Finals Week Basketball! Previews, Schedule, Open Thread

So the Big Ten-ACC Challenge happened.

The Big Ten won it* on Day 1.

No further questions.

Nothing to see here.

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In more seriousness, life got in the way this weekend; hence, no recaps and weekend open thread. Sorry about that. Iowa beat the brakes off Iowa State, Creighton beat the tar outta Nebraska, and Illinois blew it in Braggin’ Rights against Mizzou.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Oh! I guess Big Ten play started, and Michigan eked out a narrow win over Penn State, 62-58, yesterday. That’s cool, if for some reason you give a shit about either one of those teams.

That’d be silly if you did that, though.

* Wisconsin and Louisville will reportedly make up their game from the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Saturday. If you care, you can look it up yourself.

Wednesday, December 16

#20 Ohio State Buckeyes at Purdue Boilermakers

6pm | BTN | Purdue -5 | O/U 133.5

BoilerBettor: This game is /checks notes at Purdue. Which means Purdue will /checks notes again probably win.

In all seriousness, this game will largely come down to whether or not Purdue’s bigs can stay out of foul trouble. If Trevion Williams (seriously though, knock off the dipsey doo crap and use your strength to your advantage) and Zach Edey are stuck on the bench, this could get ugly as it would force Aaron Wheeler to the 5 which hasn’t worked out well this year.

I don’t know much about Ohio State but Purdue has to use its size to its advantage. Play inside out with Trevion, get Sasha and the shooters open looks, and Profit. (edited)

(Also, bet the under if it’s anywhere above 135. These teams play SLOOOOOOWWWWWW.)

Selected Other Games of Interest

Massachusetts Minutemen at La Salle Explorers

11am | ESPN+ | Mass -2.5 | O/U 140

Richmond Spiders at Vanderbilt Commodores

12pm | SECN | Rich -7 | O/U 146.5

Northeastern Huskies at Syracuse Orange

2pm | ACCN | Cuse -18 | O/U 145.5

Wagner Seahawks at Bryant Bulldogs

3pm | NEC on the Run | Bry -11.5 | O/U 153

St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers at Central Connecticut Blue Devils

3pm | NEC on the Run | SFBK -3 | O/U 153

Long Island Sharks at Sacred Heart Pioneers

3pm | NEC on the Run | LIU -1 | O/U 151

Richmond Spiders at Vanderbilt Commodores

3pm | SECN | Rich -7 | O/U 146.5

Omaha Mavericks at Colorado Buffaloes

4pm | Pac-12 | Colo -22 | O/U 138

William & Mary Tribe at Hampton Pirates

5pm | ESPN+ | Bill&Mary -4 | O/U 152.5

Butler Bulldogs at #7 Villanova Wildcats

6pm | FS1 | Nova -12 | O/U 131

South Florida Bulls at Cincinnati Bearcats

6pm | ESPN2 | Cincy -8 | O/U 132

Florida International Panthers at Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

6pm | ESPN+ | FIU -1.5 | O/U 143.5

Ole Miss Rebels at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

7pm | CBSSN | Miss -12 | O/U 134.5

Duke Blue Devils at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

8pm | ESPN | Duke -4 | O/U 146

Memphis Tigers at Tulane Green Wave

8pm | ESPN2 | Mem -11 | O/U 134.5

Montana Grizzlies at Washington Huskies

10pm | Pac-12 | UW -8.5 | O/U 132

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Monday, December 14

#19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Maryland Terrapins

5pm | BTN | MD -2.5 | O/U 137

Not great for the Terps, given how Clemson shut them down in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. I doubt that Maryland has the horses inside to hang with Myles Johnson for a whole game, and can they lock down Ron Harper Jr. and Montez Mathis for a whole game.

God, this is all so weird.

DJ: Not confident in tonight. Dropped such a turd last game.

