When the Minnesota Gophers flew nearly 2,000 miles to Los Angeles to embark on its two-game West Coast road trip, they were staring at a 4-9 record in Big Ten play. This meant Minnesota was in serious jeopardy of missing the Big Ten Tournament, which would have unquestionably increased the hot seat chatter with its head coach, Ben Johnson.
However, Ben Johnson and the Gophers had other plans, leaving the West Coast unscathed after picking up two come-from-behind victories over USC and UCLA. Now at 14-12 (6-9), Minnesota is two games ahead of the third-to-last team in the Big Ten, Washington. With five games left in the regular season, it's becoming increasingly likely that the Gophers will punch their ticket to Indianapolis.
In hindsight, being one of the best 15 out of 18 teams in the Big Ten isn’t a sure-fire way of illustrating that one’s season is going to plan. Just look at Rutgers -- who entered the season ranked inside the top 25 thanks to its star freshmen duo -- is just 13-14 (6-10) on the year. But if the season ended today, they would earn their ticket to the Big Ten Tournament.
But for Minnesota, this is different.
Ben Johnson has coached his way off the hot seat
After a 10-win turnaround from 2022-23 to 2023-24, which included a trip to the NIT, the cupboard was left bare. Ben Johnson was tasked with starting over from scratch, replacing key pieces in Elijah Hawkins (Texas Tech), Cam Christie (NBA), Pharrel Payne (Texas A&M) and Joshua Ola-Joseph (California). Because of this mass exodus, the Gophers were picked last in the Big Ten preseason poll.
Flash-forward to a month ago, Ben Johnson's group started 0-6 in Big Ten play. Reaching the Big Ten Tournament seemed like a long shot and the hot seat talk started to ramp up. Since then, Minnesota is 6-3 over its past nine games. And it's not like these wins have come against inferior Big Ten opponents. Five of its six wins are qualified inside the Q1 range.
Personnel-wise, there’s a lot to like. Dawson Garcia is having a phenomenal season, averaging 19.7 PPG and 7.4 RPG and will surely find his name on the All-Big Ten list come March. Femi Odukale makes all sorts of impacts beyond the stat sheet defensively. Isaac Asuma has shown flashes, paving his name for a big-time second-year jump next season. Lu’Cye Patterson and Mike Mitchell form a formidable and reliable backcourt capable of holding its own amongst the talented guards in the Big Ten.
While Minnesota may not be an NCAA Tournament-level team this season, ignoring the steady improvement from this team would be ill-advised for AD Mark Coyle. With an incoming recruiting class ranked 43rd in 24/7 Sports composite rankings, blowing it up doesn't seem like the plausible long-term option for the program moving forward.
But the Gophers must finish strong. With five games left in the regular season, Minnesota still isn't a lock for the Big Ten Tournament. Its upcoming two-game home stretch versus Penn State and Northwestern -- both on the outside looking in of the Big Ten Tournament -- may end up deciding the Gophers' fate after all.
While Minnesota has ultimately dug itself in too deep of a hole to sniff the at-large conversation, this surprise in-season turnaround has cooled off Ben Johnson’s seat and will likely give him another year inside his home state.