Minnesota Gophers HC Ben Johnson Makes Dreaded MBB Hot Seat List

The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball season will begin Wednesday, against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, a matchup Ben Johnson’s turned-over veteran squad will be favored to win, no doubt. It’s probably a game they need to win, too.

Win the first game of the season, or else? Not necessarily. But without a doubt, the Minnesota Gophers homegrown head coach is sitting on one of the hottest coaching seats in the entire country. Hyperbole? No. Ben Johnson needs to win, and he needs to do it now.

The Minnesota Gophers are 41-54 in three years under Johnson, 15-44 in the Big Ten. His .432 overall win percentage is the worst of any Golden Gophers men’s basketball coach with three or more years on the job since 1925-27 when Harold Taylor went 19-30 (.388) before being canned.

Ben Johnson’s seat getting hotter in MN and the fire is spreading

It gets worse. No Gopher men’s basketball coach since the 60s (Bill Fitch) with two or more years on the job went without making an NCAA Tournament… until Johnson. Pitino, Tubby, Monson, Haskins, Dutcher, Musselman… they all went dancing. Ben Johnson has never gotten close.

And word is spreading on how hot Johnson’s seat really is. We saw his name mentioned for the first time, in a hot seat check last week. Then Thursday, Ben appeared on the Field of 68’s Hot Seat, which is heavily influenced by Big Ten insiders like Robbie Hummel and Jeff Goodman, who both also work for Big Ten Network.

🔥 THE HOT SEAT LIST 🔥

Which coach has the WARMEST seat this season? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/TbzPWbcqzW

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) October 31, 2024

Losing against any of the non-conference cupcakes on their schedule would be a disastrous start that Ben Johnson cannot afford. Outside of the ESPN Invitational over Thanksgiving break — which will include a game vs Wichita State, then either Florida or Wake Forest — they do not have a power 4 team anywhere to be found in their non-conference schedule.

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Beyond that mid-season tournament, the Gophers start their 2024 season going from November 6 to December 4 with only home games vs exclusively Group of 5 or FCS competition. Minnesota’s first true away game of the year will be December 9 @ Indiana.

Then, they get a couple more home cupcakes (Fair Dickinson? and Morgan State…) before Purdue and Ohio State come to The Barn. Then, FINALLY on January 10, over TWO MONTHS into the regular season, Minnesota will play their 2nd true road game, a 5-hour drive east to Madison vs the Wisconsin Badgers.

Minnesota Gophers must be perfect vs non-conference

If Ben Johnson’s Golden Gophers were to trip up vs any of their 2024-25 non-conference opponents — like Cleveland State, Bethune-Cookman or North Texas — I’m not convinced Ben Johnson would even make it to the Big Ten season. Is that hyperbole? Maybe… but maybe not.

Apparently, nobody gave Minnesota’s head coach the memo a few years ago, when the men’s basketball selection committee started focusing on NET Rating, which puts more importance on having a good team, than it does propping up your win/loss record.

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You get more points for beating good teams, and pretty much nothing for beating crappy ones. Road wins count for more than home wins (haha), especially against good teams (lol). Ben Johnson is on his last lifeline as Minnesota Gophers head coach.

He is relying on an easy non-conference schedule, to build confidence, over a more NET Rating friendly schedule, that would allow some ugly performances early, as long as it was against good competition (preferably on the road). At the end of the day, it’s his grave. He can dig it however he pleases.

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