith was a near unanimous pick for Player of the Year. Check out rest of the picks.
www.usatoday.com

Go Gophers!!
 




CBS Sports had us at #15 in the summer (I think they had NW below us as well as PSU and Rutgers) so I'm sticking with that prediction.
 

Going game by game, I came up with 15th. Top 11 make NCAA.

1 Purdue (17-3)
2 UCLA (16-4)
3 Illinois (16-4)
4 Michigan (14-6)
5 Michigan State (14-6)
6 Wisconsin (12-8)
7 Oregon (11-9)
8 Ohio State (10-10)
9 Iowa (10-10)
10 USC (10-10)
11 Nebraska (10-10)
12 Washington (8-12)
13 Indiana (8-12)
14 Maryland (7-13)
15 Gophers (6-14)
16 Northwestern (5-15)
17 Rutgers (4-16)
18 Penn State (2-18)
 



SelectionSunday said:
Going game by game, I came up with 15th. Top 11 make NCAA.

1 Purdue (17-3)
2 UCLA (16-4)
3 Illinois (16-4)
4 Michigan (14-6)
5 Michigan State (14-6)
6 Wisconsin (12-8)
7 Oregon (11-9)
8 Ohio State (10-10)
9 Iowa (10-10)
10 USC (10-10)
11 Nebraska (10-10)
12 Washington (8-12)
13 Indiana (8-12)
14 Maryland (7-13)
15 Gophers (6-14)
16 Northwestern (5-15)
17 Rutgers (4-16)
18 Penn State (2-18)
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Im probably biased bc of my SO's family, but I really don't see a world where IU is below .500. Even when DeVries got hurt last season WVU almost made the tourney and IU has some damn good scorers on their team this year.
 









Arealgopherfan said:
Not my assessment. Just stating the obvious.
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Tell me more, what is obvious? And whose assessment is it? We spent a lot of money on Niko to get little in return, is that what you're implying? If so, what is obvious about that?

Don't get me wrong, time might prove you correct. I'm just struggling to understand how you came to that conclusion based on, from what I can tell, the fact that the Gophers preseason ranking is 3rd to last in the B1G without him ever having coached a game. It's pretty bold to state it will be more of the same (assuming you mean what we saw under CBJ) this early. Once again, I will concede that time may prove you right, but it also may prove you wrong.
 
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Niko would’ve been my choice 4 years ago, so I’m in the better late than never camp. My prediction for 15th place this season doesn’t change that. I think he’ll be the answer for program stability long term.

Now here’s to Niko & the Gophers speeding past my Big Ten expectations right away!
#TeamNiko
 

LegalGopher said:
Im probably biased bc of my SO's family, but I really don't see a world where IU is below .500. Even when DeVries got hurt last season WVU almost made the tourney and IU has some damn good scorers on their team this year.
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West Virginia should’ve made the tournament. Didn’t have Mountaineers anywhere near the bubble. Biggest travesty by the committee was North Carolina “in” & WV “out”.
 



I am going to make a prediction Gophers will finish better than 16th.

Here are my predictions (With very little research).

1. Purdue
2. Michigan
3. Wisconsin
4. Illinois
5. UCLA
6. Oregon
7. Michigan State
8. Indiana
9. Maryland
10. OSU
11. Iowa
12. Minnesota
13. Washington
14. USC
15. Northwestern
16. Nebraska
17. Rutgers
18. Penn State

I think we can firmly compete in the OSU, Iowa, Washington, USC tier. 10th would be my high for the Gophers with 14th being the low.


I'd say each team could either move up 1 tier or down 1 but not multiple. 3 out of 5 tier 4 teams should make the dance (if 12 B1G teams get in).
Tier 1: Purdue, Michigan
Tier 2: Wisconsin, Illinois, UCLA, Oregon
Tier 3: MSU, Indiana, Maryland
Tier 4: OSU, Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, USC
Tier 5: Northwestern, Nebraska, Rutgers, Penn State.
 


Anybody go to the scrimmage today, any insights, wondering how they looked.
 

Arealgopherfan said:
Not my assessment. Just stating the obvious.
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I don’t think it’s as obvious as you believe. Last season with a team full of upperclassmen we were picked to finish pretty low. We have nearly an entirety different team this year as do many other teams making this incredibly difficult to predict.
 

The 16th feels fair, considering all the unknowns and the need to backfill an entirely new roster with mostly mid-major talent.

I also saw the preseason KenPom rankings are out, and the Gophers are #73.

#73 is higher than any Johnson team has ever finished the season (unsure where they started each year), I expect this team will finish higher than that.
 

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