Model favors Gophers to win just one of final 15 games

It could be a long winter in Dinkytown.

Nov 19, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson looks on after the game against the Cleveland State Vikings at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Gophers' 21-point loss to Wisconsin on Friday night was their largest of the season. Popular college basketball analytics site barttorvik.com thinks it could be a while before we see Minnesota get back in the win column.

Much like KenPom.com, Barttorvik.com has its own model that analytically predicts the outcome of college basketball games. Minnesota is the 123rd-ranked team in the country according to his ratings and he favors them in only one of their remaining 15 games.

NOTE: @totally_t_bomb lists the #Gophers as underdogs for 14 of their final 15 regular season games.

Feb. 1 against Washington is the only game his model favors Minnesota to win in Big Ten play. They have a 63% chance of winning that game according to https://t.co/rfModFr5SR pic.twitter.com/4KHm8w0Sek

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) January 11, 2025

Before the season, Minnesota was voted to finish last in the Big Ten, and through five games that seems like the correct prediction. At 0-5, the Gophers seem to be the consensus worst team in the conference. According to the site, the only game they're favored to win is on Feb. 1 at the Barn against first-year head coach Danny Sprinkle and Washington.

Minnesota is given a 37% chance in a back-to-back home games against Penn State and Northwestern, but there is no other game that they're given more than a 26% chance of picking up a victory.

The Gophers haven't won fewer than two Big Ten games since the 1932-33 season when they only played 12 conference games in a season. Most recently head coach Ben Johnson won two conference games in the 2022-23 season and former head coach Richard Pitino won two conference games in the 2015-16 season.

Washington is fresh off an 88-54 loss to Michigan State, but they've knocked off Maryland and lost by only four points to Illinois. The Gophers' late-game debacle agaisnt Ohio State earlier this week looks that much more frustrating, as they will have to play their best basketball if they want any hopes of picking up a Big Ten win this season.

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