Gophers 2025-26 non-con schedule news

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topos said:
www.si.com

Way-Too-Early WCC Men's Basketball Power Rankings For 2025-2026

12. San Diego It's been rough sledding for the Toreros. After finishing last in the conference, they have lost nearly their entire team. One of the bright spot
www.si.com www.si.com

Saw this was published a few days ago. Sounds like they have some nice pieces and could potentially challenge Gonzaga and St Mary’s in the WCC.

UST has played 3 of those 4…

I’ll take it at this point. How about we top this schedule off with a home and home (home this year) with a Creighton, Iowa St, Marquette, or Drake!
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So is this San Fran game the 2nd leg of a neutral site home & home that was just never reported on? I've never been to the Sanford Pentagon and would like to hit that up, but wish it wasn't scheduled for a CFB Saturday.

Kinda interesting that both Mizzou and San Fran games will have a year break between being played.

Between Mizzou, San Fran, and the Palm Springs tourney it isn't horrible...but will be very disappointing if we have yet another season at the Barn without a decent non conf home game.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
So is this San Fran game the 2nd leg of a neutral site home & home that was just never reported on? I've never been to the Sanford Pentagon and would like to hit that up, but wish it wasn't scheduled for a CFB Saturday.

Kinda interesting that both Mizzou and San Fran games will have a year break between being played.

Between Mizzou, San Fran, and the Palm Springs tourney it isn't horrible...but will be very disappointing if we have yet another season at the Barn without a decent non conf home game.
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Interesting thought, but I doubt it's a formal return for the earlier game. The Pentagon generally schedules these directly. It's a cool venue, but small so the tickets tend to go fast.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Updated July 8: vs. San Francisco added

What we (think we) know so far. Final NET ranking in parentheses. An * denotes 2025 NCAA qualifier and/or conference regular-season champion. A # denotes 2025 College Basketball Crown champion.

MINNESOTA
Non-Conference (10 of 11 accounted for)
Nov. 8: ALCORN STATE (330)
Nov. 12: @ *Missouri (16)
Nov. 15: GREEN BAY (338)
Nov. 17-20: CHICAGO STATE (358) — Acrisure Series
Nov. 22: vs. San Francisco (64)
Nov. 25-28: vs. vs. Santa Clara (57)/Stanford (81)/Grand Canyon (92) -- Acrisure Series
Nov. 25-28: vs. vs. Santa Clara (57)/Stanford (81)/Grand Canyon (92) -- Acrisure Series
Dec. 14: TEXAS SOUTHERN (285)
Dec. 21: CAMPBELL (222)
Dec. 29: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (303)
Average NET Ranking (so far): 239.5

Big Ten (20)
@ Illinois*
INDIANA
@ Indiana
IOWA
MARYLAND*
@ Michigan*
MICHIGAN STATE*
NEBRASKA#
NORTHWESTERN
@ Northwestern
@ Ohio State
@ Oregon*
@ Penn State
@ Purdue*
RUTGERS
UCLA*
USC
@ Washington
WISCONSIN*
@ Wisconsin*
March 11-15: Big Ten Tournament
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Same old cowardly scheduling. The Mizzou game was “owed” and the Acrisure tournament previously scheduled. At least he didn’t back out of it. USF in SoDak is the marquee scheduling coup of this regime. Not impressed. If the last slot is another cupcake, nothing has changed.
 


formerlybis said:
Same old cowardly scheduling. The Mizzou game was “owed” and the Acrisure tournament previously scheduled. At least he didn’t back out of it. USF in SoDak is the marquee scheduling coup of this regime. Not impressed. If the last slot is another cupcake, nothing has changed.
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The Acrisure Tournament was announced after Ben Johnson was let go as well as mere days before Medved was hired. His prior team (Colorado St) participated in the event last year.

I don't think it's too hard to connect the dots to think the current HC had a hand in having those games on the Gophers slate.
 
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Ope3 said:
The Acrisure Tournament was announced after Ben Johnson was let go as well as mere days before Medved was hired. His prior team (Colorado St) participated in last year.

I don't think it's too hard to connect the dots to think the current HC had a hand in having those games on the Gophers slate.
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I stand corrected. The teams in the Gophers' bracket are not exactly resume "scalps" (surefire tourney teams), but they're not Cal Baptist either.

The schedule is still quite pitiful.
 






SelectionSunday said:
Per Rocco Miller, it'll be Stanford, Saint Louis, and Santa Clara in the Gophers' Acrisure Series bracket.

bracketeer.org

Big Ten Schedules — The Bracketeer

Big Ten schedules for the 2025-26 season.
bracketeer.org bracketeer.org
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Should all be respectable next season. And I'd guess top 100 teams. So a couple Q2 opportunities at the worst. Out of the 3 I think SLU will probably be the best so hopefully we get them at least once.
 





