By the (RPI) Numbers: A Final Look at the Gophers' Schedule

Opponents' final 2013-14 RPI is noted in parentheses. The non-DI opponent is assigned a RPI of #350, even though the game doesn't count for the Selection Committee.

Road to March 15
1. vs. Louisville (19)
2. vs. Gonzaga (20) -- projected NIT championship opponent
3. vs. Saint John's (67)
4. @ Wake Forest (113)
5. Western Kentucky (125)
6. Southern U (171)
7. North Dakota (197)
8. Western Carolina (221)
9. Seattle (267)
10. UNC-Wilmington (281)
11. UMBC (327)
12, Furman (339)
13. *Franklin Pierce (350) -- non-DI

2013-14 NCAA Qualifiers (2): Louisville, Gonzaga
2013-14 NIT Qualifiers (1): Saint John's

Average RPI of All Projected Opponents: 192.076
Average RPI of Home Opponents (counting Franklin Pierce as #350): 253.111
Average RPI of Home Opponents (excluding non-DI Franklin Pierce): 241
Average RPI of Projected Road/Neutral Opponents: 54.75

Big Ten Only
Average RPI of Home Opponents: 86.444 (no Michigan or Michigan State hurts)
Average RPI of Road Opponents: 64.222

Comments/Notes
**Four nonconference opponents with RPIs south of 250 is not a good number. Too many.

**Absent a win over Louisville or (hopefully) Gonzaga, this is a nonconference schedule not conducive to helping the Gophers much. Not sure why the nonconference schedule is on the soft side this season, especially considering the Gophers got a pretty favorable Big Ten draw (play Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State only once). This team has a lot of experience. Next season I'd understand it more after we lose 4 key seniors (Hollins, Mathieu, EE, Mo).

**If the Gophers beat both Louisville and Gonzaga, it won't matter how crappy the rest of their non-Big Ten schedule is. Those two wins would carry major weight. In all likelihood they'd have to bottom out completely in the Big Ten (worse than 8-10) to get left out of the NCAA tourney. Warning: There is precedent for that. The Gophers beat eventual NCAA qualifiers North Carolina and West Virginia in Puerto Rico in 2010-11 but then free-fell all the way out of the NCAA conversation.

**The Gophers most difficult home opponent is likely to be their first, Western Kentucky. Other than that, it's nothing but blowouts at Williams Arena until the Big Ten season starts.

**Seattle is coached by former UCLA guard Cameron Dollar.

**Furman is coached by former Gopher assistant Niko Medved. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Medved is more known for being a student manager for the Gophers 1996-97 Final Four squad?

SelectionSunday said:

Warning: There is precedent for that. The Gophers beat eventual NCAA qualifiers North Carolina and West Virginia in Puerto Rico in 2010-11 but then free-fell all the way out of the NCAA conversation..

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Ahhh.. remembering those February's of yesteryear.

BarnBoy said:

Ahhh.. remembering those February's of yesteryear.

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That was a bad one, for sure.

Well it appears the big boys don't want to play us.

Dam#. No home hoops game on a Gopher football weekend. Last year was the first year I can remember when that happened. We took in both the Lehigh and PSU games which was a bonus for those of us who travel from a far..