Analytics indicate Minnesota is playing at a top-25 level in December

The Gophers have seemingly turned a corner, winning three of their last four games.

Dec 21, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) celebrates his three-point basket against the Campbell Fighting Camels during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

After starting the season 4-4, the Gophers have quietly won three of the last four games, and they're playing at a top-25 level. With a pair of home games against Texas Southern and Campbell that might be hard to believe, but popular analytics site barttorvik.com backs up the claim.

For those who don't know, Barttorvik is quite similar to KenPom.com. Both have their own analytical models, which rate every single Division I team in the country, and they're both recognized by the NCAA for tournament selection evaluation. The Gophers have seen their KenPom rating climb back into the top 100 for the first time since November, and their Barttorvik rating is even better.

Gophers MBB is back in the top 100 of KenPom's ratings, following Sunday's blowout win over Campbell

▫️Preseason: 73
▫️Nov. 10: 64
▫️Nov. 17: 86
▫️Nov. 24: 103
▫️Dec. 1: 114
▫️Dec. 8: 112
▫️Dec. 15: 108
▫️Dec. 22: 99

One more non-con game vs. No. 358 Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec.… pic.twitter.com/AJHevBtiVT

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) December 22, 2025

For the season, the Gophers are at No. 87 on Barttovik. If you narrow that down to since December 1, they are No. 26 in the country. That rating is based on Minnesota's t-rank, which is their percentage chance of beating an average Division I team, according to Barttovik. That number is at 74.7% for the season, and it has jumped to 91.5% in December.

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After winning their Big Ten opener against Indiana, the Gophers were blown out by 28 points at Purdue. They responded with a 36-point win over Texas Southern at home and a 28-point win over Campbell.

Winning margin matters

A pessimistic person might read this article and say, "Well, they beat Campbell and Texas Southern." While that is true, winning margin matters. After debuting at No. 142 in the initial NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, Minnesota has climbed all the way to No. 106 as of Monday afternoon.

The Gophers are 1-5 in Quad 1, 2 and 3 games, but they have four wins of 25 or more points in Quad 4. Minnesota had only four wins by 25 or more points in the four seasons under former head coach Ben Johnson combined.

Trending in the right direction

The Gophers have one more nonconference game on Dec. 29 against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Barn, which will fall into the Quad 4 category. A path to a postseason tournament this March still looks a little bumpy. But things could've gone very south after losing three straight neutral site games in November, followed by starting point guard Chansey Willis Jr. being ruled out for the season, and they haven't.

Minnesota will have plenty of opportunities to prove itself in Big Ten play this season, but Niko Medved has proved that he can do more with less, as his team continues to get healthier.