NCAAM Best Bets: Updated Big Ten Odds & Wisconsin vs. Nebraska

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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid. Let's recap some of the college basketball action

00:04from last night with Michael DeCourcy of Sporting News. Mike, great to have you back here on the

00:09show, our midweek check-in with you on what's happening in some college hoops. And in Madison

00:14Square Garden last night, great matchup here between Florida and UConn. Things just seemingly

00:19not going the Gators' way, Mike. This year sometimes happens after winning a national

00:22championship, naturally. Solo ball had 19 points. UConn beats Florida 77-73. And as of right now,

00:31Mike, they are favorites to win the Big East. And look at these odds to get to the Final Four.

00:37Forget about winning the national championship. They're solo balls numbers. Plus 200. Two to one.

00:43I mean, those are really short odds. It tells me that UConn's got to be one of the top four teams

00:47in the country. Well, I would not put anything on that price for sure. I really like UConn. And I

00:55think Dan Hurley's a tremendous coach. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them

01:01in Indianapolis when we get to Naptown in April. But that's a pretty short odds on something as

01:09extraordinary as making the Final Four, especially when you look around the country and you see what

01:13they would be up against. This is a great team. And the Florida game was really probably the first

01:20time all year that we've seen them at full strength. Braylon Mullins missed so much time.

01:25And he is going to be a massive contributor for them as a scorer from the three spot, the four spot.

01:33He's a fantastic scorer. And then they got Terrace Reed back, who is their true center,

01:40the guy they really want to play the most minutes. And that makes Eric Reib a really terrific asset

01:46as a change of pace because he's taller, longer than Terrace Reed. And so you have to deal with a team.

01:53It's kind of similar to the 2023 championship team when they had two centers, one who was a true seven

01:59footer, the other who was a really powerful low post force. There's a lot of similarity there.

02:06And then if you can get Alex Caravan back to being exactly what he was in the two championship

02:13seasons. And I think the Florida game showed that he certainly still has that. Then you have a really

02:19dangerous team. The Wolverines right now are playing maybe their best basketball in years. Mike,

02:25it would appear. I didn't realize that they're just blowing everybody out. Last night it was Villanova,

02:2989 to 61. Elliot Caddo had 18 points in this one and also four re-pointers in this game. So what has

02:37made Michigan so much better, Mike, this year than last? You'll have to clue us in.

02:42Well, the first thing is that they brought in some fantastic talent as transfers. And the most

02:47important one and the most obvious one is Yexo Lannenborg. He's a first team All-American at this

02:53point playing with great physical power. And because he is so skilled and so gifted at his size,

03:006'9", probably 250, with a true power forward body for college basketball, they're able to play

03:08him as a small forward. And then you've got Moraes Johnson as a true low post type power forward,

03:17a guy who wants to be around the goal. And then they brought in a Dai Mora from UCLA. And Mora is

03:24a 7'3 guy who's really nimble, great hands, great passing ability, terrific shot blocker.

03:31They've got a huge front line that's really hard for a lot of teams to cope with. What we need to see

03:37ultimately is what happens when they play a team with a dynamic three guard offense. Somebody that has

03:44sort of like Florida was a year ago, when you've got three guards who are really dynamic and can

03:51take the ball to the rim and can shoot from deep. If facing someone like that would be the challenge

03:58for Lannenborg. How does he defend in that circumstance? And that's really what we haven't

04:02seen yet. And ultimately probably will when they get into the heart of their Big Ten schedule. What's

04:08interesting though, Craig, is that that heart doesn't come until late January, early February.

04:13They play very, very good opposition in January in the Big Ten, but not elite. That doesn't come

04:19until they play Michigan State on January 30th. Fair enough. Now, Illinois is one of those teams

04:25that's having a very nice season, Mike, and maybe a surprise to some. They're ranked 13th in the

04:29country, maybe going to be inside the top 10 if they pick up a win this weekend. They beat Ohio State

04:3388-80. Eaton Wagler had 23 points in this one. And Illinois to win the Big Ten, in terms of their

04:41odds, Mike, they have moved up significantly ahead of Michigan State. And Tom Izzo, which is a bit of

04:47a surprise here, only Purdue and Michigan behind them. What's gone right for the Illini this season?

04:53The fascinating thing about Illinois is that there was so much media conversation about the number of

05:00players that they brought in with Eastern European ties, including two guys who were playing at the

05:06Division I level in Europe last season. And the guy who's, he's not the best player, but Keaton Wagler

05:14is the kind of player who has made the difference. He's playing at some at point guard, some on the

05:21wing. He's got so much ability. And he was the 140th rated player in the freshman class, 140th.

05:29And right now he's got a shot at all Big Ten. That's how well he has played. Stojakovic,

05:36Andre Stojakovic has probably been Illinois' best pure player and the player that opponents really have

05:42to deal with and worry about in preparation. He is Paige's son and he is a guy who can get you 25, 30

05:49any night that people don't take him away. But Wagler has been fantastic. And Kylan Boswell has been

05:56a gift as well. Was brought in to be a defensive stopper type player and has been terrific on offense

06:05for most of this season. There's a lot of really quality players and I haven't even gotten to the

06:10Avisich twins to what they get out of David Mirkovic in the front court. This is a team that

06:16certainly has final four, if not national championship capabilities. And so we've already

06:21talked about Michigan. Purdue had the rough stretch over the weekend against Iowa State,

06:27but that's another team you can get there. This may be the best Big Ten in terms of high-end teams

06:32that we've seen in a while. Lastly, let's get to a preview of a big game in College Hoops tonight

06:38between Nebraska, Mike, and Wisconsin. Looks like more or less a pick-em game tonight.

06:42Total 155 and a half. Boy, it seems like a tough game to call. Who do you like?

06:48It is. Nebraska has been offensively one of the really surprising teams in college basketball.

06:56They have done a wonderful job with their offense. They got back some injured players.

07:02It brought in a freshman who has been fantastic. I really like their team. And playing at Pinnacle

07:08Bank Arena has never been easy for Wisconsin. Some of Wisconsin's best teams have gone in there

07:13and had a tough time. Kind of like Nebraska here. All right, Mike. Thanks again for coming on.

07:18We'll see you next week. Sounds great, Craig.

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