ESPN Andy Katz Blog

Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith says that he's ahead of schedule in his rebuilding process and that the Golden Gophers have a legit chance to beat Louisville on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. And oh yeah, he believes Minnesota can be an NCAA tournament team.

The Gophers (9-0), one of 13 remaining undefeated teams in Division I, face easily their toughest test with the Cardinals on Saturday at the home of the Arizona Cardinals.

"We do have a chance," Smith said. "Playing in Phoenix gives no one an advantage. It'll be a matter of coming together on this particular day and playing our best. We've got to play to their level, and I think we can play with Louisville."

Smith's scheduling philosophy with the Gophers was simple: get wins and gain confidence. Last season, Smith's first since his stunning move from Kentucky to Minnesota, the Gophers made the NIT and lost in the first round to Maryland. This season, they were an intriguing postseason pick in a fluid Big Ten. The Gophers have played one true road game -- at Mountain West bottom-dweller Colorado State. Their best home wins so far are over Virginia, which will likely end up last in the ACC, and potential Ivy League champ Cornell.

"We knew we had a young team and with the schedule would have a chance to grow," Smith said. "We've also had some injuries, and Monday was the first day we had all 13 players back from injury."

The Gophers have played decent defense, holding their opponents to 60.9 points a game. Emphasis on D is a Smith trait, and so far this squad has taken on his personality. Minnesota has scorers in guard Lawrence Westbrook (14.1 ppg), forward Damian Johnson (11 ppg) and guard Blake Hoffarber (9.3 ppg), and a developing talent in the post in center Colton Iverson (8.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Freshman Ralph Sampson III is starting to feel more comfortable, too, going for double figures in three of the last four games.

"I think we're where we need to be, as far as being a work in progress," Smith said. "We're improving every day, and we're showing a lot of consistency."

This Minnesota team isn't going to be very sexy in the Big Ten. The Gophers will be productive and patient and likely defend in a conference in which most teams enter the league race feeling that they have a chance, save maybe Indiana. (The Hoosiers are 5-5, whereas no other team is under four games above .500.)

Playing Louisville provides Minnesota with a barometer. How tough is this team? Can it defend Samardo Samuels in the post, Earl Clark on the wing? Can it match the intensity of Rick Pitino's team? Smith knows Pitino well, having coached under him and against him.

"These guys have adapted and are playing well for us, playing hard and playing together," Smith said. "I think we can be in the tournament. We've got a lot to improve on, but we have the potential and the talent."

• Kansas coach Bill Self said he could redshirt JC transfer Mario Little if he's not back 100 percent in three weeks from a broken left hand -- his second injury this season. (He was out with a stress fracture in his lower left leg from mid-October to December.) But Self is confident that Little will return in time to play this season. Kansas was banking on Little's being a factor for the Jayhawks this season. He was a starter when the Jayhawks went on a Labor Day trip to Canada, averaging 12.7 points a game. Little, a 6-5 wing, was rated as the top JC player in the country last season out of Chipola (Fla.) College. The Jayhawks probably could use another wing scorer after relying a bit too much on Sherron Collins at times.

• Gonzaga coach Mark Few said there is no reason why Arizona can't compete for the Pac-10 title. He said the threesome of Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger and Nic Wise provides the Wildcats with as much talent as any other team in the league, if not more. "If those three stay healthy and don't get in foul trouble and continue to play at a high level, then they'll compete for a Pac-10 championship," Few said. Arizona beat Gonzaga 69-64 on Sunday at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. Arizona (7-2) has two critical games in a row, with a road game at UNLV on Saturday and a home game against Kansas on Tuesday.

• Alabama coach Mark Gottfried isn't sweating the slow start for the Tide. Gottfried said Tuesday he's not feeling any heat, either. He said the administration has been fully supportive. At issue for the Tide, he said, is keeping freshman forward JaMychal Green on the court. He fouled out in 19 minutes in the 86-78 overtime loss to Texas A&M and fouled out in the 92-69 loss to Oregon in the first round of the Maui Invitational. Green was on his way to having his best game of the season when he scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shots in the loss to the Aggies.

The Tide (5-3), which opened the season with a loss to Mercer at home, also need Ronald Steele, the fifth-year senior point, to take his game to a higher gear. Gottfried said Steele has been playing well since coming back from a knee injury, but the coaching staff expects him to be even better during the SEC campaign. Steele has had some down shooting games, though, going 3-for-11 in the Oregon loss and 3-for-12 against Texas A&M (although he had six assists and zero turnovers).

Gottfried said the most consistent player has been senior guard Alonzo Gee, who is averaging 12.4 points a game. What has helped is that he's getting to the free-throw line, going 29-of-40 in eight games.

The one thing that gives Gottfried even more hope is that SEC games can be won. Kentucky proved last season that struggling in the nonconference schedule doesn't necessarily mean losing a bid. Kentucky won 12 games in a rebuilding SEC a season ago. Alabama is counting on doing something similar. What would help the Tide's case, of course, is taking care of business for the rest of the nonconference schedule with two key games after New Year's: a young, beatable Georgia Tech and once again an undefeated Clemson on the road.

• The WCC is doing everything it can to help strengthen the league by showing it's not concerned only about Gonzaga. Moving the conference tournament out of a campus environment to Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena was one way to ensure more neutrality (a point that you could argue actually helps Gonzaga, since it will travel with more fans and no longer has to play a conference tournament game on the road). But the league moved Tuesday to put 23 league games on ESPN's Pacific Rim station, which would air games on in Australia and New Zealand. Saint Mary's, which has five Aussies on its roster (the most of all WCC schools), including the most recognizable in Australian Olympian Patty Mills, will benefit more than any other school. A total of seven Aussies play on three WCC rosters (Saint Mary's, Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount).

WCC commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said Tuesday that this is an example of the globalization of basketball. But he's also savvy to help boost WCC basketball's exposure in one of its recruiting hotbeds. The proximity of the WCC schools to Australia (at least compared with the East Coast) has made it a destination for Aussies. Zaninovich said the WCC semifinals and final will be shown live, too.