Bad starts and NCAA tournaments
Minnesota has never made the NCAA tournament after starting the Big Ten season poorly, defined here as 0-3 or worse. Here's a look at seasons in which the Gophers either started poorly or made the Big Dance since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985:
Bad start Big Ten
or NCAAs?SeasonstartFinal recordSeason notes
Bad start1985-860-315-16, 5-13Opened with three road losses in a row.
Bad start1987-880-510-18, 4-14Clem Haskins' second season started badly.
NCAAs1988-891-219-12, 9-9Made it to the Sweet 16; lost to 2 seed Duke.
NCAAs1989-901-223-9, 11-7Advanced to the Elite 8; lost to Ga. Tech.
NCAAs1993-94*2-121-12, 10-8Lost to 3 seed Louisville in the second round.
NCAAs1994-95*2-119-12, 10-8Lost to 9 seed Saint Louis in the first round.
Bad start1995-96*1-319-13, 10-8Won first, then lost three in a row.
NCAAs1996-97*4-031-4, 16-2Made U's only Final Four, lost to Kentucky.
Bad start1997-98*0-620-15, 6-10Team was 13-14 at end of regular season.
NCAAs1998-99*1-217-11, 6-10Lost to 10 seed Gonzaga in the first round.
Bad start2003-040-812-18, 3-13First Big Ten victory came on Feb. 11.
NCAAs2004-052-121-11, 10-6Lost to 9 seed Iowa State in the first round.
Bad start2005-060-616-15, 5-11Streak included triple-OT loss at Iowa.
Bad start2006-071-59-22, 3-13Dan Monson was fired before Big Ten play.
NCAAs2008-094-122-11, 9-9Lost to 7 seed Texas in the first round.
NCAAs2009-102-121-14, 9-9Lost to 6 seed Xavier in the first round.
Bad start2011-120-423-15, 6-12Team later lost six in a row to fall off.
NCAAs2012-133-021-13, 8-10Beat UCLA, then lost to Florida in second rd.
* Season later vacated because of academic scandal
