Morale is high for the Gophers women’s basketball team heading into only a few months remaining before tip-off.
After The Athletic ranked the Gophers in the top-25 to watch for the 2025-26 season, and their Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament championship, the team is confident they can take another step.
The last time the University of Minnesota made March Madness was in 2018, and they are on the path to make another appearance this year.
Coach Dawn Plitzuweit said in a recent interview with KMSP that their work to win the WBIT is already showing benefits as they start preparing for the upcoming season.
“Our resilience got better, our togetherness got better, and how we’d play,” Plitzuweit said. “We’re seeing that now in our summer work how that’s benefitting us.”
Despite not having a complete schedule, the Gophers’ Big Ten games have been released.
Last year, the Gophers went 12-0 against their non-conference opponents, even after they lost redshirt junior Mara Braun to a foot injury.
Even if Braun does not stay healthy, the Gophers could once again win all of their non-conference games. The real struggle for the Gophers came with their Big Ten opponents.
There are 18 conference games. The Gophers will play everyone in the Big Ten once, and the University of Wisconsin twice.
Wisconsin lost twice to Minnesota last year and underwent a complete rebuild after their 4-14 conference record last year. Wisconsin gained a new head coach, three new assistants and eight new players; the majority of their returning players were bench players.
The Badgers may have a hard time quickly building the team chemistry needed to compete, and with Minnesota losing none of their starters the Gophers have the team chemistry and experience to beat them both times.
The Gophers took care of Penn State with a 90-54 win last season, and their leading scorer, Gracie Merkle, hit the transfer portal. Penn State’s own student reporters say that they have no chance in the Big Ten.
“As the roster stands right now, the Lady Lions have no chance to compete in the Big Ten next year,” said Sam Krasowitz of the Daily Collegian, the Penn State student newspaper.
Since that article was published, the Nittany Lions have added women from the transfer portal, but not enough to overcome the Gophers, 15-0.
The University of Illinois lost 70% of their scoring, according to their coach, but they also have a top-10 ranked incoming freshman class. The inexperience of the freshman can help Minnesota leave Illinois with a win.
Northwestern and Purdue each lost to the Gophers at home. This year, they will travel to Minneapolis, meaning the Gophers could win both.
The University of California-Los Angeles lost a few players to the transfer portal, but their team is still the strongest Big Ten team. Though UCLA is playing at Williams Arena, the Gophers do not have the talent to win this one.
The University of Southern California and UCLA fought for the top spot in the Big Ten throughout last year’s regular season. After USC lost their star Juju Watkins to an ACL injury during March Madness last year, their tournament exit soon followed.
Watkins will most likely be out for the entire regular season, but USC recruited the top player in the nation, incoming freshman Jazzy Davidson. Along with fantastic transfer portal recruiting, the Gophers likely lose to the Trojans.
The University of Washington is lacking a dominant center, but their guard depth can most likely make up for it.
The University of Oregon added many players from the portal transfer players, but it is up to their head coach, Kelly Graves, to lift them up as true competitors. The Gophers lose to Washington and win against Oregon.
In recap:
Wins: Illinois, Indiana, Rutgers, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
Losses: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, USC and Washington.
Toss-ups: Ohio State and Nebraska.
The Gophers have the strength of talented returning players. Due to the success of last year, the transfer portal was put on the back burner — hopefully it does not burn them.
Plitzuweit is confident that it won’t.
“We feel very blessed to have ten returners, that is something that is incredible for us moving forward,” Plitzuweit said. “They understand how we want to do things.”
Thanksgiving week will give Gophers fans their first look at the 2026 team with Braun, the new transfer students and incoming freshmen when they compete in an invitational tournament against teams such as Alabama and Ohio State.
The final prediction for the Gophers’ upcoming women’s basketball season is 23-7, with a March Madness appearance.