Big Ten Preview: Bottom Teams and Surprises

2 hours and 26 minutes

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1. Men's Basketball vs Oakland

Starts at :53

Everyone said "nice" at the halftime of this game. At first it didn't seem like the results meant much because Oakland looked really bad, but then they went and had a close game against Purdue. How much can you gather about Michigan fromhere? Trey McKenney was 6-8 from three and looked the part. He also had four assists and no turnovers, there were some Darius Morris qualities about him. Do they go with the very big rotation with Yaxel out? Will Tschetter seems to get more minutes when Yaxel is out, would like to see him step up as a four year player. Wake Forest was a bubble team last year and look like one this year, that game will tell us more about Michigan. 

2. Previewing Men's Basketball in the Big Ten

Starts at 21:31

In reverse Kenpom order

Penn State
They're bad.

Rutgers
How is this team even going to score a basket? They have seven teams scheduled in the 200s. 

Minnesota
Niko Medved's first year at Minnesota, but the roster does not look good. They'll compete with Rutgers and Penn State for the bottom spot.

Oregon
35th in the preseason but have fallen considerably after a one point win over Hawaii and a four point win over Rice. They have a transfer from Elon, the Oregon NIL budget must be focusing on football. 

Maryland
The only Big Ten team with a loss. They shot terribly against Georgetown and were only in it because they scored 30 points off of free throws. 

Northwestern
They bring back Nick Martinelli, the guy who makes the worst shots you've ever seen (complimentary). They've blown out Mercyhurst and Boston, which would be impressive if it was hockey. Their center looks like Elvis.

Washington
Very young team starting two freshmen and two sophomores. 

Nebrasketball
Sam Hoiberg is still playing a majority of minutes, but at least the mustache is gone. They bring in the Icelandic Unicorn. 

Iowa
Ben McCollum's first year. Tavion Banks looked great at Drake last year but will probably hit a wall against the Big Ten. 

Ohio State
They beat IU Indianapolis 118-102, eek. They've retained a few players which is a big thing in college basketball now. 

Michigan State
More continuity and the best win in the Big Ten so far (69-66 over Arkansas). They're very experienced. They were awful at three point shooting a year ago and so far they're at 20% this year. This doesn't seem like a team that's going to win the league by three games but they didn't look like that last year. 

Indiana
Year one for Darian DeVries. They bring in a lot of new players and we don't know what to expect. This team is loaded with seniors. They're going to do what they do and then go away. 

UCLA
Mick Cronin is awesome, actually. How can a team starting Xavier Booker at center be? They have shooting but defense and rebounding are big questions. What if Mick Cronin yells at them more?

USC
Hey it's Terrance Williams. USC is surprisingly putting together a basketball program.

Wisconsin
They're 18th in Kenpom and looking at the roster doesn't make sense. There's no bench, either. 

Purdue
They bring back Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Fletcher Loyer is also back. Their 10 point win over Oakland was awkward. Jack Benter is an interesting freshman at guard. You can't second guess Matt Painter but they're missing their classic giant center that they build around. 

Illinois
This team is huge. They absolutely blew out Jackson State and Florida Gulf Coast. Pronounce Ivisic, or Petrovic, or Stojakovic, or Jakstsys. 
 

3. Hot Takes and Hockey Updates

Starts at 1:15:30

Takes hotter than the opposite of Kinnick Stadium, that looked miserable. Michigan split with Wisconsin over the weekend in a return to reality series. But it felt like worse than a split for what got exposed. Michigan couldn't get out of their zone but most teams on the schedule won't be able to replicate what Wisconsin did. Goalie Jack Ivankovic also just had a bad weekend which happens. Friday was such a fun game that was getting ruined by piped in music. They're being told to turn it down. Wisconsin seemed to really get under Michigan's skin and the frustration came out. The Big Ten is one of the best hockey leagues in the world and the league barely broadcasts games. 
 

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac

Starts at 1:45:28

Indiana 27, Penn State 24 
Absolutely bonkers ending. The final two catches were amazing. This game raised questions about Indiana's ability to block next-level guys. Mendoza was pressured on 50% of dropbacks. Penn State did start the season with a group of players you would've thought would do that, though. All Penn State quarterbacks are now "The Grunk". Indiana was 2-25 against Penn State coming into this game and this was their first ever win in Happy Valley, the feels are still amazing for Hoosiers fans. 

Oregon 18, Iowa 16
Oregon went into Kinnick during a rain storm and got almost the full Iowa experience (except that the safety happened to Iowa). The only stat that matters is that Oregon survived a November night(ish) game in Kinnick, survive and advance in that scenario. 

Wisconsin 13, Washington 10
Played in similar conditions as Oregon vs Iowa, except this game sucked! Wisconsin's lead passer was the punter. This was a Big Ten West game and someone had to lose. If this wasn't in a sleet storm then Demond Williams probably gets more than 134 passing yards. 

Nebraska 28, UCLA 21
Nebraska QB TJ Lateef goes 13/15 for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dylan Raiola who? This was a very Big Ten game with limited possessions because both teams ran the ball a lot. Nebraska goes through so many running backs but might've finally found a guy.

Rutgers 35, Maryland 20
Rutgers' running back Antwan Raymond rushed for 240 yards but Rutgers got outrushed. Maryland had six explosive plays and had a -0.4 EPA outside of those. Rutgers rescued their bowl hopes.

USC 38, Northwestern 17
The boxscore is a blowout. USC had a fake punt pass that wasn't even legal. Why did they pull that out against Northwestern? It was close at the time.

Ohio State 34, Purdue 10
merp

MUSIC:

• "Feel For Love"—Michigan Rattlers
• "What's It All Mean"—Philharmonik
• "Sin Triangle"—Sidney Gish
• “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra