Three weeks ago, the Gophers were rising in the women's basketball rankings and getting rave reviews. They were 16-2, ranked No. 21, ESPNW's Team of the Week and in second place in the Big Ten standings. The NCAA tournament seemed like an obvious, albeit surprising, destination.
Sunday, struggling Minnesota finds itself on the tournament bubble, having lost four of its past five and dropped out of the rankings and into sixth place in the Big Ten at 6-5. Five Big Ten teams and Maryland (an ACC member last season) made the tournament last season. ESPN's latest projections have the Gophers as an eighth seed in the tournament.
Lowly Michigan State, 3-9 in conference, comes to Williams Arena and could be just what the Gophers need. But a loss Sunday would put the Gophers at .500 in the conference and could drop them to ninth in the standings.
The Spartans are the first of three consecutive Gophers opponents in the lower half of the Big Ten standings. Three of their final four regular-season games are against teams in the Big Ten's top four.
Staff reports