If the regular season ended today, the Gophers likely would have done enough to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Of course, it doesn’t.

The Gophers have have seven regular season games left and will need to use the final full month of the season (plus the Big Ten tournament next month) to boost their the credentials. That starts on Thursday, when they play host to the the Iowa Hawkeyes at 7 p.m. at Williams Arena.

The Gophers are currently the fifth-to-last team in ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme’s current forecasted tournament field.

Minnesota has had a strong regular season — it is 18-5 overall on the year and at one point was ranked in the top 25 — but has faltered against ranked opponents, going 0-5 against some of the nation’s best teams.

Two of those losses came on their last road trip, a swing through Southern California that saw them fall 82-69 to No. 4 USC and 79-53 to No. 1 UCLA.

“As you pay the best, you learn a lot of lessons about yourself and what you can do to compete and I think there are some great things that we can take away from that experience,” coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “The good part about this team is that’s exactly who they are. They want to keep growing and they want to keep getting better.”

The Gophers have been particularly good at taking care of the ball this season, but Plitzuweit mentioned that they got sped up against both teams and, in the blink of an eye, a game that was close turns into a blowout.

“Against that caliber of competition, it seems like as soon as you miss an opportunity … to score at the rim or you didn’t take care of the ball or you didn’t get a defensive rebound, they make you pay,” Plitzuweit said. “They can kind of impose their will on you.”

The lesson she was preaching on Wednesday from what they saw of those two teams was the importance of every single moment.

“Being present, (making) every possession our best, being locked in to that possession really matters, because we stack some of those things in our favor and things can go the other way,” Plitzuweit said.

As one of the more experienced players on the team, graduate forward Annika Stewart said she’s been trying to impart a similar message to her teammates, reminding them to stay present.

That’s what they’ll need to do as they push forward towards the postseason.

While the schedule does lighten up somewhat, both Iowa and Indiana, Minnesota’s next two opponents, are tournament contenders and will bring a challenge. The Gophers also face two more currently ranked teams — Ohio State and Michigan State — before the regular season is over.

“We have opportunities and now we’ve got to continue to grow and develop and progress because at this point in time, the sands in the hour glass are going pretty quickly,” Plitzuweit said. “It’s time right now that we apply those lessons and play to the best of our ability.”