Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball

On Tuesday night, Williams Arena shook like it was 1996.

Sure, the NCAA has made the Minnesota Golden Gopher Men's Basketball team vacate that season that ended with a Final Four loss to Kentucky, but the memories of how the ancient arena seemed magical that year are still ingrained in the memories of the maroon and gold.

The 77-73 victory over Indiana was the first victory over a top-ranked team since 1989, but it had to be the most exciting game since Bobby Jackson and Sam Jacobson was rocking The Barn that magical season.

The magic was needed, as the Gophers had lost four of their last five games, failing to top 55 points in any of them.

In the tough Big Ten, such a run could happen to anyone. However, the fashion in which the Gophers had hit that stretch has been what has had fans calling for Tubby Smith's firing.

But the win over the Hoosiers gives the Gophers new life, and they'll need it heading down the stretch of the Big Ten season.

While the Gophers went a long way in securing their NCAA tournament berth on Tuesday, they'll need similar strong showings against Penn State, Nebraska, and Purdue to assure the third postseason appearance in Smith's tenure.

What the Gophers have going for them is that two of these three games (Penn State March 2 and Purdue March 9) will be played at The Barn.

There have been plenty of soft games on the Gopher home schedule, but they've blazed a 14-2 record at Williams Arena which is impressive no matter who they are playing. Just ask Indiana.

There is also a potential trap game against Nebraska, but the Gophers handled them easily in an 84-65 win on January 29.

A 3-0 record down the stretch would give the Gophers a 10-8 record in the tough Big Ten conference, and momentum heading into the Big Ten tournament.

Three more conference wins should send the Gophers to the Big Dance for the first time since 2010 as well.

In the non-conference portion of the schedule, Minnesota played like they did against Indiana on Tuesday night.

They enforced their style of play, beating the opponent down the court before they can get set up in the dreaded zone defense. They also played solid defense which allowed them to hang tough with ranked teams such as Duke and Memphis.

The Gophers need to carry this momentum throughout the rest of the season if they want to get to the NCAA tournament and give the program it's first official tournament victory since 1990.

The Gophers' emotionally-charged 77-73 upset win over No. 1 Indiana on Tuesday night was a win the program has been seeking for 16 long years.

Minnesota winters are long, but are even longer when the hoops team can't buy a big-time win.

Their first victory over a No. 1-ranked team since 1989 and only fourth in program history carried significantly more weight than an unexpected notch in the standings.

Minnesota has not officially recorded an NCAA Tournament win since 1989 after five tourney wins, including the 1997 Final Four, were vacated in the academic fraud scandal that led to Clem Haskins' demise. 

That scandal wiped out the only Final Four banner in The Barn's rafters and notoriously flung them into 15 seasons of mediocrity, if that.

Tubby Smith was brought to Minneapolis in 2007 with the lofty hopes of stabilizing a tired program badly needing a facelift.  While consistency has come in the form of four 20-win seasons on the heels of a 9-win 2005-06 season, their worst in nearly 50 years, the veteran coach has never won the big game.

Smith has never won a tournament game, never led the Gophers back to the top of the Big Ten and never won the big one, one that prompted the program's first court rush in over a decade.

With rumors lingering across Dinkytown of a possible coaching change, the 61-year-old head coach lifted a Joel Przybilla-sized gorilla off his shoulders with a season-defining triumph.

Smith has seen a small army of players transfer out of the program, with the likes of Devoe Joseph, Justin Cobbs and Paul Carter leaving the 'U' early in their careers.

He has also struggled on the recruiting front, losing local battles to neighboring programs, and with three Top 40 recruits in the class of 2014 (via ESPN.com) hailing from the Twin Cities, Tubby is being pushed to deliver.  A four-point victory over the No. 1 team might not convince Tyus Jones, Rashad Vaughn or Reid Travis to stay home but it's a start.

The Gophers have proven they are committed to their all-around athletics department with TCF Bank Stadium opening in 2009, a new baseball complex under construction and finally a new basketball facility in the works. 

Unfortunately Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague has not had much hoops-related excitement to boast about during donor visits and morale-boosting fundraising events.  The Gophers have not delivered during his short tenure, nor have they for the last 16 seasons.

