Minnesota Golden Gophers Articles
College Basketball Preview 14-15: Big Ten
Wisconsin was dominant on a per-possession basis last year, they went to the Final Four, and they bring nearly everyone back, which will make challenging for the Big Ten very difficult for everyone else. Read more »
Final Thoughts On Ranking 351 D1 Teams
Over the past few days, Dan Hanner has presented his updated projection model, his season projections on ESPN Insider, Q&A's with Eamonn Brennon and John Templon, along with replying to questions on Twitter. Here are a few additional thoughts that didn't make the cut. Read more »
Big Ten Basketball Early Projection
A way too early projection of the Big Ten standings in 2013-2014. Read more »
Losing Streaks And Injury Splits, Part 1
On why not all losing streaks are alike and how injuries/suspensions skew our evaluation of certain teams. Read more »
A Super Saturday
On LeBryan Nash, Davante Gardner, Elston Turner, Rontei Clarke, Wisconsin/Illinois, and every minute of two games between real Final Four contenders (Minnesota/Indiana and Duke/NC State). Read more »
Conference Play Is Here
On what is left for human game-observers as advanced metrics become more sophisticated and breaking down Minnesota against Illinois. Read more »
Early Season Tournaments: Brackets, Observations, And Odds: Part 2
The Legends Classic might be the most highly anticipated early season tournament because of the potential finals matchup between Indiana and UCLA. We also look at the CBE Classic, Maui Invitational, Cancun Challenge, Great Alaska Shootout, Battle 4 Atlantis and the Old Spice Classic. Read more »
The Many Facets & Unpredictability Of March Madness
While personnel determine scheme in the NBA, college basketball coaches recruit players that fit their schemes. Read more »
Recruiting And Player Development, 2012 Edition
The best way to examine the value of specific college coaches is to examine how well they recruit and subsequently develop their talent. Let's examine the top 49 coaches from the Power 6 conferences. Read more »
Big Ten Bracketology
Selection Sunday is about a month away, which makes it an opportune time to examine which Big Ten teams will be dancing and which ones could dance into the Elite Eight or even the Final Four. Read more »
YACB Column, Jan. 30th (On The Weaknesses Of The Top-25 & More)
Many have called this a down year for college basketball and though that argument can be made about elite teams, there are still plenty of reasons why it's a fallacy. Read more »
Five Surprises From The Second Weekend In January
The theme heading into this weekend was that there were not many must-see games. But with college basketball, the sheer volume of games ensures there will always be a few surprises. Read more »
BCS Basketball Power Poll January 2012
Separating the BCS schools into tiers named after John Wooden, Dean Smith, Gene Keady, Rollie Massimino, John Chaney, Kelvin Sampson, Tim Welsh, Pat Knight and Sidney Lowe, how does everyone stand? Read more »
Ryan Boatright, Trevor Mbakwe, Bruce Ellington, Tyshawn Taylor & The Season's First Splits
Ryan Boatright's arrival has completely turned around Connecticut's early season performance. Here's why it is sometimes isn't too soon to look at small sample sizes. Read more »
A Major Conference Without One-And-Done Talent
If you throw Ohio State out of the equation, the Big Ten's one-and-done talent over the past five years is limited to Eric Gordon. Why has a major conference not experienced such a prominent trend and why may it be changing soon? Read more »
Feast Week Is Over
Notes on the Thanksgiving week games, plus in-depth analysis of the Old Spice Classic. Read more »
The Anti-Recruiting Tool
There are many ways to build a winning program. John Calipari’s focus on younger players may be the best way to get elite recruits, but it isn’t the only way to build a winning program. Read more »
Printable Brackets And Early Season Tournament Odds
Don't wait until March to start printing out college basketball brackets. With the Preseason NIT, Maui Invitational, Puerto Rico Tipoff and other excellent tournaments, you can start the madness in November. Read more »
Returning Freshmen, Big Ten And C-USA Notes
The Big Ten sent seven teams to the Big Dance, while a familiar face at UAB continues to excel in Conference-USA. What will these two conferences look like in 11-12? Read more »
A Formula For Finding Dark-Horse Teams
We can identify West Virginia, Iowa, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Auburn has promising dark-horse candidates if we look at a formula for how to spot them in past seasons. Read more »