BleedGopher
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per Sid:
The pundits around college basketball have done a 180-degree turn when it comes to their expectations for Richard Pitino’s Gophers men’s basketball squad.
Last year, the Gophers were ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press preseason poll. This year, Sports Illustrated rated them No. 7 in the Big Ten behind Michigan State, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana, Wisconsin and Maryland.
Athlon Sports ranked the Gophers 11th in the Big Ten, ahead of only Northwestern, Illinois and Rutgers, and named Pitino as a coach on the hot seat.
Pitino doesn’t see things that way at all. What he sees is the best collection of talent he has had with the Gophers coming off a very tough season that dealt with a number of injuries to key players and the dismissal of center Reggie Lynch from the team.
“I have been in this league when we have been picked at the bottom and finished close to the top, and I have been picked close to the top and finished close to the bottom,” Pitino said. “You never really know with anything.
“I think that, knock on wood, if we’re healthy, we have a chance to compete. I don’t worry about preseason rankings. They are kind of irrelevant. I just focus on what we can control, and that’s getting better today.”
http://www.startribune.com/richard-...-preseason-predictions-for-gophers/494710101/
Go Gophers!!
The pundits around college basketball have done a 180-degree turn when it comes to their expectations for Richard Pitino’s Gophers men’s basketball squad.
Last year, the Gophers were ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press preseason poll. This year, Sports Illustrated rated them No. 7 in the Big Ten behind Michigan State, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana, Wisconsin and Maryland.
Athlon Sports ranked the Gophers 11th in the Big Ten, ahead of only Northwestern, Illinois and Rutgers, and named Pitino as a coach on the hot seat.
Pitino doesn’t see things that way at all. What he sees is the best collection of talent he has had with the Gophers coming off a very tough season that dealt with a number of injuries to key players and the dismissal of center Reggie Lynch from the team.
“I have been in this league when we have been picked at the bottom and finished close to the top, and I have been picked close to the top and finished close to the bottom,” Pitino said. “You never really know with anything.
“I think that, knock on wood, if we’re healthy, we have a chance to compete. I don’t worry about preseason rankings. They are kind of irrelevant. I just focus on what we can control, and that’s getting better today.”
http://www.startribune.com/richard-...-preseason-predictions-for-gophers/494710101/
Go Gophers!!
