Game of the Day

#23 Purdue Boilermakers vs Texas Longhorns

• Time/TV: 7:00 PM ET (FS1)
• Spread: Purdue -8

Purdue is a young team getting the benefit of the doubt early this season due to the success Matt Painter has had in recent years. While the Boilermakers do have talent, a game against Texas is a rough start for a team that needs to find a new identity after losing leading scorer Carsen Edwards to the NBA Draft.

Texas hasn't taken off under Shaka Smart like people anticipated and now there's chatter of being on the hot seat. The Longhorns also field a team that lost it's three leading scorers. While juniors Matt Coleman III and Jase Febres started 59 games last year, it's not known how far they can carry Texas.

The difference could likely come down to Purdue's home court advantage thanks to Mackey Arena. Look for a close game that Purdue finds a way to pull off.

• Pick Against the Spread: Texas

The Rest:

Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Nebraska Cornhuskers

• Time/TV: 2:00 PM ET (BTN+)
• Spread: Nebraska -7.5

Fred Hoiberg’s debut at Nebraska landed with a Scott Frost-esque thud. While expectations were low for a Cornhuskers team that was thrown together while Hoiberg transitions to his own players, losing to UC-Riverside by 19 is a bad loss regardless. Facing a team that hasn’t had a winning season since 2008-09, the Cornhuskers shot 29.1% from the field, 23.1% from three and 47.4% from the free throw line.

The good news? Southern Utah isn’t very good either, not posting a winning season since 2006-07. The bad news? They’re probably a better team than UC-Riverside so all beats are off.

Nebraska fans are painfully aware that this season will likely be a rough one, but if Hoiberg can’t get his team rolling against Southern Utah after their faceplant in the opener...things are going to be worse than expected this winter.

Look for Nebraska to bounce back and win ugly here.

• Pick Against the Spread: Nebraska

-Portland State Vikings at Indiana Hoosiers

• Time/TV: 2:00 PM ET (BTN+)
• Spread: Indiana -20

The Hoosiers are looking to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 and will look to improve to 2-0. The Hoosiers had big days from juniors Al Durham and Justin Smith as the duo scored a combined 45 points in the opener against Western Illinois.

Portland State had a balanced attack in their opening win against Puget Sound, with five plays scoring 12 or 13 points. The team struggled shooting the ball, going 2 of 15 from three and only hitting 64.5% of their 31 free throws. If they want any chance of a massive upset they’ll need to be decisively better today.

The reality is Indiana hasn’t quite been Indiana the past few years, but they still have more than enough talent to not have to worry about Portland State.

• Pick Against the Spread: Indiana

-Wagner Seahawks at Penn State Nittany Lions

• Time/TV: 4:00 PM ET (BTN+)
• Spread: Penn State -25

Penn State rolled in their opener against Maryland Eastern Shore and will look to do so once again at home against Wagner this afternoon.

Penn State was able to force 19 turnovers while holding their opponent to a 33/21/46 shooting line. Wagner wasn’t that much better getting ran out of the gym by Seton Hall, committing 21 turnovers while shooting 44/22/62 from the field in the 34 point loss.

The Nittany Lions got solid outings from Lamar Stevens and Myles Dread, while Mike Watkins had 11 rebounds and 7 blocks in 20 minutes of action. The size inside from Watkins and offensive firepower from Stevens and Dread so be more than enough to get Pat Chambers squad to 2-0.

• Pick Against the Spread: Wagner

-Oklahoma Sooners vs Minnesota Golden Gophers (Sioux Falls, SD)

• Time/TV: 8:00 PM ET (BTN)
• Spread: Oklahoma -4.5

Minnesota rolled on all sides of the ball in their opener against Cleveland State and will look to add a quality win against Oklahoma in South Dakota.

The Golden Gophers weren’t challenged much in their opener, but will need to clean up their ball control tonight. While Cleveland State never threatened, the Gophers 17 turnovers were rough, especially the six committed by center Daniel Oturu. The Sooners have more than enough firepower to make Minnesota pay if they get sloppy with the ball.

Oklahoma had a slow start in their opener before rolling off to an 18 point win against UTSA. The Sooners shot only 20% from three and looked rusty at times on offense. Wichita State transfer Austin Reaves and freshman De’vion Harmon both scored 23 points for Oklahoma and should anchor a backcourt capable of scoring plenty of points.

Oklahoma is a young team and Minnesota is a team in flux as they try to replace Amir Coffey, Dupree McBrayer and Jordan Murphy. It could go either way but the talent advantage should give Oklahoma an edge on a neutral court

• Pick Against the Spread: Oklahoma

-Rhode Island Rams at #7 Maryland Terrapins

• Time/TV: 9:00 PM ET (FS1)
• Spread: Maryland -11

Maryland is looking to contend for the Big Ten title with Michigan State and with a preseason top ten ranking it appears many people are on the Terps bandwagon. Maryland didn’t have to do much to run past Holy Cross, winning their opener by 24 points in a game where they were able to clear the bench.

Tonight’s outing against Rhode Island might be a bit more of a challenge. A top 100 team (per KenPom, compared to Holy Cross’s 300+ ranking), Rhode Island made it to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments before fading to a 18-15 record in David Cox’s first season with the program. But with their four leading scorers back this season, Rhode Island could make some waves in the A-10 this season.

The Rams feature a backcourt with a pair of high volume shooting guards in Jeff Dowtin and Fatts Russell, who shot a combined 26 field goal attempts per game last season. The pair posted 31 points in Rhode Islands opening win over Long Island and will be key catalysts to Rhode Island’s offense. If the Terps can slow them down and clean up inside they should do just fine tonight. Maryland will need to defend well inside, though, as Cyril Langevine picked up eight offensive rebounds last time out on his way to 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Expect Maryland to rely on Anthony Cowan Jr. and try to play fast against an experienced Rhode Island squad. Maryland will need to do better than 18.5% from three and 66.7% from the line, but a top ten team at home shouldn’t lose to a mid-major in the first week of the season.

• Pick Against the Spread: Rhode Island