The Big Ten has three games on Saturday, highlighted by two challenging matchups for Minnesota and Penn State. Illinois will also look to bounce back from its loss to Alabama.
Let’s take a look at the schedule.
Game of the Day:
-Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Providence Friars
- Time/TV: 4:00 PM ET (truTV)
- KenPom Spread: Providence by 2
It’s been a fun run so far for the Nittany Lions. While the team hasn’t faced a challenging slate, the team reeled off five wins to start the season, including two away from home. And the difficulty of those matchups has been picking up, rising from a team outside the top 350 on KenPom to Harvard
earlier this week.
On Saturday, Penn State will face its toughest task, with Providence in Connecticut. It’s a massive opportunity for the Nittany Lions to take another step forward and score a legitimate resume-building win. The Friars are currently 70th on KenPom, which is 90 spots higher than Penn State’s toughest opponent to date and 19 spots higher than Penn State itself. As such, it figures to be quite a challenge.
The Friars enter Saturday’s contest sitting at 3-2, with losses to Virginia Tech and Colorado earlier in the same. However, both losses were relatively competitive, including an overtime loss to the Hokies, and each of the games came away from home. The team is led by guard Jason Edwards, who’s putting together a pretty solid season so far. To date, Providence has been an offensive-led squad, who relies extensively on its interior game.
If Penn State is going to pull off this upset, it’s going to take a big game for Kayden Mingo. The young freshman has been playing well to date, but this is probably his most challenging matchup of the season so far. If he can handle it well, it could signal big things for Mingo ahead. It’s also a big opportunity for Ivan Juric and Sasa Ciani down low. Providence isn’t a massive team and only gets mixed contributions upfront. Penn State should have an advantage there and needs to press it.
All told, this should be a competitive game that could go either way. However, Providence’s experience here makes us lean toward the Friars.
- Pick: Providence
The Rest:
-Long Island University Sharks at No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini
- Time/TV: 2:00 PM ET (B1G+)
- KenPom Spread: Illinois by 29
There shouldn’t be much drama to this one. Illinois enters this one ranked in the top 10, while Long Island is 276th nationally on KenPom and is coming off a 16-point loss to Fordham on Thursday. If Illinois plays anywhere near its potential, this should be an easy win. However, it should be a good look at the fortitude of Illinois this season, after the team’s tough loss to Alabama earlier in the week.
- Pick: Illinois
-Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. San Francisco Dons
- Time/TV: 5:30 PM ET (Peacock)
- KenPom Spread: San Francisco by 1
Through five games, most Gopher fans have to be feeling disappointed. Minnesota has largely underwhelmed to date, getting blasted by Missouri in its only game against a competent opponent this season and needing overtime to get past a horrid Green Bay squad last weekend. The results have been rough enough to drop the Gophers by 20 spots on KenPom in just a few weeks.
However, Minnesota has a chance to change the narrative on Saturday, as the Gophers head to Sioux Falls to face off against a feisty San Francisco squad. On paper, the game looks evenly matched. The Dons enter at 4-1, but also don’t have a great win on their resume to date. As such, it figures to be a pivotal moment for both sides.
The key for the Gophers is going to be defending the perimeter. San Francisco is 34th nationally in percentage of team points from three-point range and the team is shooting 39.8 percent from deep. Ryan Beasley has been solid in the backcourt and David Fuchs has been a beast upfront. The pressure will be on Robert Vaihola to hold his own there. If he can, Cade Tyson can go to work against what projects as a vulnerable wing group. Expect a close game.
- Pick: San Francisco
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Picks Record This Season: 10-1