Andre Hollins' late three never goes down. Trevor Mbakwe isn't suppose to hit both free throws. Elliott Eliason shouldn't be able to back down All-American Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo should hit every dagger from the perimeter.

Dan Monson couldn't lead the Golden Gophers to respectability and Tubby Smith wasn't expected to suddenly change their fortunes in his sixth season.

Minnesota is not suppose to win these program-boosting games.

Six years ago, Tubby Smith came to the University of Minnesota with a parade that would make Aladdin blush.

It was a dream come true for Gopher fans. After several underachieving years under Dan Monson, the men's basketball team was finally going to have a coach who could match wits with Thad Matta, Bo Ryan and the other great coaches in the Big Ten.

The Gophers were no longer going to be spectators in March as NCAA tournament appearances were going to come easier than Big Ten losses during football season.

Top-tier talent would also come to the Gophers and flourish as Smith would prepare them for a lucrative career in the NBA to go with their degree.

And now as we are coming down the stretch in Smith's sixth year as head coach, the Gophers have been to two NCAA tournaments.

That's right. Two.

As the Gophers went to Iowa City and were trounced 72-51 by the Hawkeyes, it's becoming clear that the University of Minnesota needs to part ways at the end of the season.

There have been several moments where the Gophers could have taken that next step to becoming a top program in the Big Ten, but several things have held them back.

The first has been the mass exodus of talent. Whether it's been for circumstances outside of his control or Smith not getting through to a player, the Gophers have seen several solid players including Justin Cobbs and Royce White walk out the door before they realized their potential.

In collegiate sports, a revolving door involving your star players is not a recipe for success.

Of course, it's not like Smith has gotten the most out of the talent that has stayed. The most glaring example of this has been the development of his senior leaders Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams.

Mbakwe and Williams have the talent to carry a team, but disappear when the Gophers need them the most.

A physical presence like Mbakwe has to be able to handle a double-team, but suddenly, he's been known to become possessed like a junior varsity center and winds up committing crucial mistakes that have turned the Gophers from Big Ten title contenders to potential top seeds in the NIT.

The same goes for Williams, who has the freakish athletic ability to get to the rim, but seems tentative, especially when the opposing team switches to a zone defense.

Which brings me to my next point: Smith is no longer getting through to the players.

During Sunday's blowout loss, the Gophers came out and executed their game plan perfectly en route to a 16-point lead.

Then came the zone.

The Gophers reverted to a sixth-grade B team with their inability to break the zone, and it was all Hawkeyes from there.

While the players need to execute better, the fact that they're not is a condemning status on Smith as the team fades out of the hunt for a NCAA tournament berth.

With top recruits and Minnesota natives Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn becoming top priorities for the Gophers in the next year, this kind of regression is not good for landing two players who could help the team get to the top of the Big Ten.

Whether it be Flip Saunders or VCU head coach Shaka Smart, the time for athletic director Norwood Teague to make a move is now.

Despite dropping six of their last eight games, the Gophers' tournament résumé remains as strong as ever under Tubby Smith.

A 15-1 start with wins over Memphis, Stanford, Florida State, Michigan State and Illinois gave the Gophers their first Top-10 ranking since the vacated 1996-97 season. It also solidified their place in NCAA tournament projections, as they were a solid No. 3 seed, if not higher.

Luckily for Minnesota, their early-season charge and immensely difficult conference schedule outweighs that recent swoon of losses.

Top-15 rankings in RPI (13) and non-conference strength of schedule (12) combined with Top-10 slots for overall strength of schedule (3), opponent strength of schedule (7) and non-conference RPI (2) bode well for Tubby Smith.

The Gophers' conference-opening victory over Michigan State is easily their biggest résumé-booster, but also hold Top 50 RPI wins over Memphis and Illinois. The defeat of the Spartans might be enough to outweigh their lone 50-plus RPI loss to Northwestern in January.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN has dropped the Gophers from that No. 3 seed to No. 6 in his February 12 Bracketology. This came following the Northwestern defeat and subsequent losses to Wisconsin, Michigan State and Illinois. That seed could easily be bumped up with season-defining victories in the next two weeks as they welcome both Wisconsin and Indiana to Williams Arena.

Their remaining schedule features those two Top 40 RPI teams in Wisconsin (31) and Indiana (11) but also a crucial trip to Ohio State (23) on February 20.

