Fresh off victories in The Bahamas over Memphis and Stanford, the Gophers on Monday entered the AP top 25 for the first time since Jan. 31, 2011, at No. 21. Minnesota just missed entering the coaches' poll as well, getting 48 votes -- the most of any team not in the top 25.
The Gophers have a chance to maintain or improve that spot Tuesday, when they travel to Florida State for a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game. Florida State is not ranked but did receive 10 votes in this week's AP poll.
Minnesota is one of six Big Ten teams in the AP top 25: Indiana (1), Michigan (3), Ohio State (4), Michigan State (13) and Illinois (22) are the others.
Memphis, which was ranked No. 19, dropped out of the top 25.
Also of note: Andre Hollins, who had a career-high 41 points in the victory over Memphis and made the winning free throws in the victory over Stanford, was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday. Hollins is the first Gophers player to win the award in more than two years, when Trevor Mbakwe accomplished the feat on Nov. 22, 2010.
