Republic of Open Threads: November 9th Basketball

Two Days Ago

Nebraska Cornhuskers 71, Creighton Bluejays 50

MaximumSam: The Huskers remain undefeated and won the Golden Runza behind Rienk Mast's 20 and Little Sam Hoiberg's 15.

Kind of...: THE NATION'S LONGEST WIN STREAK HAS HIT 13!!! Will that be unlucky for Nebraska? (I hope so...they play Wisconsin next.)

Today

#37 Villanova Wildcats at #1 Michigan Wolverines

6:30 pm, FS1

MaximumSam: In the past five games, Michigan's closest win was by 25 over Middle Tennessee State, and that includes games against Gonzaga and Auburn. Can Kevin Willard's Villanova squad break the trend? Tough to say - they've only played one top 100 team and that resulted in a five point loss to BYU.

Kind of...: Fun. Do you cheer for Michigan's deep pockets or Willard's mercenary nature?

#12 Illinois Fighting Illini at #27 Ohio State Buckeyes

7:30 pm, Peacock

MaximumSam: We'll see if the Buckeyes have anything for the Eastern bloc. Illinois hasn't forced many turnovers, which has been a problem for OSU so far this season. At center will be a battle of Germany and Croatia as Christoph Tilley takes on the Ivisic brothers.

Kind of...: KenPom says Illini by two. Still very early in the conference race, obviously, but if Illinois wants a double (triple?) bye, this would be a good road win to get. And if Ohio State wants to avoid the bubble (losing to Pittsburgh, ahem), this would be a good road win to get. Let's cheer for a watchable, high-scoring aff-...Peacock??? &^%*&&!#@!

#91 Penn State Nittany Lions at #24 Indiana Hoosiers

8:30 pm, FS1

MaximumSam: Pretty early for must win games, but Indiana starting off 0-2 in the conference with losses to Minnesota and Penn State would be pretty deflating.

Kind of...: There's nothing in Penn State's profile so far that really tells you if they're good or not. Fattened up on overmatched opponents and lost to Providence. But, they're now ranked higher than Maryland in KenPom, and are closing in on Oregon. Can the Nittany Lions dream of a top 14 finish and not having to play on Tuesday at the BTT? Maybe. But an Indiana loss here would still be a really bad development for Darian DeVries and Co.

#32 USC Trojans at #241 San Diego Toreros

9 pm, ESPN2

BoilerUp89: Musselman is a Torero. He played for San Diego a long time ago. After his freshman year the head coach departed. Muss applied for the position at just 19. He wasn't given the role and as a senior he helped the Toreros make the NCAA tournament. Despite his many coaching stops (and a few additional applications to be the San Diego head coach), this will be the first game Muss has coached at San Diego. In case you were wondering why USC was playing at San Diego.

Kind of...: Awesome tidbits @BoilerUp89. However..."helped the Toreros make the NCAA tournament" might be a bit strong. As a senior, the Mussel Man played 7 mpg and averaged 1.2 ppg, shooting under 20% (!) from the floor and under 60% from line. In their opening round loss to Auburn (an 8/9 game), he played two minutes, but did drill a three and commit a foul in a 62-61 loss.

BoilerUp89: He was by definition another coach on the floor. Or bench if you prefer.