In case you were wondering just how far the Gophers have to fall in order to miss the NCAA tourney completely, here is where they would land if the tourney started today according to four different "experts," as pulled together by BTN's Tom Dienhart (Note: Alert reader Evan noted that Dienhart -- and us, by extension -- were using Lunardi's old bracket. Minnesota is down to a No. 8 now in his
- No. 6 Minnesota (Midwest) vs. No. 11 Cal
- No. 8 Minnesota (East) vs. No. 9 Colorado
- No. 5 Minnesota
- No. 5 Minnesota (East) vs. No. 12 Iowa State
So there it is. A pair of 5s, a No. 6 and a No. 8. In other words, this collapse would have to be epic. And even holding their current course, the majority of predictors would give your Gophers a decent shot at reaching the Sweet 16, at least in terms of possible matchups. As we've mentioned a couple of times, Minnesota -- despite losing seven of its past 10 -- is being propped up by a fantastic non-conference SOS/RPI and the Big Ten's overall strength.
