The Three Undefeateds
Plus Maryland and Nebraska's weeks that make no sense whatsoever
The Big Ten/ACC Challenge had plenty of fireworks, but it was the ACC that ended up with the 8-6 advantage.
I went a not-so-great 8-6 on my predictions, as well. There were plenty of unexpected results, and while the ACC won more of the individual matchups, the top of the Big Ten showed out against the best of the opposing conference.
Indiana’s Statement Win (and near disaster)
The Hoosiers entered the week 7-0 and a top five team in the AP Poll. They also entered the week without star guard Grace Berger, who is still day to day with a knee injury.
That injury is why I thought Indiana’s game against North Carolina was a coin flip. I was wrong.
The Hoosiers blasted the Tar Heels for 40 minutes, eventually winning by a final score of 87-63, a true statement against a top 10 opponent. Indiana shot 53.3 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from three, with Sara Scalia and Sydney Parrish each hitting 4 of their 7 attempts (8 of 14 combined).
Parrish, the transfer from Oregon, had her best game for Indiana yet, scoring 24 points and adding six rebounds. Mackenzie Holmes led the team with 25 points, and Chloe Moore-McNeil stepped up in a big way, filling the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
The game was as dominant as the box score suggested, with Indiana never relenting on either side of the floor. North Carolina was simply never able to put together a comeback effort, and it was the type of win that made Indiana look like a team ready to fully step into the Final Four, national title conversation.
Then the Hoosiers played Illinois.
Indiana scraped and clawed and fought against a team that went just 7-20 a season ago, ultimately winning 65-61. This was a home game for the Hoosiers, who took down the No. 6 team in the country by more than 20 a few days prior.
It’s hard to tell what a game like this means, but I am leaning more on Illinois being much, MUCH better than it was just one year ago. New head coach Shauna Green already matched the Illini’s win total from the 2021-22 season (27 games) in eight games.
This game also featured an otherworldly performance from Makira Cook, who has been a true star for this Illini team. Against Indiana, Illinois’ second-highest scorer had nine points. Cook led all scorers with 33 points, accounting for 54.1 percent of the team’s scoring.
That’s not normal, and it almost got Illinois its best win in years. Even in coming just short, this game proved the Illini are a team to worry about this season, an unthinkably fast turnaround from what they were the past few years (really, really bad).
Oh hey by the way.
BREAKING NEWS: NET Rankings
This Hoopla was 90 percent written when I saw that the first NET rankings of the season were released.
For those unfamiliar with how the NET rankings work, this is a good article to explain it better than I can. Basically, it’s a metric that weighs games from this season and this season alone, and is used in picking NCAA Tournament teams.
I posted a Twitter thread with all of the team’s rankings and some reactions that you can find here:
These rankings will fluctuate like crazy for awhile, so don’t take too much stock in them. This does, however, show just how well Illinois has played in the early parts of the season. Just another number that makes the close Indiana win not quite as bad as it appeared.
Ohio State, Michigan March On
Ohio State has been so damn good this year I almost forgot it was a big deal that they went to Louisville and crushed the Cardinals in their own gym.
But yeah, the Buckeyes won 96-77. They were down 45-37 at half, a lead that went up to 50-37, then Ohio State said “no.” Boom, immediate 15-2 run to tie the game. The Buckeyes took a small lead into the fourth quarter, then erupted for a 31-14 advantage in the final 10 minutes to make it a runaway.
Ohio State followed that up with a closer-than-expected 82-70 win over Rutgers, but no road games in conference play are locks, and the Buckeyes stormed out to a 20-6 lead and just kind of sat on the Scarlet Knights the rest of the way. Oh by the way, this was without All-Big Ten guard Jacy Sheldon.
Plenty of things about the Buckeyes this year have been the best case of what was expected: Taylor Mikesell and Sheldon are still excellent, Madison Greene’s return has been pivotal and they are getting solid contributions from underclassmen like Taylor Thierry and Cotie McMahon.
But it’s time to, again, talk about Rebeka Mikulasikova. The trajectory she has taken at Ohio State is insane, as she seemed like a talented, but limited forward with a bit of an outside shot. This season, Mikulasikova is the team’s leading scorer with 19.8 PPG, shooting 63.9 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from deep. If she maintains anything close to those numbers all season, Ohio State is going to stay this good.
Now Michigan, who is also undefeated, but with a little less flair this week. The Wolverines took down a solid Miami (Fla.) team, then hung on after a bit of a scare from Northwestern.
