As you can see below, many Big Ten games will be played on Friday. Some of them are even important.
There is no time to lose. Let’s talk about them.
Arizona Wildcats vs. UCLA Bruins
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Time/TV: 10 p.m. on Peacock
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KenPom spread: Wild cats per 2
It finally happened: UCLA notched a convincing victory in a shopping game.
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The downside? Well, the team the Bruins sent, West Georgia, is a recent addition to the Division I ranks that hasn’t had much success. Well, a win is a win, right? A win on Friday would be huge for this program, for several reasons.
Enter Arizona, an old Pac-12 rival whose roster features one of the best freshmen in the country. Above all. Koa Peat has been a bit quiet since its 30-point debut against defending national champion Florida. But both of those matches ended pretty early, so it wasn’t really necessary. He will be against the Bruins.
Donovan Dent was sidelined with an injury against West Georgia, so we’ll see if he plays against the Wildcats. If he doesn’t, things could go wrong.
Lehigh Mountain Falcons vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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Time/TV: 6:30 p.m. on B1G+
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KenPom spread: Knights at 18
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The task is simple for Rutgers. Win and defend well. The Knights took out Rider pretty easily and had a short game against Maine, but they should be able to cover the spread here. RIGHT?
Illinois State Redbirds vs. USC Trojans
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Time/TV: 7:30 p.m. on Paon
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KenPom spread: Trojans by 16
This is a bit of an interesting topic and worth using if you have Peacock. USC is off to a hot start to the season with blowout wins over Cal Poly and Manhattan, but Illinois State is better than both of those teams. Mind you, the Redbirds lost to Ohio, but they’re still strong.
USC should win and almost certainly will, but Illinois should fight harder.
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Xavier Mousquetaires at Iowa Hawkeyes
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KenPom spread: Hawkeyes by 11
Phew. The first year of the Richard Pitino era doesn’t look particularly promising. The Musketeers flirted with losses against Marist and Le Moyne before Santa Clara, a top 75 team in KenPom, pushed them back to NINETEEN on their home turf.
Iowa should win by a considerable amount,
Northwest Wildcats at DePaul Blue Demons
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Time/TV: 8:30 p.m. on TruTV
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KenPom spread: Wild cats per 6
Northwestern has looked pretty good through three games while DePaul is coming off a loss to Buffalo. Chris Holtmann brought the Blue Demons out of KenPom’s basement, but the road to victory for this program is long.
The ‘Cats should win this one, but I won’t rule out DePaul making it a little interesting.
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Michigan Wolverines at TCU Horned Frogs
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Time/TV: 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2
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KenPom spread: Wolverines by 7
Well, TCU lost to New Orleans. This is not ideal. This defeat caused them to fall outside the KenPom top 100.
Michigan is good. Even on the road, I think the Wolverines handle the Horned Frogs by more than the expected 7 point spread. Yes, the Wake Forest game was shaky, but they’re a better team than TCU.
Colgate Raiders at Illinois Fighting Illini
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KenPom spread: Illini at 26
Illinois scored 113 points in each of its first two games before dispatching Texas Tech at the State Farm Center on Tuesday night. Colgate already has losses to Michigan State and Northeastern, so Illinois should be able to give them another one.
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Washington Huskies vs. Washington State Cougars
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Time/TV: 11 p.m. on ESPN+
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KenPom spread: Huskies at 9 years old
Oooooo, an in-state non-conference rivalry. Wazzu picked up a win over St. Thomas after opening the season with back-to-back losses to Idaho (ooooof) and Davidson (eh), while Washington gave Baylor a short road game.
So the Huskies should win.
