Big Ten Basketball Weekly Newsletter 11/4-11/10
The first week of Big Ten hoops is in the books. How did all 18 teams fare?
College basketball is FINALLY back as we got our first real week of action! The Big Ten is going to Big Ten this year. Basically every single team showed good and bad moments, and the middle of the Big Ten probably got even murkier. The first week is always tough though. Do you put a lot of stock into the first week games and ignore thoughts coming into the season? Do you take note of the games but hold onto priors more? Do you just throw the teams at a dartboard and order them that way (it feels like this would be just as effective).
Most importantly, college basketball is back though. There were a couple good games last week, but one concerning sign is that the Big Ten did not do great in important non-conference games. By my count, there were 5 non-buy games, and the Big Ten went 1-4 in them (OSU over Texas). For the past few years, the nation would complain why the Big Ten got so many March bids. The reason came from the Big Ten completely dominating the non-conference slate. They’ll have an opportunity to do just that this week.
Last week results
Monday - November 4th
Purdue 90 - Texas A&M Corpus Christi 73
Maryland 79 - Manhattan 49
Michigan State 81 - Monmouth 57
Penn State 108 - Binghamton 66
Illinois 112 - Eastern Illinois 67
Iowa 89 - Texas A&M-Commerce 67
Michigan 101 - Cleveland State 53
Nebraska 87 - Texas Rio Grande Valley 67
Northwestern 90 - Lehigh 46
Wisconsin 85 - Holy Cross 61
USC 77 - Chattanooga 51
Ohio State 80 - Texas 72
Oregon 91 - UC Riverside 76
UCLA 85 - Rider 50
Tuesday - November 5th
Washington 79 - UC Davis 73
Wednesday - November 6th
Rutgers 75 - Wagner 52
Indiana 80 - SIUE 61
Minnesota 80 - Oral Roberts 57
Thursday - November 7th
Iowa 89 - Southern 74
Michigan State 96 - Niagara 60
Wisconsin 79 - Montana State 67
USC 75 - Idaho State 69
Friday - November 8th
Penn State 103 - UMBC 54
Purdue 72 - Northern Kentucky 50
Illinois 90 - SIUE 58
Maryland 86 - Mount St. Mary’s 52
Oregon 79 - Montana 48
UCLA 64 - New Mexico 72
Saturday - November 9th
Minnesota 68 - Nebraska Omaha 64
Northwestern 66 - Dayton 71
Nebraska 63 - Bethune-Cookman 58
Washington 53 - Nevada 63
Sunday - November 10th
Wisconsin 87 - Appalachian State 56
Michigan 70 - Wake Forest 72
Indiana 90 - Eastern Illinois 55
Upcoming Schedule (11/11 - 11/17)
***NOTE - ALL TIMES LISTED IN EASTERN TIME***
Games of the Week
Purdue vs Alabama - Friday Nov 15
Michigan State vs Kansas - Tuesday Nov 12
Ohio State @ Texas A&M - Friday Nov 15
Michigan vs TCU - Friday Nov 15
Maryland vs Marquette - Friday Nov 15
Indiana vs South Carolina - Saturday Nov 16
Monday - November 11th
Ohio State vs Youngstown State - 6:00 - Big Ten Network
Maryland vs Florida A&M - 7:00 - Big Ten Plus
Rutgers vs St. Peter’s - 7:00 - Big Ten Plus
Purdue vs Yale - 8:00 - Big Ten Network
UCLA vs Boston - 10:00 - Big Ten Network
Tuesday - November 12th
Michigan State vs Kansas (Neutral) - 6:30 - ESPN
Northwestern vs Illinois Chicago - 7:00 - Big Ten Network
Penn State vs Saint Francis - 7:00 - Peacock
Iowa vs South Dakota - 9:00 - Big Ten Network
Oregon vs Portland - 11:00 - Big Ten Network
Wednesday - November 13th
Minnesota vs North Texas - 8:00 - Big Ten Plus
Nebraska vs FDU - 8:00 - Big Ten Plus
Illinois vs Oakland - 9:00 - Big Ten Network
Washington vs Seattle Pacific - 10:00 - Big Ten Plus
USC vs UT Arlington - 11:00 - Big Ten Network
Thursday - November 14th
None :(
Friday - November 15th
Michigan vs TCU - 6:00 - FS1
Rutgers vs Monmouth - 6:30 - Big Ten Network
Purdue vs Alabama - 7:00 - Peacock
Penn State vs Virginia Tech (Neutral) - 7:30 - Peacock
Maryland vs Marquette - 8:00 - FS1
Northwestern vs Eastern Illinois - 8:00 - Peacock
Iowa vs Washington State (Neutral) - 8:30 - Big Ten Network
Ohio State @ Texas A&M - 9:00 - SEC Network
Wisconsin vs Arizona - 9:00 - Peacock
UCLA vs Lehigh - 10:00 - Big Ten Plus
Saturday - November 16th
Indiana vs South Carolina - 3:00 - Peacock
Minnesota vs Yale - 4:00 - Big Ten Network
Michigan State vs Bowling Green - 6:00 - Big Ten Network
Sunday - November 17th
Nebraska vs Saint Mary’s (Neutral) - 1:00 - Big Ten Network
Oregon vs Troy - 5:00 - Big Ten Plus
USC vs California - 9:30 - Big Ten Network
Washington vs UMass Lowell - 10:30 - Big Ten Plus
Power Rankings
Tier 1
#1 - UCLA
#2 - Indiana
#3 - Illinois
#4 - Purdue
#5 - Oregon
Now if I was someone that completely ignored pre season priors, Illinois would be #1 and UCLA would drop a lot. I don’t ignore the games that have been played by any means, but I am someone that does hold onto priors for at least more than two buy games.
