Top-10 in NET, Still a No. 6 Seed: Why Are the Gophers So Undervalued?

Minnesota is ranked ninth in the NET — higher than most projected 3, 4 and 5 seeds — so why does ESPN still have the Gophers on the 6 line?

Amaya Battle | Photo by Claudia Staut, University of Minnesota

Last week, we wrote about the Gophers women's basketball being one of the most disrespected teams in the country. Since then, they've been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time this season, while the top women's bracketologist has boosted their projected NCAA Tournament seed by one spot.

That's what we call making progress, although we'd have quite the ego to think we had anything to do with the improved respect. In reality, national pundits and voters can only ignore progress for so long. Minnesota has won eight straight games, improving to 20-6 overall and 11-4 in the Big Ten.

In Tuesday's new bracket projection from ESPN's Charlie Creme, the Gophers are a No. 6 seed in the Sacramento Region, where Creme has them lined up to face No. 11 seed Rice in Fort Worth, Texas.

What's interesting is that Minnesota is ranked ninth in the NET rankings, which are the No. 1 tool for seeding teams for the tournament. The top eight teams in the NET are all of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, while every team ranked 10-20 in the NET is currently seeded 3, 4, or 5 in Creme's bracket.

The other six seeds — NC State, Alabama, and Baylor — are 24th, 26th, and 28th in the NET, respectively. So why is Minnesota getting such a low seed compared to the others ranked as high as they are in the NET?

1. UConn (1)
2. UCLA (1)
3. South Carolina (1)
4. Texas (1)
5. LSU (2)
6. Michigan (2)
7. Vanderbilt (2)
8. Louisville (2)
9. Minnesota (6)
10. Duke (3)
11. TCU (3)
12. Iowa (3)
13. Oklahoma (4)
14. Maryland (3)
15. Michigan State (4)
16. Kentucky (4)
17. Ohio State (4)
18. North Carolina (5)
19. Ole Miss (5)
20. Tennessee (5)
21. USC (8)
22. West Virginia (5)
23. Oregon (8)
24. NC State (6)
25. Notre Dame (7)

Minnesota's 3-5 record in Quad 1 games is tied with Ole Miss for the second-worst record among top-20 NET teams in Quad 1. Only North Carolina (1-5) has a worse record, but the Tar Heels are a 5 seed in Creme's bracket, which is likely a credit to their 7-1 record in Quad 2 games.

Minnesota is 2-1 in Quad 2, while 15 of their 20 wins qualify as Quad 3 and Quad 4 games.

That said, Minnesota had Maryland beaten before one of the craziest double-collapses you'll ever see, and they beat Iowa on the road. Maryland and Iowa are currently No. 3 seeds in Creme's bracket, so Minnesota packs enough punch to beat high-end teams.

Minnesota also lost 63-58 to Alabama early in the season. That hurts a bit, but the context lacking is that the Gophers played without Tori McKinney. Minnesota is 19-3 when McKinney plays, and 1-3 without her. And two of those three losses with her in the lineup were a close one against Michigan (currently a 2 seed in Creme's bracket) and Maryland, which, again, was a game in which Minnesota blew a 99.9% win probability with two overtime collapses.

Had Minnesota beaten Alabama and Maryland, they would be sporting a 22-4 record and a 12-3 mark in the Big Ten. That screams 3 seed. Alas, they are where they are, and the only thing they can do to improve their national standing is come up big Wednesday night against 10th-ranked Ohio State, and then win against No. 18 Michigan State on Sunday.

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