Ranking Minnesota's 2026 nonconference games by difficulty

Exhibitions

The Gophers’ first of two exhibitions will take place on Thursday, Oct. 15 at The Barn against Omaha. They will then travel to Omaha to face Creighton on Friday, Oct. 23. Mavericks head coach Chris Crutchfield has built a competitive program in the Summit League, but the matchup with Creighton on the road should be a much better litmus test for where Minnesota is at heading into the regular season.

Regular season noncon opponents

• 1. Cincinnati
• 2. Oklahoma State
• 3. SMU
• 4. California
• 5. Utah

A Quad 1 opportunity can be a road game against an opponent ranked 1-75 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, so Minnesota’s road game at Cincinnati on Nov. 9 is almost guaranteed to fall into that; therefore, it’s pretty clearly the biggest nonconference game on their schedule.

Minnesota will face two teams from the Big 12 at this year’s Charleston Classic over Thanksgiving Week. I expect Oklahoma State to be far more dangerous than Utah in Year 3 under head coach Steve Lutz, but both games should be opportunities for the Gophers to pick up resume-building wins.

SMU will be a neutral-site matchup in Frisco, Texas, and the Cal game will be played in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the Sanford Pentagon. SMU has a significantly higher chance of competing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but Mark Madsen will always have his Golden Bears ready to go.

• 6. St. Thomas
• 7. North Dakota
• 8. UTSA

The St. Thomas matchup at The Barn will be a massive game for many different reasons, but the Gophers will be heavily favored to win. Home games against North Dakota and UTSA are the only other true mid-major opponents on the schedule, but they will both likely be Quad 4 games for the Gophers.

• 9. Southern
• 10. Texas Southern
• 11. Alcorn State
• 12. Western Illinois

Southern, Texas Southern, and Alcorn State have all recently been invited to the NCAA Tournament, while Western Illinois is one of the worst programs in the country. All programs are low-majors, and they will be Quad 4 opportunities for the Gophers.