Gophers to Host Miami in Big Ten-ACC Challenge

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It definitely is a bummer to get our hopes up and end up with a team that is not historically a hoops powerhouse, BUT outside of Duke and (maybe) Louisville - honestly a Louisville visit wasn't that exciting to me since we've played before and it would have been SOOOO much father/son hype - are people really that upset about getting Miami as opposed to Notre Dame?

A. This isn't football. I don't really think Notre Dame is a bonafide hoops powerhouse, so let's not get tied to our hate of their football team.
B. I'd consider Miami and ND's hoops programs to be of pretty comparable stature. In fact, Miami is rated #12 in ESPN's early rankings and ND is #21.
C. Sounds like Miami has a certain future NBA guy who is coming back and a 5-star recruit for next year. Every early ranking I see mentions Miami as a serious ACC title contender this coming year. Seems like a really good matchup to test our veteran squad with B10 title aspirations.
D. We are guaranteed a likely Top 15 non-conference home matchup! When is the last time we were in the Top 15 and played another Top 15 team at home in the non-conference?? Those saying it won't be a good crowd are on crack.

Again, Duke would have been amazing, but we have some years of consistent results to lay down before this is a reality.
 

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Wanted Duke or Notre Dame but completely understand it. Katz talked about the level of success programs have had over a period of time and these match ups are reflective of that. If anything, Miami is a couple levels up the ladder from the Gophers. Across the board you have match ups on levels of winning. Duke-Indiana , blue blood. Notre DAME has a very recent ACC tourney title and a couple of back to back elite 8's. They play a outrageously successful MSU. UNC-Michigan, again high levels of success. Louisville is steps ahead of Purdue but PORDUE HAS A RICH HISTORY AND is coming off a great year. Maryland-Cuse, giant success. UW-UVA, UW with recent back to back final 4's and 20 years of success,UVA two recent 16-2 ACC champions and a ACC TOURNEY TITLE. Winning over a stretch of at least 5 years is a way into the club. One upper division conference finish in a generation just does not mean much. The Gophers have not won a thing in a generation. The good news is Miami is loaded and very well coached. WIN THAT AND WIN THE CONFERENCE AND THEN WE CAN YELL FOR SOMETHING WITH NATIONAL APPEAL
 

Yeah I disagree with the idea that this is a yawn-inducing matchup that no one will get excited about or show up for. This will likely be our toughest non-conference opponent, and almost certainly the best non-conference home game unless we've got a big time home-and-home lined up. But giving Indiana a second straight home game just to get the Indiana/Duke matchup almost makes it seem like that game was their starting point, the one game they decided NEEDED to happen and we never had a chance at getting Duke. I know it's 2 big basketball brands, but Duke is going to cruise to victory.
 

Teams play back to back road games or home games all the time in the challenge. UVA went to Maryland in 2014 and the very next year went to Ohio State. Facility scheduling forces this pretty often
 


So I went back and looked and the Gophers beat Georgia in 2002 (on Michael Bauer's buzzer 3). http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stories/113002aba.html Gophs were #24 and Georgia was #17. So that's the last time we played a non-conference HOME game against a ranked team when we were ranked too. But to find a time when we played a non-con Top 15 team when we were ALSO in the Top 15...I don't even think that happened in the Haskins years (remember that was pre ACC/B10 Challenge)?
 

WriterGoph said:
So I went back and looked and the Gophers beat Georgia in 2002 (on Michael Bauer's buzzer 3). http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stories/113002aba.html Gophs were #24 and Georgia was #17. So that's the last time we played a non-conference HOME game against a ranked team when we were ranked too. But to find a time when we played a non-con Top 15 team when we were ALSO in the Top 15...I don't even think that happened in the Haskins years (remember that was pre ACC/B10 Challenge)?
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Weren't we top 15 in 98-99 when Cincy came to town?
 

Or they could have gone this way?

I get it that it's about the blue bloods and "pecking orders". However, this year more than any other the pairings show Gopher fans it doesn't matter at all if you had a successful campaign the prior season (#4 seed in conference tourney) and are expected to (knock on wood) have an even better one the following season. The Gophers, generally speaking, are being picked to finish 2nd or 3rd in the B1G this season.

With that in mind. ... now knowing who the home & road teams are, would ESPN be crippled with the following pairings? The first 5 would be really good matchups, and they include most of the conferences' brand names.

