The good news: Big Ten play is finally here.
The bad news: Northwestern has to play at Ohio State.
Ohio State is really really good, and they're playing at home. Northwestern has lost 27 consecutive games at Ohio State in basketball, last winning in 1977. Most recently, NU lost 76-56 in 2009-10 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final margin would indicate. The closest Bill Carmody has ever come to winning in Columbus was all the way back in 2002, when NU lost 58-57 and missed several shots in the final seconds that would have won it. I'm still upset about that loss almost 10 years later.
Northwestern is a 16.5 point underdog tonight, with KenPom giving NU just a 6 percent chance to win. But stranger things have happened. It's an early tip-off, 4:30 central time on BTN. Join us for the game thread.