There’s a real big three here with Leigha Brown, Emily Kiser and Laila Phelia, who are each averaging over 14 PPG and hitting over half of their shots. It’s been a near certainty that at least one of them steps up when Michigan needs them thus far this season.
An interesting stat that may just be an anomaly is that Michigan is hitting 82.8 percent of its free throw attempts, second best in the country. This is a lot in thanks to Kiser’s 92.6 percent rate on 54 attempts, up a massive 23 percentage points from last year. Getting that level of efficiency at the line can be a major difference in games, and it was against the Wildcats, where Kiser hit all 12 of her attempts from the stripe.
College football fans were hoping for an Ohio State-Michigan game on New Years Eve. Little did they know, it’s already happening.
Maryland and Nebraska, What’s Good?
Maryland and Nebraska each played two games this week. Each won a pivotal game against a ranked opponent. Each got completely embarrassed in the other. They also played against each other.
I don’t know what either of these teams are even a little. Try and feel out their vibes and you are getting friend zoned and married at the same time. They lack anything that currently involves common sense.
Let’s start with the Big Ten/ACC games. First, Nebraska got crushed by Virginia Tech, 85-54. I thought this would happen because I think Virginia Tech is one of the best teams in the country, and it was at home, and the Cornhuskers haven’t been as consistent as they were last season. Still, a 31-point loss to anybody is a bad look for a team hoping to make the NCAA Tournament again.
On the flip side, Maryland completely blew me away by going on the road and taking down previously undefeated Notre Dame 74-72. The Terrapins managed this thanks to 31 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals by Diamond Miller, arguably the best performance of her career.
She also did this:
OK, that’s great. So when Maryland hosted Nebraska on Sunday, it sure seemed like the Terps would take care of business in a big way.
Nebraska 90, Maryland 67
First off, all the credit in the world to Nebraska, who had the resilience to come off that big-time defeat and earn a MASSIVE road win to start conference play. Jaz Shelley (29 points, five assists, 6 of 10 from three) needs to keep taking over like this if the Cornhuskers are gonna get back to the tourney.
Maryland led this game 36-31 at halftime. The Terps were outscored 59-31 from there, including a 30-11 fourth quarter. That is unbelievable stuff from Nebraska, and unacceptable stuff from Maryland.
The Terps led 52-51 with 2:21 left in the third, then Nebraska outscored them 9-4 to end the frame, seven of those points coming from Shelley. That momentum followed throughout the fourth, as Maryland slowly, methodically, got eviscerated. Miller, fresh off that Notre Dame performance, had 13 points, five turnovers and shot 3 of 12 from the field.
It’s not all on Miller, not even close, but it shows the volatility that both of these very talented teams have at the moment. Maryland has some battles ahead this week to rebound, and the only thing that’s certain is that nothing is certain with this team.
What To Watch
There was so much to discuss from this past week of action, and I know I didn’t cover it all. Minnesota made some unbelievable plays to take down Penn State in double overtime in the literal first game of the Big Ten season. Way to set the damn tone.
Don’t worry though, there’s plenty of upcoming matchups that promise to keep the hype up.
Michigan State vs. Purdue, 12/5, 7 p.m., BTN
Very interesting matchup between a pair of teams that could easily end up on the NCAA Tournament bubble at the end of the season. Boilermakers have been playing better as of late, but don’t count out Sparty at home.
Iowa vs. Iowa State, 12/7, 7 p.m., ESPN2
This can often be counted on as one of the best games of the season. These are two excellent teams with a bitter rivalry, and the Hawkeyes already have three losses, so they need to pick up a pivotal win.
Illinois @ Butler, 12/11, 2 p.m., FloHoops
The Illini are a top 20 team according to the computers, but a road matchup against Butler is no cakewalk. A win here (and against Rutgers to start the week) is massive if Illinois can turn this miracle start into a tourney bid.
Maryland vs. UConn, 12/11, 3 p.m., ABC
Maryland is getting a home game on national television to face off against UConn, and folks, I think it’s a winnable game. The Huskies are an incredible team, obviously, but are severely banged up with injuries and just lost to Notre Dame who, you guessed it, Maryland beat last week.
Penn State vs. West Virginia, 12/11, 4 p.m., B1G+
Michigan State-Ohio State has the BTN slot for this time, but I’m more intrigued with how the Nittany Lions fare against a very solid Mountaineers team. Penn State lost a heartbreaker to Minnesota last week, but is still off to a strong start this season.