Tier 2
#6 - Rutgers
#7 - Michigan State
#8 - Michigan
#9 - Maryland
#10 - Iowa
#11 - Ohio State
Ohio State is the only team to move up a tier after their win against Texas. I still have a lot of questions surrounding them, but they showed what the ceiling can be. All of the teams in this tier to me could end up easily in tier one, but have a lot more questions to answer than the teams currently there. This was by far the hardest tier to rank for me. Truly feel for the most part that all of these teams could be switched around.
Tier 3
#12 - Penn State
#13 - USC
#14 - Northwestern
I really really really want to put Penn State higher. Another good week and I think they move up a tier for me. USC and Northwestern both have shown really promising signs but also have had moments where they do not look good. Northwestern getting Barnhizer back should help. These 3 teams all feel like teams that no one will want to play in Big Ten play.
Tier 4
#15 - Wisconsin
#16 - Washington
#17 - Minnesota
#18 - Nebraska
Wisconsin will have a big test this week going up against Arizona. I still don’t quite know if I trust them, but they went 3-0 with no final score scares. Washington, Minnesota, and Nebraska are 3 teams that were a few possessions away from having a very bad loss (USC also applies to this). I still think these teams are better than the teams usually at the bottom of the Big Ten, but it feels like they have a bigger hill to climb.
Power Rankings History
An accountability section, this just shows where I have the power rankings week to week. It is then easier to see my thought process throughout the year so that when the season ends, I can look back and try to see how to improve in my analysis.
Content from last week
Here is links to all of the content from the week. If you aren’t a paid subscriber and want access to all of my content, subscribe below!
My plan for content this week is:
6 game film breakdowns (1 free)
1 incoming freshman breakdown
1 free newsletter
Purdue vs Texas A&M CC Breakdown
Ohio State vs Texas A&m Breakdown
Indiana vs SIUE Breakdown
Rutgers vs Wagner Breakdown
Michigan State vs Niagara Breakdown
I also have some videos covering college basketball on my Youtube for FREE
Follow me on Twitter for just overall commentary throughout the week
Set of the week
USC - Wide Touch Pindown
A very simple set, but an effective one. USC starts with a Wide Pindown immediately followed by Touch, the toss back to the guard. This frees up the half of the floor for Saint Thomas to come off of a pindown up the gut. Idaho State puts two near the ball and Thomas has a great drop off pass to Cohen on the roll.
Notes from the week
This is just the space for me to put out anything that I want. I’ll try to generally have something on each team every week.
ILLINOIS (2-0)
Kasparas Jakucionis is so so good. This offense is so so good. And the defense at least looked good against competition it should look good against. Only one game for Illinois this upcoming week against Oakland. Illinois looks like they’ll have a ton of scoring options and this offense is going to be tough to stop.
INDIANA (2-0)
The final score of the game against Eastern Illinois was 90-55. The halftime score was 36-37. Mackenzie Mgbako looks like he is absolutely taking the 2nd year leap, and Ballo + Reneau will be able to over power teams at times. I’m concerned with how Myles Rice has been used. Only 3 shot attempts in the 2nd game, although he had 5 assists. I want to see IU run more stuff to get him looks to create.
IOWA (2-0)
The offense looks like an Iowa offense. Both Payton and Pryce Sandfort are going to be electric shooters. Very happy to see that at least so far, Iowa is putting up a ton of threes as opposed to the mid range shots they put up last year. This defense needs Seydou Traore back and healthy.
MARYLAND (2-0)
Derik Queen dominated game one. Rodney Rice dominated game two. It was two games against teams that are much worse, but Maryland at least for now looks like they will be able to have more than just one player go and win them a game. This defense will once again be legit.
MICHIGAN (1-1)
They DOMINATED against Cleveland State and looked for a while that they might run away with the Wake Forest game, but ultimately lost. I am very much keeping my eye on the Wolf/Goldin pairing. What was worrisome is that in the Wake Forest game, it was the offense that didn’t look great between them.
