Minnesota put forth a brutal effort on their way to getting smoked by Illinois 92-65. The Gophers drop to 0-1 in conference as they begin a gauntlet of games that could very well not see a conference win until late January.
Unlike the non-conference opponents, Illinois is very good. Brad Underwood has a strong ball club who will compete for a Big Ten championship and could go far in the Tournament. Minnesota will play better against less quality talent solely due to the fact that less talented teams present fewer match-up problems. I say all of that to say this:
Minnesota will lose to bad teams with that performance.