Gophers Surge in Latest Bracketology, Snubbed by AP Top 25

Minnesota is one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten.

Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit cheers on her team during the second half of the NCAA women's basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus on Feb. 13, 2025. Ohio State won 87-84 in overtime. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gophers women's basketball has rattled off four straight wins by an average of 23.5 points per game, but they're still unranked in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Their NCAA Tournament resume contues to improve, but they still need to prove themselves as one of the 25 best teams in the country.

Now an 8-seed on latest ESPN Bracketology

ESPN's Charlie Creme released a new projected NCAA Tournament field on Jan. 30, and Minnesota saw its outlook improve from a nine-seed to an eight-seed. They're one of 12 Big Ten teams projected to make the field, and they seem firmly in with seven regular-season games remaining.

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NET ranking continues to climb

The biggest reason for the Gophers' encouraging NCAA Tournament outlook is their place in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings. Despite having just two Quad 1 wins, they're ranked 10th in the country. Three straight wins by 20 or more points and 13 on the season are a big reason why. The NET strongly factors winning margin, and the Gophers continue to blow teams out.

Big Ten tournament outlook

We're just over one month away from this year's Big Ten tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The women's field is sticking with a 15-team format, and the Gophers would currently be the seventh seed and get a bye into the second round.

They're 16-6 overall and 7-4 in conference play, which puts them in a tie with Washington. Their schedule gets a little trickier to end the regular season with games against third-place Iowa and 13th-place Nebraska sandwiched around a road game against 17th-place Rutgers. With seven regular-season games left, a bye into Thursday's second round seems like the most likely spot Minnesota ends up.

Big Ten women's basketball tournament projections as Feb. 2. | Picture via: bball.notnothing.net

Still receiving votes in AP Top 25 poll

The Gophers received six votes in last week's AP Top 25 poll, which ranked them 29th in the country. Despite two wins by an average of 31 points per game, they're still unranked. They received nine votes in this week's poll, which ranks them 30th in the country. Being competitive on Thursday night against No. 10 Iowa on the road and taking care of business against a bad Rutgers team would go a long way in getting ranked in next week's poll.