The Gophers men's basketball team's five-game winning streak puts it in the best position in years to finish with an above .500 record in the Big Ten.
That hasn't happened since the 2004-05 season when Minnesota went 10-6.
It's not likely the Gophers go undefeated the rest of the regular season, especially with road games left Wednesday at Maryland and March 5 at Wisconsin. But finishing 11-7 or 10-8 in the conference is realistic, which would mean a shot a top-four seed and double-bye in the Big Ten tournament in Washington D.C.
A fifth seed was the highest the Gophers ever had in the Big Ten tournament in 2005.
The first step toward that goal would be to pull off an upset Wednesday in College Park, M.D. That isn't so far-fetched.
The Gophers lost 85-78 against Maryland on Jan. 28 at Williams Arena, but they did so after squandering a 12-point lead. The Terrapins are in the Big Ten title hunt with Wisconsin and Purdue, but they've proven to be vulnerable at home before. Nebraska beat Maryland 67-65 on Jan. 1 at the XFINITY Center.
If Richard Pitino's team sees its winning streak end Wednesday, it will need to finish the home schedule with wins against Penn State and Nebraska to stay on track for the highest seed possible.
The Nittany Lions will be looking to sweep the Gophers for the second straight season. The Cornhuskers have won four of the last five meetings with Minnesota. These are arguably the two most winnable games of the conference season for Pitino. But they're certainly not a given, considering the history and how unpredictable the Big Ten has been this season.