Gophers Athletics Director Mark Coyle has a simple math equation written in the corner of the white board in his office.

36 + 1 = 37

That’s the total available spots for the Gophers men’s basketball team to make the 68-team field for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Showing the math: that’s 36 at-large bids plus the one (out of 32) automatic qualifier going to the Big Ten winner.

“There’s a reason why I have that written up there,” Coyle told the Pioneer Press in an interview inside Athletes Village on Dec. 18.

“In my opinion, there’s no reason why Minnesota should not be one of those 37 teams,” he continued. “So what do we have to do to put ourselves in position to get there? That’s what we’ve got to do now.”

Minnesota (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) restarts conference play against Michigan (6-7, 1-1) at 8 p.m. Thursday at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. It’s the first of 18 consecutive league games to finish head coach Ben Johnson’s third regular season.

After two straight last-place finishes in the Big Ten, the Gophers making the NCAA tournament this spring would be quite the pole vault this season. While that’s a high bar to clear, that also doesn’t mean the Gophers must make March Madness or Johnson loses his job.

While Coyle has an NCAA tournament arithmetic reminder written in his office, he’s also well aware of other numbers, primarily of the low level of success the U men’s basketball program has had across the previous two-plus decades — six total NCAA tournament appearances over 24 years.

With that precedent in mind, Coyle’s broader goal is “the importance of being relevant.”

While that metric ultimately is playing in the NCAA tournament, it’s also achieved by taking a jump in the Big Ten tournament. That means avoiding first-round matchups for the bottom four team in the conference; the Gophers were in that spot on Wednesdays in each the past two seasons.

Minnesota wants to — at least — be in the middle of the mix when this year’s Big Ten tournament comes to Target Center on March 13-17.

Not long after Johnson was hired in March 2021, Coyle asked former Florida AD Jeremy Foley to visit Minnesota.

“He spent a lot of time with Ben Johnson; that was purposeful,” Coyle said.

Foley started with the Gators in 1976, never left and became AD in 1992. Florida made its first NCAA tournament in 1987 and advanced to the Final Four under coach Lon Kruger in 1994. In 1996, Foley hired Billy Donovan, who went 27-32 in his first two seasons as head coach.

“He talked about Billy early on at Florida (and how he) wasn’t overly successful,” Johnson recalled. “It took him a while, but he laid the right foundation. (He shared) to stick to your guns, to not change who you are, especially your belief system, and consume yourself with things that impact winning and impact your program. Not get worried about outside distractions that, as a head coach, can get your mind in areas that it doesn’t need to be in.”

Johnson then got in touch with Donovan, who after the first two seasons went to 14 NCAA tournament appearances in 17 seasons, including back-to-back national championships in 2006-07. Johnson said in their long chat he found out he and Donovan have similar personalities and coaching philosophies.

“(Donovan) talked about the ups and downs when you are trying to build something that is sustainable,” Johnson recalled. “He talked about the outside noise, whether that is good or bad. Just knowing that the trust is there in yourself and to just stick with it. He was a really good sounding board.”

Coyle was encouraged by the Gophers’ start this season, pointing to the 17-point comeback without star forward Dawson Garcia in a 76-65 win over Nebraska on Dec. 6.

Johnson postgame called it the “biggest game of my 2 1/2 years here” because of the momentum it could carry into the rest of the season. The Gophers have built on that, winning five straight games going into Thursday’s game at Michigan.

“It’s gonna get real really quick,” Coyle said of Big Ten play. “But again, I think the comeback over Nebraska was phenomenal. And we’ve just got to keep building.”

NET rankings of Big Ten teams

3. Purdue

7. Illinois

16. Wisconsin

28. Michigan State

36. Ohio State

64. Nebraska

69. Iowa

75. Michigan

80. Northwestern

85. Minnesota

93. Rutgers

102. Indiana

112. Maryland

116. Penn State

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