Report: Gophers men's basketball to play non-conference games against North Texas, Omaha

Jonnyeagle · July 11

The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team will reportedly play non-conference games against North Texas University and the University of Nebraska Omaha this season.

College hoops source Made for March said the Gophers will host Omaha on Nov. 9 and North Texas on Nov. 13. Both are buy-in games, with Omaha as a $100,000 guarantee and North Texas an $85,000 guarantee.

North Texas went 19-15 overall last season and beat LSU in the first round of the NIT tournament before losing in the next round to Seton Hall, who ended up winning it all. The Mean Green won the 2023 NIT tournament, defeating UAB in the title game.

North Texas has also made some March Madness noise in the past, most recently in 2021 when they upset then-No. 4 seeded Purdue as a No. 13 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Link: https://athlonsports.com/college/minnesota-golden-gophers/all-gophers/basketball/report-minnesota-gophers-mens-basketball-to-play-non-conference-games-against-north-texas-omaha

El Paso Eagle · July 11

I am just curious why we would get $15K less.

GrandGreen · July 11

12 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

I am just curious why we would get $15K less.

Poor negotiating, would be my guess. NT beat Omaha last year 75-64, you would think NT would deserve the bigger guarantee. Notice most of the Minnesota article is about NT with Omaha barely mentioned.

Matt from A700 · July 11

If we got MVSU again, I'm surprised we haven't announced a third straight season with an Omaha home game.

Mean Green 93-98 · July 11

One would think our basketball program is at the point where we should be able to get home-and-homes with programs like Minnesota.

NT80 · July 11

5 hours ago, Jonnyeagle said:

The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team will reportedly play non-conference games against North Texas University and the University of Nebraska Omaha this season.

Who is NTU ? 😡

NorthTexasWeLove · July 12

20 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

I am just curious why we would get $15K less.

Because we have never had an AD worth a damn. Just more of the same.

Matt from A700 · July 12

20 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

I am just curious why we would get $15K less.

Because Minnesota isn't exactly an elite P6 basketball program. We aren't a guaranteed win for many teams. If a big school wants to buy some wins, why would they pay a good program to come into their house and beat them?

Tom McKrackin · July 12

I was told Jared did not negotiate this.

Matt from A700 · July 12

1 minute ago, Tom McKrackin said:

I was told Jared did not negotiate this.

You told me you did?? @Jdawg48 Liar!!

NorthTexasWeLove · July 12

39 minutes ago, Tom McKrackin said:

I was told Jared did not negotiate this.

Uhhhh... well.. then why are we paying Jared??!!

Mean Green 93-98 · July 12

1 hour ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Uhhhh... well.. then why are we paying Jared??!!

If memory serves, it's typically the HC who arranges schedules in basketball.

Mean Green 93-98 · July 12

2 hours ago, Matt from A700 said:

Because Minnesota isn't exactly an elite P6 basketball program. We aren't a guaranteed win for many teams. If a big school wants to buy some wins, why would they pay a good program to come into their house and beat them?

That's usually not how it works. Usually larger programs get more money to come in for a guarantee game than smaller programs. Travel costs are also a consideration, but I believe it's a little closer from Nebraska to Minnesota than it is from Texas to Minnesota.