reclegend22;1354933 wrote:Duke's victory over Minnesota is looking ultra impressive right now. I feared playing the Gophers in November because they have elite players -- Rodney Williams is as good as any swingman in the country -- and Tubby Smith is on the sideline. It may not have worked out at Kentucky in the end, but Tubby is a national champion and he can coach.
Certainly this is the best team in Smith's tenure at Minnesota, mainly because they're finally healthy. I imagine things would've been crazy good last year had Royce White not flamed out and gone to Iowa State and had Mbakwe not gotten injured.
I think this year the Gophers are finally hitting their stride as it took a while for Mbakwe to get back into the swing of things following his knee surgery. When they played Duke he wasn't nearly 100% but now that he's approaching that (just got his brace off this week) they're dangerous.
However, the proof will be in the pudding and the next six games - vs Northwestern, @ Illinois, @ Indiana, vs Michigan, @ Northwestern, @ Wisconsin - will go a long way in determining whether or not Tubby has a national-championship-caliber team or something less. Three top-11 opponents (2 on the road), and two other road games, including a trip to the Kohl Center which is never easy, regardless of the Badgers' struggles this year. If they go 4-2 or better in that stretch, they can be considered legitimate B1G (and national) title contenders IMO.
Interesting side note, this is about the best year possible for Minnesota to have a really good national contender from a recruiting perspective. The 2014 class in Minnesota is basically unheard of for the state, with #1 Tyus Jones, #10 Rashad Vaughn and #29 Reid Travis all playing in or in the suburbs of Minneapolis. While Jones is something of a long shot, putting together a big run this year - and securing the funding for a practice facility as a result - could go a long way in getting some big names up north.
