Hello and welcome friends to another edition of This B1G Week. This is the week, the B1G Week. Big Ten ACC Challenge Week is finally upon us and it gifted us with a lot of great matchups. We have a two TV system over at Head in the Game HQ and even that might not be enough. Top off that hype with the every first Big Ten game of the year being played on Sunday. Long story short, you might not be able to contact me this week.
Big Ten Game of the Week
Wednesday - 9:15 pm - ESPN - Michigan State @ Virginia - It's very hard to pick the game of the week this week. We have multiple ranked matchups and the very first Big Ten game of the year. The Spartans got the nod here because these are two of the most consistent programs in college hoops and stylistically they matchup well with each other.
Actual Rankings
B1G Picks
Grant's Pick: Indiana, Troy's Pick: IndianaNonconference Game of the Week
Tuesday - 5 pm - ESPN- Creighton @ Kansas - This is an excellent game leading into the Big Ten ACC Challenge. A top ten matchup with a 4 pm local time tip is a fantastic example of college basketball embracing chaos. I'm still not entirely sure what to think about either of these team but I do know this will be a fantastic game.
Team of the Week
Team of the Weak
Michigan State Spartans - MSU picked up what has been the biggest win by a Big Ten team so far in this young season. Even without fans, Duke is a very difficult place to win a game, especially when you have to play both multiple five star recruits and the refs but that's a rant for another day. Sure Sparty struggled over the weekend to beat a pair of mid-major opponents but this will be a team that gets up for big games.
Team of the Weak
Scheduling In 2020 - I have a hard time faulting any team specifically this week since no one had more than one lose and all of the loses came to Power Conference foes. Instead I wanted to show how insane scheduling has been so far in 2020 by talking about Maryland's week. The Terps were supposed to play on Tuesday against Monmouth but Monmouth had to cancel. They found a replacement game for Tuesday against Towson. Towson had to cancel. They were supposed to play George Mason on Friday. George Mason canceled. They found a replacement in Saint Peter's and by some miracle that actually got played. They had James Madison scheduled on Saturday to replace the Tuesday games. James Madison canceled. That's five games scheduled and only one that got played, none of them due to Maryland.
Actual Rankings
- Michigan State - 5-0
- Maryland - 4-0
- Michigan - 4-0
- Minnesota - 4-0
- Iowa - 3-0
- Ohio State - 3-0
- Rutgers - 3-0
- Northwestern - 2-0
- Illinois - 3-1
- Indiana - 3-1
- Nebraska - 3-1
- Purdue - 3-1
- Wisconsin - 3-1
- Penn State - 2-1
B1G Picks
Tuesday
5 pm - ESPN 2 - Purdue @ Miami
Grant's Pick: Miami, Troy's Pick: Miami
7 pm - ESPN U - Boston College @ Minnesota
Grant's Pick: Minnesota, Troy's Pick: Minnesota
7:30 pm - ESPN - North Carolina @ Iowa
Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa
7:30 pm - ESPN 2 - Ohio State @ Notre Dame
Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Ohio State
9 pm - ESPN U - Penn State @ Virginia Tech
Grant's Pick: Virginia Tech, Troy's Pick: Virginia Tech
9:30 pm - ESPN - Illinois @ Duke
Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Illinois
9:30 pm - ESPN 2 - Syracuse @ Rutgers
Grant's Pick: Syracuse, Troy's Pick: Rutgers
Wednesday
5 pm - ESPN U - Maryland @ Clemson
Grant's Pick: Maryland, Troy's Pick: Clemson
7:15 pm - ESPN - Louisville @ Wisconsin
Grant's Pick: Wisconsin, Troy's Pick: Wisconsin
7:15 pm - ESPN 2 - NC State @ Michigan
Grant's Pick: NC State, Troy's Pick: Michigan
7:15 pm - ESPN U - Georgia Tech @ Nebraska
Grant's Pick: Georgia Tech, Troy's Pick: Georgia Tech
9:15 pm - ESPN - Michigan State @ Virginia
Grant's Pick: Michigan State, Troy's Pick: Michigan State
9:15 pm - ESPN 2 - Indiana @ Florida State
Grant's Pick: Florida State, Troy's Pick: Indiana
9:15 pm - ESPN U - Pittsburgh @ Northwestern
Grant's Pick: Northwestern, Troy's Pick: Northwestern
Thursday
8 pm - BTN - UMKC @ Minnesota
Grant's Pick: Minnesota, Troy's Pick: Minnesota
Friday
7 pm - BTN - Nebraska @ Creighton
Grant's Pick: Creighton, Troy's Pick: Creighton
9 pm - BTN - Iowa State @ Iowa
Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa
Saturday
7:30 pm - BTN - Indiana State @ Purdue
Grant's Pick: Purdue, Troy's Pick: Purdue
8 pm - TBD - Illinois @ Missouri
Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Illinois
Sunday
Noon - BTN - Northern Alabama @ Indiana
Noon - FS1 - Oakland @ Michigan State
Grant's Pick: Michigan State, Troy's Pick: Michigan State
2 pm - BTN - Penn State @ Michigan
Grant's Pick: Michigan, Troy's Pick: Michigan
2 pm - FS1 - Northern Illinois @ Iowa
Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa
4 pm - ESPN U - SIUE @ Northwestern
Grant's Pick: Northwestern, Troy's Pick: Northwestern
4 pm - BTN - Cleveland State @ Ohio State
Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Ohio State
Grant's Previous Week Pick Record: 16-4
Grant's Total Pick Record: 43-4
Troy's Previous Week Pick Record: 18-2
Troy's Total Pick Record: 44-3
To stay up to date on the newest Head in the Game articles (and general sports commentary), follow @headingameblog on Twitter. You can also find us on Twitter @T_RoyStory (Troy) and @G_Tingley (Grant)
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