Duke @ Purdue
Michigan @ North Carolina (same)
Notre Dame @ Michigan State (same)
Louisville @ Minnesota
Maryland @ Virginia Tech
Iowa @ Syracuse
Miami @ Indiana
Northwestern @ Virginia
Wisconsin @ Wake Forest
Florida State @ Ohio State
Penn State @ NC State (same)
Illinois @ Georgia Tech
Clemson @ Rutgers
Boston College @ Nebraska (same)

Moot point, obviously. Bottom line is Miami is another quality opponent. That's at least 4 for the Gophers. If Pitino is wise he'll schedule at least 2 more, hopefully to include a notable home-and-home.
 

bemidjigopher said:
Weren't we top 15 in 98-99 when Cincy came to town?
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Great call! Very close. Looks like we were #17 and they were #4. Either way, we have to go back 20 YEARS for a quality non-conference matchup at home like this.
 



SelectionSunday said:
I get it that it's about the blue bloods and "pecking orders". However, this year more than any other the pairings show Gopher fans it doesn't matter at all if you had a successful campaign the prior season (#4 seed in conference tourney) and are expected to (knock on wood) have an even better one the following season. The Gophers, generally speaking, are being picked to finish 2nd or 3rd in the B1G this season.

With that in mind. ... now knowing who the home & road teams are, would ESPN be crippled with the following pairings? The first 5 would be really good matchups, and they include most of the conferences' brand names.

Duke @ Purdue
Michigan @ North Carolina (same)
Notre Dame @ Michigan State (same)
Louisville @ Minnesota
Maryland @ Virginia Tech
Iowa @ Syracuse
Miami @ Indiana
Northwestern @ Virginia
Wisconsin @ Wake Forest
Florida State @ Ohio State
Penn State @ NC State (same)
Illinois @ Georgia Tech
Clemson @ Rutgers
Boston College @ Nebraska (same)

Moot point, obviously. Bottom line is Miami is another quality opponent. That's at least 4 for the Gophers. If Pitino is wise he'll schedule at least 2 more, hopefully to include a notable home-and-home.
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Hey SS, do you feel like - with this Miami matchup, our trip to Barclays and roadies against two NCAA teams from last year (Providence and Arkansas) - that there is a legit shot Pitino may schedule another ranked/quality home non-con?
 

Stan said:
That's disappointing. Good game yes, but this won't fill The Barn.
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Hurricanes a quality opponent, but spot on.

Duke, Louisville, or North Carolina the only 3 that would have filled the place.
 

Miami doesn't do a lot for me, but I completely understand why the Gophers don't get any preference in scheduling. This is a program that won 8 games two years ago. Yes, there is optimism for the upcoming year, but I suspect the national media is still in "show me" mode for the Gophers. If the Gophs have a good season this year (including winning an NCAA tournament game), then we might see the profile of the program trending up.

And - when the Gophers do have an opportunity to play a ranked team, they need to play well. If the Gophs want more respect at a national level, they cannot afford to lay an egg when they do have a shot on the national stage.
 

If the U played Duke and the first time a bad call goes against us, laments of 'the game is rigged' will dominate this board for a solid week after the game was played. Maybe longer.

The way I see it, playing Miami will provide an entertaining match up without conspiracy theory drama. Though I will have to admit, Gopher Hole will likely be less popcorn worthy.
 



WriterGoph said:
Hey SS, do you feel like - with this Miami matchup, our trip to Barclays and roadies against two NCAA teams from last year (Providence and Arkansas) - that there is a legit shot Pitino may schedule another ranked/quality home non-con?
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He should, but I doubt he will.

A home & home would almost have to start here, as it's very doubtful Pitino would schedule 3 true road games, nor should he. 2 is the perfect number. The problem is next year we're likely to need a quality home game with the ACC game likely to be on the road and not knowing whether we'll play in the Gavitt Games (presumably at home) for the 3rd straight year.

Hope he does schedule one, but I think the more likely scenario is one more major conference/"name" opponent at a neutral site (The X, Des Moines, Target Center, Ziggy World, Las Vegas) and then 2 highly regarded mid-majors to round out the top end of the 13-game non-conference schedule.

With the Ohio State game being played at Madison Square Garden, that would mean the 31-game schedule (excluding exhibitions) would look like this:

16 @ Williams Arena

11 true road games

4 neutral-site games (UMass, Alabama, Ohio State, + TBD. ... TCU, Nevada, Stanford, or USC come to mind)
 

SelectionSunday said:
Hurricanes a quality opponent, but spot on.