A hunch that the Gophers’ 4-team “bracket” will have predetermined matchups, as reportedly Santa Clara & Stanford already are scheduled for a game in Palo Alto this season.

So I’d guess matchups will be:

Gophers-Santa Clara
Gophers-Stanford
Saint Louis-Santa Clara
Saint Louis-Stanford
 

formerlybis said:
Same old cowardly scheduling. The Mizzou game was “owed” and the Acrisure tournament previously scheduled. At least he didn’t back out of it. USF in SoDak is the marquee scheduling coup of this regime. Not impressed. If the last slot is another cupcake, nothing has changed.
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formerlybis said:
Same old cowardly scheduling. The Mizzou game was “owed” and the Acrisure tournament previously scheduled. At least he didn’t back out of it. USF in SoDak is the marquee scheduling coup of this regime. Not impressed. If the last slot is another cupcake, nothing has changed.
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Like Johnson did, he's had a look at his team and probably decided it wouldn't be in their best interest load up the NC schedule with tough apponents. Need time to develop.
 

jovs said:
Like Johnson did, he's had a look at his team and probably decided it wouldn't be in their best interest load up the NC schedule with tough apponents. Need time to develop.
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There's a level between "loading up the NC schedule with tough opponents" and mostly avoiding them altogether. It is in every P5's interest to schedule tough because if you're hoping to make the tourney, you can't get a resume-building win if it's not on your schedule. Going 1-3 against 4 tourney teams > going 4-0 against the Alcorn States and Green Bays and Fairleigh Ridiculouses of the world when it comes to making the tournament. Weak-ass NC scheduling puts all your eggs in the conference play basket.

Also, no such thing as "time to develop" anymore. Almost every team will have mostly new players every year. You must play for this year, every year.
 

formerlybis said:
There's a level between "loading up the NC schedule with tough opponents" and mostly avoiding them altogether. It is in every P5's interest to schedule tough because if you're hoping to make the tourney, you can't get a resume-building win if it's not on your schedule. Going 1-3 against 4 tourney teams > going 4-0 against the Alcorn States and Green Bays and Fairleigh Ridiculouses of the world when it comes to making the tournament. Weak-ass NC scheduling puts all your eggs in the conference play basket.

Also, no such thing as "time to develop" anymore. Almost every team will have mostly new players every year. You must play for this year, every year.
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Perfectly stated.

That's not the way to do business if you want to be in a position for an at-large bid. I've always thought teams of the Gophers ilk (middlin' to below average major program) need to play about 50% or more of their non-conference games vs. expected-to-be quality opponents. For a Big Ten team, currently that means playing 5 or 6 (of 11) vs. good opponents. Anything less than that, in my opinion, just isn't enough. As of today, I'd say the Gophers have 3 or maybe 4 decent games. ... they need another one with the last piece of the schedule puzzle.
 

formerlybis said:
Also, no such thing as "time to develop" anymore. Almost every team will have mostly new players every year. You must play for this year, every year.
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In Niko’s interview he specifically mentioned that the best teams keep and develop their own players. Now that may certainly be up for debate, but that would leave me to believe he wants to get to where Purdue/MSU are from a consistency perspective. That’s why he brought in a variety of multi-year vs one-year mercenaries that we relied on last season for example.
 

Drake University Gopher said:
In Niko’s interview he specifically mentioned that the best teams keep and develop their own players. Now that may certainly be up for debate, but that would leave me to believe he wants to get to where Purdue/MSU are from a consistency perspective. That’s why he brought in a variety of multi-year vs one-year mercenaries that we relied on last season for example.
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Mostly I agree, but... Guys who aren't in the rotation will leave - that's pretty much a given. Guys who see that you're shopping for a transfer who plays your role will leave. Guys who demonstrate some value will bolt for more money elsewhere. The realistic strategy is to try to keep a core 3 or 4 players for the next season, but there's no guarantee. This isn't just Minnesota, it's the world we're in for basically everyone.

Even MSU loses contributors - Holloman bolted this year. Purdue is the true outlier, but we'll see what happens when their core graduates.
 




Gophers draw Stanford in first round of Acrisure Series.

The release by Acrisure is confusing, though. It doesn't specifically say it will be bracketed. In fact, reading it as is, it's saying the Gophers only will play Stanford on the 28th. There's no mention of "winners and losers play each other" like in a couple of the other 4-team pods.

For now I'm going to assume Rothstein has it wrong, and that it's a bracket. Makes no sense if the Gophers only play one game there.

