The season is officially underway, and although no B1G teams have lost any shockers yet, there were a few close calls and a few high-level matchups over the weekend, headlined by No. 22 Michigan State’s
69-66 victory at the Breslin Center against No. 14 Arkansas.
Sunday was an action-packed day for the B1G teams near the bubble as Indiana faced off against Marquette and Washington ventured to Waco to take on Baylor. Through one week of the season, only two B1G teams (Maryland and Washington) have lost a game, although that will almost certainly change with more matchups against high-major opponents coming up this week.
Purdue – No. 1 Seed (No. 3 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 1 Seed (No. 3 overall)
Purdue is 2-0 and that’s all that really matters, but the Boilermakers are severely lacking in the style points department so far. Purdue beat Evansville 82-51 in its season opener thanks to 30 points from Fletcher Loyer and 11 assists from Braden Smith, and the margin of victory was pretty much even with expectations for that game. But the Boilermakers struggled to put away Oakland, who had lost by 43 to another B1G team in its opener (more on that in a second). The Golden Grizzlies actually matched Purdue through the first 20 minutes of the game, but after a 35-35 score at the half, the Boilermakers slowly pulled away with an eventual 87-77 win against Oakland. The extremely important footnote for the first week of the season is that Trey Kaufman-Renn still hasn’t appeared in a game. But Purdue plays No. 15 Alabama (who beat then-No. 5 St. John’s 103-96 on the road) on Thursday in Tuscaloosa and if TKR can’t suit up against the Crimson Tide, the Boilermakers will be on major upset alert.
Michigan – No. 2 Seed (No. 5 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 2 Seed (No. 5 overall)
In their season opener, the Wolverines tallied a program-record 69 points in the first half and defeated Oakland 121-78. The team was extremely effective offensively, but there are many great individual performances to find on the box score as well. North Carolina transfer Elliott Cadeau had 14 assists, Illinois transfer Morez Johnson Jr. had 24 points in 20 minutes and didn’t miss any two-point attempts and five-star freshman Trey McKenney had 21 points and four assists while knocking down six threes in his debut. Those three might have been the most impressive players, which is a great sign considering preseason AP All-American Yaxel Lendeborg wasn’t fully healthy. The Wolverines will need Lendeborg this week, however, as Michigan takes on two major-conference opponents (Wake Forest in Detroit and TCU in a true road game) that will certainly give Michigan more of a challenge than Oakland could.
Illinois – No. 3 Seed (No. 12 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 4 Seed (No. 13 overall)
Andrej Stojakovic has only played limited minutes off the bench in one game this season, and yet the Fighting Illini scored exactly 113 points in each of their first two games of the season. Illinois beat Jackson State 113-55 and FGCU 113-70, and five different players on the team are averaging more than 15 points per game, despite no one averaging over 28 minutes per game. The Illini have been incredibly efficient early this season, setting up an eye-popping Tuesday night home matchup with No. 11 Texas Tech on Tuesday night. Illinois has home-court advantage and a roster good enough to compete with the Red Raiders, and the Illini will soar even higher on the seed list if they can pick up an early-season signature win.
Michigan State – No. 4 Seed (No. 13 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 5 Seed (No. 19 overall)
The Spartans were doubted heading into the season after losing a ton of production from last year, but they looked as good as they always do last week. An 80-69 win over Colgate wasn’t entirely what the Spartans wanted, but they played much better in the game that really mattered over the weekend. Taking on then-No. 14 Arkansas, Michigan State utilized a great defensive performance to beat the Razorbacks 69-66, as Arkansas shot under 40% from the field and exactly 25% from three-point range in the loss. Freshman Cam Ward led the way offensively with an 18-point, 10-rebound night, and Coen Carr pitched in with 15 points and seven rebounds of his own, including another highlight-reel dunk. The Spartans have set themselves up well early in the non-conference season.
UCLA – No. 5 Seed (No. 20 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 4 Seed (No. 16 overall)
The Bruins, much like Purdue in a sense, are victims of not winning with enough style points. UCLA is 2-0, but an 80-74 win against Eastern Washington and a 74-63 win against Pepperdine are not impressive at all, especially considering the preseason expectations in Westwood. However, the Bruins just have one more buy game against West Georgia to put out a better product. If things don’t get a lot cleaner this week, this team just does not have what it takes to beat No. 13 Arizona, who already defeated the reigning national champions and third-ranked Florida Gators 93-87 on opening night. If UCLA does play better and escapes with a victory, though, the Bruins will have a jump on the seed list much bigger than this week’s drop.