What does this all mean?

Minnesota must win at least three of its seven remaining games in order to have a shot at a No. 8 seed or better. However, their matchup with the Badgers Thursday is nearly a must-win if they expect a semi-friendly road in March.

A one-and-done come tourney time will not sit well with the "U" administration, making the next four weeks imperative to Tubby's future in Minneapolis.

Coming off a back-and-forth win against Michigan St and a slow start against Northwestern, the Golden Gophers have started the Big Ten season 2-0. The team has shown great poise coupled with outstanding defensive play to prove that they have indeed earned their top 10 ranking in the polls. "Mustache Man" Tubby Smith has put together quite a squad at the University of Minnesota. 

Yes the Gophers are flying high right now and seem ready to roll into the thick of the Big Ten schedule. However, many challenges loom on the near horizon.

The next 10 days will separate the boys from the men as the Gophers face their toughest stretch this season. Minnesota will be on the road to face 12th-ranked Illinois (who is coming off a home win against Ohio State) and fifth-ranked Indiana before they come home to host second-ranked Michigan.

This will not even come remotely close to resembling a cake walk.

If Minnesota can play their game and take the crowd out early down at Assembly Hall against the Illini, this is a matchup they can definitely win. The key to this game will be shutting down Illinois' senior guard Brandon Paul. Expect Austin Hollins to draw the assignment of holding Paul in check while the rest of the team cracks down on the defensive end. 

At the end of the day, I believe this is a game the Gophers should win, just don't expect it to be pretty. 

Three short days later, Tubby Smith and the Golden Gophers will be in Bloomington, IN to take on Cody Zeller and the Hoosiers. While Indiana hasn't competed against a large field of top-tier teams this season, they have still been dominant in most of their outings. The Gophers will be up against what is possibly their toughest challenge offensively all season.

It will be tough sledding for the Gophers down at Indiana, but if they can pull of this upset, it will give them a whole lot of steam moving forward this season.

Back home, five days after their contest against the Hoosiers, Minnesota will host Michigan in what will be another extremely difficult matchup. The Gophers will need to again be rock solid on defense, especially around the perimeter, in order to contain another high-powered offense. The home crowd will be rocking at Williams Arena for this tilt; hopefully it will be enough to put the Gophers over the top.

All in all, this will not be an ice cream social. This will be some of the finest basketball the Big Ten has to offer this year. I'd be extremely happy with a 2-1 record after these three games, but obviously I'll be assuming a 3-0 record as a loyal fan. What expectations do you have for the Minnesota Golden Gophers through this daunting stretch? 

Rankings Courtesy of ESPN.COM

Minnesota earned a quality road win against Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Golden Gophers beat the Seminoles 77-68.

Both teams had four players score in double figures, but it was Minnesota's starters that broke the game open in the first half. Minnesota's starters outscored Florida State's starters 59-35.

Gophers guard Andre Hollins is two games removed from his 41-point performance against Memphis. He continues to be a strong scoring presence outside for Minnesota, scoring 12 points against the Seminoles.

Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith saw his squad excel on offense, making 26 shots and dishing out 17 assists. They also made 20-of-28 free throw attempts.

Florida State, winners of the 2012 ACC championship, struggled on the offensive end, shooting 37.9 percent from the floor.

Amelia Rayno of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune noted Florida State's struggles were making it easy on Minnesota offensively.

 

Mbakwe just scored his first points, and still the #Gophers are up by 19. They're just not being challenged.

— Amelia Rayno (@AmeliaRayno) November 28, 2012

 

She's speaking of Trevor Mbakwe, a sixth-year senior for Minnesota who's struggled to regain his old form after his ACL injury last season. He finished the game with six points and four rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

Those numbers are a far cry from his 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds-per-game averages in 2010-11. 

As for the Seminoles, head coach Leonard Hamilton has work to do. Florida State has now lost two games, both at home. The first loss came at the hands of South Alabama in the opening game of the year.

Florida State will look to rebound against Mercer on Dec. 2 before their in-state showdown with Florida on Dec. 5.

Minnesota will return home for their next two games. They play North Florida on Dec. 1 and San Diego State on Dec. 4. 

All statistics via ESPN.com.