Welcome to life in the Big Ten
3-0 Northwestern, 0-3 Michigan State — this is normal, right?
I could try to explain everything that’s transpired through the first couple of weeks of Big Ten play. But I think this tweet from our Jeff Goodman last night just about summed it all up:
There is no doubt in my mind that we’re looking at the best conference in the country. And KenPom agrees — albeit just slightly — with the Big Ten inches ahead of the Big 12, followed by a bit of a gap before the ACC at No. 3.
But you don’t really need the metrics to tell you how good this league is. Just use your eyes. At the moment, there are only two of 14 teams that definitively don’t like they’ll really have a shot at making the NCAA tournament. (Sorry, Penn State and Nebraska, maybe next year.)
Northwestern, the team picked to finish last in the league, is 3-0 with wins against Michigan State, Indiana and Ohio State. Michigan is 7-0, making the Wolverines just one of 12 unbeaten teams among those who have played at least five games. And Wisconsin, despite taking a loss at home to Maryland Monday night, has a top-10 offense and defense (per KenPom), and the Badgers look at least as good as they did in 2016-17 when they made it to the Sweet 16.
In all, 13 of the league’s 14 teams are inside the top 55 of KenPom adjusted efficiency margin. That’s just ridiculous.
Look, there’s still plenty to sort out for some of these teams. Sparty looks straight-up bad. It’s the first time Tom Izzo’s team is 0-3 in league play since 2001-02.
Iowa’s got a very leaky defense that has nearly dropped out of the top 100 in the country. Rutgers has some real injury issues if Jacob Young and Cliff Omoruyi are out long-term.
But on the whole, this conference is so much fun. Last night featured Maryland-Wisconsin and Michigan State-Minnesota. Tonight’s slate includes Purdue-Rutgers and Northwestern-Iowa. Thursday we’ll get Minnesota-Wisconsin and Michigan-Maryland.
There are bangers nearly every day. And as someone who enjoys nothing more than sitting back and watching great basketball each night, I can’t ask for much more.
REVIEWING THE FILM
We haven’t added any new pods to the network lately, but one of the coolest things we've been doing over at The Field of 68 is postgame pods featuring live, unfiltered reactions from our hosts and analysts.
This weekend alone we had shows with:
A.J. Guyton breaking down the Hoosiers’ loss to Illinois
Deon Thomas with the other side of the coin, talking about what went right for the Fighting Illini
Jeff Greer and Wayne Turner hopped on together to discuss all that happened (and the ugliness) of that Louisville win against Kentucky Saturday afternoon
Plus, our daily Best Bets
This is something we plan to keep doing at the Field of 68, so definitely make sure you’re following us on Twitter and subscribed to our YouTube channel as well. And if you want your team’s host to add a postgame pod to their repertoire, hit them up on Twitter as well as my bosses here.
Also, if you’re still not seeing a specific podcast for your team, hit us up on social media (mostly meaning, tweet at @TheFieldof68, @RobDauster and @GoodmanHoops). We’re so excited about everything we’ve kickstarted in this crazy year and we’re even more hyped to bring more to the Field of 68 in the New Year.
THE MIXTAPE
We’ve already had some great moments this week on The Field of 68 and there will be more coming later today. But until then, here’s what you might’ve missed:
We know who the top teams in college basketball are thus far — that title would belong first to Gonzaga and then Baylor. But who falls in behind those two? Jeff Goodman and Robbie Hummel debated the merits of three other teams who will absolutely be in the mix for a national title on their Goodman & Hummel Basketball Podcast:
One of the most memorable Indiana games of the 21st century had to be the Hoosiers’ stunning win over Duke in the 2002 NCAA tournament. So how did IU pull off the stunner? Jared Jefferies entered The House of Hoosier to tell our A.J. Guyton:
Przemek Karnowski. Rem Bakamus. Christmas special. Not funny enough for you already? Just listen to their breakdown with Dan Dickau on our latest Bulldog Broadcast:
Normally, I’ll just drop highlights in this section. But Shammond Williams’ latest Carolina Conversation was perhaps his most powerful, as he brought on Charlie Scott, the first black athlete ever to play at North Carolina. You’ll laugh, but you’ll also learn so much from Charlie, who is still kicking at the ripe age of 72:
Oh, you want more Kobe stories. Well, here you go — this time from Wesley Johnson, who popped in to chat with our Eric Devendorf as they hopped on top of The Scorer’s Table together:
SECURE THE BAG
Okay, so Goodman is on an absolute heater and it’s been fun to watch. Between Dec. 19 and this past Saturday, Jeff is 32-15, and he kept it going pretty well with a 3-3 performance on Monday. And that’s no knock on Mr. Rob Dauster, who despite holding a sub-.500 record for the season, is in the black this year. (Hint: When Rob says he LOVES something, you should probably bet it.)
But how are you supposed to know what Rob and Jeff are picking? Well, there are two ways to get the Best Bets podcast. You can subscribe here and it’ll pop into your feed just like any other podcast. Or, if you really want to be on top of things, turn on Twitter notifications so you’ll know when they’re going live on The Field of 68’s feed (typically around 9 a.m. each morning).
Records (through Dec. 28)
Dauster: 51-55 (.481)
Goodman: 87-60 (.592)
If you haven’t already, hit that subscribe button, and please, please, please keep sharing The Field of 68 with anyone in your life who cares about college hoops. We want to keep growing and expanding our network, but we can’t do it without y’all.
Stay safe, wear your masks, have a Happy New Year and we’ll talk to you again in 2021!
Mitchell is a freelance sports journalist and a producer for The Field of 68 Media Network. He’s previously written for The Dallas Morning News, Sports Illustrated and The Philadelphia Inquirer. You can follow him on Twitter at @mpgladstone13 or reach him via email at mpgladstone13@gmail.com.