BleedGopher
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per Michael:
Big Ten Winning Percentage
Minnesota went through the 2010s with a .379 record in Big Ten play. That’s actually worse than Nebraska, but winning percentage in conference games isn’t everything, and had Nebraska been in the Big Ten in 2010 and 2011 it’s likely they would have finished with a worse record than the Gophers.
Teams Finishing Ahead of Minnesota
Seventy-three teams finished ahead of Minnesota over the past ten seasons. Wisconsin was the only team that finished ahead of Minnesota all ten years; the Minnesota-Wisconsin series is the only rivalry where that holds true. Maryland also finished ahead of Minnesota all six years that the Terps were in the conference. The Gophers best finish was fourth in 2017, when they finished in back of Wisconsin, Purdue, and Maryland. (The Gophers finished better than Purdue in 2013 and 2014.)
Big Ten Regular Season Titles
None, nor did they ever challenge for one. The year they finished fourth, they started the conference season 3-6 before rattling off eight wins in a row.
Big Ten Tournament Titles
None. Minnesota made the semifinals twice, losing to Michigan both times.
Team of the Decade
KenPom says the 2013 Golden Gophers were a top-20 team, but that team finished 8-10 in the league, and Tubby Smith ended up getting fired after a second-round NCAA Tournament loss. No season that ends with a coach getting fired for performance can be the best team of the decade. So that leaves the 2017 team. That iteration of the Gophers didn’t win an NCAA Tournament game, but they had eleven conference wins, the most for any Gopher team since the 1990 Elite Eight squad. The star player was junior Nate Mason, backed by underclassmen Jordan Murphy, Amir Coffey, and Dupree McBrayer. All would return the next year, but Gopher fans don’t want me to talk about 2018.
Player of the Decade
For most readers of this blog, Jordan Murphy was the most prolific Big Ten rebounder of your lifetime. Better than Joe Barry Carroll. Better than Draymond Green. Better than Ethan Happ or Alan Henderson. Only Jerry Lucas pulled down more. And I don’t think Big Ten fans ever gave Murphy his due. Perhaps that’s because he was never the single best rebounder in the conference; his career stats are so good because he was a rebound machine as a freshman. Even if you ignore the rebounds, Murphy was the alpha dog on a team that made it to the Round of 32, which is as deep as any Minnesota team since 1997 (unofficially; 1990 when factoring in vacated games.)
Regular Season Crushing Loss of the Decade
March 5, 2016.
I’ll be honest, as I was doing my research for this series, I knew that picking out the most crushing loss for each program would be the most difficult item to determine. I knew which losses hurt me as a Purdue fan the most, but how was I to know which loss Illinois or Nebraska fans remembered above all others. Crushing losses are subjective. I can review scores and records, but I can’t know the emotional state of the fanbase at the time each game was played.
This game, though. Absolute no-brainer. Sorry, Minnesota fans, but as a neutral fan this is far and away the most memorable embarrassing Big Ten loss of all time. Yes, worse than Illinois losing to Penn State at home 38-33. (Illinois fans: “That was like eleven years ago, a—hole!”)
Anyway, on March 5, 2016, Minnesota went to Piscataway with a 2-15 conference record. And let me tell you, it was March, it was the last game of the regular season, and this game was THE game to watch that weekend. Indiana had already locked up a Big Ten title. But at the other end of the conference, there was Minnesota. And there was Rutgers. Winless Rutgers.
https://www.btpowerhouse.com/2019/7...de-power-rankings-10-minnesota-golden-gophers
Go Gophers!!
Big Ten Winning Percentage
Minnesota went through the 2010s with a .379 record in Big Ten play. That’s actually worse than Nebraska, but winning percentage in conference games isn’t everything, and had Nebraska been in the Big Ten in 2010 and 2011 it’s likely they would have finished with a worse record than the Gophers.
Teams Finishing Ahead of Minnesota
Seventy-three teams finished ahead of Minnesota over the past ten seasons. Wisconsin was the only team that finished ahead of Minnesota all ten years; the Minnesota-Wisconsin series is the only rivalry where that holds true. Maryland also finished ahead of Minnesota all six years that the Terps were in the conference. The Gophers best finish was fourth in 2017, when they finished in back of Wisconsin, Purdue, and Maryland. (The Gophers finished better than Purdue in 2013 and 2014.)
Big Ten Regular Season Titles
None, nor did they ever challenge for one. The year they finished fourth, they started the conference season 3-6 before rattling off eight wins in a row.
Big Ten Tournament Titles
None. Minnesota made the semifinals twice, losing to Michigan both times.
Team of the Decade
KenPom says the 2013 Golden Gophers were a top-20 team, but that team finished 8-10 in the league, and Tubby Smith ended up getting fired after a second-round NCAA Tournament loss. No season that ends with a coach getting fired for performance can be the best team of the decade. So that leaves the 2017 team. That iteration of the Gophers didn’t win an NCAA Tournament game, but they had eleven conference wins, the most for any Gopher team since the 1990 Elite Eight squad. The star player was junior Nate Mason, backed by underclassmen Jordan Murphy, Amir Coffey, and Dupree McBrayer. All would return the next year, but Gopher fans don’t want me to talk about 2018.
Player of the Decade
For most readers of this blog, Jordan Murphy was the most prolific Big Ten rebounder of your lifetime. Better than Joe Barry Carroll. Better than Draymond Green. Better than Ethan Happ or Alan Henderson. Only Jerry Lucas pulled down more. And I don’t think Big Ten fans ever gave Murphy his due. Perhaps that’s because he was never the single best rebounder in the conference; his career stats are so good because he was a rebound machine as a freshman. Even if you ignore the rebounds, Murphy was the alpha dog on a team that made it to the Round of 32, which is as deep as any Minnesota team since 1997 (unofficially; 1990 when factoring in vacated games.)
Regular Season Crushing Loss of the Decade
March 5, 2016.
I’ll be honest, as I was doing my research for this series, I knew that picking out the most crushing loss for each program would be the most difficult item to determine. I knew which losses hurt me as a Purdue fan the most, but how was I to know which loss Illinois or Nebraska fans remembered above all others. Crushing losses are subjective. I can review scores and records, but I can’t know the emotional state of the fanbase at the time each game was played.
This game, though. Absolute no-brainer. Sorry, Minnesota fans, but as a neutral fan this is far and away the most memorable embarrassing Big Ten loss of all time. Yes, worse than Illinois losing to Penn State at home 38-33. (Illinois fans: “That was like eleven years ago, a—hole!”)
Anyway, on March 5, 2016, Minnesota went to Piscataway with a 2-15 conference record. And let me tell you, it was March, it was the last game of the regular season, and this game was THE game to watch that weekend. Indiana had already locked up a Big Ten title. But at the other end of the conference, there was Minnesota. And there was Rutgers. Winless Rutgers.
https://www.btpowerhouse.com/2019/7...de-power-rankings-10-minnesota-golden-gophers
Go Gophers!!