Some big games today:
Purdue at Wisconsin (7 pm BTN), Michigan State at Iowa (9 pm BTN)
And a few good ones tomorrow as well:
UM @ ILL (3 pm, ESPN2), NW at Nebraska (4pm ESPNU), Indiana at Rutgers (1 pm ESPN2), Maryland at Penn State
Excited to get Big Ten action underway, what are your thoughts on the opening slate of games? Can Iowa knock off MSU without Valentine? Spartans have dominated Iowa lately.
Purdue handles Wisconsin easily - too big and defensive. Wiscy will struggle to score IMO
Iowa wins at home vs MSU. Iowa has good enough size and I don’t think MSU stops Uthoff
UM wins @ Illinois by 5. (If North Florida and Chattanooga can win @ Illinois, so can we)
NW wins @ Nebraska in a close one - down to the wire.
Indiana wins @ Rutgers - yawn.
Maryland wins @ Penn St - will there be a pre-game scuffle ala football 2012? No. Maryland wins big.
agree with all those picks. But it’s a lot of away teams to pick for a conference opener.
Olah won’t be playing for NW against Nebraska.
When it’s Nebraska, Rutgers, and Penn State that are being picked against it makes sense.
Purdue and Wisconsin tied at 24 at the half in Madison. Big Ten hoops is back!
It’s a shootout! Turnovers are the great neutralizer.
Do I tune in to this gruntfest or wait for a few nights to be totally disgusted? Might as well go in now. . .
Nice games by Hammons and Hayes. Rough offensive game for Wisconsin.
This one is setup perfectly for the vintage Iowa collapse. Hawkeyes lead 37-23 at the break.
Not tonight. Those boys on a mission to knock off #1
Was Bronson Koenig the most overrated player in the conference coming into the season?
Let this be a week of losses in football and basketball for Sparty.
Winning on the road… never easy.
Indiana and Rutgers tied at 34 at the break. Would be shocked if Rutgers pulled it off, but a good reminder about conference road games.
How long is Blackmon out? Max is having a great game against the smaller Rutgers frontcourt.
Max had 14/11 in the home finale last year too. No timeframe on Blackmon right now AFAIK.
Indiana’s turnover woes are inexcusable for a perimeter-oriented team with a senior PG.
A large part of that issue appears to be coaching. They have the talent.
Diamond Stone has arrived…32 and 12 right now against Penn State. Stone combined with Melo Trimble is a filthy combination, but if Trimble struggles (he’s 3 of 15 including back-to-back threes) then Marlyand can be a bit vulnerable. Currently on a 15-2 run to tie the game at 60 with 3:12 to play on ESPN2.
Michigan State gone beat down by Iowa.
Maryland struggled mightily with Penn St.
Purdue struggled with a bad Wisconsin team.
Indiana struggled with a terrible Rutgers team.
Ohio State in a dog fight with Minnesota in Columbus. Buckeyes were up big early but game is tied 39-39 with 16:49 to play (BTN).