Other Games of Interest

Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Morehead State Eagles

5pm | ESPN+ | EKU -5.5 | O/U 145

Longwood Lancers at Radford Highlanders

5pm | ESPN+ | Rad -5 | O/U 128

William & Mary Tribe at George Washington Colonels

6pm | CBSSN | GW -5.5 | O/U 146.5

Marquette Golden Eagles at #9 Creighton Bluejays

8pm | FS1 | Creighton -8 | O/U 151.5

Pepperdine Waves at UNLV Runnin Rebels

8:30pm | MWN | Pepp -2.5 | O/U 149

Tuesday, December 15

Northwestern Wildcats vs. Quincy Hawks

3pm | no TV | this is so stupid

MNW: I was prepared to hijack the wisconsin game below to register my frustration that Northwestern—which it appears has grabbed a Tuesday afternoon game with fucking Quincy now—won’t schedule Loyola, and that St. Louis is openly asking for a game and the ‘Cats won’t play anyone good.

You fucking suck. Just go play basketball.

Minnesota Golden Gophers at #13 Illinois Fighting Illini

6pm | ESPN2

WhiteSpeedReceiver: We’re probably going to lose. We’ve got some good, fun players but the team isn’t quite a team yet.

Thump: It’d be nice if someone besides Ayo Dosunmu showed up for this one. I still think this team is good, but they don’t look like a big ten contender yet. Illinois should control this one. Kofi Cockburn needs to catch the fucking ball.

Minnesota is not as athletic as Missouri, so if we keep giving up fast break points then our team is just sleepwalking and something needs to change. Brad Underwood remains fucking brutal out of a timeout.

I’d take a loss in this game and trade the duke win for another shot at mizzou. God how I fucking hate them. We probably deserve to be ranked roughly 24th.

Better fucking win, or this is going off the rails.

Loyola-Chicago Ramblers at #12 Wisconsin Badgers

7pm | BTN

Other Games of Interest

Point Park Pointers at Stony Brook Seawolves

12pm | ESPN3

St. Bonaventure Bonnies at Akron Zips

1pm | ESPN3

Chicago State Cougars at Illinois State Redbirds

2pm | ESPN3

Stanford Cardinal at CSU Northridge Matadors

4pm | ESPN3

Buffalo Bulls at Miami-Ohio Redhawks

4:30pm | ESPN+

#24 Clemson Tigers at Virginia Tech Hokies

5:30pm | ACCN

Wichita State Shockers at Tulsa Golden Hurricane

6pm | ESPNU

New Orleans Privateers at Louisiana Ragin Cajuns

6pm | ESPN+ | ULL -12.5 | O/U 149.5

Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at St. Francis-PA Red Flash

6pm | NEC on the Run

St. Francis-Brooklyn Terriers at Central Connecticut Blue Devils

6pm | NEC on the Run | SFBK -1.5 | O/U 153

As always, I urge you to download NEC on the Run for your Roku and watch terrible basketball.

Charlotte 49ers at Davidson Wildcats

6pm | ESPN+

Florida Atlantic Owls at Stetson Hatters

6pm | ESPN+ | FAU -3 | O/U 134

Texas Southern Tigers at Auburn Tigers

6pm | SECN+ | Aub -13.5 | O/U 148

Utah Valley Wolverines at Utah Utes

6pm | Pac-12

SEMO State Redhawks at Evansville Purple Aces

6pm | ESPN+

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at Texas State Bobcats

7pm | ESPN+ | TXSt -12 | O/U 134

Indiana State Sycamores at Saint Louis Billikens

7pm | ESPN+

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at #15 Florida State Seminoles

7:30pm | ACCN

Long Beach State 49ers at UCLA Bruins

8pm | Pac-12

Furman Paladins at Alabama Crimson Tide

8pm | SECN

Kansas State Wildcats at Iowa State Cyclones

8pm | ESPNU

Eastern Washington Eagles at Saint Marys-CA Gaels

9pm | WCCtv

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Here’s your open thread for the early week’s basketball games. Behave.