Big Ten Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2019-20 season

By Adam Childs | Sep 5, 2019

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 17: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany presents head coach Tom Izzo the championship trophy after the Michigan State Spartans beat the Michigan Wolverines 65-60 in the championship game of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

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DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Jordan Murphy #3 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers controls the ball against Louisville Cardinals during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

9. Minnesota

The Golden Gophers had a strange year last year. They finished 22-14 and made the second round of the tournament beating Louisville. They beat Purdue (for the second time on the year) in the Big Ten tournament only to get beat the next day by 27 to Michigan. They got blown out by Michigan State twice including the second round of the NCAA tournament. With those outcomes would the Gophers consider their season a success or a major letdown. It probably depends on who you ask.

Can they make it any better this year? On paper, it does not look like they can. They lost their stars in Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy. They do return third-leading scorer Daniel Oturu and how he plays will be key for the success of Minnesota this year.

Richard Pitino is yet another coach in the Big Ten that is probably coaching for his job. He looked like he had the Gophers headed in the right direction but has no been able to get over that hump. If this season turns bad in Minneapolis, he may be on his way out.

The good news for Pitino and Minnesota is that there are so many questions marks throughout the Big Ten especially in the bottom half of the conference is that they could very easily steal wins and be a fringe tournament team. If they can do that this year then Pitino will probably save his job but finish near the bottom and we could be seeing another coach next year.

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