Way Too Early ESPN Top 25 Rankings UPDATED: Gophers #25 per USA TODAY

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SMU has maybe the best guard in the country coming in and they don't play in a tough conference. Could easily see them winning like 27 games in te regular season
 

I'm surprised Oklahoma State is mentioned in 15 extra teams at the bottom and we aren't. They're losing Smart and Brown and already severely underachieved with them. I could see Nash leaving too.
 

They have us 8th or lower in the Big Ten

I don't know. Maybe 8th is accurate. But not how close we were to winning several more games. Not the way Austin played most of the regular season and what we still accomplished during it. Just me?

Wisconsin 4
Mich 17
Mich St 18
Iowa 25
and Ohio St, Nebraska, Maryland in the next 15. That's 7 Big Ten teams.

We either did or almost beat all those teams but Maryland. Many of them lost a lot. We lost Austin and he is a significant loss but out of 6 incoming guys I would think collectively he is able to be replaced? That's worst case. We could be better.

And ya, it is April, we could be worse but today I'm confident we will better next year. Which means to make the NCAA with
automatic teams we have to be somewhere in about the top 40 and I see us in that discussion.

I'm still not sure how Mich St is going to do it other than Izzo the same as how Pitino has us in it but...
 

Since its Final Four run in 2011 VCU gets overrated every season. Nice little program & everything, the "havoc" stuff is cute, but being ranked ahead of the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa State, etc.? Not seeing it.
 


Detroit Free Press: Which teams belong in early 2014-15 top 25?

25. Minnesota (25-13, 8-10): The Gophers missed the NCAAs but made the most of their postseason by winning the 2014 NIT. Coach Richard Pitino will have many of the same pieces back in 2014-15, led by Andre Hollins (13.6 ppg) and guard Deandre Mathieu (12.0 ppg, 4.2 apg). Big men Maurice Walker (7.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Elliot Eliason (5.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) also are back. This will be a seasoned team that can make a major dent in the Big Ten in Pitino's second year with the program.

Recruiting grade: C

http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/7306687

Go Gophers!!
 

Have expectations ever been higher under the Grinch? He has been remarkably consistent, but this will likely be their highest rated preseason team. Interesting to see how things shake out while they are the team the rest of the conference is gunning for.
 

overlooked teams

If Dinwiddie comes back anywhere near 100% for Colorado they could be a top 10 team. They return everyone.


Dannyboy said:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...-top-25-2014-15-men-college-basketball-season

Espn ranked SMU 11th and didn't even give the Gophers an honorable mention. I know SMU will get Emmanuel Mudiay but seems a little like a snub. Keep in mind, this is the way way too early rankings. Duke is also ranked 2nd which makes sense with Tyus and co. coming in to run the show.
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BleedGopher said:
Detroit Free Press: Which teams belong in early 2014-15 top 25?

25. Minnesota (25-13, 8-10): The Gophers missed the NCAAs but made the most of their postseason by winning the 2014 NIT. Coach Richard Pitino will have many of the same pieces back in 2014-15, led by Andre Hollins (13.6 ppg) and guard Deandre Mathieu (12.0 ppg, 4.2 apg). Big men Maurice Walker (7.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Elliot Eliason (5.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) also are back. This will be a seasoned team that can make a major dent in the Big Ten in Pitino's second year with the program.

Recruiting grade: C

http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/7306687

Go Gophers!!
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Just to clear this up and make it a bit more relevant, although it was published in the Detroit paper (and probably other newspapers for that matter) it was written by a guy from USA Today. The title of this thread should be updated as such.
 



Gophers are also in the top 35 teams in Jason King's Bleacher Report preseason rankings! Now imagine if we add more talent to the roster this spring.
 

GameDay said:
Gophers are also in the top 35 teams in Jason King's Bleacher Report preseason rankings! Now imagine if we add more talent to the roster this spring.
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I really hope we add a stud transfer that can play immediately at the 3 or 4!... Is that so much to ask basketball gods?
 

How much will we improve next year? I don't expect a drastic jump unless Andre Hollins lifts his game. Austin Hollins leaves a huge void for this team. He was MVP of the tournament. I hope the new faces can step in and make us better.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
How much will we improve next year? I don't expect a drastic jump unless Andre Hollins lifts his game. Austin Hollins leaves a huge void for this team. He was MVP of the tournament. I hope the new faces can step in and make us better.
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That's always the idea in college sports. People graduate. Michigan this past year is the prime example - losing the national player of the year, and others step up. Austin was a 3*-caliber player, and Richard has recruited 3*-caliber players to come in next year, including a JC transfer with a similar build and skill set as Austin. With the returning roster improving presumably, the team should be better next year. POLLYANNA!!!
 



