Believe it or not, it’s that time of year for basketball players, too.

When Blake Hoffarber left Saturday’s game with an ankle injury early in the second half, it looked like the latest injury to a key Gophers player wouldn’t even be bittersweet.

The Gophers proved they can play with teams better than Concordia-St. Paul and Eastern Washington on Tuesday, beating Virginia in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

In its nine years, the Big Ten/ACC Challenge has never been terribly challenging for the ACC.

For Gophers fans, Tuesday night was something to get excited about.

After opening the season 6-0, they play Virginia, their toughest game of the season so far, tonight at Williams Arena.

After a few marquee wins in the past two years, there was a thought that North Dakota State could give the Gophers some trouble in their fourth-straight trip to Williams Arena.

They didn't.

Coach Tubby Smith was blunt about Minnesota’s near-loss to Colorado State on Saturday.

“It exposed us in a lot of ways,” Smith said.

The Gophers basketball schedule is setup in a straight-forward way: Win the first six games and create some momentum for the more challenging nonconference games and the Big Ten schedule.

Coach Tubby Smith has spoke several times of “bringing players along” with a less-than-strenuous nonconference schedule, with the hopes of building momentum for conference play.