A somewhat promising season for the Minnesota Gophers concluded with a familiar feeling of disappointment. Today’s loss to the Northwestern Wildcats (72-64) in the First Round of the Big Ten conference tournament. This knocks the Gophers out of the NCAA tournament for a sixth straight year, even though their chances were very slim coming in. This could mark the last collegiate basketball game for 10 Gopher seniors.
Northwestern’s first conference tournament win since 2022 was this. Their next game is against No. 5 Wisconsin at 11:30 AM, following a short turnaround.
For the second time this season, junior forward Nick Martinelli proved to be a major problem for the Gophers. He led all scorers with 28 points, contributing significantly to his team’s victory. Although he struggled at the free-throw line, going just 4-for-10, his overall dominance propelled the underdog team to a series sweep against the Gophers.
Dawson Garcia scored 22 points, but the Gophers’ shooting woes were too much to overcome. Their struggles were largely due to Coach Ben Johnson’s inflexible starting lineup. This rigidity hindered bench development, exposing the team’s lack of depth and ultimately limiting their potential. The Gophers now face a wait to see if they’ll receive a bid to the College Basketball Crown or the NIT tournament.
NIT Revamped: Crown Tournament Alters Selection Process
The College Basketball Crown, a 16-team men’s postseason tournament. The tournament will feature schools from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Big East, in addition to at-large participants. Teams that did not participate in the NCAA Tournament will be eligible for the event, with two automatic qualifiers coming from each participating conference, and additional teams chosen by a select committee.
The introduction of the College Basketball Crown tournament has prompted a revised selection process for the NIT. Specifically, the NIT will allocate four automatic, or ‘exempt,’ bids to the top two non-NCAA Tournament teams from the ACC and SEC, the only major conferences not affiliated with the new tournament. Following those selections, the remaining 12 exempt bids will be awarded to the highest-ranked non-NCAA Tournament teams from the 12 highest-rated conferences nationwide.
The top 12 conferences will be identified using Ken Pomeroy’s ratings. However, determining who the top teams are from those conferences will be a decidedly more convoluted process that incorporates KenPom, BPI, KPI, NET, strength of record, BartTorvik.com, and “wins above bubble” metrics.
All 16 exempt teams will be guaranteed the chance to host first-round games. Other guaranteed spots in the NIT will be preserved for regular-season conference champions that average 125 or better across the BPI, KPI, NET, KenPom, SOR, Torvik, and WAB rankings. At-large selections by the NIT committee will fill the remaining spots in the 32-team field.
Despite the continued focus on Power 5 teams in both tournaments, this new format is expected to increase hosting chances for low and mid-major schools.
Ben Johnson: One More Year?
Ben Johnson’s career winning percentage is (.444) 56-70 overall including a (.278) 22-57 in conference play, with zero trips to the NCAA tournament. According to ESPN college basketball reporter Jeff Borzello
“As of the time of publication, it seems Ben Johnson is likely to get another year at Minnesota,”
Borzello wrote at 8:15 a.m. CT on Wednesday ahead of the brutal loss against Northwestern. It will now be in the hands of Director of Athletics Mark Coyle to decide his fate.
Regardless of Johnson’s potential return, the Gopher team will undergo significant changes next season. The Gophers are set to graduate ten players, including five of their leading scorers. They will rely heavily on younger players like Isaac Asuma, as well as their three incoming freshmen. This marks a significant transition for a team that battled to a .500 finish in the challenging Big Ten conference. It looks like the Gophers will be active on the transfer portal.
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