There are six Big Ten games set for the day, mainly involving schools at home hosting mid-majors. The two exceptions, however, include Penn State taking on Pitt in Hershey Pennsylvania and Oregon facing Gonzaga in the Northwest Elite Showdown in Portland.
Pittsburgh vs Penn State Nittany Lions
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The first game of the day involves an in-state battle between two sub-100 teams. Penn State enters on a two game skid after getting blown out at Indiana and falling at home to Michigan State by four. Pitt hasn’t fared much better, going 2-5 over their past seven games. Naturally, in between losses to programs such as Quinnipiac and Hofstra the Panthers managed to knock off Ohio State. Penn State is committing less than nine turnovers per game and shooting 49.5% from the field. Their defense has been a weak spot, though Pitt’s offense hasn’t been particularly great. If the Nittany Lions can find their rhythm offensively they should be able to outscore Pitt on a neutral court this afternoon.
Pick: Penn State
La Salle at #2 Michigan Wolverines
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Time/TV: 4:00 PM ET Peacock
Michigan enters today as a 39.5 point favorite at home against a La Salle team ranked 262nd in the KenPom rankings. The Wolverines have won seven in a row by double digits and have hit 100 in four of their last five games and will now face a team that hasn’t scored more than 75 points since their season opener against Coppin State. Averaging 67.7 points and 13.6 turnovers per game while shooting just 43.3% from the field, it will likely be considered a win if the Explorers can even hit 60 tonight in Ann Arbor. Expect the Wolverines to continue rolling.
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Pick: Michigan
UC Santa Cruz at USC Trojans
The Trojans will host Div. III UC Santa Cruz today in a game that replaces the Trojans scheduled game against Brown. It’s also the only game the Trojans will play over a two week span, with their next game not coming until the second day of January at Michigan. It’s probably a good time for a tune-up though, as USC has looked pretty unimpressive in most of their wins over the past month. While the team has been a bit lackluster they still sit at 11-1, with their lone loss being a conference defeat against a not particularly great Washington. Fun fact about UC Santa Cruz, but the 6-6 squad has played two home games so far this season, drawing an average of 297 people per game. In their eight road games attendance has been 1,793 total (224 per game). While the Trojans likely wanted to keep their home game and not go two weeks without playing a game, they probably could have not scheduled this game to replace Brown.
Fun fact: UC Santa Cruz’s nickname is the Banana Slugs. The banana slug is also the official state slug of California.
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Pick: USC
Oregon Ducks vs #7 Gonzaga
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Time/TV: 6:00 PM ET Peacock
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Northwest Elite Showdown – Portland
Oregon surprised early in the 2024-25 season and while a rough stretch in conference play tampered expectations, they still had a strong season. With their two best players both returning expectations were high this year but things haven’t gone as expected for the Ducks. Oregon is 2-4 over their past six games and lost both of their Big Ten games. Even in their wins things haven’t always been easy, with wins over Hawaii and Rice by a combined 5 points and playing South Dakota State and Oregon State far closer than they should have. They ended a five game skid with easy wins over UC Davis and Portland, but will likely fall under .500 today with a game against seventh ranked Gonzaga in Portland.
Gonzaga enters at 11-1 with their lone blemish being a massive loss to Michigan. Outside of that they’ve knocked off UCLA, Kentucky, Maryland, Alabama, Arizona State, Creighton and Oklahoma by double digits. Playing in the WCC also means the schedule is going to soften considerably, with the most difficult remaining tests likely being Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara over the next several months.
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The Bulldogs average 92.4 points while shooting 52.5% from the field and 36.2% from three. KenPom has them sixth offensively and fourth defensively, sitting behind only Michigan, Arizona and Iowa State. In comparison is an Oregon squad ranked 81st and 84th respectively. Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle have largely reproduced what they did last season, but neither have taken the next step to take things over and to the next level. With the Ducks committing 13.2 turnovers per game and shooting just 42.9% from the field it’s going to be a tough task to keep pace with an experienced Gonzaga program that has been blowing (almost) everyone out.
Look for Gonzaga to continue their run of blowing out power conference opponents this evening.
Pick: Gonzaga
Campbell at Minnesota Golden Gophers
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In the second last non-conference game of the season Minnesota is set to host Campbell. The Gophers are entering off of a 36 point win over Texas Southern that saw Cade Tyson score 38 points. Minnesota has only played three games so far this month, including a win against Indiana and a solid first half at Purdue before getting steamrolled in the second. Tyson has led the team in scoring in eight of 11 games, averaging 22.6 points per game and one of only two players averaging double figures. The Fighting Camels lost by 28 to Gonzaga last time out and also have double digit losses at Wisconsin and Penn State. Shooting 29.3% from three and committing 15 turnovers per game, Campbell’s inefficiency on the offensive side of the ball will likely loom large. As long as Minnesota doesn’t overlook Campbell they should be fine.
Pick: Minnesota
North Dakota at #15 Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska remained undefeated last week with wins against Wisconsin and on the road at Illinois. That last win helped catapult the Cornhuskers all the way up to 15th in the country. Now Nebraska faces a pair of mid-majors before opening 2026 with a game against Michigan State that could be a top ten showdown by then. Their opponent tonight is a 5-9 North Dakota program ranked 326nd per KenPom. The Fighting Hawks are shooting at a not great .430/.675/.305 split. Rienk Mast and Pryce Sandfort are neck and neck with 17.9 and 17.1 points per game for a Nebraska team averaging just under 84 points per game. Look for Nebraska to get the offense rolling and remain undefeated.
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Pick: Nebraska
