Considering that I have never seen any members of the Gophers’ heralded recruiting class play more than a half of basketball, and that what I did see was either on youtube or during an allstar game, I really have no idea of what to expect this year. Will the Gophers be this years “Baby Boilers” and be better than everyone thought (if this is the case, I hearby claim “juvenile Geomyidae.” Thank you wikipedia.) or will the Gophers play like almost the team has never played major college basketbball?  I think it will be somewhere in between, with meaningful wins the likes of which we haven’t seen in years, and a few head scratching losses that can only be explained by youth.

As for the schedule and the predictions:

Exhibitions: both wins

Concordia-St. Paul: Win

Bowling Green: Win

Georgia State: Win

Colorado State: Win but barely

Eastern Washington: WIn

North Dakota State: Win

Virginia: Win

Cornell: Loss (with a schedule like this they will be ready)

South Dakota State: Win

Louisville: Loss, but much closer than you think

Southeastern Louisiana: Win

High Point: Win

Michigan State: Win

Ohio State: Loss

At Iowa: Win

Penn State: Win

At Wisconsin:Loss

At Northwestern: Loss

Purdue: Loss

At Indiana: Win (Sorry Verdell!)

Illinois: Win (Streak ends, much rejoicing)

At Michigan State: Loss

Indiana: Win

At Penn State: Win

At Michigan: Win

Northwestern: Win

At Illinois: Loss

Wisconsin: Win

Michigan: Win

21-9 overall, 11-7 in the conference, and right on the bubble, but if the bubble pops, don’t blame the non-conference schedule, blame Northwestern.