Republic of Open Threads: December 22nd Basketball

Yesterday

Michigan Wolverines 102, La Salle Explorers 50

MaximumSam: I regret to inform you that La Salle was not the team to challenge the Michigan hegemony. May God have mercy on their souls.

Kind of...: Sometimes explores don't meet with glory.

HoustonBoiler: I'm not surprised as this La Salle team is not very good, having lost to lesser teams - Hofstra, Penn. Merrimack, LIU, and High Point.

Gonzaga Bulldogs 91, Oregon Ducks 82

MaximumSam: Nate Bittle and his glorious hair did what he could - 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks, but Oregon couldn't quite get within striking distance of Gonzaga. The Ducks fall to 6-6 and really need to scrape it together if they want a tourney bid.

Kind of...: We knew Penn State, Rutgers, and Minnesota would struggle. To one extent or another, the struggles of Maryland, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Oregon are more surprising. But put all seven in a bag and the best win of the season (and only win over a team that seems NCAA-bound) is...Minnesota's upset of Indiana. The bottom of the conference contains more teams than we thought.

Nebraska Cornhuskers 78, North Dakota Fighting Hawks 55

Kind of...: DO NOT MESS WITH THE NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK!!!

HoustonBoiler: Look for the combines to keep rolling into the new year when Sparty pays a visit.

Pitt Panthers 80, Penn State Nittany Lions 46

MaximumSam: Woof.

Kind of...: KenPom projected PSU to win by a point. Always seemed strange given that Pitt beat Ohio State. But there's no excuse for this Nits.

BoilerUp89: This was a huge embarrassment for Penn State. The Rhoades era isn't working. Too bad it will drag on for another 3 years.

USC Trojans 102, UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 63

Kind of...: Again, this was supposed to be USC vs. Brown up until the shooting. I would have to assume that was supposed to be some sort of West Coast sunny reward for Brown. Alas. UC Santa Cruz stepped in and was treated, well, a picture is worth 1,000 words:

Minnesota Golden Gophers 78, Campbell Fighting Camels 50

Kind of...: Laugh if you want, but Minnesota is clearly improving. Their next four conference games are @Northwestern, and an Iowa, USC, Wisconsin home stand. How big of a surprise would 2-2 be? No matter what you guess, it's less surprising than it would have felt two months ago.

HoustonBoiler: I agree that Minnesota is improving. Just getting to the mushy middle is an accomplishment.

Today

#152 Siena Saints at #20 Indiana Hoosiers

6 pm, BTN

MaximumSam: Remember when Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse won a national championship? That was only, uh, 22 years ago, and teammate Gerry McNamara now coaches Siena. They have yet to play a top 100 outfit, but they are improved in his second year. Syracuse may be watching closely.

Kind of...: Ugh. I don't know who I liked less: McNamara or Eric Devendorf. Each just screamed Syracuse/Boeheim in the same way that Wojo and Redick screamed Duke/Krzyzewski. I hope Indiana bombs away.

#45 Missouri Tigers v. #15 Illinois Fighting Illini

St. Louis
8 pm, FS1

MaximumSam: Ah, Braggin' Rights. Oh I'm sorry, our lawyers are telling us we must refer to this game as The McBride Homes Braggin' Rights Game. Because when I sit down to watch some basketball I am also thinking about building a home.

Kind of...: I'm sure @thumpasaurus is sweating this one, but Missouri has played an absolute joke of a schedule so far this year. Their 10-2 record becomes 1-2 when you remove all the teams ranked 200 or lower in KenPom. Do And one of the losses was to Notre Dame. (KenPom currently puts their SOS at 361 out of 365. Don't expect any love on Selection Sunday, Mizzou.)

"Yeah, but Mizzou will get up for this game," you say? I think they hate Kansas more than Illinois, and they lost to the Jayhawks by 20. Illinois needs to handle this.

BoilerUp89: Look Illini, I've defended you a lot this year. It's time for you to get your act together. Mizzou lost to Notre Dame. I know this is a rivalry game, but you need to win or I'm dropping you a tier in the B1G rankings.

#328 Central Michigan Chippewas at #48 Wisconsin Badgers

8 pm, BTN

Kind of...: You can safely ignore the Badgers until they beat an NCAA-tournament worthy team. Their earliest opportunity in 1/3/26 vs. Purdue, but likelier 1/6/26 vs. UCLA, or 1/25/26 vs. USC. Or maybe they won't this year because they're clearly broken. (Don't put in the paper that I'm mad.)

BoilerUp89: I will not ignore wisconsin.

#203 San Diego Toreros at #56 Washington Huskies

10 pm, BTN

Kind of...: I was going to joke that this is the bad San Diego (#222 in KenPom), not the good San Diego (the UC San Diego Tritons, who sit at #89 in KenPom). Except, well, this San Diego upset UC-San Diego last Friday. With Washington fresh off a loss to Seattle, they will probably take this games seriously. But they've already had some injuries, so if you can't fall asleep tonight, check in on the one early in the second half, just to be sure.

Non-B1G Games of Interest

Denver Pioneers (7-7) at Tulsa Golden Hurricane (11-1), 2nd half, ESPN+
Northern Iowa Panthers (9-2) at St. Mary's Gaels (10-2), 10 ET, ESPN+