Illinois' Hot Start and Ohio State's Bullying Tactics Highlight Week Two
Plus a bonus CFP Top 25
As a reminder, there is no Hoopla post on Thursday. I will be back on Monday after taking Thanksgiving off, but that is why the college football Top 25 is going at the bottom of this post.
Ohio State women’s basketball led last week’s Hoopla, so I don’t want to talk too long about this team again. But, because of what the Buckeyes have been doing to their poor opponents, I can’t ignore them altogether.
The Buckeyes are now 4-0, with victories against teams that range from good (Tennessee) to decent (Boston College) to not very good (Ohio, McNeese). But, there is now a sample size large enough for me to see that Ohio State’s defense is doing… things.
It was clear that head coach Kevin McGuff trusted his team’s defensive effort in Ohio State’s debut against the Volunteers, and his team responded by forcing 29 Tennessee turnovers, 16 of which came off Ohio State steals.
Opponents averaging 29 turnovers per game would rank Ohio State third in the country this season. Averaging 16 steals per game would put Ohio State tied for fourth. The 29 Tennessee turnovers and 16 Ohio State steals are the SEASON LOWS for the Buckeyes this season.
Boston College: 36 turnovers forced, 20 steals
Ohio: 33 turnovers forced, 18 steals
McNeese: 38 turnovers forced, 25 steals
These aren’t video game numbers, they are even more ridiculous. Ohio State is forcing opponents to 34.0 turnovers per game and is averaging 19.8 steals per game, both of which lead the NCAA.
Here are some other ways to say this:
They are forcing a turnover on 36.1 percent of opposing possessions, second in the country, and stealing the ball on a nation-leading 21.0 percent of possessions.
On average, an opponent is turning the ball over every 1:11 of game time. Ohio State is stealing the ball every 2:01 of game time.
39 teams in Division I that have played multiple games without committing as many combined turnovers as McNeese did in one game against Ohio State.
80 teams in Division I have played multiple games without combining for 19 team steals, which is less than what Ohio State is averaging per game through four contests.
Jacy Sheldon is averaging 6.8 steals per game, tops in the country. 6.8 steals per game. If someone averaged 6.8 assists per game last season, they would have finished fifth nationally.
This is just vile stuff. Bravo, Ohio State.
Illinois’ Unprecedented Levels of Winning
Illinois is not a team I have talked about much on Hoopla, but the Illini brought in a new head coach — Shauna Green from Dayton — as well as some intriguing new talent, and the result is a 4-0 start.
Yes, the competition has not been very fierce, but this is an Illinois program that won just seven games last season, and that has not won more than 11 games since 2014-15. What makes these wins even more exciting is that the Illini are not just beating inferior competition: They are pulverizing them.
Illinois has won all four games by at least 35 points for an average margin of victory of 41.8 points per game, fifth best nationally. Do you know how many games Illinois has won by 35+ points in the past five seasons? ZERO. The last win of that nature is a 78-41 win over Rutgers on January 7, 2017.
Legitimate tests are coming soon for Illinois, but this is great to see regardless. Makira Cook has come over from Dayton with Green and immediately has been awesome (15.5 PPG, 64.1 FG%). Genesis Bryant was an exciting get from NC State and is fulfilling that potential (14.5 PPG, 54.8 FG%) off the bench early on.
Illinois is still likely years away from making real noise in the Big Ten, but there’s very good reason to be excited about how these first two weeks under Green have gone.
Nebraska Has Abandoned Me
Half of the Big Ten remains undefeated, with Ohio State and Illinois being joined by Michigan State (6-0), Indiana (5-0), Michigan (4-0), Penn State (4-0) and Purdue (4-0). Surprisingly, Iowa is not here after falling to Kansas State.
The Hawkeyes are in a funk and have not looked nearly as good as expected. But, lucky for them, a different Big Ten team has underperformed even more that I need to discuss.
That would be Nebraska, a team I have gone to bat for more than any other in my time writing this newsletter. The Cornhuskers, after two dominant wins to start the year, went on the road to play Creighton and Drake, a pair of solid teams that should, at worst, be on par with Nebraska.
Both the Bluejays and Bulldogs pummeled the Huskers by a combined score of 157-113. Extremely troubling.
The 77-51 loss to Creighton was bad on all fronts. Nebraska shot 31.0 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers compared to nine by the opposition. Creighton took a 22-11 lead into the second quarter and was never really pressed on it from that point on.
