Marcus in the Strib has an article on the scheduling process.
Gophers' Director of Basketball, Ryan Livingston, is the person who handles the nuts-and-bolts of setting the schedule.
some items of interest:
Their lone high-major opponent outside the Big Ten will be Missouri on Nov. 16. Two more Power Five programs showed interest in playing in Minneapolis but backed out.
"We've had some that changed their mind," Livingston said. "They're holding contracts and hedging their bets. They're using it to their advantage. We definitely wanted to play those games for sure."
Livingston said the Gophers had an opponent that agreed to play them in the last nonconference slot, "but ... another team came in and offered them $20,000 or $30,000 more. They needed the money.
"Fortunately, Florida Gulf Coast lost a game, and I know those guys. We worked out the date and we were able to get it done."
The Gophers paid Florida Gulf Coast $110,000 to play Dec. 9 at the Barn, according to contracts obtained by the Star Tribune. That was higher than the other individual home games — and the total payout was $685,000 to six schools for what are known as "guaranteed games" or "buy games."