Maize and boo

Welcome to the final Field of Daily for 2022. Thanks for helping us grow this season and for the support along the way. We're pumped for bigger and better things in the new year, so stay tuned for more details.

Let's get to the news.

1. Michigan's season hits new low

The College Football Playoff can't get here fast enough for Wolverines fans.

Reggie Bass hit a wild 3-pointer with 11 seconds left as Central Michigan (5-8), one of the worst teams in D-I, beat the Wolverines for the third time in seven games since 2002. It's a Quad 4 loss for Michigan (7-5), which has dropped two straight and is just 2-4 since the football team beat Ohio State on Nov. 26. (Seems relevant.)

How bad was it? Michigan was a 21.5-point favorite. This was its largest upset loss since losing to NJIT in 2014. As Dylan Burkhardt notes, Michigan hasn't been good this year but had avoided bad losses. Until now.

“It’s been a trend now, these games — especially these home games — I feel like we just have been shooting ourselves in the foot and we’ve been able to sneak out of it,” Jace Howard told UMHoops.com. “And let’s just call it for what it is: we were down in each one down the stretch in the last five minutes and now it finally got us, it finally bit us in the butt.”

Michigan's loss summed up everything that has plagued Juwan Howard's team this season: Inconsistent shooting, poor decision making and bad rebounding. Hunter Dickinson (13 points, six rebounds) was largely ineffective in 32 minutes. Jett Howard (12 points on 4-of-14 shooting) played 38 minutes but never looked comfortable. Just bad vibes all around.

Perhaps the Wolverines are an NIT team (as the AFTER DARK crew notes), and with a loss like this on the résumé, that's hard to argue. But remember, last season's squad was 7-7 through mid-January, then (somehow) stacked up 11 conference wins.

Still, they weren't this disjointed last season (chalk that up to experience). Any season-saving run will have to start with Dickinson being much more assertive.

2. North Texas takes it down too many notches

No team plays slower than the Mean Green. North Texas relies on its elite defense to smother opponents, then drains their willpower concurrently with the shot clock in its half-court offense. Thursday night, that formula was working against Florida Atlantic.

Then it didn't.

North Texas (10-3, 1-1 in C-USA) led 44-35 with 8:24 remaining but made just one of its final nine shots and lost a crucial home game to the Owls (12-1, 2-0), who are now tied with UAB atop the conference standings after winning their 11th in a row. Strange too, given the type of shots that went in during this game.

Vladislav Goldin led FAU with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Other notable results:

Nebraska 66, Iowa 50Kris Murray (17 points) was back after missing four games due to a foot injury. Connor McCaffery returned after an illness. But Iowa (8-5, 0-2 in Big Ten) was still out of sorts. Nebraska (8-6, 1-2) had all five starters in double figures and held the Hawkeyes to their worst offensive night since a 48-46 loss to Rutgers last season, scoring just .76 points per possession.

Purdue 82, Florida A&M 49The Boilermakers (13-0) remained one of three unbeaten D-I teams in their final non-conference game before resuming Big Ten play on Monday against Rutgers. Zach Edey had a double-double (14 and 10), but Brandon Newman's 18 led all scorers.

Providence 72, Butler 52Don't look now, but the Friars (11-3, 3-0 in Big East) have won six straight and are tied with UConn and Xavier atop the Big East standings. And they didn't need any luck in this one. Providence held Butler (8-6, 0-3) to just .77 points per possession and led by as many as 30 points before settling in. Devin Carter led all players with 21 points and four steals.

DePaul 83, Georgetown 76The Blue Demons (7-7, 1-2 in Big East) rallied for the win thanks to 31 points from Umoja Gibson. Brandon Murray scored 29 for the Hoyas (5-9, 0-3), who have now lost 23 consecutive Big East games and 28 games against high-major opponents.

Illinois 85, Bethune-Cookman 52No drama, just an easy win for the Illini (9-4), who got a career-high 22 points from Dain Dainja. Should they be playing him more?

Of note, freshman point guard Skyy Clark is "day-to-day" with a shoulder injury and did not play. Illinois resumes Big Ten play on Wednesday at Northwestern.

