What is Minnesota's preseason KenPom rating before Niko Medved's first season?

The Gophers have a lot of ground to make up in the preseason rankings, ratings and polls.

Oct 9, 2025; Rosemont, IL, USA; Minnesota head coach Niko Medved speaks during Big Ten Men’s Basketball Media Days at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Talia Sprague-Imagn Images | Talia Sprague-Imagn Images

Any true college basketball fan knows that Ken Pomeroy's analytical ratings on KenPom.com have become gospel for the sport. Minnesota finds itself at No. 73 on the preseason list before Niko Medved's first season at the helm.

Preseason 2025-26 KenPom.com ratings | Picture via: KenPom.com

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What does it mean?

Minnesota was voted 16th out of 18 in the preseason Big Ten media poll. It's in the same spot on KenPom's ratings. Rutgers (85) and Penn State (95) are the only two Big Ten programs rated lower. There are 14 power conference programs rated lower than the Gophers.

The Gophers began last year's roller coaster season at No. 59 and fell as No. 121 before finishing the year at No. 89. No. 73 seems like a fair spot for Minnesota to land this season with 13 new players. Medved will have every opportunity to outperform those expectations.

Pomeroy expects Minnesota to be a balanced team with 70th-best adjusted offensive efficiency preseason ratings and the No. 88 defense. He expects an incredibly slow tempo at No. 303 out of 365 nationally.

Nonconference schedule context

KenPom's ratings do a great job of adding context to early preseason games. Minnesota's questionable nonconference slate includes No. 28 Missouri, No. 84 San Francisco, No. 89 Stanford and potential No. 65 St. Louis or No. 105 Santa Clara. The Gophers will face up to only four teams rated higher than them before the new year, when you include early Big Ten games against Purdue and Indiana.

Seven of the Gophers' 11 nonconference games will come against teams that are rated outside the top 200 in the preseason ratings. Their first exhibition game will take place next Thursday night against North Dakota State, which is at No. 220. They will have one more against North Dakota on Saturday, Oct. 25, which is rated at No. 269.

Other notes

It's hard to argue that Minnesota deserves to be ranked much higher than No. 73, but we probably won't know its true ceiling as a team this season until 2026. Medved has already brought a new energy to the Gophers men's basketball program with the Maroon & Gold scrimmage before the football team's Homecoming game on Saturday afternoon.

We are just over three weeks away from the Gophers' first regular-season game against Gardner-Webb, which ranks at No. 204 on KenPom's preseason ratings.