NCAA Basketball: Teams outside top-100 most likely to get an at-large bid (Minnesota)

[BleedGopher]

per Lidskin:

In NCAA Basketball basketball, predicting what every team’s season will look like in October is impossible. Typically, it is difficult to even get close to most teams. With that being said, since 2018, six teams have started outside the top 100 of KenPom‘s preseason rankings and have gotten an at-large bid (Heat Check CBB).

Those teams were North Carolina State (2018), Belmont and VCU (2019), Drake (2021), and Iowa and Wyoming (2022). Recent history tells us that it is more than likely to happen again, and a couple of teams have a good shot.

Minnesota (109)​

Year one of the Ben Johnson era went pretty much how most people expected. The Gophers finished one game below .500, 6-14 in the Big Ten, and 109 in KenPom. Minnesota begins the year in the exact same spot they finished in 2021-22, and with the roster improvements they made, their 109 ranking feels low.

Minnesota will return multiple impact players and that includes preseason all-Big Ten first-team player Jamison Battle. Battle averaged 17.5 points per game last season and shot an efficient 36.6% from three.

Johnson also decided to improve the roster through the transfer portal. First, he went and got a true point guard in Ta’Lon Cooper. Cooper is a do-it-all guard that transferred in from Morehead State after posting nine points and six assists per game there last season. Along with Cooper, Minnesota also added to the front court through the portal by getting Minnesota native Dawson Garcia. Garcia is a two-time transfer that had a very good freshman season before having a rough stint at UNC. He’ll look to get his numbers back on track in a better situation.

Minnesota will be young, but even without Parker Fox, they should have some depth in the front court with Pharrel Payne and Treyton Thompson. Expect Braeden Carrington to have a big role as well. Carrington played against high-level competition in high school and is underrated as a recruit. He should be ready to get significant minutes and will improve as the year goes on.

NCAA Basketball: Teams outside top-100 most likely to get an at-large bid

Which teams can continue the trend and go from outside the KenPom top 100 to snagging an at-large bid in the NCAA Basketball Tournament?

bustingbrackets.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Year one of the Ben Johnson era went pretty much how most people expected. The Gophers finished one game below .500, 6-14 in the Big Ten

That would be 'no' on the one game below .500 and 'no' on the 6-14
Lidskin did get it right that it was Ben's first year at Minnesota though.
Missed by a year on the research. So, is the 109 KenPom correct for last year? Guessing it is not. (Turns out it is)

edit: on the plus side, did spell Morehead correctly.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Year one of the Ben Johnson era went pretty much how most people expected. The Gophers finished one game below .500, 6-14 in the Big Ten

That would be 'no' on the one game below .500 and 'no' on the 6-14
Lidskin did get it right that it was Ben's first year at Minnesota though.
Missed by a year on the research. So, is the 109 KenPom correct for last year? Guessing it is not.

edit: on the plus side, did spell Morehead correctly.

Yep, lose a lot of credibility when can’t even get the basic facts correct.

 

[Cayman]

Year one of the Ben Johnson era went pretty much how most people expected. The Gophers finished one game below .500, 6-14 in the Big Ten

That would be 'no' on the one game below .500 and 'no' on the 6-14
Lidskin did get it right that it was Ben's first year at Minnesota though.
Missed by a year on the research. So, is the 109 KenPom correct for last year? Guessing it is not.

edit: on the plus side, did spell Morehead correctly.

Finishing last season at #109 and starting this season at #109 actually is correct. You can see it on the kenpom website, at least until regular season games start being played.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Year one of the Ben Johnson era went pretty much how most people expected. The Gophers finished one game below .500, 6-14 in the Big Ten

That would be 'no' on the one game below .500 and 'no' on the 6-14
Lidskin did get it right that it was Ben's first year at Minnesota though.
Missed by a year on the research. So, is the 109 KenPom correct for last year? Guessing it is not.

edit: on the plus side, did spell Morehead correctly.

Fuzzy math doesn’t take away from his adroit analysis of us possibly being sneaky good and making a colossal leap in Y2 of Coach Ben.

I for one will embrace it and celebrate it, until proven otherwise.

Lifetime Non-Dicker IMO