Gophers get some respect in KenPom rankings after media poll snub

The Gophers are a top-60 team in the country ahead of the season, per the KenPom rankings.

Michigan State forward Xavier Booker (34), forward Jaxon Kohler (0), Minnesota forward Parker Fox (23) and forward Dawson Garcia (3) battle for the rebound during the second half of Second Round of Big Ten tournament at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. on Thursday, March 14, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Gophers men's college basketball season opener against Oral Roberts is just over three weeks away and Minnesota now has a good understanding of what the outside world thinks of them.

They already know that 33 members of Big Ten media voted them to finish dead last in the 18-team conference, but their outlook is quite a bit stronger in the KenPom preseason rankings that were unveiled Sunday night. In those rankings, Minnesota is No. 59 overall.

It's not a great outlook overall, but it's better than the dead last position Big Ten media has them in. In fact, KenPom has three teams from the Big Ten ranked lower than Minnesota: Penn State (61), Rutgers (63) and Washington (75).

There are 14 Big Ten teams ranked ahead of the Gophers: Purdue (10), Illinois (23), UCLA (26), Oregon (29), Ohio State (31), Iowa (33), Michigan State (35), Michigan (36), Maryland (37), Indiana (39), Wisconsin (46), Northwestern (50), Nebraska (56) and USC (57).

"I'll be honest, I have no idea how you can project even who's going to be one," Gophers head coach Ben Johnson said when asked about the Big Ten media rankings. "I don't know if it's they don't know the guys that we took? It was the same thing last year and I think, two, two-and-a-half weeks left we were in the thick of the Big Ten and almost finished .500."

The Gophers did surpass expectations last season and they'll have to do it again this season. One thing they have going in their favor they have more experience on the roster than any other Power Four team in the country.