B1G AP Rankings

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TruthSeeker said:
They're better without Braun.
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No but this stretch allowed Tori McKinney to prove she is fully capable of being a major contributor right now and therefore should be getting way more than just regular backup minutes (and no reason to be compelled to have to play Braun near 40 minutes every game when she returns).
 

Let’s not attack the girl who could have gone anywhere, but choose to stay in Minnesota to try and build something. Has publicly given encouragement to Tori and all her teammates. She literally is trying to make a difference in Minnesota. She is a great player and if the Gophers are lucky enough to get her back will help their late season success.
 

Belzx009 said:
Let’s not attack the girl who could have gone anywhere, but choose to stay in Minnesota to try and build something. Has publicly given encouragement to Tori and all her teammates. She literally is trying to make a difference in Minnesota. She is a great player and if the Gophers are lucky enough to get her back will help their late season success.
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Agreed! Coach P has already done wonders for this team and has taught each player some valuable new skills that we've all seen at different times this season. Mara already had some tremendous talent, and I'm sure she's learned a lot from her coach in the last year. Unfortunately, we have only gotten a small glimpse into her potential so far this season.
 

Can’t wait until Braun gets back on the court whether it’s this year or next. Selfishly I hope she can return this year. He was our best defensive player before she got hurt. With the way McKinney is playing combined with a healthy Braun would be fun to see.
 

If Braun comes back Tori won’t be coming out of the starting lineup. Who becomes a sub? Braun might not start right away, but eventually. And saying we’re better off without her is ridiculous.
 


bkeller49 said:
If Braun comes back Tori won’t be coming out of the starting lineup. Who becomes a sub? Braun might not start right away, but eventually. And saying we’re better off without her is ridiculous.
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They could go small with no center. Nice shooting lineup. Heyer is a rebounding force.
 

Belzx009 said:
Let’s not attack the girl who could have gone anywhere, but choose to stay in Minnesota to try and build something. Has publicly given encouragement to Tori and all her teammates. She literally is trying to make a difference in Minnesota. She is a great player and if the Gophers are lucky enough to get her back will help their late season success.
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Agree with your sentiment 100%, but not sure it's right to say Mara "could have gone anywhere." Her publicly announced final 6 were Minnesota, Arizona State, Michigan, Oregon State, Maryland and Iowa. That would be an interesting list if you could go anywhere. I never saw a complete list for Braun, but never saw any indication that she had offers from UConn, South Carolina, Notre Dame etc. Perhaps I'm wrong and missed her biggest offers.
 







Seems like MN teams finally get rated only to lose the very next game.
 






They missed top 25 in The Athletic. Listed as Almost Famous with Indiana.
 

It's a tad lazy analysis because the reason Minnesota is ranked by some pollsters ahead of say Michigan and Nebraska as of right now is because those teams had the privilege of getting their losses to USC/UCLA out of the way to go along with their other losses to teams currently ranked higher than anyone the Gophers have played so far. After the obvious top teams they seem to get to a point were overall record is what overly impresses them. But the Gophers clearly are a top 20-45ish team so the next games, especially the game against Michigan, will prove if they are legitimately a Top-25 team or just a regular tournament bubble team.
 

Star City said:
It's a tad lazy analysis because the reason Minnesota is ranked by some pollsters ahead of say Michigan and Nebraska as of right now is because those teams had the privilege of getting their losses to USC/UCLA out of the way to go along with their other losses to teams currently ranked higher than anyone the Gophers have played so far. After the obvious top teams they seem to get to a point were overall record is what overly impresses them. But the Gophers clearly are a top 20-45ish team so the next games, especially the game against Michigan, will prove if they are legitimately a Top-25 team or just a regular tournament bubble team.
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AP voters open paper and see MN 4-1 and 5th in the B1G at 16-1. Don't tell them our 4 wins are 3-20 in conference play.

We're improving by the game; hope we can be on the bubble come March and maybe a home crowd at the Target Center gets us over the edge.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
AP voters open paper and see MN 4-1 and 5th in the B1G at 16-1. Don't tell them our 4 wins are 3-20 in conference play.

We're improving by the game; hope we can be on the bubble come March and maybe a home crowd at the Target Center gets us over the edge.
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The B1G tournament is in Indianapolis this year.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
AP voters open paper and see MN 4-1 and 5th in the B1G at 16-1. Don't tell them our 4 wins are 3-20 in conference play.

We're improving by the game; hope we can be on the bubble come March and maybe a home crowd at the Target Center gets us over the edge.
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The next two Big Ten Women's Tournaments are back in Indianapolis (then Las Vegas, then Detroit). How convenient for them to have had the games at Target Center for Caitlin Clark and out west for Juju Watkins' senior year (assuming the WNBA doesn't change the rules for her to be able to declare early).

But if the Gophers could magically beat Iowa when they couldn't stop Megan Gustafson from scoring at will in 2018 anything is possible. :)
 

A huge factor is getting Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Oregon, and Washington all at home.
 

Whytetale said:
Seems like MN teams finally get rated only to lose the very next game.
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Seems that way but this team can be different by the way they play defense. With the injuries they have had this year this is still a great accomplishment but I don’t think they are done. Hoping they play lock down defense tomorrow night and scrape together enough points to beat Maryland. Tall order I know.
 

A bit premature throwing them in the rankings, could've waited to see the outcome of the Maryland game. Who knows, maybe they'll shock us all.😆
 

WayOfTheGopher said:
A bit premature throwing them in the rankings, could've waited to see the outcome of the Maryland game. Who knows, maybe they'll shock us all.😆
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I don't think it's impossible for them to pull an upset if Tori is back. I watched the Wisc & MD game on 1/11 and MD was only up 62-60 at the end of the 3rd Qtr. However, the Wisc def folded in the 4th and MD went on a 21-8 run. Again, if Tori is back I don't see the Minn def folding like that. Hoping to see a great game.
 

WayOfTheGopher said:
A bit premature throwing them in the rankings, could've waited to see the outcome of the Maryland game. Who knows, maybe they'll shock us all.😆
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It will be hard to stay in the Top 25 but this shorthanded roster of gals 100% deserved the ranking for now. Maybe even gives them a boost of confidence going to this tough road game.
 

99Gopher said:
I don't think it's impossible for them to pull an upset if Tori is back. I watched the Wisc & MD game on 1/11 and MD was only up 62-60 at the end of the 3rd Qtr. However, the Wisc def folded in the 4th and MD went on a 21-8 run. Again, if Tori is back I don't see the Minn def folding like that. Hoping to see a great game.
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Maryland was missing two of their better players when they faced Wisconsin last week. Both players were back last night.
 

It seems like voters in the AP poll have punished teams who lose this year, even when those losses were to teams they consider "better" in the rankings. The Gophers played a fantastic game last night despite being up against stiff competition, foul trouble, and whatever led to Stewart's low number of minutes (illness maybe?). Hopefully the close loss won't knock them out of the rankings next week. And even if it does, I sense they'll be back if they can pick off the formerly ranked teams coming up, like Michigan, Iowa, and Indiana!
 

As mentioned in another post, #24 OKST lost to Houston who we beat earlier in the season.
 

As of today our NCAA NET ranking has not changed after last night's loss.
 

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