Over the last few years, fellow Twin Cities institution St. Thomas made the jump from Division III to Division I, and their basketball program, led by head coach John Tauer, has been highly successful over the last three seasons.

In their first season as a Division I program in 2021-22, the Tommies finished 10-20 overall and 4-14 in Summit League Conference play. Since then, they have won 19, 20, and most recently, 24 games.

However, since making the jump, former Gophers head coach Ben Johnson didn't seem open to scheduling the rising program. That could very well change under the Gophers' new head coach, Niko Medved.

On Tuesday, during his introductory press conference, Medved was asked about the idea of playing St. Thomas. After joking that he's already tried and they said no, Medved got serious about the matter.

"Listen, I'm open to that for sure," Medved said. "I'm open to doing that. He (John Tauer) does a great job, and my brother went to St. Thomas. I think it's really cool to see them doing what they're doing," he added.

He was also highly complimentary of the St. Thomas program and what John Tauer has built in St. Paul.

"I think it's awesome for basketball in the state of Minnesota, and I'm a competitive guy. It'd be fun," Medved said. "I know if you play St. Thomas, you better buckle up because they're really good, but I could see that happening at some point. Can I promise it's going to be next year? No, but I could see that happening if he'll play."

In 2024-25, the 15-17 Gophers finished just six spots ahead of St. Thomas in RPI, with the Gophers ranked 110 compared to St. Thomas at 116. This past season, the Gophers' non-conference schedule featured eight programs ranked lower than St. Thomas in the final RPI standings, including two that made the NCAA Tournament in North Texas (65) and Yale (72).

Otherwise, the Gophers' non-conference opponents were ranked 65, 334, 160, 174, 219, 134, 231, 317, and 336. Their overall non-conference schedule was ranked 220th by ESPN.

Comparatively, Niko Medved and Colorado State had the 29th-ranked non-conference strength of schedule this season, which included notable regular-season matchups against Ole Miss (RPI - 13), UC Riverside (77), TCU (96), and VCU (33).

============================

- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.

- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @RivalsDylanCC

- SUBSCRIBE to Gophers Nation