MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota has a Top 25 team on the schedule for the second straight time. This opponent will likely finish the game with five players on the court.

Whatever the case, though, the 12th-ranked Gophers are facing another intriguing and invaluable nonconference challenge. They’ll host No. 10 Miami on Wednesday night as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

“I can’t remember playing such a big game so early in this building,” Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said.

Having come dangerously close to the embarrassment of losing to a then-No. 25 Alabama team that was down to three players because of a mass ejection, a foul out and an ankle injury, the Gophers (7-0) were more than happy to be home at cozy Williams Arena with the Hurricanes (5-0) coming to campus.

“It’ll be a good test for us, to see where our young guys and our older guys are at this part of the year,” junior power forward Jordan Murphy said. “I think it’s going to be exciting, just for us and for our fans.”

The Gophers have already won at Providence and will play next month at Arkansas, two more quality foes to put on their resume come March. They didn’t face any Associated Press Top 25 teams before Big Ten play in either of the last two seasons.

The last time the program was up against more than one ranked opponent during nonconference play was five years ago in then-coach Tubby Smith’s final season, when the Gophers lost to No. 5 Duke and beat No. 19 Memphis at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. The previous instance of multiple ranked foes on the pre-conference portion of the schedule was 10 years before that under coach Dan Monson, when the Gophers beat No. 17 Georgia, lost at No. 5 Oregon and lost to No. 25 Texas Tech.

As one of the 28 unbeaten NCAA Division I teams remaining and coming off their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Pitino, the Gophers have worked their way into the national conversation about the sport’s best teams. They’re averaging 90.7 points per game with a collective skill set in the starting lineup that the program hasn’t had for 20 years.