There is no where to go but up for Richard Pitino and the Gophers.
BOTTOMED OUT, MINN. — We’ve hit roughly the 30% mark of college basketball’s 2015-16 regular season. It’s time to take a quick gander at some of what we’ve learned so far. One thing we already knew going in? This was likely to be a rough one for our local squad, the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
What we didn’t know, however, was that a 47-game non-conference home winning streak would come crashing to a halt with an 85-81 loss to the University of South Dakota, followed unceremoniously three days later by an 84-70 total domination of the Gophers by Summit League favorite South Dakota State. The Gophers — giving new meaning to the term “matador defense” — got taken to school by a couple regional neighbors from the Summit. That most definitely is a discouraging sign, but there has to be some good news amidst the Williams Arena rubble, doesn’t there? This has to be rock bottom for 2015-16, doesn’t it?
We’ll find out in the next three months, starting with Saturday’s neutral-site tilt vs. also struggling Power 6 opponent Oklahoma State (5-3, #228) in, you guessed it, Sioux Falls, SD. It’s probably a safe bet we’ll see a different starting lineup for the Gophers, with freshmen Jordan Murphy, Kevin Dorsey, and Dupree McBrayer all intriguing possibilities. Stay tuned, the rollercoaster is just getting started.
On to some odds & ends. Let’s start with the Gophers’ Power 6 peer group.
Gophers Peer Group
In the RPI rankings the Gophers rank sixth of 7 among the Power 6 peer group Road to Selection Sunday introduced prior to the season. … Georgia Tech (ACC), Creighton (Big East), Nebraska (B1G), Kansas State (Big XII), Washington (Pac 12), and Alabama (SEC). Here’s how the teams are stacking up roughly a month into the 2015-16 season, best to worst:
Alabama (5-2, #36 RPI)
Notable Opponents (4): @ Dayton, vs. Notre Dame, vs. Wichita State, vs. Xavier
Notable Wins (2): vs. Notre Dame, vs. Wichita State
Losses (2): @ Dayton, vs. Xavier
Notable Remaining Non-Conference Opponents: @ Clemson (Dec. 13), vs. Oregon (Dec. 21)
Kansas State (7-1, #47 RPI)
Notable Opponents (3): @ Georgia, vs. Mizzou, vs. North Carolina
Notable Wins (2): @ Georgia, vs. Mizzou
Losses (1): North Carolina
Notable Remaining Non-Conference Opponents: @ Texas A&M (Dec. 12), Ole Miss (Jan. 30)
Washington (6-2, #60 RPI)
Notable Opponents (4): vs. Gonzaga, vs. Texas (2), TCU
Notable Wins (2): vs. Texas (in China), TCU
Losses (2): vs. Gonzaga, vs. Texas (Bahamas)
Notable Remaining Non-Conference Opponents: none
Georgia Tech (6-2, #73 RPI)
Notable Opponents (3): vs. Arkansas, Tennessee, vs. Villanova
Notable Wins (2): vs. Arkansas, Tennessee
Losses (2): East Tennessee State, vs. Villanova
Notable Remaining Non-Conference Opponents: VCU (Dec. 15), @ Georgia (Dec. 19)
Creighton (6-3, #106 RPI)
Notable Opponents (5): Arizona State, @ Indiana, vs. Massachusetts, Nebraska, vs. Rutgers
Notable Wins (3): vs. Massachusetts, Nebraska, vs. Rutgers
Losses (3): Arizona State, @ Indiana, @ Loyola Chicago
Notable Remaining Non-Conference Opponents: @ Oklahoma (Dec. 19)
GOPHERS (5-4, #126 RPI)
Notable Opponents (3): Clemson, vs. Temple, vs. Texas Tech
Notable Wins (1): Clemson
Losses (4): South Dakota, South Dakota State, vs. Temple, vs. Texas Tech
Notable Remaining Non-Conference Opponents: vs. Oklahoma State (Dec. 12)
Nebraska (6-4, #201 RPI)
Notable Opponents (5): vs. Cincinnati, @ Creighton, vs. Miami-Florida, Tennessee, @ Villanova
Notable Wins (1): vs. Tennessee
Losses (4): vs. Cincinnati, @ Creighton, Miami-Florida, @ Villanova
Notable Remaining Non-Conference Opponents: Rhode Island (Dec. 13)
Power 6 Head to Head. … SEC Stinkin’ It Up
Let’s just be kind and say it’s been a brutal non-conference performance by the SEC. (see below) It’s looking like another season of Kentucky and not much else to rep the SEC in the NCAA Tournament.
1 Big East (20-13, 60.6%)
2 Big XII (13-9, 59.1%)
3 ACC (24-17, 58.5%)
4 Pac 12 (10-9, 52.6%)
5 B1G (20-21, 48.8%)
6 SEC (6-24, 20%)
Representin’
Now let’s take a peek at the best win for each conference vs. the other Power 6 conferences:
ACC — North Carolina over Maryland
Big East — Providence over Arizona
B1G — Michigan State over Kansas
Big XII — Oklahoma over Villanova
Pac 12 — UCLA over Kentucky
SEC — Kentucky over Duke
A Dozen Early Eye-Brow Raisers
1 Valparaiso (8-2, #3) — My preseason Sweet 16 sleeper already has 3 road wins, including @ Oregon State.
2 Xavier (9-0, #5) — Unbeknownst to Jim Souhan, Baldy McWimperson (Chris Mack) can coach. Lakeville’s own J.P. Macura scoring 10.6 ppg off the bench for Musketeers.
