Has Gophers women's basketball's NCAA Tournament bubble popped?

Minnesota chances of going dancing this March look slimmer than ever.

Jan 3, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit looks on during the first half against the Maryland Terrapins at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

After Gophers women's basketball lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament last week, they were among the 'First Four Out' of the projected NCAA Tournament field, according to ESPN's bracketology. Following another week of conference tournament play, their chances of going dancing continue to drop.

ESPN's Charlie Creme bumped three mid-major programs above Minnesota in his projections. Saint Joe's lost in the Atlantic 10 championship game, James Madison lost in the Sun Belt championship and UNLV lost in the Mountain West final. His latest projection suggests all three programs have a better resume than Minnesota.

March 13 version of ESPN's Bracketology | Picture via: ESPN.com

Despite playing in far less competitive conferences, there might be some credence in Creme's sentiment. Saint Joe's earned two Quad 1 victories, UNLV (48) trails Minnesota (39) by only nine spots in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, and James Madison (54) is only six spots behind that.

It has been well established that Minnesota's 20-win resume is flimsy. With a 0-8 record against Quad 1 opponents and only two wins against projected at-large teams, they don't have much to lean on. After an impressive 17-2 star to the season, it's clear that their weak non-conference schedule did not do them any favors in building a strong resume.

The Gophers went 3-9 in the final 12 games, so you're not going to find many people advocating that they deserve an at-large invitation into the NCAA Tournament. It's looking more like it could be another WNIT appearence, as they are still looking for their first appearence in the big dance since 2018-19.

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