No. 18 MSU vs. Indiana
12:00 p.m. Sunday at Assembly Hall
ON TV CBS
The Boss — First off, I'd like to give myself a pat on the back for correctly picking the shoe/skate shuffle before it happened at basketball and hockey games the past few weeks. I am the Duke of that prediction game.
The Spartans stumbled in their game at Assembly Hall last season and look to not repeat that this season.
Indiana's battleship is almost sunk. The Hoosiers almost lost at home to Penn State. A win here would be huge for the Spartans for both NCAA and Big Ten Tournament seeding.
MSU 77, Indiana 64
Tomahawk — First off, I'd like to give myself a pat on the back for something people actually care about — a 20-7 record so far. That's got to make me a solid three seed in the tournament.
I originally made my pick for this game on Tuesday and had MSU winning handily. Now, who knows?
The Hoosiers are in free fall, but they're still a tough team out on the road.
(And what's with all those Indiana fans who've been wearing black to games? Are they protesting Mike Davis or Bobby Brock's suspension?)
I'll still take MSU but with a lot less enthusiasm.
MSU 72, Indiana 67
No. 20 Iowa vs. No. 8 Illinois
5 p.m. Saturday at Assembly Hall
ON TV ESPN
The Boss — Well, this game was going to be the one for all the marbles in regard to MSU's Big Ten title hopes, but Ohio State pretty much took care of that one for us.
Nonetheless, this is still a big game, and Iowa needs a win here to keep pace with the Buckeyes.
I'll continue the trend of road "upsets" here.
Iowa 74, Illinois 69
Tomahawk — Here's another game that seemed a lot more important three days ago.
I've never seen a bigger bloodbath than this season's Big Ten, with the possible exception of the last time my roommates and I fought over the last slice of pizza.
With everyone beating the tar out of everyone else, it would only be fitting to have a three or four way tie at the top. An Illinois win here would make that a real possibility.
Illinois 61, Iowa 56
No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 3 Connecticut
2:00 p.m. Sunday at Hartford Civic Center
ON TV CBS
The Boss — A rematch between these two already?
I think Villanova got the shaft, and it should've been the No. 1 team in the land after last week. But no, Duke is. Maybe justly, but probably not.
This rematch, like the first will be solid gold, but without the same result.
Connecticut 71, Villanova 65
Tomahawk — Villanova's been playing incredibly lately, but the team is about to visit one of the harshest locations in existence.
I'm talking about a place where the temperature only gets above 50 degrees four months a year, where 20-mile-long glaciers are a common sight, where 100,000 people went during the Klondike Gold Rush, but only 9,000 survived.
(What's that? The Wildcats are playing UConn, not Yukon? Oh. Well, I'm too lazy to retype this.)
Connecticut 83, Villanova 75
No. 16 Kansas vs. No. 7 Texas
8:00 p.m. Saturday at Frank Erwin Center
ON TV ESPN
The Boss — This is a tough one to call.
Both teams are playing great ball right now. The Jayhawks have won 10 straight, and the Longhorns have won six of their last seven — but barely escaped with a one point win over Kansas State the other day.
Let me break out my trusty coin to call this game. Texas will be heads.
And it's tails. Maybe I won't be flipping a coin next time.
So, uh … bank on it?
Kansas 73, Texas 71
Tomahawk — I don't rely on coins to predict these games. That's just too chancy.
So, Magic 8 Ball … what do you think?
Reply Hazy, Try Again
Come on, 8, the people don't have all day.
Better Not Tell You Now
8! How you gonna play a progster like that?
Signs Point to Texas
Thank you. Was that so hard?
Texas 79, Kansas 74
