Gophers Path to the NIT? 18 Wins Should Do It

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ecoperson said:
Time to break that streak! It won’t be enough for some fans but I hope to see progress leading to an above .500 team this season. Building a solid foundation is key to sustained future success.

I would rather build a team that is consistently in the top half of the conference and makes occasional runs to the top over a team that hits the lotto once and then disappoints and sits bottom of the table for the rest of the decade.
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Ben is not showing a lotto-type approach. He is aiming at steady improvement, then consistency.
 

Bumping this in prep for tomorrow night’s game. Will update after each game.

Buck the Broncos.
 

With the win over Western Michigan, the Gophers are 1-0 in Hodger’s “Must Win” bucket.

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
With the win over Western Michigan, the Gophers are 1-0 in Hodger’s “Must Win” bucket.

Go Gophers!!
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I know we're mostly a new team, but man that game didn't give much hope on the season. 18 wins doesn't look easy.
 

NIT path has been updated with the win over WMU. A win is a win.

On to SF-NY we go.
 


With the win over St Francis, the Gophers are 2-0 in Hodger’s “Must Win” bucket.

Go Gophers!!
 

The NIT Path has been updated with the win over Saint Franny.

Next Up: DePaul (2-0)
 

SelectionSunday said:
This 2022-23 season I’ll keep things more real and put together a Gophers “Path to the NIT” instead of a “Path to the NCAA Tournament”. With a win-friendly non-conference slate save for 4 games (DePaul, vs. UNLV/SIU, Mississippi State, @ Virginia Tech), the Gophers finishing roughly 10-1 or 9-2 feels like a reasonable expectation.

So that gets us to 9 or 10 wins. Then the question becomes, can the Gophers win 8 or 9 Big Ten games to get to 18 wins? If they do, I think the Gophers would be safely headed to the NIT. Here’s a path how they can do it regardless of how they perform in the Big Ten Tournament.

Must Wins (go 8-0; currently 2-0)
Nov. 7: Western Michigan (W 61-60)
Nov. 11: Saint Francis-NY (W 72-54)
Nov. 17: Central Michigan
Nov. 21: vs. Cal Baptist
Dec. 14: Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Dec. 22: Chicago
Dec. 29: Alcorn
Jan. 7: Nebraska

“60-40 to 40-60 Balls” (go 6-4)
Nov. 14: DePaul
Nov. 23: vs. UNLV/Southern Illinois
Dec. 11: Mississippi State
Jan. 28: @ Northwestern
Feb. 4: Maryland
Feb. 18: Penn State
Feb. 22: @ Maryland
Feb. 25: @ Nebraska
March 2: Rutgers
March 5: Wisconsin

Likely Underdogs (go 4-9)
Nov. 28: @ Virginia Tech
Dec. 4: @ Purdue
Dec. 8: Michigan
Jan. 3: @ Wisconsin
Jan. 12: @ Ohio State
Jan. 16: Illinois
Jan. 19: Purdue
Jan. 22: @ Michigan
Jan. 25: Indiana
Feb. 1: @ Rutgers
Feb. 7: @ Illinois
Feb. 12: Iowa
Feb. 15: @ Michigan State

Make no bones about it, a NIT bid would be an encouraging step for the Gopher program in Year 2 of the Ben Johnson era.
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Need this one tonight against DePaul
 

With the loss to DePaul, the Gophers are 0-1 in Hodger’s “60-40 to 40-60 Balls” (go 6-4) bucket.

Go Gophers!!
 






Worth noting, the Gophers’ next opponent (Cal Baptist) won @ Washington last night. The Lancers’ only loss was to Dan Monson’s Long Beach State squad. It appears Monday could be a challenging “must win” game.
 



SelectionSunday said:
Worth noting, the Gophers’ next opponent (Cal Baptist) won @ Washington last night. The Lancers’ only loss was to Dan Monson’s Long Beach State squad. It appears Monday could be a challenging “must win” game.
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Have at least a half dozen international players. Taran Armstrong had some monster assist games last season as a freshman. 12, 12, 11, 15, 10
 

SelectionSunday said:
Worth noting, the Gophers’ next opponent (Cal Baptist) won @ Washington last night. The Lancers’ only loss was to Dan Monson’s Long Beach State squad. It appears Monday could be a challenging “must win” game.
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Do not know a thing about Cal Baptist. Follower of b-ball for 50 years, and I can honestly say this is a team I have barely ever heard of. Do you know how long they have been in NCAA Div 1? Might be an intersting game......
 

restovich said:
Do not know a thing about Cal Baptist. Follower of b-ball for 50 years, and I can honestly say this is a team I have barely ever heard of. Do you know how long they have been in NCAA Div 1? Might be an intersting game......
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This is their 5th year in D1. They’re eligible for the NCAA tourney for the first time.
 

restovich said:
Do not know a thing about Cal Baptist. Follower of b-ball for 50 years, and I can honestly say this is a team I have barely ever heard of. Do you know how long they have been in NCAA Div 1? Might be an intersting game......
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Washington may be bad. Squeaking past Utah Tech cannot be a good sign. They shot 60% on 3s and won by 11. They also beat North Florida by 8 who lost to Gonzaga by 40.
 

With the win over Cal Baptist, the Gophers improve to 4-0 in Hodger’s “Must Win” 8-0 bucket.

Go Gophers!!
 

Never a doubt. 😉

The Path to the NIT has been updated after the OT win over Cal Baptist.

Up Next: Wednesday night vs. Southern Illinois/UNLV winner
 

SelectionSunday said:
Never a doubt. 😉

The Path to the NIT has been updated after the OT win over Cal Baptist.

Up Next: Wednesday night vs. Southern Illinois/UNLV winner
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I credit the Gopher fan they showed at the 57 second mark for having the "faith" to pull out the victory. We have seen him in this neck of the woods as well as Chicago, Indy...
 






With the ridiculous ass kicking by UNLV, Gophers are now 0-2 in Hodger’s ““60-40/40-60 Balls”” bucket.

Go Gophers!!
 

18 wins would be nice. But it is tough to see anything but 10 or 11 wins as our ceiling with how they have played so far. Maybe we change some things and catch fire but 18 is going to be struggle?
 

60's Guy said:
18 wins would be nice. But it is tough to see anything but 10 or 11 wins as our ceiling with how they have played so far. Maybe we change some things and catch fire but 18 is going to be struggle?
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10 or 11 seems high at this point. We need a miracle to turn it around, not too late. Would rather struggle now then to start off hot and fade off into oblivion
 

60's Guy said:
18 wins would be nice. But it is tough to see anything but 10 or 11 wins as our ceiling with how they have played so far. Maybe we change some things and catch fire but 18 is going to be struggle?
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I have seen plenty of young teams come together and perform better as the season progressed. I feel like I have to point out that this team could perform much better but still lose to better competition. I have chosen to look for improvement in play over the year and am not focusing on the wins/losses.
 


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