Busting Brackets
Fansided

Bracketology Winners: Florida, Iowa State, and Seton Hall wins Champ Week

By Tristan Freeman

AMES, IA - JANUARY 30: Cameron Lard #2 of the Iowa State Cyclones cheers his team on from the bench in the second half of play against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Hilton Coliseum on January 30, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 93-68 over the West Virginia Mountaineers.(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - JANUARY 30: Cameron Lard #2 of the Iowa State Cyclones cheers his team on from the bench in the second half of play against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Hilton Coliseum on January 30, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 93-68 over the West Virginia Mountaineers.(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 20: Dupree McBrayer #1 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers looks down the court in the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 20: Dupree McBrayer #1 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers looks down the court in the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Minnesota Golden Gophers

There were three Big Ten teams who were squarely on the bubble heading into the conference tournament; Ohio State and Indiana, who faced off in he second round, and Minnesota.

Admittedly, the Gophers were in the best shape of the trio but were still nowhere in a safe spot.
They nearly fell in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to Penn State, dealing with deficits throughout the game. But the team held firm and outlasted the Nittany Lions in overtime for the 77-72 victory. Still needing a massive signature win, Coach Pitino’s team took on Purdue, who a couple of weeks ago they were able to beat. Minnesota desperately needed to beat them again or risk falling to the NIT.

But after a back-and-forth affair, the Gophers pulled off a second upset against the Boilermakers with a two-point victory. Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey combined for 48 points in the win and gave the team the signature win they needed. It also helped that fellow Big Ten bubble teams Ohio State and Indiana didn’t do anything to help themselves this week also. So at the very least, Minnesota is clearly ahead of them when it comes to a potential selection.

According to our latest projections, Minnesota is now a nine seed and away from the bubble overall. They may end up with a worse seed but will still more than likely go dancing. And compared to the disaster the season prior was, that’s a great feeling for the fan base.

Home/Bracketology