According to the bracketologists, the Gophers men's basketball team remains in the projected NCAA tournament field, but just barely. ESPN has the Gophers as a No. 11 seed this week; CBS has them as a No. 9.
The Gophers face two crucial games with No. 7 Michigan at home Thursday before traveling to Rutgers on Saturday. They will need signature wins if they're going to make the tournament.
But one of the biggest story lines for the Gophers is how the program is doing recruiting Minnesota players.
Coach Richard Pitino did a good job recruiting Gabe Kalscheur, Daniel Oturu and Jarvis Omersa. Those three freshman have contributed to the Gophers' 17-9 record overall (7-8 Big Ten).
Kalscheur, a 6-4 guard from DeLaSalle, is playing 29.7 minutes per game and averaging 10.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Oturu, a 6-10 center from Cretin-Derham Hall, is averaging 22.9 minutes, 10.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Omersa, a 6-6 forward from Orono, is averaging only 7.8 minutes per game, but he has played more in the Gophers' past three games after not playing in six of the 10 games before that.
Except for junior guard Amir Coffey (Hopkins) and the three freshman, however, the rest of the contributing players are from other states.