Yesterday at the Target Center I watched Maryland beat up on a Rutgers offense that will look totally different with a 20+ per game scorer next year with Dylan Harper Jr. Then I was able to watch all of the Michigan fans who made the trip to Minneapolis act like they were going to run the table as the fourteen seed in the tournament. While Juwan Howard had his team give great effort and fight it wasn’t enough as Penn State advanced. The big news I personally learned at the games last night from my program is that next year with the Big 10 moving to 18 that this is the last event where all teams qualify for the tournament automatically. Next year only the top 15 schools will even get the chance to come together for this tournament which is probably the right move but still sad for me as someone who loves this tournament.
Looking at today we start with my nine seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers vs the eight seeded Michigan State Spartans (-7.5) at 11 AM. Michigan state will have to beat the Gophers in order to stay in the right spot on the bubble for a team that had national title aspirations to start the year. I think the Gophers cover (+7.5). We are 24-7 ATS this season but I do like Michigan State to advance to a matchup with Purdue tomorrow. Players to watch for the Gophers include Dawson Garcia and Cam Christe. As for the Spartans Tyson Walker will likely lead the charge.
The second game will be fifth seeded Wisconsin (-3.5) taking on Maryland. Wisconsin if you have been following them all season is going the complete wrong direction in March. They are 3-7 since 2/1 and while they will be a NCAA tournament lock they no doubt want to make some noise this weekend to make sure they have their best foot forward going nationally. I was very impressed with Maryland last night they shot the ball really well especially from behind the arc and had good work going on inside. My betting pick for this game is Maryland (+3.5) and I could see them winning outright as Wisconsin just hasn’t been the same team the last month. The winner of this game takes on Northwestern Friday.
The first game I get to attend today (they expect me to work on conference champ week?) will be when ten seeded Ohio State (-1.5) takes on seven seeded Iowa. Both of these teams are somewhere in the mess that is currently the bubble with both teams absolutely needing to win to stay alive for an at large. I expect this game to be loud and like a home game for Iowa as their fans travel extremely well and have a presence in Minnesota. Ohio State has looked like a new team since Jake Diebler took over winning five of his six games. For betting I like Ohio State but this is truthfully a toss up in what should be a great game. The winner of this game gets Illinois tomorrow.
The final second round game is sixth seeded Indiana taking on eleven seeded Penn State (-2.5). Penn State is favored to win because they actually swept Indiana this season. I was sitting behind Indiana band members last night who were heavily rooting for Michigan. I like Penn State to win and cover tonight even if Indiana has been playing hard for Mike Woodson all season. Both teams will have to win the big ten tournament to make it to March Madness. The winner of this game gets Nebraska tomorrow.
West Coast Hoops 