Big Ten Friday Preview & Open Thread: Maryland Terrapins Officially Debut

On Friday, the Big Ten continues its exhibition action as the conferences prepares for the upcoming regular season. In total, four Big Ten teams will get into action, including the preseason conference favorite, the Maryland Terrapins. Along with this, two other teams with serious NCAA Tournament aspirations also tip-off.

Let's take a look at the action.

Game of the Night: Southern New Hampshire Penmen at Maryland Terrapins (7:30PM ET - BTN Plus)

The Terps will officially debut on Friday night and fans will get their first chance to see the Big Ten's preseason favorite in action. Obviously, with Maryland debuting a few key additions on Friday, there are plenty of things that fans will want to keep an eye on. Particularly, Robert Carter and Diamond Stone are expected to have big seasons for the Terps and fans will want to see how they perform in their first action.

Though most will be focusing on Maryland, the team is actually going to get a bit of a test on Friday, considering that Southern New Hampshire put together a 24-8 overall record last season. Two of the key players to keep an eye on will be seniors BJ Cardarelli and Rodney Sanders for Southern New Hampshire.

Overall, even if this game is a tad closer than expected, it should be a pretty easy warmup for the Terps. Simply from a talent perspective, Maryland is miles ahead and should have a chance to get its bench involved regularly. Maryland has high expectations for the season, so getting off to a good start will be key.

The Rest:

- Augustana (South Dakota) at Iowa Hawkeyes (7:05PM CT - BTN Plus)

This will be the second exhibition for the Hawkeyes this week and the team will be looking to have another solid performance. In the first exhibition, Mike Gesell and Peter Jok both had great performances with 24 and 18 points respectively. As such, it will be interesting to see if each can keep up their numbers. Additionally, seeing if Andrew Fleming can put up another solid performance like he did earlier in the week will be interesting.

- Le Moyne at Michigan Wolverines (7:00PM ET - BTN Plus)

The Wolverines will hope to officially turn the page on last season on Friday evening. Interestingly, Le Moyne is coached by John Beilein's son, giving an interesting dynamic to the game. Though many will focus on the return of Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton from injury, some players that fans will want to watch closely are Duncan Robinson, Moritz Wagner, and DJ Wilson. Particularly, Wilson is expected to be in consideration for serious playing time, making him a must watch for fans.

- Southwest Minnesota State at Minnesota Golden Gophers (7:05PM CT - BTN Plus)

Similar to Iowa, this is Minnesota's second exhibition of the week. The top performances in the exhibition earlier in the week were Charles Buggs, Nate Mason, and Jordan Murphy. The Gophers will need big years from Buggs and Mason to have a successful season, but if Murphy can continue putting up solid numbers, it could put Minnesota in a really good position heading forward. One player to watch is Kevin Dorsey, who had a quiet exhibition earlier this week, but is expected to have a big season.