Funny I agree with both of you. We’re due for a let down game and nw is a solid club. I’d stay away from this game as a bettor, although the Purdue game went nicely for me. It just has a bad feel to it and I could see it being closer than we’d like.
If we come out and blow them out of the water my confidence in this club is going to be through the roof. It would show they are dialed in and bringing it every night , no matter the situation or opponent.
We may have cold shooting nights, as all teams will, but after a couple clunkers to start the year, we’ve shot the ball quite well. In the last 5 games, we haven’t shot under 33% from 3 and have shot 50% 3 times. We also seem to have pretty good shooters at a bunch of spots. We’re shooting 37% from 3 now, 79th in the country, with a 3pt rate over 40%.
That said, I don’t know that we can say yet it’ll take some kind of miracle for Northwestern to win.
I would be more worried about the NW game if there were a longer layoff in between. Playing this game in early January would be worse, I think.
But “solid” based on what? A 6-2 record against a weak schedule? They haven’t even played a ranked team, let alone beaten one.
Sure, this team is going to lose at some point. But very likely not to a team like Northwestern, and not because they got “ bored”.
Iowa +11 at MSU tonight…maybe a bit of early desperation for the Hawkeyes after losing to Wisconsin at home on Friday night? 0-2 start in Big Ten play for a “top 15 team” at stake
I agree with this. Play Michigan has dropped games to Northwestern seemingly every single year.
If I was Maryland I am definitely firing Turgeon for Hoiberg
I keep thinking about losing to a winless in conference Penn State in 2013.
Give me MSU by a big number tonight.
They got two wins over power five conf teams in G tech and Utah and barely lost to the Hoosiers on the road. I’m going off what I perceive as nw talent level too. I like law and pardon and the transfer from Evansville looked solid last year. Add in Gaines, miller, and nance and it’s a solid team. Not amazing by any means but not to be over looked.
Also bored isn’t the word per day but let down games do happen, I could see this being a game that might be overlooked some or they come out flat with no energy . I’ll be very impressed by their leadership and focus if they come out razor sharp again.
That line makes me nervous. I think Iowa is good enough to play them tough or win but with a line that large it almost feels like a trap.
We’ve lost the last three at Northwestern. Tre Demps OT game, the miracle court long last second inbound pass, and then last year in a sleepy January game where we just missed everything before the team really exploded.
So, you aren’t worried about the Iowa zone.
I normally agree but like I just posted to Dylan that feels like a trap. Why such a large line? I learned over the years that games like that which seems ridiculous or obvious , normally go the other way.
I hear you @slyboogie2… That is a scary number, but first road game of the year for Iowa in a place they never win.
Northwestern will also be fine playing slow and are good defensively. We might have to hit some FTs. And Pardon is a beast on the offensive boards.
KenPom has it as MSU -9. Iowa’s a bit overrated because they got some big name wins over teams that aren’t thaaaaat good. Oregon is a 8 seed level team. UConn is probably missing the NIT.
Iowa beat MSU at Breslin a couple years ago and seem to play MSU tough at times. 11 seems like a big number to me. I wouldn’t feel confident taking MSU in this one.
I think Fred Hoiberg at Minnesota could be fascinating… Could also make a case for him at Maryland, Nebraska or Iowa. I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but at least some of those jobs are coming open.
This is going to sound ludacris but years ago when I was betting daily I noticed this trend that whenever a line seemed ridiculous and the winner seemed obvious, that the game always went opposite what I thought.
I started to literally place sizable bets on this trend alone and won very often. I’d just go “ not sure why that line Is what it is but they know something we don’t and I’m riding it.” Any game that seemed like they were luring the public I went with at a very high success rate.