Ben Johnson set a precedent last season and followed it Monday.
If the Gophers men’s basketball team is given the option to continue playing beyond the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis this week, the U head coach said Minnesota will take it.
And similar to nearly everything in college sports these days, what comes next will be new and different. If 12th-seed Minnesota doesn’t win the conference tournament and nab the automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament, a new, smaller tournament has entered the fray.
In addition to the longstanding National Invitation Tournament, the College Basketball Crown, a 16-team tournament in Las Vegas from March 31-April 6, is making its debut. The Crown is positioning itself to rival the 32-team NIT, but how that shakes out this season is to be determined. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East will have two automatic qualifiers for the Crown, with others chosen by a committee.
“We would love for those opportunities,” Johnson said. “We’ve talked about that as a team. Obviously, let’s take care of this week and see how far we can go. The more you win, the more opportunities you have. One hundred percent, we would love to continue to play.”
The Gophers (15-16, 7-13 Big Ten) play Northwestern (16-15, 7-13) in the first round of the conference tournament at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Last year, Johnson’s statement of intent to play in national tournaments paid off when other programs opted out of postseason play due to the affects of the NCAA transfer portal. That helped the U get into the NIT field, where they beat Butler and lost to top-seed Indiana State in the second round.
This year, the portal opens March 24 and closes April 22 and might lead to other programs to turn their attention to roster building. The Gophers will need to overhaul their roster again this offseason with new players but want to stay relevant by playing as many games possible while juggling the portal.
Other teams passing on playing in the Crown or NIT this season would help the Gophers’ chances to keep playing in March. The U is 94th in the NET ranking, but are one of only 21 teams nationwide with seven Quad 1 wins.
The Gophers have a senior-laden roster that should cut down on the amount of current players who might be looking for their next school later this month.
“(For) these guys to get as much college basketball as they can at this level is a good thing,” Johnson said. “That would be tremendous for us. I think the best thing to put us in that situation is to play well.”
Minnesota, which was picked to finish 18th in the conference this season, threatened to be one of the three basement-dwelling teams outside of the Big Ten tournament field for much of the season. But the Gophers’ win at Nebraska on March 1 essentially kept their season alive.
In their only matchup this season, Northwestern beat Minnesota 75-63 at Williams Arena on Feb. 25.
“It’s a big-time opportunity, and we have obviously a team that we owe in the first game,” said star forward Dawson Garcia. “It should be exciting.”
Head coach Ben Johnson of the Minnesota Golden Gophers reacts during the first half of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on Jan. 18, 2024 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Minnesota’s Frank Mitchell, left, gets underneath Northwestern defender Keenan Fitzmorris during the Gophers’ 75-63 loss Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, at Williams Arena. (Brad Rempel / Gophers Athletics)
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