NCAA Tournament March Madness

#72 Minnesota

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Projection: likely out

Minnesota’s résumé reads like a team with flashes but too many conspicuous liabilities: it boasts resume-defining wins at home over Iowa and Michigan State and road victories at Northwestern and Oregon, yet those high points are undermined by ugly neutral-site losses to San Francisco, Stanford and Santa Clara and by lopsided defeats at Missouri and at home to Purdue that expose a vulnerability against quality opposition. A string of close defeats to USC, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio State compounds the damage because several of those came away from home or in key conference settings, creating a pattern of dropping winnable chances on the road. With the schedule finishing with a brutal trip to Michigan, a high-profile showdown with UCLA and a road date at Indiana alongside a final home chance against Northwestern, Minnesota’s path back into the field depends on flipping a small handful of games against major opponents and avoiding any more damaging losses, and at the moment those negatives outweigh the best moments on the resume.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Gardner Webb363W87-60
11/8Alcorn St340W95-50
11/12@Missouri52L83-60
11/15WI Green Bay213W72-65
11/18Chicago St343W66-54
11/22(N)San Francisco134L77-65
11/27(N)Stanford74L72-68
11/28(N)Santa Clara35L86-75
12/3Indiana41W73-64
12/10@Purdue7L85-57
12/14TX Southern300W89-53
12/21Campbell200W78-50
12/29F Dickinson333W60-43
1/3@Northwestern70W84-78
1/6Iowa26W70-67
1/9USC57L70-69
1/13Wisconsin29L78-75
1/17@Illinois4L77-67
1/20@Ohio St36L82-74
1/24Nebraska12L76-57
1/28@Wisconsin29L67-63
2/1@Penn St136L77-75
2/4Michigan St10W76-73
2/8Maryland128L67-62
2/14@Washington47L69-57
2/17@Oregon106W61-44
2/21Rutgers150W80-61
2/24@Michigan12%
2/28UCLA4245%
3/4@Indiana4124%
3/7Northwestern7061%