After Northwestern's dominating win over Georgia Tech, we all wish they could get right back on the court, but they're actual student-athletes and need time off for exams. Easy to forget about that part of it sometimes. Anyhoo, even though the Wildcats are off, there's plenty of water to drink, with 9 Big Ten teams in action. Even though most of the games will be blowouts, when you're dying of thirst, any drink of water tastes good (hey, if Shon Morris can say that during every single broadcast he does, I feel justified in stealing it for a seldom-read Big Ten column).
Harvard Crimson at Michigan Wolverines (-8.5), Noon central, BTN
Interesting match-up here, as Tommy Amaker and his Crimson return to the scene of the crime in Ann Arbor (and by crime I mean Amaker's 6 NCAA tournament-less years as Michigan's head coach). Despite the loss of all-everything guard Jeremy Lin, Amaker has what looks like a pretty good team, as they're 5-1 and beat a talented Colorado team by 16. So while Michigan will probably win, we'll take the 8.5 and hope Amaker sticks it to the school that fired him
Bowling Green Falcons at Michigan St. Spartans (-26.5), 12:30 central, BTN.com
Yawn, Izzos in a blowout.
Idaho St. Bengals at Iowa Hawkeyes (-19.5), 12:35 central, BTN.com
Another blowout, you've gotta be incredibly bad to be 19.5 dogs against Iowa.
South Dakota Coyotes at Wisconsin Badgers, 1 PM central, ESPN3.com
The Coyotes won at Minnesota in football this year, but won't close to an upset in basketball.
Alabama Crimson Tide at Purdue Boilermakers (-11.5), 2:30 PM central, ESPN2
The Tide have been a huge disappointment thus far, already losing to Iowa and St. Peter's. Plus, they turn the ball a lot and Purdue forces a lot of turnovers. Not a good combination. However, Alabama has played good defense most of the year, so they might be able to keep this interesting for a while. Either way, there won't be a lot of points scored, so take the under 126.5 and watch the bricks fly.
Illinois Fighting Illini at Gonzaga Bulldogs (+2), 4:15 central, ESPN
In a battle of two ranked teams, Illinois looks to avenge an overtime loss to the Zags last year and boost their NCAA resume. No idea who's gonna win this one, just buckle up and enjoy the McCamey,
Savannah St. Tigers at Indiana Hoosiers (-21.5), 5 central, ESPNU
ESPNU is that desperate for programming?
Duquesne Dukes at Penn St. Nittany Lions (-4), 5 central, BTN
My first reaction was that Penn State should win this easily, but then I saw the line and re-considered. So I looked at Duquesne's schedule and discovered they are 3-2 and haven't beaten anyone good, and went 16-16 last year. I'm probably going to regret this, because Penn State was god-awful last time out against Maryland, but I'm not a believer in the Dukes, so take the Fightin' DeChellises and hope Talor Battle gets his teammates involved.
Cornell Big Red at Minnesota Golden Gophers (-17), 7 central, BTN
Cornell lost everyone from last year's team, including their coach. Gophers cruise.
Gambling record: 7-5