That was bad, but Creighton is a ranked team, and Drake gave Nebraska a great bounce-back opportunity. Nope, 80-62 defeat with, once again, 31.0 percent shooting as a team while the Bulldogs hit 55.4 percent of their chances.
Back-to-back defeats in that fashion is real cause for concern, and the offense is especially troubling. Nebraska was one of the best offensive teams in the country last season, but was completely stifled by the first two tests of the season here.
Jaz Shelley was one of the best guards in the conference in 2021-22. Through four contests, she is shooting just 30 percent from the field, 20 percent from three, is averaging less than 10 points per game and is down to 2.3 rebounds per game. Shelley averaged 13.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG and shot 42.5 percent overall and 40.6 percent from deep last season.
These numbers should absolutely go up, and they could be the key to the Cornhuskers getting back to the level they were at last season.
Nebraska has two games against inferior competition before battling Mississippi State, who is at a very similar level to these past two opponents. The Cornhuskers really need to prove something there this week.
Games To Watch
Some really, really good games to watch this week. Nebraska-Mississippi State, which I mentioned above, is worthy of your time, but so are these five:
Penn State vs. Syracuse, 11/21, 7 p.m., B1G+
It’s been a great start for Penn State, but Syracuse is a solid team who took out Ohio State a season ago.
Purdue vs. Harvard, 11/24, 1:30 p.m., FloHoops
This is a spot for Purdue’s whole week. The 4-0 Boilermakers have three fascinating matchups in Mexico from Thursday-Saturday, with Florida State and Oklahoma State being the others.
All four of these teams are very close in supposed quality (Purdue has a win expectancy between 44.5 percent and 59.6 percent for all three games) so we will learn a lot about where the Boilermakers stand based on these matchups.
Michigan State vs. No. 7 Iowa State, 11/24, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU
Thanksgiving football is overrated, a red-hot Michigan State team against a top 10 opponent at a neutral site is what gets me excited. The Spartans are rolling at 6-0 and showing immense depth in the process. The Cyclones and star Ashley Joens are extremely good, so even a close loss here would be huge for MSU.
Illinois vs. Charlotte, 11/26, 3:30 p.m., FloHoops
My own biases aside (Go Niners), Charlotte is fresh off a CUSA title and NCAA Tournament berth, so this is no gimme neutral site game for the Illini. A big win here would significantly enhance my Illinois Is Legit agenda.
No. 4 Iowa vs. Duke or UConn, 11/27, TBA, ABC or ESPN2
Based on the earlier matchups in the Phil Knight Tournament, the Hawkeyes will face either the Blue Devils or the Huskies. Duke is a good team and would be an interesting matchup, but I obviously am hoping for the latter here. Azzi Fudd is an unbelievable talent and makes UConn a contender, even without Paige Bueckers. Tune into this one regardless of opponent, but the dream Iowa-UConn matchup could be the best game of the Big Ten non-con slate.
Top 25
This is a mammoth of a post already, so only one thought at the bottom. You will simply have to trust me on everything else.
1.) Georgia (-)
2.) Michigan (-)
3.) Ohio State (-)
4.) TCU (-)
5.) USC (+1)
6.) Clemson (+3)
7.) LSU (-)
8.) Alabama (-)
9.) Oregon (+3)
10.) Tennessee (-5)
11.) Washington (+3)
12.) Penn State (+4)
13.) Coastal Carolina (+5)
14.) Utah (-3)
15.) Florida State (+6)
16.) North Carolina (-6)
17.) Kansas State (+3)
18.) Tulane (+1)
19.) Notre Dame (+3)
20.) UCLA (-3)
21.) Ole Miss (-8)
22.) Cincinnati (+1)
23.) Troy (+1)
24.) UTSA (+1)
25.) Oregon State (NEW)
Here’s the note:
The Game is on Saturday and you may note that I continue to have Michigan above Ohio State. Both teams looked terrible on Saturday and squeaked out wins. The Wolverines played (I think) the better team, but were at home. Ohio State was on the road, but should not be battling that hard against Maryland.
Do I think Michigan wins this game? I have no idea. In Ohio Stadium is probably enough to turn the tides and say the Buckeyes win close, but more than anything I’m just excited to watch it.
Feature photo credit: @IlliniWBB on Twitter
If you are interested in more Big Ten women’s basketball content like this, you can subscribe with the button at the top or bottom of the post, or share it with the button below. Thanks!