RandBall: Wednesday is a big moment for two Gophers basketball programs

The Gophers women’s and men’s basketball seasons have contained multiple narratives, but the main ones are these:

Could the women’s program, with improved talent and depth, break through for its first NCAA tournament berth since 2018?

Could the men’s program, decimated once again by offseason departures influenced by NIL money, fashion a good enough season to sustain confidence in coach Ben Johnson?

Every game so far this season — 30 for the women, 29 for the men — has contributed to those narratives in some way.

But Wednesday has the potential to be a defining day for both narratives, and therefore both programs, as I talked about on Tuesday’s Daily Delivery podcast.

The women will face Washington in the No. 13 vs. No. 12 game of the Big Ten tournament. Those seeds belie the strength of the teams in a brutally competitive conference, which could send 13 teams to the NCAA tournament.

Or it could send 12. It is certainly possible that the loser of the game between two NCAA bubble teams will be left out, giving Wednesday’s meeting massive significance.

What’s at stake for the Gophers women’s basketball program is more defined than that, of course.

In her second year as coach, Dawn Plitzuweit has led the Gophers to a 20-10 record, including 8-10 in conference play.

Minnesota has defeated every team it should beat (18-0 against Quad 3 or Quad 4 teams, as defined by the NCAA NET rankings) but struggled in opportunities for defining wins against equal or better opponents (2-10 against Quad 1 or Quad 2 teams).

That body of work has them No. 36 in the NET rankings, and even a loss to Washington on Wednesday wouldn’t affect that standing very much.

But as Plitzuweit acknowledged this week, even while making the case that the Gophers deserve an NCAA bid, that they would do well to make the committee’s decision easier.

For Johnson’s Gophers, the opportunity is less defined. A win over Wisconsin would be more for vibes than any realistic path to the NCAA tournament outside of an extremely deep run in the Big Ten tournament.

But the program’s momentum has changed enough times this season that a victory over Wisconsin would feel significant. This is a team that started 0-6 in Big Ten play, then beat a bunch of good teams during a 6-3 stretch, only to falter against lesser opponents, followed by a nice win at Nebraska.

The Gophers have eight combined Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories, many of them in thrilling fashion. Their problem has been consistency.