1/25 Big Ten Preview: Minnesota at Ohio State

After a very exciting start to conference action, the Big Ten has a nice slate of games set for Wednesday.

Prior to the tonight, Big Ten fans got a treat with a three game schedule on Tuesday. However, none of the games ended up coming down to the wire, and all three of them had double-digit win margins.

Hopefully, the pair of games on Wednesday can supply us with some fireworks. Both will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network.

You can preview all of Saturday’s games below. All betting odds are courtesy of Covers.com.

Big Ten Game of the Day:

-Minnesota Golden Gophers at Ohio State Buckeyes

• Time/TV: 7:00 PM ET - BTN
• Covers Spread: Ohio State (-3.5)

Two weeks ago, Minnesota was on top of the world. The Golden Gophers were 15-2 and ranked in the national polls.

Fast forward to now, the program is in the middle of a three-game losing streak and has fallen out of the national rankings.

Fear not, Gophers fans, this is a very good team that is just having a rough patch. The Golden Gophers are extremely versatile and can score in numerous ways, with six players averaging near double-figures, Minnesota is one of the deepest teams in the Big Ten.

As for Ohio State, they are playing much better of late. In their past three games, the Buckeyes scored their first two Big Ten wins over Michigan State and Nebraska and almost knocked off Northwestern 74-72.

With that said, I still don’t trust Ohio State, especially laying points. To me, it looks like Minnesota is the more desperate team at this point.

Pick Against The Spread: Minnesota

The Rest:

-Iowa Hawkeyes at Illinois Fighting Illini

• Time/TV: 9:00 PM ET – BTN
• Covers Spread: Illinois (-4.5)

In terms of experience, these two teams are about as polar opposite as you can get.

Illinois carries two sixth-year seniors on their team and has no real freshman contributors. On the other hand, four of Iowa’s top-five scorers are freshmen and Peter Jok is the only non-freshman starter.

Both teams have been totally up and down this year, and they both like to get up and down on the court. In fact, in a conference with so many good teams, both Iowa and Illinois are among the top-five in Big Ten scoring.

This game is hard to predict, especially because both teams have struggled recently against the spread. In Iowa and Illinois last five games, both teams have gone 1-4 ATS.

This matchup looks like a coin flip, but I’m leaning towards the home team. So far, the Hawkeyes have struggled on the road, going 0-4 this season. In the same breathe, the Illini have gone 9-2 at home and definitely benefit from the raucous home crowd in Champagne.

Give me Illinois laying the points, they’ve been the kind of team that can surprise you when you least expect it, and this should be no different. Look for an Illini double-digit win here.

• Pick Against The Spread: Illinois

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Casey’s Record vs The Spread: 26-14-1