Today is a short one for everyone’s favorite college basketball conference.
Tuesday’s jam-packed action of conference title contenders, a rivalry game and Michigan State’s close call on the road at Rutgers
is in the rearview mirror. Wednesday’s slate could offer some excitement, but none of the teams playing today are in realistic title contention. That doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting!
Let’s talk about it:
USC Trojans at Iowa Hawkeyes
- Time/TV channel: 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT, 4 p.m. PT (ugh!) on Big Ten Network
- KenPom spread: Hawkeyes by 9
This is one I’m headlining for the intrigue.
On one side of the court you have USC, a team that pushes the pace on offense with some real talent that’d probably be higher up on the conference latter if it weren’t for a smattering of injuries. On the other you have Iowa, a team that grounds the entire game to a near halt. Something’s gotta give.
The Trojans, even in their injured state, can hang with almost everybody in the league and even got a win at Wisconsin during their latest trip east. I think Iowa’s gonna prove too much to handle and will be able to dictate the terms of the game at home, but USC’s gonna make it more difficult than a lot of other teams would.
Minnesota Golden Gophers at Wisconsin Badgers
- Time/TV channel: 9 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network
- KenPom spread: Badgers by 8
Ah, a rivalry game.
This one’s weird though. Wisconsin’s about two rungs below the team it was last season and Minnesota has been… weird this year. The Barn is always a rough place for opposing teams to play for one reason or another but it lost some of that aura these past few seasons before getting it right back this year with home wins over Indiana and Iowa.
But this isn’t The Barn, it’s the Kohl Center. But Wisconsin just lost to USC at home. Again, weird.
That aside, I think the Badgers get back to their winning ways. The Gophers have lost five straight, including one to this very Wisconsin team at home (so much for that huh) but has kept it close in a few of those. But Wisconsin’s just a better team.
UCLA Bruins at Oregon Ducks
- Time/TV channel: 11 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. PST on Big Ten Network
- KenPom spread: Bruins by 2
Both of these teams are having pretty disappointing seasons.
For UCLA, it’s being a rung below the team some thought it could be. For Oregon… it’s just being outright bad. The Bruins sit with a decent record overall and in conference play with pretty understandable losses with the exception of falling to in-state sister program Cal but the Ducks are 8-12.
UCLA is a far better team. Even if it’s in Eugene, the Bruins should take this one.
