Nebraska won a road game!!! 
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So the Big Ten might be legitimately really good. Now itās time for Richard Pitino to make me immediately regret saying this
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He didnāt lol.
Yeah, Minnesota looked rough tonight.
Oregon loses to Kenpom #267 Texas Southern. I remain very unconvinced about Iowa, Oregon is their only top 50 win as of right now and I donāt see UConn jumping up there either.
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12-8 League Champion? Donāt know about that.
UMās Beilein on Big Ten: āItās going to be a monsterā
Iām rooting for this kid. Not excusing his past behavior, but it seems like heās making every effort to get his life back to some semblance of fulfillment.
Itās been less than two months since Watkins punched a guy in the face for confronting him about cutting to the front of the line at McDonalds.
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Well damn that seems like a serious offense. Impeding a manās ability to get his nuggets ASAP definitely deserves some major consequences.
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Iām not excusing his actions; Iām hoping he will rehabilitate, and I hope basketball or whatever else can bring him peace becomes more prevalent in his life. If the judicial system deems he spend time in jail, so be it. Punishment for the crime. Iām just glad that PSU isnāt abandoning him. And yes, Iām as jaded as the next person about collegiate athletic departmentās ulterior motives, but itās still better than discarding or dismissing another person as a lost cause. Then again, I have a track record for being naively hopeful.
Itās ultimately about educating the players/students/kids. Thatās what an educational institution is there for. Itās a very difficult balance to figure out. If the kid keeps messing up you have to let the kid fall on his/her face (donāt know complete details about Watkinsā situation).
With that being said, kids do stupid things. We have no idea what his home life situation is and how that or his other surroundings are affecting his behavior. They could simply be saving the kid from a messy situation. He is probably getting support from people and that might just be what he needs. We just donāt know eveything.
I was in a situation several years back where the institution fired the head coach (my boss), kicked the kid out of school, and no one learned anything. I hope institutions donāt do that.
6 Big Ten/ACC games tonight ā who do you guys have winning (and ATS, if youād like)?
Va Tech (-4) @ Penn St.
Illinois @ ND (-7)
MSU (-5.5) @ LāVille
Pitt @ Iowa (-11)
NC State @ Wisconsin (-6)
Indiana @ Duke (-15)
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Iāll take the Big ten plus Notre Dame and Duke. If Watkins doesnāt play then Iāll take Va Tech too. Thatās more my upset pick rather than something I genuinely expect.
Well, I hope he gets things turned around too, Iām just not sure heās āmaking every effortā when heās punching people ahead in line for nuggets. Although, as wolverheel suggests, that is making a serious effort at one kind of fulfillment.
And in general, Iām not advocating āabandoningā student-athletes, but playing them as soon as possible to win a game isnāt necessarily helping in the long run. It perhaps sends the wrong message ā not just in a moralistic way, but for the guyās future.
Va Tech -4
ND -7
MSU -5.5
Pitt +11
Wisconsin -6
Duke -15
I think I would pick all of the favorites straight up, but the Penn St. game interests me. Watkins is returning and obviously has size, but not sure how sharp he will be. Virginia Tech is small outside of Blackshear so he could pose some problems. As for betting, I like Wisconsin -6 and the Over in the MSU/LāVille game (153).
winner and (against spread in parentheses)
Va Tech (Va Tech)
ND (Illinois)
MSU (MSU)
Iowa (Pitt)
Wisconsin (NC St)
Duke (Duke)
Wiscy - NCSt might be an interesting game ā see if Wiscy can still slow teams down like in the old Bo Ryan days.