Big Ten Basketball November 27 Recaps, Previews, and Open Thread

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

All numbers via Torvik. All predictions not financial advice.

Yesterday's Games

USC Trojans 88, Arizona State Sun Devils 75

BoilerUp89: The Trojans won Maui and did so without beating a likely NCAA Tournament team. Still, it's a good win for Muss and the Trojans have renamed undefeated.

Kind of...: Yep. Wild you can win the Maui Invitational and still not really know who you are as a team. Go to hell Players Era.

Iowa Hawkeyes 59, Grand Canyon Antelopes 46

MaximumSam: Now this is the kind of score everyone was expecting from the Ben McCollum era.

Kind of...: Yep. Iowa's last three games have had 61, 64, and 60 possessions. They're now 359 in tempo. Last year, Drake was last, slower than second-slowest by over a full possession. So, Iowa has plenty of room to "improve."

Michigan Wolverines 101, Gonzaga Bulldogs 61

AlmaOtter: Hide the children. The battlestation is fully operational. Director Krennic is doing his thing.

MaximumSam: Michigan is King of the Mountain when it comes to soulless cash grabs.

Kind of...: Some dipshit said he like Gonzaga to win. I'm sure BoilerUp89 will dock his pay.

Does this mean Wake Forest is 39 points better than Gonzaga?

BoilerUp89: The real question is what does it say about Maryland?

Alabama Crimson Tide 105, Maryland Terrapins 72

MaximumSam: Alabama was up double digits five minutes and it just got worse from there. Honestly, with the midnight tip, nice of these teams to allow everyone to go about their business right away.

Kind of...: Buzz recently got a huge recruiting commitment. Maybe keep an eye on that as the year unfolds.

Today's Big Ten Games

#20 North Carolina Tarheels (16, 6-0) v. #16 Michigan State Spartans (11, 6-0)

Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach Division
4:30 ET, FOX

BoilerUp89: The MTE final the the organizers manufactured. UNC/MSU. The Tarheels have been better than I expected preseason but so has MSU.

MaximumSam: The Tar Heels have some big bodies, including vowel loving Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar. They do not have Seth Trimble, who broke his arm when while weightlifting. For the gainz!

Kind of...: Very nice late afternoon matchup. Izzo has a couple of big wins over Duke in the NCAAs, but UNC has always had his number (though I do recall Zach Randolph lighting up the Dean Dome during the B1G/ACC challenge in 2000). Good measuring stick. MSU seems the likeliest team to grab the last first round bye at the B1G tournament (I still think Illinois is clearly better and not far off Purdue/Michigan), but Indiana and Iowa are right there. (Wisconsin, too, if we go by playground rules. Their defense sucks, but with make it, take it, they might have a chance.)

#49 Oregon Ducks (4-2), v. #39 Creighton Bluejays (3-3)

Players Era
2 ET, truTV

BoilerUp89: Dana Altman v Creighton. Neither team has looked particularly impressive. Creighton cant play defense. That probably shouldn't be too surprising given that they brought two players in from Frans Iowa.

MaximumSam: How the hell is this thing still on? Wasn't the championship yesterday?

Kind of...: Two desperate teams. In KenPom, this is #60 vs. #82, so, if nothing else, keep that in mind the next time somebody intimates that it's all basically the same formula. I'm with KenPom on this. Oregon has looked dreadful and Creighton not much better.

#102 UNLV Running Rebels (3-4) v. #133 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-3)

Players Era Festival
4:30 ET, truTV

BoilerUp89: This is the last place game, right?

MaximumSam: Maybe this is like contractual punishment. The good teams get to leave early. The worst teams have to play on Thanksgiving then pay full price for the buffet.

Kind of...: No idea if it was set up that way, but it's definitely how it worked out. Going by the international approach (record, then point differential), Oregon/Creighton is the 15/16 game and this is the 17/18 game. Maryland was 13. So, basically, the B1G performance at this event was Thanos and the Three Stooges.

And Iowa State went 2-0, but finished 5th and had to play #14 for some freaking reason.

#55 Washington Huskies (4-1) v. #120 Nevada Wolf Pack (4-2)

Acrisure Holiday Classic
4:30 ET, CBSSN

MaximumSam: Steve Alford is still kicking around Nevada. They lost by 15 to the only top 100 team they've played, so hopefully Washington can work out the kinks. Watch out for big man Joel Armotrading, who seems like he's destined for illicit arms dealing in the future.

Kind of...: Steve Alford has 626 career wins in D-I. He's 41st all time. He's 61, so could, conceivably (but probably not), get to 750 or so. That would put him near the top 20 all-time. He is this era's Cliff Ellis.