MICHIGAN STATE (2-0)
MSU is going to be winning by committee. Some games it may be Jaden Akins going for 30, other games it may be someone off the bench like Kohler. I’d like to see Xavier Booker get involved more, he has upside to create. I’m also keeping my eye on Fidler in the starting lineup. I think there is a scenario soon where Jase Richardson or Tre Holloman are just too good to not start.
MINNESOTA (2-0)
Injuries are the worst. Frank Mitchell hurt his shoulder in the pre season and now Mike Mitchell hurt his leg. As of writing I don’t have updates on them. Minnesota’s offense felt very much like just asking Dawson Garcia to save them while everyone else stood around. Dawson Garcia is that good though, so it isn’t the worst strategy ever as he averaged an efficient 27 points per game. This is a very very important week. The Gophers play 2 of their 3-4 toughest non-conference opponents in North Texas and Yale.
NEBRASKA (2-0)
Nebraska did not look impressive in either game, letting both UT Rio Grande Valley and Bethune Cookman to hang around. I don’t love the starting lineup of both Berke and Meah. It feels like there is very minimal shooting in that lineup, in an offense predicated on spacing and freedom of movement. Connor Essegian and Gavin Griffiths are shooters, but they played the least amount of minutes of the 10 man rotation in game 2.
NORTHWESTERN (1-1)
Northwestern dominated Lehigh and looked like they were going to win against Dayton before they turned the ball over a ton. Northwestern has a few guards that are good, but they do lack a true point guard which hurt them. Getting Brooks Barnhizer back will help that a ton. Nick Martinelli in the mean time may just be the greatest player we have ever seen???
OHIO STATE (1-0)
Ohio State got the biggest win of the season, beating Texas on opening day. They shot 50% from 3 while taking nearly as many 3s as 2s. If the shooting somewhat holds, then I will end up having been too low on this team. The reason they aren’t ranked higher is I still don’t trust their big man room, and I’m skeptical the shooting holds. But Bruce Thornton is elite, Micah Parrish was a fantastic pickup, and Juni Mobley is legit. So far, OSU looks like the team I was most wrong about.
OREGON (2-0)
The big man duo of Nate Bittle and KJ Evans is going to be a lot of fun. Jackson Shelstad hasn’t had to score, but he does have 7 assists and 0 turnovers so far. I don’t have a ton of notes on them so far as they have looked how I’ve expected.
PENN STATE (2-0)
Penn State is good. Penn State is ranked #12 right now, but they should be ranked higher (I just don’t know who to put them over). They played two bad teams, but they won by an average of 45.5. Niederhauser is a very very legitimate big man, and I think this will eventually be a top 4 defense in the Big Ten.
PURDUE (2-0)
Who would’ve thought, Braden Smith is actually good at basketball and not just Zach Edey made. The offense has not been much of an issue for Purdue, but the defense is very worrisome. The big man room took a hit as it was announced Daniel Jacobsen will (most likely) redshirt the year after breaking his tibia. Does this mean we get TKR at the 5? Does that solve anything? Can any big emerge for Purdue?
RUTGERS (1-0)
Not a ton of notes on them as they only played one game and it was without Ace Bailey. Dylan Harper looked the part, and the rest of the team eventually got going, but there are going to be times that this team does struggle offensively.
UCLA (1-1)
UCLA looked dominant against Rider. Then they couldn’t score at all against New Mexico. Tyler Bilodeau looks like option #1 for UCLA offensively, which I thought he might all off season long. In the New Mexico game, UCLA won the rebounding battle and forced 24 turnovers. However, they had 21 TOs of their own, including 6 from Dylan Andrews. And they shot 15/32 from 2 and 5/23 from 3.
USC (2-0)
USC survived a scare against Idaho State. Rebounding is a major major concern for this team. Desmond Claude needs to get going and be more aggressive creating for himself and on the defensive end. He is 7th in usage rate on USC. Saint Thomas has gotten off to a good start, showing that he could lead the team.
WASHINGTON (1-1)
Great Osobor going 4/15 from the field during the week is far from ideal. The defense from Washington has looked solid, but they lack people to go consistently score if Osobor is struggling. The fix could be as simple as Osobor playing better, or there could end up being deeper offensive flaws with this team.
WISCONSIN (3-0)
Wisconsin didn’t look impressive in their first two games, but they looked a lot better in their 3rd game. Tonje has looked impressive, scoring 18 points a game. This is a team that is still very much figuring out the rotation and who they can trust on a game to game basis. They have a fun matchup this week with Arizona that hopefully will show more what this team is.
Games Watched
This is what I will call the 2nd accountability section. I may be wrong on numerous takes throughout the year, but I want to always at least be informed with my reasoning. This involves me watching and breaking down all 18 teams. So each week I’ll put up how many total games I have watched from every team.
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Keep up the good work though!