Minnesota has been the subject of some pretty large lashback from the national basketball “scene”, particularly in the fact that many have

Ralph Sampson III

been claiming that the Golden Gophers should not have made the NCAA tournament as an at-large team but rather that it should have been Penn State.

I agree.

Penn State had a better record, better Big Ten place, and had a stronger nonconference schedule. The Nittany Lions won 9 of their last 15, the Gophers 6 of their last 15. I know there can be all kinds of arguments back and forth, but it is what it is. Minnesota is in, and their prize is a 10 seed and face 7 seed Texas in the first round of the tournament. The Longhorns, who started off 11-2, played choppy basketball beyond that, going 11-9 the rest of the way. Texas owns wins over UCLA, Villanova, and Oklahoma, but also lost to Arkansas and Nebraska.  Texas resembles more of a Big Ten team than a Big 12 team with not a whole heckuvalot of offense. The defense is suspect at best.

Texas is very balanced offensevely, being led by star A.J. Abrams who can shoot from anywhere and can score a lot of points if needed. Damion James is one of the more underrated players in the country, averaging over 15 points and almost 10 boards a game. He will present match up nightmares for the Gophers.

But don’t underestimate Tubby Smith’s ability to prepare for a game. The Gophers certainly have the “sticktuitiveness” to grind this game out and put points on the board, if they can hang on to the ball, which has been a major issue with Minnesota this season. The game doesn’t give much of an edge with location, so it really comes down to just who plays the better game–and in this case, I’d love to be able to say that Minnesota pulls the mini-upset, but I think that James will have his way down deep and lead the Longhorns to a tough victory.

Predicted Result: Loss

Even if Minnesota is able to win a gutsy game, they will likely face Duke basically in their backyard in Greensboro, NC, and that will make a game that is already one-sdied even worse. Sorry, Gophers fans, I am certainly happy for the turnaround in the program, but it is not in the cards for really much at all this go-round.