Gophers open as slight underdogs for nonconference showdown at Missouri

Minnesota is a betting underdog for the first time this season on Wednesday night.

Mar 20, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Dennis Gates in the first half of a first round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Drake Bulldogs at Intrust Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images | Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

The Gophers face a huge step up in competition on Wednesday night when they travel to Columbia, Missouri, for a marquee nonconference showdown against the Tigers. Latest betting odds from DraftKings Sportsbook view Minnesota as a 6.5-point underdog.

The Gophers open as (+6.5) point betting underdogs for their marquee nonconference matchup at Missouri on Wednesday night.

The Tigers are 3-0 this season with wins over Howard, SEMO and VMI.

Let's hear some early predictions. 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/LfpdLfGW4d

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) November 12, 2025

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Wednesday night's game will be the Gophers' lone nonconference true road game. It's also their only nonconference game against a team that currently ranks inside the top 65 of KenPom.com's latest ratings. They have an intriguing neutral site game against San Francisco and a Holiday tournament with Stanford, St. Louis and Santa Clara, but the matchup with the Tigers the the biggest nonconference game on their schedule by a wide margin.

Missouri was voted to finish seventh in the preseason SEC media poll. Fourth-year head coach Dennis Gates has led the program to two NCAA Tournament appearances, two 20-win seasons, but also an 8-24 season in 2023-24. This year's team is projected to get back to the big dance.

The Tigers have been busy with three wins already under their belt. A unique road win at Howard University was followed by a pair of home wins over Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) and Virginia Military Institute (VMI). The SEMO game was a hard-fought five-point win over a pesky Redhawk team.

Led by fourth-year forward Mark Mitchell, Missouri is a deep offensive team. They rank 19th in terms of offensive efficiency on KenPom.com and 83rd in defensive efficiency. Mitchell was preseason second-team All-SEC, and he has played like it so far with 20.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

Prediction

It's hard to tell how good Minnesota is at this point in the season. They have blowout wins over Gardner-Webb and Alcorn State, but playing on the road against an SEC program is an entirely different ball game. The Tigers have players in their rotation listed at 6-foot-8 or taller, which tests a smaller Gophers' frontcourt.

The Gophers will have to control the three-point line if they want to pull off the upset. Missouri shoots 41.8% from long range as a team, and Minnesota has shot 32.4% through two games. Niko Medved has already shown enough that make me expect his team to be ready for this test, but it might just be too much too soon for a rebuilding program.

Score: Missouri 84, Minnesota 75

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