Earlier this week, the initial Pomeroy College Basketball ratings for the 2024-25 season was released. The college basketball season is just around the corner with Minnesota set to begin their 2024 season on November 6 when they host the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in a non-conference matchup at Williams Arena.
Here's how KenPom views Minnesota, the Big Ten, and the Gophers' non-conference opponents ahead of the 2024-25 season.
How does KenPom view the Golden Gophers?
The Golden Gophers find themselves coming in just within the top-60 at No. 59 nationally and 15th in the Big Ten. Pomeroy believes the Gophers are quite a well balanced team with the 61st best preseason offensive rating and the 61st best preseason defensive rating.
How does KenPom view the Big Ten entering the season?
It's shaping up to be another competitive season in the Big Ten, with all 18 of the conference's teams ranked inside the top 75 of the Pomeroy rankings, including 12 within the top 50. That being said, the Big Ten can be broken into four tiers.
Unsurprisingly, Purdue leads the way as the projected top team in the conference, with a sizeable gap between them and the rest.
The next closest Big Ten team is the Illinois Fighting Illini at No. 23. The conference's next nine programs, starting with Illinois, are ranked within 16 spots of each other.
The third tier begins with the Wisconsin Badgers at No. 46, a small grouping that also includes the Northwestern Wildcats.
The fourth and final tier starts at No. 56 with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and includes USC, Minnesota, Penn State, Rutgers, and Washington.
You can view the complete rankings below.
Tier 1:
1. Purdue (10)
Tier 2:
2. Illinois (23)
3. UCLA (26)
4. Oregon (29)
5. Ohio State (31)
6. Iowa (33)
7. Michigan State (35)
8. Michigan (36)
9. Maryland (37)
10. Indiana (39)
Tier 3:
11. Wisconsin (46)
12. Northwestern (50)
Tier 4:
13. Nebraska (56)
14. USC (57)
15. Minnesota (59)
16. Penn State (61)
17. Rutgers (63)
18. Washington (75)
Where does KenPom rank Minnesota's non-conference opponents?
The initial Pomeroy ratings also confirm that the Golden Gophers' non-conference schedule is particularly weak for the 2024-25 season. Of the Gophers' 11 non-conference games, six opponents are ranked No. 200 or lower by KenPom, while four are ranked No. 300 or lower.
The Gophers' toughest non-conference opponent will be either Florida (No. 28) or Wake Forest (No. 44), as they will face one of these teams in the second of two games as part of the ESPN Events Invitational in late November.
Other notable non-conference opponents include North Texas (No. 81), Yale (No. 109), and Wichita State (No. 101). You can view the complete non-conference schedule along with their respective rankings.
Oral Roberts (Nov. 6) - 242
Omaha (Nov. 9) - 318
North Texas (Nov. 13) - 81
Yale (Nov. 16) - 109
Cleveland State (Nov. 19) - 182
Central Michigan (Nov. 25) - 268
Wichita State (Nov. 28) - 101
Florida or Wake Forest (Nov . 29) - 28 or 44
Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 1) - 301
Fairleigh Dickinsno (Dec. 21) - 351
Morgan State (Dec. 29) - 311
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