Gophers start Big Ten Tournament with history on their side

Jan 23, 2013; Evanston, IL, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Wally Ellenson (3) is defended by Northwestern Wildcats forward Jared Swopshire (12) and guard Alex Marcotullio (4) during the second half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Northwestern Wildcats defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 55-48. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The ninth seeded Gophers will open the first round of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday morning in the first of hopefully many more playoff games this season.

With a late-morning match up against the eighth seeded Fighting Illini, despite being the lower seed on Thursday, Minnesota historically has been very successful in the opening round.

• Since coach Tubby Smith took the relm in 2007, the Gophers have lost only one opening round game — to Northwestern in 2010-11.
• In five conference tournament appearances, the Gophers are 7-5, including an appearance in the finals in 2010 against an Evan Turner-led Ohio State.

On Thursday, the 20-11 Gophers square off against the 21-11 Illini, who are coming off of back-to-back losses just like Minnesota.

• The season-series between the two teams is tied at one a piece.
• Interestingly enough, both teams also beat the Hoosiers this season when Indiana was ranked No. 1, but neither are ranked in the AP Top 25 for the Big Ten Tournament.

Minnesota and Illinois should both expect to be playing in the NCAA Tournament next week and losses by either team will almost surely not drop them from the field of 68.