Field of 68 Update: Gophers make it for first time

The Gophers make the field for the first time this season. An * denotes the leader in a multiple-bid conference, or the team with the best RPI. Teams' RPI is noted in parentheses.

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (1/6/14)
America East (1): Albany (158)

American (4): *Cincinnati (21), Memphis (30), Louisville (32), UConn (42)

ACC (5): Syracuse (4), Duke (35), Pitt (31), North Carolina (41), *Maryland (78)

Atlantic Sun (1): North Florida (186)

Atlantic 10 (5): *UMass (5), George Washington (28), Dayton (34), VCU (47), Saint Louis (49)

Big East (4): *Villanova (6), Xavier (19), Creighton (26), Georgetown (46)

Big Sky (1): Northern Colorado (197)

Big South (1): North Carolina-Asheville (195)

Big Ten (7): *Wisconsin (1), Ohio State (7), Michigan State (11), Illinois (17), Iowa (20), GOPHERS (48), Michigan (60)

Big XII (6): Kansas (2), *Iowa State (3), Oklahoma State (15), Baylor (16), Oklahoma (24), Kansas State (56)

Big West (1): Santa Barbara (36)

Colonial (1): James Madison (211)

Conference USA (1): Southern Miss (27)

Horizon (1): Green Bay (58)

Ivy (1): Harvard (29)

Metro Atlantic (1): Manhattan (63)

MAC (1): Toledo (43)

MEAC (1): Hampton (253)

Missouri Valley (1): Wichita State (12)

Mountain West (4): San Diego State (18), New Mexico (38), Boise State (44), *Nevada (166)

Northeast (1): Bryant (109)

Ohio Valley (1): Belmont (75)

Pac 12 (5): Colorado (8), Oregon (9), *Arizona (10), UCLA (40), Cal (52)

Patriot (1): Boston U (105)

SEC (4): *Florida (14), Kentucky (22), Missouri (23), Arkansas (81)

Southern (1): Western Carolina (232)

Southland (1): Stephen F. Austin (90)

SWAC (1): Southern U (179)

Summit (1): North Dakota State (25)

Sun Belt (1): Western Kentucky (112)

West Coast (2): *Gonzaga (13), Saint Mary's (33)

WAC (1): Kansas City (134)
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Last 4 In: Saint Mary's (33), Boise State (44), GOPHERS (48), Arkansas (81)

First 4 Out: Virginia (39), SMU (45), Florida State (51), Texas (62)

Others Considered (11): New Mexico State (50), Tennessee (53), LSU (54), Princeton (57), Butler (61), Notre Dame (67), Ohio (68), Arizona State (70), Indiana State (73), Louisiana Tech (86), Stanford (87)

New to the Field (20): Boston U, Cal, Cincinnati, Hampton, James Madison, Kansas City, Kansas State, Maryland, Michigan, GOPHERS, Nevada, North Carolina-Asheville, North Florida, Northern Colorado, Saint Louis, Southern U, Stephen F. Austin, Western Carolina, Western Kentucky, Xavier

Dropped from the Field (20): Arizona State, BYU, Bucknell, Butler, Drexel, Eastern Washington, Elon, Indiana, Jackson State, Louisiana, LSU, Mercer, New Mexico State, North Carolina Central, Oral Roberts, Pacific, Texas, UAB, Virginia, Winthrop

I'm seeing First 4 out...hmmm.

https://twitter.com/chrisjfarrow/status/420360718701961216/photo/1

If you look at BPI, ESPN's metric for ranking teams for at large bids, Minnesota is 7th behind Illinois and Michigan and ahead of Purdue and Indiana. Most pundits say the Big Ten will get 7 teams. Which means 3 of those 5 will get in.

The Gopher's only play IU and Ill once, both are at the Barn. If they win those two, and sweep the bottom three (Neb, Northwestern, PSU) it will give them 8 conference wins (includes Purdue). They will need to steal one from one of the top 4 to get an at large bid. Go Gophers!

If we can get to 8 conference wins and pull a FIU, where Pitino has us playing our best ball in the Big10 tourney we should be good

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Yeah I'm still thinking our best case scenario is barely on the right side of the bubble. Though I also have a feeling Pitino has at least one major upset and I think it could come in our tough 4 game stretch after Penn State.

I agree with the assessment that the Gophers will be vying for a bubble spot in a best case scenario, obviously based upon their performance to date. I'm with Madtown hoping we can pull off a W in one of those 4 games following PSU. I like our shot vs. OSU the best.

Of those 4 games I like Gophers' chances best vs. the Badgers.