Big Ten Basketball: February 14 - Love Hurts

Do you love your college basketball unconditionally? Does it break your heart every March anyway? Welcome to the club!

Last Night's Game

Wisconsin Badgers 92, Michigan State Spartans 71

Unlike the roads wins over Michigan and Illinois, this one didn't have a "drawing an inside straight" feel to it. No, Wisconsin pretty much whupped up on Sparty, largely by hitting a high % (43) of a high volume (35 attempts) of threes. Boyd and Blackwell combined for 53 points (including 9 of the 15 3's) and Wisconsin's frontcourt played MSU's to a draw, at worst. Bad combination for the Spartans.

Today's Games

#38 UCLA Bruins (17-7, 9-4) at #1 Michigan Wolverines (23-1, 13-1)

12:45 ET, CBS

BoilerUp89: Weird start time. UCLA is going to get murdered on the boards.

MaximumSam: Will Mick Cronin instinctively try to bench Aday Mara?

Kind of...: "on the boards" may be unnecessary. As for Cronin, he has Xavier Booker to bench now.

Today's random trivia. UCLA's first NCAA title was 1964. That was also Michigan's first Final Four appearance. The Wolverines have made 8 in total, and '64 is the only time they lost in the semis. So...Michigan is 7-1 in the semifinal round of the Final Four, and 1-6 in title games, with the only win coming on a really terrible call.

#64 Northwestern Wildcats (10-15, 2-12) at #12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (21-3. 10-3)

1 ET, BTN

BoilerUp89: Nebraska has lost three out of four, but is still off to the best start through 24 games in program history*. Can they bounce back from their fall on this slippery bit of the schedule?

*probably, I'm not bothering to look that up.

Kind of...: It is Nebraska's best record after 24 games ever (though the '91 team was 22-4). Yes, Nebraska, welcome to just being treated like a really good team, not a bunch of lovable upstarts. And you still have road games against Purdue and Michigan (and Indiana)!. Look, there's nothing wrong with 26-5/15-5. That's a 3-seed and being favored to make the Sweet 16. You'd match the '91 team! Who faceplanted against 14-seed Xavier.

Yep. Unless Michigan goes on a losing streak, Nebraska's regular season is pretty much done. It's all about the NCAA draw, and the Huskers winning a couple of games.

#119 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-14, 2-12) at #83 Oregon Ducks (8-16, 1-12)

3 ET, BTN

BoilerUp89: Last season this would have been an important game in the race for 15th. This year, it's just another game between Big Ten cellar dwellers. I assume Penn State's coach will be back because they aren't spending money on a basketball buyout, but is Altman's job truly safe or has this season thrown that into question?

Kind of...: I hate the phrase that a coach has "earned the right" to go out on their own terms, but I think Altman will be back (if he wants) given all the injuries. That said, Oregon is currently in sole possession of last place, and changing that would help.

Who had PSU going 2-0 out West on their bingo card? Call me what you want, but I find the bottom of the conference intriguing and think Tue and Wed at the BTT will reward attention being paid to it.

#8 Purdue Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3) at #23 Iowa Hawkeyes (18-6, 8-5)

5 ET, FOX

BoilerUp89: Oh fun. We get Iowa after they lost to Maryland. Darn it.

Kind of...: Rather suddenly, Wisconsin is in the mix for second place in the conference. That would probably require a win in West Lafayette, and road wins over Michigan and Illinois notwithstanding, that doesn't seem likely, especially on Senior Day. That said, the presumed tiers in the conference have been complicated over the last week or so. Purdue, Illinois, and Nebraska still seem like the three best teams after Michigan (and are definitely in line for the best seeds), but the division is less stark.

Iowa could've been looking at playing themselves into a tie for fourth with a win, but they stubbed their toe at Maryland. You can see your way to an Iowa win, but, boy, Purdue really should just feast on the glass. Or, more precisely, Iowa will commit to keeping Purdue off the offensive glass and basically acknowledge that they'll need to outshoot Purdue by a decent margin to win. That's basically what happened in the first game. Iowa hit 58% from 2 and 48% from 3. But Purdue attempted 12 more FTs, and that made the difference.

