The Big Ten picks back up tonight with four games throughout the night, with a pair of conference games and two non-conference games bookending the night.
Villanova at #2 Michigan Wolverines
- Time/TV: 6:30 PM ET FS1
- Line: Michigan -15.5
Michigan kicks off the night with a home game against 7-1 Villanova. Michigan climbed further up the rankings up to #2 and will look to continue building momentum. The Wolverines won this weekend with a 41 point home win over Rutgers. Their opponent today is a Villanova team that has won seven straight games since their season opening loss to BYU.
Of course those last seven wins have been mainly against mid-majors. Their defense is just outside the top 50 and the Wildcats run a slow tempo, a vast difference with Michigan’s top 20 tempo and 11th ranked offense.
Michigan has been a bit turnover prone, but they’ve made up for it with a highly prolific offense. In the lone game against a ranked team Villanova was held to 66 points. The Wolverines simply have too much of an offensive advantage here to drop a non-conference game tonight.
Pick: Michigan
#13 Illinois Fighting Illini at Ohio State Buckeyes
- Time/TV: 7:30 PM ET Peacock
- Line: Illinois -3.5
Illinois opens up league play tonight on Peacock with a road trip to Ohio State. The Illini have lost a pair of games, though both were against highly ranked opponents. Entering off of a 13 point win against Tennessee, Illinois will look to open up 2-0 in league play this week against Ohio State and Nebraska. Ohio State has has a bit of an up-and-down to start the season even if they enter at 7-1. They bounced back nicely from a loss to Pitt with a win against Northwestern 86-82 on Saturday.
The Buckeyes are shooting 53% from the field and averaging 88.4 points per game, though a lot of the higher scoring games have came against weaker competition. An 86 point performance against Northwestern was nice, but the Buckeyes have also been held to 66 and 64 points by Pitt and Notre Dame. Against an Illinois offense ranked by KenPom inside the top 10 and has shown the ability to score against elite opposition, the Buckeyes offense is likely going to be overmatched by a much more consistent Illini squad.
Ohio State does hold the advantage of playing in Columbus, but the Illini have the better offense and defense. As long as the Illini play like they have the first month of the season they should be more than capable of winning tonight.
Pick: Illinois
Penn State Nittany Lions at Indiana Hoosiers
- Time/TV: 8:30 PM ET FS1
- Line: Indiana -13.5
In the second conference game of the night the Hoosiers will look to pick up their first win of the conference season. It’s been a rough week for the Hoosiers, with a surprising nine point loss at Minnesota last week followed by a loss to Louisville over the weekend. Now the Hoosiers sit at 7-2 with their best win being either 5-5 Marquette or 5-4 Kansas State, neither of which is looking good the past couple of weeks.
Penn State hasn’t been particularly great even with an 8-1 record, having issues with Campbell in their lone game last week. The Nittany Lions don’t have any marquee wins, either, and now head to Bloomington before hosting Michigan State over the weekend. Also of note is a defense ranked 166th in the country.
The Hoosiers offense has been a bit lackluster after a fiery three game start to the season. Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson have been strong out the gate, but the Hoosiers need more consistent production elsewhere. A home game against a weak Penn State defense tonight could provide an opportunity to get things back up and running.
Pick: Indiana
USC Trojans at San Diego
- Time/TV: 9:00 PM ET ESPN2
- Line: USC -16.5
In the nightcap USC will hit the road for a rare road game against a mid-major in San Diego. The game serves as a homecoming for former San Diego alum and current USC head coach Eric Musselman. The Trojans enter tonight coming off of their first loss of the season with an eight point defeat at home to Washington. Chad Baker-Mazara has led the team in scoring the past three games, averaging 23 points per game. San Diego has dropped their past four games, including a 17 point loss to San Jose State over the weekend. The Toreros enter tonight ranked 264th in the KenPom ratings. Look for USC to get back on track tonight with a win.
Pick: USC