Maryland 80, UMBC 64The Terps (10-3) were sluggish, leading by just three points with 13 minutes left in the game. But their backcourt provided an extra push thanks to Donald Carey scoring 19 off the bench and Jahmir Young adding 18. Young also became one of 13 active players with at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in his career.

UAB 79, UTEP 73, 2OTIn a game with several thrills, it was the calm moments at the free-throw line that made the difference for the Blazers (11-2, 2-0 in C-USA). Eric Gaines tied the game at 57 with a free throw (hitting 1 of 3), then Jelly Walker converted a three-point play and hit two more free throws to seal the win in double OT. OK, it wasn't all free throws. KJ Buffen's putback and subsequent block helped send the game into double OT.

Memphis 93, South Florida 86The Tigers (11-3, 1-0 in AAC) trailed by ten midway through the second half but never panicked as Kendric Davis (24 points) and Alex Lomax (16) keyed a rally. The pair scored 22 of Memphis' final 31 points, half of which came from the free-throw line. The Bulls (7-7, 0-1) had won five in a row.

Oral Roberts 92, Omaha 89Max Abmas scored a season-high 32 points as the Golden Eagles (11-3, 2-0 in Summit) held off the Mavs (5-9, 1-1). Abmas scored their final ten points, all of it from the charity stripe in the final 1:37.

Detroit Mercy 76, Green Bay 59Antoine Davis scored 24 points and continued his climb up the all-time scoring ladder as the Titans (6-8, 2-1 in Horizon) snapped a three-game losing streak. Davis should pass Doug McDermott in a couple of weeks.

James Madison 63, Georgia State 47Tyree Ihenacho scored 15 points as James Madison won its first conference game as a member of the Sun Belt. Hope the Dukes (10-4, 1-0) are ready for their next one: A Saturday trip to Marshall. The winner has the inside track to the regular-season league title.

Coastal Carolina 77, Louisiana 76Antonio Davis made two free throws with four seconds remaining as the Chanticleers (7-5, 1-0 in Sun Belt) rallied for a home win in their league opener. Jomaru Brown led all scorers with 28 points.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY TIPXY

Save on award-winning whiskey

When you need to find the right whiskey, turn to Tipxy. It features fall favorites, craft bourbon, and the best American whiskey around. It's the perfect way to start a new year.

Try Tipxy.

3. It's a fun little Friday

College basketball Fridays in January and February are mostly quiet, with smaller slates of 10-15 games. You'll get a Big East or Big Ten game now and then, and the A-10 always features a Friday night showdown, but for the most part, it's smaller schools as everyone preps for the weekend.

Well, that starts next week.

Tonight's slate features 27 games, including four ranked teams and a handful of other power conference teams wrapping up their non-conference schedules. Even better? It's essentially all-day basketball. Here's how you could spend your day.

Start with North Carolina at Pitt (Noon ET, ACC Network). The Panthers (9-4, 2-0 in ACC) are 4.5-point underdogs at home but are actually higher in the ACC standings. Blake Hinson has been fantastic, Nelly Cummings is coming off one of his best games of the year, and they've been good enough that they don't have to make an unseemly push to get Dior Johnson on the court this season. Is that enough to derail UNC (9-4, 1-1), which is on a 4-game win streak and is coming off back-to-back games where Armando Bacot has scored 28 and 26 points?

Know what? Let's just spend the whole afternoon tuned into ACC Network to watch Miami at Notre Dame (2 pm) and NC State at Clemson (4 pm). You don't get that on a typical Friday.

Grab some food, then turn on ESPN+ to watch a couple of NBA hopefuls (on so-so teams) with Eastern Michigan at South Carolina. Freshmen Emoni Bates (19.4 ppg) and GG Jackson (16.6 ppg) lead their teams in scoring, but only Jackson's projected to be a first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Then cap your night with a pair of Pac-12 games: USC at Washington (10 pm, ESPN2) and UCLA at Washington State (11 pm, Pac-12 Network). If nothing else, staying up an 11 pm ET tip will prep you for Saturday night and New Year's Eve. (I'm staring at myself for that one. We early birds usually fall asleep on the couch around 10 or 10:30...)

