Iowa vs. Michigan State – 12/29/15 College Basketball Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Expectations are a bit more tame for defending champion Wisconsin.

The Big Ten has had plenty of representation in the national title game, like Wisconsin last season, Michigan in 2013, Michigan State in 2009, Ohio State in 2007, IL in 2005 and in in 2002, but the conference continues to look for its first national championship since Michigan State in 2000.

Not only will the Badgers have to go the blue-collar route in order to beat Purdue, they’ll also need to take much better care of the ball than they did during non-conference play.

In last week’s game against Vanderbilt, Hammons collected 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks – one off the career high he set against Indiana Jan. 28.

It marked his fourth double-double, creating a customary inside presence that offset Purdue going 2 of 19 from 3-point range.

Hammons, Haas and Swanigan combined for 452 points and 280 rebounds during non-conference play.

She has made 30 of 78 from the 3-point line and 41 of 45 from the free-throw line. Uthoff has to be at his best at both ends of the court if Iowa has any chance of winning. “Quite frankly, and being in SEC country this is hard to say, but the Big Ten has been the best conference in college football this year”, he said earlier in the year. Michigan State had a close call against Oakland last week with a 99-93 win in overtime, but Tom Izzo’s squad is still undefeated, and that’s all that matters right now. But Kaminsky and other major contributors are gone, and the Badgers (8-5) are having trouble adjusting. The Hoosiers open at Rutgers and at Nebraska, games they absolutely should win. Then, legendary coach Bo Ryan abruptly retired following a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on December 15 and handed the reins to longtime assistant Greg Gard. Hammons’ dominance – including 15 points in the second half – helped lead the Boilermakers to the 68-55 victory over the Commodores.

The near collapse put a damper on any celebration for Gard, who essentially is auditioning for the full-time job. “And there’s a lot of things, obviously, that we have to correct”. Nigel Hayes is going to have to be terrific, as will Ethan Happ. It was embarrassing to us. We don’t know how Michigan State is going to handle playing on the road without Valentine. “He’ll make other guys better”. In 18 Big Ten games, Wisconsin will play five teams twice, including arguably the conference’s four best teams – Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland and Indiana.

“That’s how I felt”, said Koenig, who sat out the final 16 minutes, 22 seconds of the first half after picking up two quick fouls.