HoustonBoiler: Purdue should expect an angry kettle of hawks this afternoon in Iowa City. This will test Purdue as they will need defensive focus and a lot of energy. For Purdue to have a chance, they will need to rebound, limit their turnovers, and contain the dribble (defensive focus). I expect Iowa to come out with a lot of energy and to play hard after dropping one at Maryland.

#17 Virginia Cavaliers (21-3) v #40 The Ohio State Buckeyes (16-8)

8 ET, FOX
Nashville, Tennessee

BoilerUp89: Why is Ohio State playing UVA in February? In Nashville? What possible reason do they have for this? The Buckeyes seem likely to take a non-conference beating against a team playing very well. I'm just thinking here, but I can't help but think a bye weekend to rest up and regroup before playing Wisconsin, Michigan State, Iowa, and Purdue in a brutal, very important four game stretch would have been more valuable for OSU. Of course, if OSU wins, the victory helps them devalue the entire ACC late in the season. I still think the Buckeyes would have been better off playing this game in November before Virginia gelled and became good. As it is, there is a real possibility that OSU begins the start of a 5 game losing streak here.

MaximumSam: Hey man the Gabe Cupps bill doesn't pay itself.

HoustonBoiler: MaximumSam made a valid point.

Kind of...: It is a weird thing. Michigan/Duke? Cool. OSU/Virginia? Weird. Just weird. I found a Columbus Dispatch article that I'm not going to pay to read, but I think it was going to talk about the NCAA Tournament angle. Whatever. Good luck OSU. Better you than me. Have fun with all the bachelorette parties in Nashville. On Valentine's Day.

#51 Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-13, 4-9) at #46 Washington Huskies (12-13, 4-10)

9 ET, BTN

BoilerUp89: Which team still cares? I lean towards Minnesota because I believe in Medved getting thru to a team more than UDub's coach. The Huskies also have a bunch of short term mercenaries and a NBA draft pick (Steinbach) that are playing out the string.

Kind of...: With Maryland coming on, it's not even a guarantee that these two meet in the 12/13 game at the BTT. The guarantee I will give is that neither of these teams is getting any better than the 12 seed.

HoustonBoiler: The Huskies just lost at home to ... checks notes ... Penn State. Sure seems like they're just hanging out, waiting for their next belly rub - not to suggest that waiting for a nice belly rub is a bad thing.

Non-B1G Games of Interest

Sickos edition

#146 Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (11-14, 2-10) at #89 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-14, 2-10), Noon, the CW
#282 East Carolina Pirates (8-16, 3-6) at #205 Rice Owls (11-14, 5-7), 2 ET, ESPN+
#292 Western Michigan Broncos (8-16, 2-9) at #212 Eastern Michigan Eagles (9-16, 3-9), 2 ET, ESPN+
#320 Stetson Hatters (9-17, 5-9) at #238 FGCU Eagles (11-15, 5-9), 2 ET, ESPN+
#319 Albany Great Danes (8-17, 4-6) at #361 Binghamton Bearcats (5-21, 1-10), 4 ET, ESPN+
#324 North Florida Ospreys (6-20, 4-9) at #311 Jacksonville Dolphins (9-17, 4-9), 4 ET, ESPN+
#269 SELA Lions (8-17, 5-11) at #303 Northwestern State Demons (7-18, 5-11), 4:30 ET, ESPN+
#314 Northern Illinois Huskies (8-15, 3-8) at #279 Central Michigan (7-17, 3-8), 5 ET, ESPN+
#336 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (10-16, 5-10) at #341 Southern Indiana Screamin' Eagles (5-20, 2-13), 5 ET, ESPN+
#287 Brown Bears (7-15, 1-8) at #234 Dartmouth Big Green (10-12, 4-5), 6 ET, ESPN+
#207 Columbia Lions (14-9, 3-6) at #239 Princeton Tigers (8-16, 4-3), 6 ET, ESPN+

BoilerUp89: This is your collection of games between two teams at or near conference tournament cut-lines. It's an opportunity to the winner to pick up a game on head to head competition. For the losers, it could end or at least seriously damage their season. Watch at your own risk.