SelectionSunday said:
Since its Final Four run in 2011 VCU gets overrated every season. Nice little program & everything, the "havoc" stuff is cute, but being ranked ahead of the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa State, etc.? Not seeing it.
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I agree. VCU hasn't been that strong of a team ever since then. They were overseeded at a #5 this past season. They had a great blend of talent in 2011 but their style is not conducive to being a perennial top-15 team without more talented players.
 

Okay, can't find a link but if you buy or look at the USA Today Sports Weekly with Shabazz on the cover...you will find a next season's Top 25 list.
The Minnesota Gophers are #18 on that list, before getting a commitment from Gaston...
#1 Duke, #2 Arizona, #3 Wisconsin, #4 Kansas #5 Kentucky #6 North Carolina #7 Florida #8 Villanova #9 Virginia #10 Louisville #11 SMU
#12 Texas #13 Wichita State #14 UCLA #15 San Diego St #16 UConn #17 Gonzaga #18 Minnesota "seasoned team that can make a major dent in the Big Ten" #19 Syracuse #20 Oklahoma #21 Stanford "...a stellar recruiting class should take care of that. Forward Reid Travis is a tenacious rebounder,"
#22 Colorado #23 Arkansas #24 VCU#25 BYU

Momentum is building!

Wisconsin and Minnesota are the only two Big Ten teams in this Top 25. Yikes! Momentum to pressure. lol
 

60's Guy said:
Okay, can't find a link but if you buy or look at the USA Today Sports Weekly with Shabazz on the cover...you will find a next season's Top 25 list.
The Minnesota Gophers are #18 on that list, before getting a commitment from Gaston...
#1 Duke, #2 Arizona, #3 Wisconsin, #4 Kansas #5 Kentucky #6 North Carolina #7 Florida #8 Villanova #9 Virginia #10 Louisville #11 SMU
#12 Texas #13 Wichita State #14 UCLA #15 San Diego St #16 UConn #17 Gonzaga #18 Minnesota "seasoned team that can make a major dent in the Big Ten" #19 Syracuse #20 Oklahoma #21 Stanford "...a stellar recruiting class should take care of that. Forward Reid Travis is a tenacious rebounder,"
#22 Colorado #23 Arkansas #24 VCU#25 BYU

Momentum is building!

Wisconsin and Minnesota are the only two Big Ten teams in this Top 25. Yikes! Momentum to pressure. lol
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So they think we will finish 2nd in the conference? Wow, and some posters here think we will have another 7-8th place finish and minimal improvement .
 

die hard gopher said:
So they think we will finish 2nd in the conference? Wow, and some posters here think we will have another 7-8th place finish and minimal improvement .
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I think 7-8 is more way reasonable than 2nd, so I can't understand if you are taking shots at these posters you mention. I don't know your stance, but let's wait till next year before we point fingers at who made poor predictions, yeah?


I'm also really surprised that only two big ten teams would be ranked. Especially given the coaching talent alone in the Big.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

60's Guy said:
Wisconsin and Minnesota are the only two Big Ten teams in this Top 25. Yikes! Momentum to pressure. lol
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I can't imagine only 2 B1G teams being in the top-25 next season. I don't think that it would be that low at any point in the season. Seems like that top-25 in particular is ACC-weighted with Duke at #1 (reasonable), UNC #6 (seems a bit high w/o McAdoo), UVA #9 (maybe a bit high, lost a couple links of the chain in a program that doesn't recruit like a top-10 team), Louisville #10 (no Hancock or Smith for sure, possibly lose Harrell as well, overall UL seems clearly overrated), and Syracuse #19 (lose Fair, Ennis and possibly Grant, should be unranked w/o those 3). I don't think anyone considers the Pac-12 to be a better hoops league than the B1G but this person has twice as many Pac-12 teams in their top-25 as the B1G, that is an oddity for sure. I don't know that this particular top-25 is one to put much weight in overall.
 

I have no idea how they leave out MSU and Ohio State. OSU brings in some highly touted recruits. But as we know, the preseason rankings matter little most of the time. Interesting to see how the Gophers are ranked in some of the early ones. Good sign for this upcoming year. We do return a lot of guys and only really lose one contributor in Austin who really contributed a bit less than expected the second half of the BIG season. Should be a fun and interesting next year. I for one am excited.
 

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