Gophers to start March Madness against UCLA

It’s official — Minnesota will play in March Madness for only the third time in Tubby Smith’s six years as head coach.

The Gophers are seeded at No. 11 and will face No. 6 UCLA in the South Region with their first round game in Austin, Tex. on Friday. Time is to be determined.

Minnesota was one of seven Big Ten teams to make the tournament, as expected.

Indiana drew a No. 1 seed while Michigan State will seed at No. 3 and Michigan at No. 4. Wisconsin is in at No. 5 and Ohio State was given a No. 2 seed. Illinois also made the tournament at No. 7.

The Gophers will be favorites to win against UCLA, despite having the lower seed. Reasoning behind favoring Minnesota in this match up is because of the Gophers’ strength of schedule this season.

UCLA only played three ranked teams this season as a PAC-12 squad but managed to win three games against a ranked Arizona team this year.