For a second straight season, the Minnesota men's basketball team has been projected to finish last in the Big Ten.
Last season, the Gophers were also projected to finish dead last but instead, outperformed expectations, going 19-15 overall and 9-11 in conference play, finishing tied for ninth in the conference standings alongside Ohio State and Penn State.
Notably, the Gophers did see quite a few departures this offseason via the transfer portal, saying goodbye to key contributors such as Elijah Hawkins, Braeden Carrington, Joshua Ola-Joseph, and Pharrell Payne. The Gophers also saw guard Cam Christie leave this offseason for the NBA.
In total, five of the Gophers top eight scorers from a year ago are now no longer with the program. Those five departures have understandably lowered the expectations for the Gophers as they enter year four of the Ben Johnson era in the eyes of the Big Ten Media.
Hoping to replace the production lost, Ben Johnson and his staff were active in the transfer portal this offeason as they added six transfers to the roster in Toledo guard Tyler Cochran, New Mexico State guard Femi Odukale, UTSA power forward Trey Edmonds, Canisius power forward Frank Mitchell, Oregon guard Brennan Rigsby, and Charlotte guard Lu'Cye Patterson.
The Gophers began fall practices ahead of the 2024-25 season last Wednesday and will take on Bemidji State and Hamline in a pair of exhibition matchups at Williams Arena before starting their season on November 6 against Oral Roberts.
FULL MEDIA POLL
1. Purdue
2. Indiana
3. UCLA
4. Illinois
5. Michigan State
6. Oregon
7. Rutgers
8. Ohio State
9. Michigan
10. Maryland
11. Iowa
T-12th: Wisconsin, Nebraska
14. USC
15. Washington
16. Northwestern
17. Penn State
18. Minnesota
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