Minnesota basketball is enjoying unseen success, since the addition of Tubby Smith. The team has exploded out of the gate to 11-0 and entered the nation’s top 20. They are sitting at 16-1, now, with their only loss coming to a seriously tough Michigan State team. They notched another gutsy win in Wisconsin last night, and I’m trying to find out what’s responsible for this team’s performance on the court, the inspiration seems to be on the bench, though.

Virtually identical, I couldn’t find any serious differences in numbers and percentages while I scoped the official Minnesota Wisconsin box score from last night. I read up on the game, watched the highlights and still couldn’t find a serious statistic or problem that would point to how Wisconsin fell to the Gophers at home, after taking an 11 point lead before the half. It had to exist in the intangibles, and it does.

Since he left Kentucky, the SEC has suffered, but the Big Ten has added one of college basketball’s best minds to match Tom Izzo. There’s a reason that he will be in the Hall of Fame one day. Tubby Smith knows how to create a team that wins. He has done that in Minnesota and we can look towards the Wisconsin game for why.

Every good coach has to “sell his system”, when the W’s come, the troops get on board. Tubby Smith has his entire team on board with his system. Not just his assistants, not just starters, not just the sixth man; I mean the whole team. That’s because everyone is involved.

Bo Ryan worked a rotation of primarily 7 players, maxing out starters with each one close to 40 minutes for the Badgers last night. While some of the best squads in the country are primarily looking at 7 player rotations – Duke, Wake Forest, Michigan State, UConn. The minutes lean heavily on 5 starters and two players coming off the bench, for the most part.

7 players came off the bench last night for Tubby Smith. That means 12 players got minutes in a hard fought, OT battle, in the heat of conference play. 9 players saw more than 15 minutes in the game. The whole team got a win. Not just 7 guys and there’s value in a having a long bench in college basketball and it extends beyond conventional sports thinking

Putting guys on the floor, and having a deep bench doesn’t just keep legs fresh and defense active, it creates intangibles. It creates a new definition for team game. Tubby Smith has 9 players averaging 15 minutes, more than 5 points and 2 rebounds. No those numbers aren’t staggering but at the minimum everyone is contributing, positively. To have accountability and 9 players that you can trust on the floor isn’t something every coach in the country has or wants to risk.

That’s a decision by the coach, to get every member of his squad on board, to get every man minutes, to create a culture of belief around your program. Taking risks on young players in college, at the peak of their development breeds confidence and hunger in a team and a locker room. When virtually every player on Minnesota’s team has contributed something to their start, players are all in. It shows, too. They’ve won 16 games and they are 4 wins away from the magic 20 and gaining that invitation to dance in March.

We all know that college basketball is an emotional game. One that champions a team game played with commitment, toughness, and a never-die attitude. The Gophers showed that last night overcoming a huge second half deficit. They showed swagger and depth on the road. They showed that their record is not a fluke, and that they have the moxie to challenge Tom Izzo’s team for the Big Ten title. (By the way, Feb. 4 is the date when the two see each other again in East Lansing.) All this, thanks to a new face on the sidelines. Tubby Smith has created a team in the Barn that is enjoying unseen success, and challenging the hockey team for headlines due to selling his brand of team basketball.

Far-fetched? Maybe, if you’re a numbers guy, or one that just believes in talent. Though, for those who have been part of a scrappy locker room, jumped around in warm-ups as part of confident bench, or get a little choked up during “Rudy”, it makes sense. When your coach calls your number more often than not, you’re that much more willing to fight for that team, that fight will win games in college basketball.