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The Gophers face their last BCS level opponent of the non-conference season and Tubby Smith needs this win to get #500 for his career.
Game Time: 9:30
TV: Pac-12 Network (DISH 413, not on DirecTV or Comcast and a big middle finger to Gopher fans who want to watch this game, again)
Radio: AM1500 and the Gopher Radio Network
| Pos | #14 - Minnesota | Pnt/Gm | Pnt/Gm | Southern Cal | Pos | |
| PG | Andre Hollins | 13.7 | 8.1 | Jio Fontan | PG | |
| G | Austin Hollins | 12.1 | 9.1 | Byron Wesley | G | |
| F | Joe Coleman | 10.6 | 12.7 | JT Terrell | G | |
| F | Rodney Williams | 12.9 | 10.4 | Eric Wise | F | |
| C | Elliott Eliason | 2.8 | 6.0 | Dewayne Dedmon | C | |
| Bench | Trevor Mbakwe | 8.4 | 2.3 | Aaron Fuller | Bench | |
| Bench | Maverick Ahanmisi | 4.3 | 1.6 | Chass Bryan | Bench | |
| Bench | Julian Welch | 3.0 | 6.3 | Omar Oraby | Bench |
If you happen to remember the USC roster from last year's meeting, you may not recognize very many names above. Fontan did not play last year with an ACL tear, Terrell sat out due to a transfer from Wake Forest, Wise was sitting out due to a transfer from UC-Irvine, Bryan is a freshman, Oraby was at Rice and next on their list of guys who play is Ari Stewart who also sat out last year due to a transfer from Wake. Six of their top nine guys were not participating a year ago, so this is a completely different team.
But this is still a team the Gophers should beat. The Trojans are 3-4 having played a rather tough schedule against 5 teams with a KenPom rank in the top 50, but four of them resulted in a loss. The Gophers will be USC's third Big Ten opponent after already losing to Illinois by 30 and at Nebraska by 12.
Now, what does concern me is that this screams trap game on the road. Up next is not a great opponent but the Gophers might get distracted by the warm, southern California sun and forget that they are facing a talented team. Not a great team, not a team we should fear, but a team with talent that hasn't put it together yet. A team that could beat us on their home floor if we aren't paying attention.
Get to LA, take care of business and get home. Simple enough right? Get it done!