The Minnesota Golden Gophers have high expectations for the upcoming basketball season, and the national pundits seem to agree.
Head coach Richard Pitino’s team is ranked 15th in both the Associated Press and Coaches Poll, the first time they’ve cracked a preseason poll since 2009, when they were 25th. The last time the Gophers were higher in a preseason poll was 1993, when they started at 10th in the nation.
The only Big Ten team ranked above the Gophers is the Michigan State Spartans (No. 2).
Minnesota lost just one contributor from last year’s team in senior Akeem Springs, but sophomore forward Eric Curry tore his ACL during the offseason, making the Gophers thin in the post. That being said, they return over 60 points per game in scoring and have added talented guards in Isaiah Washington and Jamir Harris.
The Gophers’ first regular-season game is Nov. 10 against USC Upstate.