Kind of...: I'm pretty sure @BoilerUp89 was wearing a hairshirt as he prepared this section. Me? I'm with the hedonists. Hard pass.

HoustonBoiler: This is also a collection of games featuring local rivalry battles: the mitten (Western at Eastern), northern Florida (North Florida at Jacksonville), and upstate New York (Albany at Binghamton) as well as an eagle fight (Golden at Screamin'). Throw in #336 at #341 and #207 at #239 and you have yourselves a Sickos buffet! Right here! No need to watch any of those high-major matchups.

Regular edition

Clemson Tigers (20-5, 10-2) at Duke Blue Devils (22-2, 11-1), Noon ET, ESPN
Navy Midshipmen (20-6, 12-1) at Colgate Raiders (16-10, 10-3), Noon ET, CBSSN
Kansas Jayhawks (1-5, 9-2) at Iowa State Cyclones (21-3, 8-3), 1 ET, ABC
North Dakota State Bison (20-6, 10-1) at North Dakota Hawks (15-13, 9-3), 2 ET, CBSSN
Kentucky Wildcats (17-7, 8-3) at Florida Gators (18-6, 9-2), 3 ET, ABC
West Virginia Mountaineers (15-9, 6-5) at UCF (17-6, 6-5), 6 ET, FS1
Texas Tech Red Raiders (18-6, 8-3) at Arizona Wildcats (23-1, 10-1), 6:30 ET, ESPN
Yale Bulldogs (19-4, 7-2) at Harvard Crimson (14-9, 7-2), 6:30 ET, ESPNU/ESPN+
Memphis Tigers (12-12) at Utah State Aggies (21-3), 8 ET, CBSSN
Auburn Tigers (14-10, 5-6) at Arkansas Razorbacks (18-6, 8-3), 8:30 ET, ESPN
Texas Longhorns (15-9, 6-5) at Missouri Tigers (17-7, 7-4), 8:30 ET, ESPN2
Cal Baptist Lancers (19-6, 8-3) at Utah Tech (15-11, 8-4), 9 ET, ESPN+
Nevada Wolfpack (17-7, 9-4) at San Diego State Aztecs (17-6, 11-2), 10 ET, CBSSN
Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-2, 12-1) at Santa Clara Broncos (22-5, 13-1), 10:30 ET, ESPN

BoilerUp89: Some really good games. We start out at noon with a game that may effectively secure Navy the Patriot League regular season title. Then we have Kansas try to convince us that Iowa State isn't a real contender followed by a rivalry at the top of the Summit that comes the week that NDSU announces they are leaving for the greener pastures of FBS football. Texas Tech at Arizona is the next interesting game, but you'll need two screens so you can watch the battle for first place in the Ivy at the same time. We then take a short break before heading out west for Cal Baptist trying to hold off 2nd place Utah Tech in the WAC, Nevada trying to crash the party in San Diego, and Santa Clara trying to take the outright lead in the WCC over Gonzaga.

WVU/UCF is an interesting game for the bubble but is only included for that. Same with Auburn who needs to beat someone besides Florida. I'm not sure why Memphis and Utah State are playing in February but this has become a very dangerous game for the entire MWC.

Kind of...: We never published our final article in our writer's draft, but Clemson was my sleeper. Glad it didn't run after the home loss to VT. Here's their big chance. Gimme Duke by 15.

It really is a pretty damn good overall slate. Perfect day to work on your multiview/quad box skills. Gonzaga/Santa Clara deserves your full attention, though, and is a perfect way to cap things off.