Huge two weeks for Gophers hoops: Postseason play, coaching carousel, transfer portal

Many questions surrounding Minnesota men's basketball will be answered in the next two weeks.

Mar 1, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson looks down the bench during the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

The regular season is over, but the Big Ten Tournament gets underway this week in Indianapolis. The Gophers will look to begin one last run on Wednesday afternoon against Northwestern, at which point things will get interesting.

Depending on Minnesota's success at this week's Big Ten Tournament, we will learn on Selection Sunday, March 16, whether or not they receive an invite to this year's National Invitation Tournament (NIT) or the new College Basketball Crown event.

Related: Big Ten men's basketball tournament predictions from Gophers On SI

Then, throughout the week, Mark Coyle and the Gophers administration will have to decide if they want to make a head coaching change. We've already seen Power Four programs such as NC State, Utah, Miami (FL), Florida State, and Indiana all decide to go in a different direction. Given the new transfer portal era, it's almost a certainty that a final decision on who will coach Minnesota in 2025-26 will happen in the next two weeks.

Lastly, whether or not Minnesota opts to make a coaching change, they will have a drastically different roster next season. They're guaranteed to have at least seven scholarships available when the transfer portal will officially open on March 24.

Latest Ben Johnson rumblings

There has been zero indication that Minnesota has made a decision on who will coach its men's basketball program next season, but Johnson's current deal keeps him tied to the Gophers until 2027. If the administration opts to make a change, there would need to be a $2.92 million payment to buy out his contract.

CBB Crown/NIT chances

Despite the Gophers ending the regular season with a 1-4 record in their final five games, there's still a chance to receive an invite to this year's NIT or the new-look College Basketball Crown. X user @TheRealCSD proposed a potential bracketology prediction for both tournaments on Monday, and he placed the Gophers as the 12th overall team in the 16-team CBB Crown.

The biggest question in Minnesota's postseason tournament equation will be whether or not Big Ten, Big East, and/or Big 12 teams will be invited or accept an invite to the new CBB Crown. Neither the tournaments nor the conferences have announced their intentions, so it still seems up in the air. FOX sponsors the new event, and they will need to fill out the field with some teams, and they'll likely choose programs that play on their network. The Gophers' seven Quad 1 wins give them an interesting resume to make the field for either event.

Transfer portal

Minnesota is guaranteed to lose eight scholarship seniors this off-season. Dawson Garica, Parker Fox, Lu'Cye Patterson, Femi Odukale, Mike Mitchell Jr., Caleb Williams, Brennan Rigsby and Trey Edmonds are all out of eligibility. One question they do have is the eligibility of former Toledo transfer guard Tyler Cochran.

Cochran averaged 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 2023-24 with the Rockets, but he missed the entire 2024-25 season due to foot surgery. He will likely be granted another year of eligibility due to a medical redshirt, but the question now becomes whether or not that will come with Minnesota. I would lean towards him pursuing opportunities elsewhere, but in modern college sports, things can change very quickly.

That would leave at least eight open scholarships for whoever is coaching Minnesota next season. If the Gophers opt to retain Johnson, they could have an improved Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) budget to build their roster with, but then you have to look at who is available. Players like Garcia don't grow on trees, and they will have a lot of holes to fill.

A surprise run in the Big Ten Tournament or invitation to the NIT or CBB Crown could change a lot of decisions very quickly, and then the roster outlook for 2025-26 could change right with it. There will be a lot of dominos that fall very quickly, and that's the madness of March.

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