#32 Wisconsin Badgers (4-1) v. #70 Providence Friars (4-2)

Rady Children's Invitational
5:30 ET, FS1

BoilerUp89: Wisconsin got flat out embarrassed by BYU last time out. This is an opportunity to redeem themselves against an iffy Providence squad before getting flat out embarrassed by Florida.

Kind of...: Remember when Wisconsin was boring and slow-paced? Well, that's no longer the case. But "defensive ability" seems to have been part of the tradeoff. Important couple of days for Wisconsin. The four games after the mini-tournament: vs. Northwestern, vs. Marquette, @Nebraska, Villanova. Should be 3-1 at worst, but things could go sideways really quickly.

#100 Stanford Cardinal (4-1) v. #86 Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-2)

Acrisure Invitational
9:30 ET, CBSSN

BoilerUp89: The Gophers have been really shaky as of late but Stanford is a winnable opponent.

Kind of...: Gopher fans will have to be patient with Medved's rebuild. But a win today would help with that.

#41 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0) v. #52 Northwestern Wildcats (5-1)

CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic. Chicago
10:30 ET, BTN

BoilerUp89: A "neutral site" game at the United Center. Steve Lutz has Oklahoma State looking improved in year 2 but they haven't been fully tested yet. Their best opponents have been rebuilding Texas A&M and South Florida.

Kind of...: REALLY important game for Northwestern's at-large hopes. 1-1 at the ballroom in West Virginia was not fatal, but the win over South Carolina was harder than it should've been. I was really down on NW from the jump this year. Then, seeing what Page (and Reid) brought to the table, I probably over-corrected. They will probably finish higher in the B1G standings than I thought, but more because of the issues in Eugene and College Park than anything good in Evanston. Win this and let's talk.

Thursday's Non-Big Ten Games of Interest

ESPN Events Invitational - Imagination Bracket

#110 Richmond Spiders (5-0) v. #173 Furman Paladins (3-3), 11 AM, ESPN2
#190 Charlotte 49ers (3-3) v. #98 Illinois State Redbirds (4-2), 1:30 ET, ESPN2

Kind of...: One top 100 team? There are limits to everybody's ability to pay attention.

ESPN Events Invitational - Magic Bracket

#15 BYU Cougars (9, 4-1) v. #42 Miami Hurricanes (5-1), 5 ET, ESPN
#74 Georgetown Hoyas (5-0) v. #82 Dayton Flyers (5-1), 7:30 ET, ESPN2

Kind of...: There were spots in the BYU thrashing against Wisconsin where I thought AJ Dybantsa could score 40 any time he wanted. And then he'd commit an incredibly dumb foul. I'm still really high on him overall. Better version of Ace Bailey is the floor. 80-90% of Durant is probably the ceiling.

Battle 4 Atlantis - Day 2

#17 Vanderbilt Commodores (24, 6-0) v. #50 VCU Rams (4-2), 12 ET, ESPN
#63 Virginia Tech Hokies (6-0) v. #28 St. Mary's Gaels, 2:30 ET, ESPN
#139 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (4-1) v. #65 South Florida Bulls (3-3), 5:30 ET, ESPN
#88 Colorado State Rams (4-2) v. #104 Wichita St. Shockers, 8 ET, ESPN

Kind of...: Good stuff. I would love to see a Vandy/Saint Mary's final, but both VCU and Virginia Tech are quality opponents. Just a couple of good semifinals here to kick off your day.

Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach Division

#126 St. Bonaventure's Bonnies (5-1) v. #227 East Carolina Pirates (2-4), 12 ET, FS1

Kind of...: No reason to watch this instead of Vandy/VCU

Acrisure Holiday Classic

#58 San Francisco Dons (5-1) v. #85 Colorado Buffaloes (5-0), 2 ET, CBSSN

Kind of...: Very little reason to watch this instead of Saint Mary's/Virginia Tech (unless you're a scout for Saint Mary's).

Rady Children's Invitational

#66 TCU Horned Frogs (3-2) v. #10 Florida Gators (10, 4-1), 3 ET, FS1

Kind of...: TCU hung with Michigan, so don't write this one off. But Florida should roll.

Acrisure Invitational

#59 Santa Clara Gaels (6-0) v. #61 Saint Louis Billikens (5-0), 7 ET, CBSSN

Kind of...: Ooooooh!!! Real-deal at-large implications here. And a chance to check in on former Indiana State Sycamore Robbile Avila (i.e., "Cream Abdul-Jabbar") This should be worthwhile.

CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic

#2 Duke Blue Devils (4, 7-0) v. #25 Arkansas Razorbacks (22, 5-1)

Kind of...: Duke. Calipari. Hard pass.