USA Today: The Gophers are still a five seed in the USA Today bracket with a first round matching looming against UNC-Wilmington in Orlando. The winner of this 5/12 matchup would take on the winner of Florida and Vermont in a 4/13 game. This would be the South Region, where North Carolina is a one seed and Baylor is the two seed.
Joe Lunardi - ESPN: Lunardi has the Gophers staying at a six seed after the loss to Wisconsin last night. He has them playing in a difficult matchup against Syracuse, who is an 11 seed, in Salt Lake City. The winner of this game would take on the winner of Arizona and UNC Greensboro in the 3/14 game. They are placed in the South Region here with the one seed being North Carolina and the two seed being Kentucky. Michigan State is listed as a 10 seed in this region.
Jerry Palm - CBS: Palm has thought favorably of Minnesota all year long and he has Minnesota standing pat at a five seed following the loss to Wisconsin last night. He has the Gophers taking on the 12 seed Nevada in the Midwest Region. The Gophers would play this game in Orlando. If they win, they would play the winner of the 4/13 matchup between Florida and Princeton. The Gators are obviously having a breakthrough year after missing the tournament the last couple years, but Princeton is a scary team that could definitely pull an upset or two, like Harvard did out of the Ivy League a few years ago. The Tigers are deep, disciplined, and surprisingly talented for an Ivy team.
Analysis: The Gophers are still in a very good spot, even after losing to Wisconsin badly last night. Even if they were to lose their first Big Ten Tournament game, it would be really surprising to see them fall lower than a seven seed in the NCAA Tournament. With one win in the tournament and a loss to a team like Purdue or Michigan, they would likely be a five or six seed. If they win two games, probably a five seed. If they were to win the whole tournament, you would think they'd have a legitimate shot to get a four seed or a high five seed. It will be interesting to see where they will be playing and who, and six days from today we will find out on Selection Sunday. Although the loss to Wisconsin is certainly disappointing, Minnesota could have some important games ahead of them and they can continue to help themselves with a nice performance next weekend in D.C.
Best Case: 4/5 seed in NCAA's with Big Ten Tournament Championship victory.
Worst Case: 7 seed in NCAA's and a first round exit in BTT.
Likely Scenario: 1-2 wins in BTT and a 5/6 seed in NCAA's.
Joe Lunardi - ESPN: Lunardi has the Gophers staying at a six seed after the loss to Wisconsin last night. He has them playing in a difficult matchup against Syracuse, who is an 11 seed, in Salt Lake City. The winner of this game would take on the winner of Arizona and UNC Greensboro in the 3/14 game. They are placed in the South Region here with the one seed being North Carolina and the two seed being Kentucky. Michigan State is listed as a 10 seed in this region.
Jerry Palm - CBS: Palm has thought favorably of Minnesota all year long and he has Minnesota standing pat at a five seed following the loss to Wisconsin last night. He has the Gophers taking on the 12 seed Nevada in the Midwest Region. The Gophers would play this game in Orlando. If they win, they would play the winner of the 4/13 matchup between Florida and Princeton. The Gators are obviously having a breakthrough year after missing the tournament the last couple years, but Princeton is a scary team that could definitely pull an upset or two, like Harvard did out of the Ivy League a few years ago. The Tigers are deep, disciplined, and surprisingly talented for an Ivy team.
Analysis: The Gophers are still in a very good spot, even after losing to Wisconsin badly last night. Even if they were to lose their first Big Ten Tournament game, it would be really surprising to see them fall lower than a seven seed in the NCAA Tournament. With one win in the tournament and a loss to a team like Purdue or Michigan, they would likely be a five or six seed. If they win two games, probably a five seed. If they were to win the whole tournament, you would think they'd have a legitimate shot to get a four seed or a high five seed. It will be interesting to see where they will be playing and who, and six days from today we will find out on Selection Sunday. Although the loss to Wisconsin is certainly disappointing, Minnesota could have some important games ahead of them and they can continue to help themselves with a nice performance next weekend in D.C.
Best Case: 4/5 seed in NCAA's with Big Ten Tournament Championship victory.
Worst Case: 7 seed in NCAA's and a first round exit in BTT.
Likely Scenario: 1-2 wins in BTT and a 5/6 seed in NCAA's.