Duke, Louisville, or North Carolina the only 3 that would have filled the place.
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I feel like it's a bit early to make that proclamation. We know the Gophers are expected to roll into the season with their highest ranking at least since 2009-2010 (we started #18), but likely a Top 10-15 spot, which has not happened for decades. Twin Cities fans have historically responded well when both football and basketball have been ranked, especially going into a season (maybe the TCU football opener a couple years back is a great example?). Our fans have been thirsting for quality home opponents (as discussed in previous posts). I believe the excitement surrounding the program is reaching heights we haven't seen for a long time. Plus, the crowds at home were getting better at end of last year (we sold out Penn St).

I guess if this Miami game isn't a sellout or close to it, I will be disappointed with our crowd. So much bit*hing for years about our non-conference schedule. Let's show some love when we finally have a matchup like this.
 

If a top 25 game at home against a non-conf opponent can't fill the Barn that's on Gopher fans not ESPN.


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Until the dates are announced I don't think we have the full picture as to why the Gophers are playing Miami and not Duke. Maybe the Gophers have a road Big 10 game the following Friday and want to play either Mon or Tue but Duke coming off the Nike Tourney in Portland (previous Sunday) wanted to play Wednesday.

Miami should be good and they have not been here recently (or ever as far a I know).
 

Indiana supposedly paid 8 mil to get the game against Duke.
 

scools12 said:
If a top 25 game at home against a non-conf opponent can't fill the Barn that's on Gopher fans not ESPN.


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Amen! I'll add there's no reason every Gopher home game shouldn't be packed with the squad we'll have next year.


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Seems like we always play a school from Florida.
 

We got em!


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This is disappointing because of the build up and rumors, and because this might have been the last, only chance of having one of the most iconic coaches in history ever appearing at one of the most iconic arenas in college basketball (which happens to be near and dear to our hearts).

Hosting Miami will be a high quality game, possibly pitting two top-15 or even top-10 teams against one another, but it doesn't come close to the prestige of hosting Duke in Coach K's twilight years. I think it's no exaggeration to say that merely getting that matchup would have helped our program.

It is beyond frustrating that ESPN would see fit to match Duke against an Indiana team that was sh*tty last year, got its coach fired, will be sh*tty again this year, and has already played Duke several times in the Challenge, including hosting them a few years ago.

I think I speak for many B1G fans, and especially MN fans, when I say I hate ESPN.
 


Wanted Duke but Miami might end up being just as good this year and should be a very solid game.
 

bizzle22 said:
It's not a conspiracy theory. It's about money and everyone knows it
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I don't buy this. The difference in cumulative ratings for these pairings versus Duke/Minnesota and Miami/Indiana for ESPN/ESPN2 would be negligible. It's not like they're going to rake in millions of additional ad revenue from this, especially when Duke is up 20 on IU at half time. It's ridiculous.
 

scools12 said:
If a top 25 game at home against a non-conf opponent can't fill the Barn that's on Gopher fans not ESPN.


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It takes buzz to get the casual MN sports fan to pay any attention to Gopher basketball before January. Duke would have done it. Louisville would have done it. Miami won't.
 

WriterGoph said:
I feel like it's a bit early to make that proclamation. We know the Gophers are expected to roll into the season with their highest ranking at least since 2009-2010 (we started #18), but likely a Top 10-15 spot, which has not happened for decades. Twin Cities fans have historically responded well when both football and basketball have been ranked, especially going into a season (maybe the TCU football opener a couple years back is a great example?). Our fans have been thirsting for quality home opponents (as discussed in previous posts). I believe the excitement surrounding the program is reaching heights we haven't seen for a long time. Plus, the crowds at home were getting better at end of last year (we sold out Penn St).

I guess if this Miami game isn't a sellout or close to it, I will be disappointed with our crowd. So much bit*hing for years about our non-conference schedule. Let's show some love when we finally have a matchup like this.
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It won't help that the same will probably be a 6 PM game on ESPN2.
 

So, now that we have the opponent my question is... What does it take to get a Blue Blood program to Williams Arena. Maybe 2 years of deep tournament runs? I really would love to hear opinions of how we break through that barrier.


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What a shame. Would have been great exposure and a a blast to see Louisville or Duke.
 

howeda7 said:
It takes buzz to get the casual MN sports fan to pay any attention to Gopher basketball before January. Duke would have done it. Louisville would have done it. Miami won't.
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There's plenty of buzz about Gopher basketball going into the coming season.

A legit top 25 or possibly top 15 non conference team in the nation is making an appearance at the Barn. Doesn't happen that often.





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