NCAA Basketball Big 10 Breakdown

1: Northwestern Wildcats (4-1-1 ATS, 7-2 SU) (LW: 1) Perhaps the Wildcats deserved better than their 65-59 loss in Stanford, but the club didn’t embarrass itself on the West Coast. Look for NW to get back in the win column this week against SMU and march one step closer towards being a serious contender for March Madness.

This Week: Home vs. SMU

2: Michigan Wolverines (5-1-1 ATS, 8-2 SU) (LW: 2) Big Blue could have been more impressive over the weekend, but they took care of Oakland 89-76 to move to 8-2 on the year. Barring a major setback, the Wolverines should be 10-2 going into their New Year’s Eve showdown with the Badgers.

This Week: Home vs. Florida Gulf Coast

3: Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-2-1 ATS, 10-0 SU) (LW: 6) Nobody gave them a shot, but the Golden Gophers jumped into the national spotlight with a monstrous 70-64 win over #9 Louisville as nine-point underdogs on Saturday. It was a huge resume builder for HC Tubby Smith’s squad, which will look to remain perfect this week against Southeastern Louisiana.

This Week: Home vs. Southeastern Louisiana

4: Penn State Nittany Lions (4-2 ATS, 10-2 SU) (LW: 4) The Nittany Lions scored another victory last Sunday, beating Lafayette 83-55 for its third straight out-of-conference win. That streak should stretch to four games this week against Sacred Heart before starting Big 10 play on New Year’s Eve.

This Week: Home vs. Sacred Heart

5: Illinois Fighting Illini (5-2 ATS, 10-1 SU) (LW: 5) HC Bruce Weber’s squad is playing sharp basketball going into the New Year. The Illini took out Detroit 82-51 to notch its fourth straight victory. All four have come by at least 10 points, and the average margin of victory was a whopping 28.5 points per game. That said; they got a tough one against Mizzou on tap Tuesday night.

This Week: Away @ Missouri

6: Iowa Hawkeyes (5-2 ATS, 9-3 SU) (LW: 3) Sports betting fans probably saw this one coming. The Hawkeyes lost 60-43 against Drake over the weekend, which snapped their four-game winning streak ATS. If it plans on dancing into March, Iowa had better not slip up again this week, or it’ll be flying off the radar in a hurry.

This Week: Home vs. Western Illinois

7: Ohio State Buckeyes (4-2 ATS, 8-0 SU) (LW: 8) Defense continues to be the name of the game for the 16th ranked team in the land. The Bucks blasted Jackson State and Iona this week, and have one more comfortable tune-up before the Christmas break.

This Week: Home vs. UNC Ashville

8: Wisconsin Badgers (5-4 ATS, 9-2 SU) (LW: 7) Speaking of defense… The Badgers held Coppin State to just 46 points in their 11-point victory on Saturday, which marked the ninth game this season they held an opponent to 61 points or less. Don’t expect the Longhorns to stay under that number though, as they average a healthy 73.3 points per game.

This Week: Home vs. Texas

And the rest…

9: Michigan State Spartans (4-4 ATS, 8-2 SU) (LW: 9)

10: Purdue Boilermakers (4-4 ATS, 9-2 SU) (LW: 11)

11: Indiana Hoosiers (3-3 ATS, 5-5 SU) (LW: 10)