 
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TNGophfan said:
We have 10 Power 5 games this year. I'd be surprised if more than a handful have more.
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2/3rds of the Big 10 (Football) are playing at least 10 P5 Games:

Illinois
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan St
Minnesota
Nebraska
Ohio St
Oregon
Purdue
UCLA
USC
Wisconsin

Wusses:

Indiana
Maryland
Northwestern
Penn St
Rutgers
Washington*

*At least the Huskies are playing former Pac 8-10-12 Rival, Wash St.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Gophers draw Stanford in first round of Acrisure Series.

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What's the word on Stanford? At a glance, it appears that their best big (20/10) is playing for the Kings, and their best guard has transferred out.

Not much movement otherwise, in or out. They were similar to MN last year in terms of KenPom.

Santa Clara was decent last year, but appears to have lost a lot.

Saint Louis appears to be atop the A-10 in terms of the talent they have nabbed in the offseason—many new players and ranked decently (compared to conference foes).

We should probably hope to get them in game II, beat them, and see them gel throughout the season. They may have the highest upside in the quad.
 

topos said:
What's the word on Stanford? At a glance, it appears that their best big (20/10) is playing for the Kings, and their best guard has transferred out.

Not much movement otherwise, in or out. They were similar to MN last year in terms of KenPom.

Santa Clara was decent last year, but appears to have lost a lot.

Saint Louis appears to be atop the A-10 in terms of the talent they have nabbed in the offseason—many new players and ranked decently (compared to conference foes).

We should probably hope to get them in game II, beat them, and see them gel throughout the season. They may have the highest upside in the quad.
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Bart Torvik (T-Rank) currently has Stanford #17 of 18 in the ACC, ahead of only Boston College.
 


Updated July 18: vs. Stanford (Acrisure Invitational)

What we (think we) know so far. Final NET ranking in parentheses. An * denotes 2025 NCAA qualifier and/or conference regular-season champion. A # denotes 2025 College Basketball Crown champion.

MINNESOTA
Non-Conference (10 of 11 accounted for)
Nov. 8: ALCORN STATE (330)
Nov. 12: @ *Missouri (16)
Nov. 15: GREEN BAY (338)
Nov. 17-20: CHICAGO STATE (358) — Acrisure Series
Nov. 22: vs. San Francisco (64)
Nov. 27: vs. vs. Stanford (81) -- Acrisure Invitational
Nov. 28: vs. vs. Santa Clara (57)/Saint Louis (101) -- Acrisure Invitational
Dec. 14: TEXAS SOUTHERN (285)
Dec. 21: CAMPBELL (222)
Dec. 29: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (303)
Average NET Ranking (so far): 221.888

Big Ten (20)
@ Illinois*
INDIANA
@ Indiana
IOWA
MARYLAND*
@ Michigan*
MICHIGAN STATE*
NEBRASKA#
NORTHWESTERN
@ Northwestern
@ Ohio State
@ Oregon*
@ Penn State
@ Purdue*
RUTGERS
UCLA*
USC
@ Washington
WISCONSIN*
@ Wisconsin*
March 11-15: Big Ten Tournament
 
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SelectionSunday said:
Updated July 18: vs. Stanford (Acrisure Invitational)

What we (think we) know so far. Final NET ranking in parentheses. An * denotes 2025 NCAA qualifier and/or conference regular-season champion. A # denotes 2025 College Basketball Crown champion.

MINNESOTA
Non-Conference (10 of 11 accounted for)
Nov. 8: ALCORN STATE (330)
Nov. 12: @ *Missouri (16)
Nov. 15: GREEN BAY (338)
Nov. 17-20: CHICAGO STATE (358) — Acrisure Series
Nov. 22: vs. San Francisco (64)
Nov. 27: vs. vs. Stanford (81) -- Acrisure Invitational
Nov. 28: vs. vs. Santa Clara (57)/Saint Louis (101) -- Acrisure Invitational
Dec. 14: TEXAS SOUTHERN (285)
Dec. 21: CAMPBELL (222)
Dec. 29: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (303)
Average NET Ranking (so far): 239.5

Big Ten (20)
@ Illinois*
INDIANA
@ Indiana
IOWA
MARYLAND*
@ Michigan*
MICHIGAN STATE*
NEBRASKA#
NORTHWESTERN
@ Northwestern
@ Ohio State
@ Oregon*
@ Penn State
@ Purdue*
RUTGERS
UCLA*
USC
@ Washington
WISCONSIN*
@ Wisconsin*
March 11-15: Big Ten Tournament
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What you haven't said is that the NC schedule would be ranked dead last - at least so far. Current last place (of only 31 teams) is at a NET average of 234.9.

This seems familiar somehow...
 

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