Gophers fall behind every Big Ten team and St. Thomas in latest NET rankings

Minnesota is the second-highest-ranked Division I program in the state.

Dec 1, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Bethune-Cookman Wildcats head coach Reggie Theus and Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson shake hands after the game at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Gophers men's basketball has had a bumpy start to the 2024-25 regular season, but it might've hit a new low. The latest NET rankings have Minnesota at No. 163, which is lower than every other Big Ten team.

More notably, however, is that it's lower than the only other Division I program in the state: St. Thomas, as the Tommies check in at No. 113.

NOTE: Latest NCAA men's basketball NET rankings for Divison I teams in the state of Minnesota:

St. Thomas: 113
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.#Gophers: 163 pic.twitter.com/FLgjqFHcfs

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) December 9, 2024

In the preseason, Minnesota was voted by Big Ten media to finish last in the conference, so their place near the bottom of the Big Ten shouldn't come as much of a surprise. But, falling behind St. Thomas is another story.

The Tommies made the jump from Division III to Division I before the 2021-22 season, which happened to be the same season that Ben Johnson was hired by the Gophers. After a 10-20 record in their first season, longtime head coach Johnny Tauer has improved the team's record to 19-14 in 2022-23 and 20-13 in 2023-24.

This season, St. Thomas has a 7-4 record with notable wins over Montana and Wisconsin-Green Bay. It's the second-to-last season in which the Tommies are not eligible for the NCAA Tournament, as they complete their transition to Division I, which demands a five-year waiting period to compete in March Madness.

Minnesota has yet to schedule a non-conference game with the only other Division I program in the state and there seems to be no plans to do so in the near future. A record-breaking $75 million donation to UST's athletic department in 2023 is evidence that St. Thomas has the deep pockets to play at the big boy table in modern college athletics.

Conference affiliation gives the Gophers a major upper hand in overall program outlook, but we've seen Midwest, basketball-centric private schools like Marquette, Creighton and Butler quickly make the jump from a mid-major conference to the Big East.

St. Thomas has been ineligible for the NCAA Tournament since jumping to Division I, but the Gophers have the same number of appearances in the 'Big Dance' since Johnson was hired. It's not a pretty story, though the season remains young and much more is yet to be told.