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The Minnesota Golden Gophers should have been one of the best teams in the Big Ten in the 2012-13 college basketball season, but expectations and hype mean nothing if a team does nothing. Sure, the Golden Gophers had some good times this past season, but the bad ones definitely out shined the good ones, or else Tubby Smith would still be the man on the sidelines in the upcoming season. With that said, Minnesota is in store for a down year in the 2013-14 college hoops season.
Anytime a team loses a head coach–not to mention a good one–the following season may not be the best. It does not help that this team will be losing Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams. Losing Joe Coleman will also hurt this team.
Related: How Do the Indiana Hoosiers Match Up With Rest of Big 10?
Andre Hollins and Austin Hollins returning will certainly help, but they both will have to carry this team.
The Big Ten is kind of a tough conference. Just kind of though. Yes, teams like Indiana and Michigan will be losing some great players, but that does not matter. This will still be one of the best conferences in college basketball and there are so many better teams on paper entering the season than Minnesota. However, maybe when the expectations aren’t there, Minnesota will finally do work.
The Golden Gophers did manage to make the NCAA tournament this past year, but they were still a disappointment on the season overall.
I wish this team the best without Smith, but a down year is likely in store for Minnesota regardless.
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