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Gophers will face 4 or 5 teams ranked in preseason AP Top 25

It'll be four unless Minnesota winds up playing Florida in the late-November invitational in Orlando.
Joe Nelson|
Feb 15, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (2) attempts a shot over Purdue Boilermakers forward Mason Gillis (0) during the first half at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images
Feb 15, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (2) attempts a shot over Purdue Boilermakers forward Mason Gillis (0) during the first half at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Gophers have one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the country and because of that they only have four games against teams included in the preseason AP Top 25 poll that was revealed Monday morning. Here's the top 25:

1. Kansas
2. Alabama
3. UConn
4. Houston
5. Iowa State
6. Gonzaga
7. Duke
8. Baylor
9. UNC
10. Arizona
11. Auburn
12. Tennessee
13. Texas A&M
14. Purdue
15. Creighton
16. Arkansas
17. Indiana
18. Marquette
19. Texas
20. Cincinnati
21. Florida
22. UCLA
23. Kentucky
24. Ole Miss
25. Rutgers

It could be five games against teams in the preseason top 25 if Minnesota ends up playing Florida (No. 21) in the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Florida on Nov. 28-29. The Gophers open the invitational against Wichita State and then will play Florida or Wake Forest the second day.

Minnesota's first game against a ranked opponent (per the preseason poll) will be their 11th game of the season on Dec. 9 at No. 17 Indiana. After that, they face No. 14 Purdue on Jan. 2, No. 22 UCLA on Feb. 18, and No. 25 Rutgers on March 9.

The lack of games against preseason powers doesn't mean Minnesota will have an easy go of things. The Big Ten is deep and includes a bunch of teams that just missed out on the top 25, including Illinois (26), Michigan State (32), Ohio State (33), Michigan (34) and Oregon (36).

The Gophers open the season Nov. 6 at home against Oral Roberts.

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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Joe Nelson has more than 20 years of experience in Minnesota sports journalism. Nelson began his career in sports radio, working at smaller stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before moving to the highly-rated KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. While there, he produced the popular mid-morning show hosted by Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen. His time in radio laid the groundwork for his transition to sports writing in 2011. He covers the Vikings, Timberwolves, Gophers and Twins for On SI.

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