Big Ten Basketball Predictions: Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

The Big Ten basketball season tips off tonight, amid a near-consensus from the media that the conference is the strongest in the nation. 

From here on out, I will be offering my nightly predictions for each Big Ten conference game, both straight up and against the spread from the Las Vegas Hilton. I will be tracking my record as the season goes on.

Feel free to chime in with any comments, or for any advice. Enjoy!

For the Season

Against the spread: 0-0-0

Straight up: 0-0-0

7:30 PM: Minnesota at Illinois (-6.5)

The Golden Gophers have coped admirably with the loss of their best player, Trevor Mbakwe, who suffered a torn ACL on November 27th. Sitting at 12-1, with quality victories over Indiana St. (with Mbakwe) and Virginia Tech, they would probably be a tournament team if the field were selected today.

But Minnesota is notorious for starting quick and then regressing to the mean during Big Ten play. And that was even when their best player wasn't on the IR. Illinois has lost two out of three since starting 10-0, but both losses have come against top flight competition, in UNLV and Missouri. Meyers Leonard has emerged as a dominant force inside and given the Illini hopes of securing a high seed in March.

Minnesota is scrappy, deep and physical enough to keep it close for at least a half; maybe a little bit more. But the Illini find ways to win, particularly at Assembly Hall. The crowd, and the adrenaline rush of starting conference play, should help propel them to a fairly-comfortable home victory.

Against the spread: Illinois -6.5

Straight up: Illinois

9:00 PM: No. 11 Wisconsin (-8.5) at Nebraska

Nebrasketball makes its long-awaited conference debut, and they couldn't have found a more fitting team to welcome them to the plodding, methodical nature of the Big Ten.

Bo Ryan has another typical Wisconsin team: A group of physical, bulky farm boys who can defend and shoot, gathered around one superstar. Preseason All-American Jordan Taylor has struggled to live up to expectations early in the year (similar to Drew Neitzel after his legendary junior season), but he's still an offensive weapon, the likes of which Nebraska has only seen in Doug McDermott when they played Creighton.

Nebraska has been competitive en route to an 8-3 record this season, losing only to pretty good teams in Creighton, Oregon and Wake Forest. They also have wins over talented mid-majors such as Rhode Island and South Dakota State. You can bet that the crowd will be amped up to cheer on their Huskers in their Big Ten debut as well.

That being said, it's hard to believe they'll be able to hang with Wisconsin for very long. The Badgers have already played, and played very competitively, in a hostile road environment against North Carolina. They dismantled a potential Sweet 16 team in UNLV and should be able to give the Huskers a very rude introduction to the best conference in basketball.

Against the spread: Wisconsin -8.5

Straight up: Wisconsin