Indiana – No. 7 Seed (No. 25 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 Seed (No. 32 overall)
The Hoosiers set the tone for the season early with a 98-51 win against Alabama A&M, and while the margin of victory in that game was impressive, the real test was last night against Marquette, who has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons. The Hoosiers got an A+ on that test, shooing the Golden Eagles out of the United Center with a 100-77 victory. Tucker DeVries scored 24 of Indiana’s 56 first-half points, while Lamar Wilkerson and Trent Sisley combined for 26 of the Hoosiers’ 54 second-half points. Sam Alexis also chipped in with 13 points off the bench in what could be a Quad-1 win by the end of the season. Indiana looks like an unexpected early threat to the top of the B1G.
Wisconsin – No. 7 Seed (No. 27 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 6 Seed (No. 24 overall)
The Badgers played very clean games in their first two games of the season. Wisconsin beat Campbell 96-64 and beat Northern Illinois 97-72, meeting the expectations of fans heading into the season. Nick Boyd and John Blackwell are both averaging 23.0 points per game this season in the backcourt, and big men Nolan Winter (14.5 PPG) and Austin Rapp (10.5 PPG) have supplemented the backcourt scoring very well so far. The Badgers have two more tune-up games before a clash with a lethal BYU team, so they could drop a few spots between now and then, but that game will be the true litmus test for Wisconsin.
USC – No. 8 Seed (No. 29 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 Seed (No. 29 overall)
The Trojans have a roster stacked with veterans and each of them are filling their roles very well so far. USC’s season-opener was a 94-64 win where five players – Ezra Ausar, Jacob Cofie, Chad Baker-Mazara, Rodney Rice and Jaden Brownell – all scored in double-figures, including 20-plus point efforts by Ausar, Cofie and Rice. In the Trojans’ second game of the season, a 114-83 win against Manhattan, the same players repeated double-digit outputs, while Terrance Williams II (10 points) and Jordan Marsh (11 points) joined the scoring party. However, Baker-Mazara’s career-high 26 points headlined the night. The balanced scoring will likely continue, and the ability to utilize multiple guys as the go-to based on whoever has the hot hand any night could go a long way this season for the Trojans.
Ohio State – No. 8 Seed (No. 30 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 Seed (No. 30 overall)
If their first two games of the season are any indication, the Buckeyes are going to score at an elite level this season. Kenpom already has the Ohio State offense ranked No. 13 in the country (ahead of top-ten ranked teams like Houston and Michigan), and it’s easy to see why. The Buckeyes beat IU Indy 118-102 on opening night of the season powered by 28 points from Santa Clara transfer Christoph Tilly, 26 points from Bruce Thornton and 22 points from Devin Royal. Against Purdue Fort Wayne, Bruce Thornton dropped a career-high 38 points as Ohio State cruised to a 94-68 victory. Next Sunday will be a good test for the Buckeyes as they take on Notre Dame in a repeat matchup of last year’s CFP National Championship Game, and for just the fifth time in the basketball program’s history.
Oregon – No. 8 Seed (No. 32 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 7 (No. 25 overall)
I have already mentioned a few teams lacking style points in tight victories so far, but that would misrepresent the truth for the Ducks, because they have genuinely grinded to get to 2-0. Oregon has won its first two games by five points combined. The Ducks beat Hawai’i in their season opener 60-59 after Takai Simpkins hit a runner with just 4.2 seconds left in the game. The Rainbow Warriors will contend in the Big West this season, but Oregon just can’t set the tone for the season by blowing 14-point leads halfway through the second half to teams it should be cruising by. The Ducks’ second game saw the return of Jackson Shelstad to the lineup, but Oregon still only squeezed out a 67-63 win against Rice. Oregon has performed ugly according to the early eye test, but as Shelstad gets healthier, it should continue to improve as a team.
Iowa – No. 9 Seed (No. 33 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 9 Seed (No. 33 overall)
The Hawkeyes beat Robert Morris 101-69 in their season opener and followed it up with a 77-58 win against Western Illinois on Friday night. Ben McCollum’s formula for success at Iowa has worked perfectly so far, and there are no reasons to believe it will slow down any time soon. Will the Hawkeyes score 100 in another game this season? Probably not. But scoring 101 points in 69 possessions (1.46 points per possession for those who like math) is ridiculous, regardless of opponent. Through the first two games of the season, there is not a single team that plays at a slower pace than Iowa, according to Kenpom’s adjusted tempo metric, and yet here the Hawkeyes are. Xavier visits Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night in a game that Iowa should be able to win pretty comfortably, but the Musketeers are a good early test for this squad.