3 George Washington (8-1, #11) — Colonials have 4 wins over the Power 6, including Virginia.
4 Texas Tech (6-1, #16) — Only loss is a respectable 10-pointer to Utah. One to watch? Tubby’s squad hosts South Dakota State on Dec. 16.
5 Providence (9-1, #17) — If you haven’t seen do-everything guard Kris Dunn, please do so. Right now it’s Dunn and Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine neck-and-neck for the National POY.
6 South Carolina (8-0, #20) — Gamecocks schedule has been soft, but there are solid wins over Tulsa and CAA favorite Hofstra.
7 Purdue (10-0, #22) — I thought the Boilers would be good (NCAA-worthy), but not this good. Right there with MSU and Maryland as a B1G title contender.
8 Colorado (7-1, #26) — After opening season with close loss to unbeaten Iowa State, Buffs have won 7 straight.
9 Kansas State (7-1, #47) — Schedule hasn’t been overly taxing, but Wildcats won @ Georgia and gave North Carolina all it could handle.
10 Wake Forest (6-2, #64) — Danny & the Deacons already have 4 wins over the Power 6, including resume builders Indiana and UCLA in Maui.
11 Northern Iowa (6-2, #71) — It was supposed to be a rebuilding year. It hasn’t been. Panthers handed North Carolina its only loss.
12 Cincinnati (8-1, #80) — Bearcats have a nice win over George Washington, and actually are putting the ball in the basket for once.
A Dozen Early Disappointments
1 Vanderbilt (6-3, #42) — Expected more out of Vandy early on, “but then most of all” Commodores, “I do love you. … still”. (get the reference?)
2 Gonzaga (6-2, #49) — Semifinal loss to Texas A&M at the Battle 4 Atlantis surprised me.
3 Michigan (6-3, #51) — This team will improve. That is a fact when John Beilein is your coach.
4 Indiana (7-3, #65) — Tom Crean and Richard Pitino must be attending the same coaching clinics, where playing defense need not apply.
5 Wichita State (4-4, #81) — Shockers won’t be down for long, now that Fred VanVleet is back and Kansas transfer Conner Frankamp is eligible.
6 San Diego State (7-4, #83) — Has the Steve Fisher era run its course?
7 Connecticut (5-3, #91) — I didn’t “buy in” to the Huskies preseason, and I still don’t.
8 Wisconsin (6-4, #93) — Badgers are like Forrest Gump’s chocolates, don’t know what you’re going to get. Wins over VCU and @ Syracuse, but losses to Western Illinois and Milwaukee?
9 BYU (6-2, #103) — Most notable thing Cougars have done thus far is in frustration take a swing at a Utah player.
10 Georgetown (5-3, #131) — Lost opener to Radford, but signs of life with wins over Wisconsin and Syracuse.
11 Cal (7-2, #135) — Too early to panic, but Bears have lost to the only two decent teams they’ve played (San Diego State, Richmond).
12 UAB (5-3, #149) — The preseason Conference USA favorite has been unimpressive out of the gate, losing to both Illinois and Virginia Tech.
RTSS B1G Power Rankings
1 Michigan State (10-0, #14)
2 Maryland (8-1, #39)
3 Purdue (10-0, #22)
4 Iowa (7-3, #33)
5 Indiana (7-3, #65)
6 Wisconsin (6-4, #93)
7 Northwestern (7-1, #28)
8 Michigan (6-3, #51)
9 Ohio State (4-4, #190)
10 Illinois (5-5, #145)
11 Penn State (6-3, #132)
12 Nebraska (6-4, #201)
13 GOPHERS (5-4, #126)
14 Rutgers (4-5, #251)
Record/RPI of Gophers Non-Conference Opponents
Texas Tech (6-1, #16) — lost
Temple (4-4, #63) — lost
South Dakota (6-3, #84) — lost
South Dakota State (8-1, #95) — lost
Milwaukee (7-3, #97) — Dec. 23
Louisiana Monroe (4-3, #99) — won
Kansas City (5-4, #151) — won
Missouri State (3-5, #182) — won
Oklahoma State (5-3, #228) — Saturday (in Sioux Falls)
Clemson (6-2, #234) — won
Omaha (4-5, #235) — won
Chicago State (3-6, #323) — Thursday
Pick 6
Leaving you with the 6 teams I selected for my annual Pick 6 College Hoops Pool. You must take 3 teams from the preseason top 10, and the other 3 must come from outside of the top 10. I ask that you do me a solid and pull for these squads this season, that is unless they’re playing the Gophers: Kansas, Kentucky, and Villanova from the top 10, along with Michigan State, Oklahoma, and Purdue from outside the top 10. So far so good, though ‘Nova getting waxed by Oklahoma was troubling.
At the very minimum I need to finish ahead of my lovely new bride/Jayhawks fan in the pool’s final standings. She selected Duke, Kansas, and North Carolina from the top 10, joined by Butler, Michigan State, and Wichita State from outside the top 10. I may have to put up with some serious trash talking if that doesn’t happen.