Washington – First Four Out
Previous seeding: First Four Out
The Huskies were one of the only Big Ten teams to play a major conference opponent in the first week of the season. After wins against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (94-50) and Denver (84-70) in Seattle, Washington took the show on the road to face Baylor in Waco. The Huskies fell 78-69, but the Bears should be a tournament team this season so Washington fans shouldn’t freak out about this result. The two words I dedicated to Hannes Steinbach in the preseason edition of this column were “international standout,” but that might not have described just how good Steinbach can be this season. Through his first two games with the Huskies, Steinbach is averaging 17 points, 11.5 rebounds and five assists as Washington cruised to two victories. Against Baylor last night, he posted another double-double (10 points, 15 rebounds) and continued to be a bright spot for the Huskies even in a tight loss.
Nebraska – Next Four Out
Previous seeding: In Consideration
The Cornhuskers started the season with ten minutes of bad offensive basketball, trailing West Georgia 11-7 with 9:44 left in the season opener. But Nebraska got 10 points and 11 rebounds from Rienk Mast in his return from injury, 18 points and 6 assists from Jamarques Lawrence in his return from Rhode Island, and 22 points from Braden Frager in the Lincoln native’s first college game, dominating the second half on the way to an 86-53 win. In the second game of the season, the ‘Huskers were firing on all cylinders from the jump, riding a Rienk Mast triple-double (18 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) and 20 points (including six threes) from Pryce Sandfort to a 96-66 victory against FIU. On Saturday night, Nebraska will take on Oklahoma at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. in a bubblicious battle.
Northwestern – In Consideration
Previous seeding: Out
It’s too early in the season to rely on metrics as much as I will later in the season, but Northwestern is up six spots from its preseason Kenpom ranking (from No. 57 to No. 51), and that progression matches the eye test of this team. The Wildcats beat Mercyhurst handily 70-47 in the season opener, but a 76-52 win against Boston University in the team’s second game was the more impressive result. The first real test of the season for Northwestern will be Friday, when the ‘Cats go on the road to take on DePaul in a game that could end up as a low-Quad 1 game by the end of the season. Regardless of what quadrant that game falls into, though, Friday will be a great opportunity to see the Wildcats against much better competition.
Maryland – Out
Previous seeding: In Consideration
Things started out great for the Terrapins, as they kicked off the season with an 83-61 win against Coppin State. But things quickly took a bad turn as Maryland was the first team in the conference to lose a game, falling 70-60 at home on Friday afternoon to Georgetown. The Hoyas aren’t a bad team at all, but losing a very winnable game at home definitely isn’t the start to the Buzz Williams era that Terrapin fans were looking for. On the bright side, Pharrel Payne has looked like a potential All-B1G player in the brief beginning to his return to the conference, and if he can continue to play at a high level, Maryland can still be a competitive team.
Minnesota – Out
Previous seeding: Out
The Golden Gophers cruised to two victories to start their season, winning 87-60 against Gardner-Webb and 95-50 against Alcorn State. Cade Tyson (averaging 25.5 points) is looking like the best version of himself early on, and that’s a great sign for a Gophers team that needs to establish a secure identity this season. Now Minnesota has its first test of the season, taking on a Missouri team looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons.
Rutgers – Out
Previous seeding: Out
The Scarlet Knights won their season opener 81-53 against Rider. Tariq Francis led the team with 20 points and Jamichael Davis added in 15 points of his own and a team-high three assists. Rutgers doesn’t play a top-280 opponent (per Kenpom) until a matchup with AP No. 18 Tennessee in the Players Era Festival, so more of these results should continue as the Scarlet Knights gain momentum heading into Feast Week.
Penn State – Out
Previous seeding: Out
Penn State opened the season with two wins, although the season opener was in doubt for most of the contest. Fairfield led Penn State 50-43 with 15:16 left in the second half, but the Nittany Lions mounted a comeback and eventually prevailed 76-68. The second Penn State win was much more impressive, as the Nittany Lions jumped on New Haven early, didn’t let up, and notched an 87-43 win away from home. Still, the week was uninspiring overall and Penn State will need to play better going forward to make it onto the bubble.