4. No small games in the Big 12

No conference is better from top to bottom than the Big 12. That's been true for the last two years (coincidence that it's also produced the eventual national champ?) and should be true again this season.

All ten teams currently rank among the Top 50 in KenPom, Bart Torvik and EvanMiya. Sure, the Big Ten and SEC also have roughly the same amount in the top 50, but there are no bottom dwellers in the Big 12. No Minnesotas, or South Carolinas. There are no days off.

And that gauntlet starts Saturday when conference play opens. (All times ET)

• Texas Tech (10-2) at TCU (11-1), Noon (ESPNU)

• Texas (11-1) at Oklahoma (9-3), 2 pm (ESPN+)

• Oklahoma State (8-4) at Kansas (11-1), 2 pm (CBS)

• Baylor (10-2) at Iowa State (9-2), 2 pm (ESPNU)

• West Virginia (10-2) at Kansas State (11-1), 7 pm (ESPN+)

So, two questions: Who's winning the title, and how many teams will the Big 12 place in the NCAA Tournament?

The latter will be a fascinating experiment. No matter how balanced the league is, it stands to reason that at least one (maybe two teams) will endure a few rough games and end at 5-13 or 6-12 (or worse). But if, somehow, everything holds to form and you end up with ten teams that have conference records ranging from 12-6 to 7-11, could nine teams conceivably make the Big Dance?

Joe Lunardi's latest projection thinks it's possible — and that's with Oklahoma State as one of the first four out. To have 90 percent of your conference playing in March is absurd. But not far-fetched because Lunardi isn't alone. Bart Torvik also has nine. Jerry Palm has eight teams in (TCU and Texas Tech are the odd teams out.) Most likely the Big 12 comfortably places seven in the NCAAs (like last year), with an outside chance at 8.

(Also important: Iowa State announced that big man Aljaz Kunc has a broken finger and may miss a month. That's a significant detriment to their long-term prospects.)

As for the eventual champ, Kansas and Texas are the current favorites, with West Virginia and Baylor as the most likely darkhorses — though Randolph Childress is skeptical of the Bears.

With every team playing a true home-and-home schedule, there aren't any easy paths to a regular-season title, meaning the deeper, more experienced teams will likely fare best. (I'd place TCU as the most likely to challenge for the title because of those factors; its ceiling isn't as high as Texas or Kansas, but its floor is.)

With Chris Beard's status still in limbo, one would think Kansas has the inside track to yet another Big 12 title. Check back with me in mid-January. If KU wins two of its first three road games (at Texas Tech, West Virginia and K-State), and holds court at home, that's 11 league wins heading into the regular-season finale at Texas.

(Deep breath) Might have to fly to Austin for that one...

5. Aztecs might skip Southwest, bus it to Las Vegas

San Diego State senior Matt Bradley snapped a three-game shooting slump on Wednesday, scoring a season-high 27 points, including six 3-pointers. It's good timing with a game at UNLV on Saturday.

What's not great timing? Southwest Airlines' mess.

Boise State, Colorado State and UNLV all endured travel disruptions because of scheduled Southwest flights that were canceled. The Aztecs could be the latest ones to have that pop up. Most SDSU teams fly Southwest and most flights have been canceled out of San Diego since Sunday.

“Right now, we’re on a flight that hasn’t been canceled,” coach Brian Dutcher told the San Diego Union-Tribune, “but the bus that’s taking us to the airport will be prepared to take us to Vegas. If they cancel it, we’ll stay on the bus and go five hours to Vegas and play the game."

Yeesh. Could be worse, I guess. Next week, SDSU travels to Wyoming.

State of concern

Kentucky is 8-4 and coming off an embarrassing 89-75 loss to Missouri. But things could be worse. Like say, if Louisville (2-11) comes to Rupp and plays well, and gives the Cats a scare? It's highly unlikely — the Cardinals are 23-point underdogs — but hey, it's been a strange season thus far. I'm not ruling anything out. Is this the must-see game of the weekend? Nah. Saturday's loaded with great games before the college football playoffs kickoff (you're gonna need like 5 TVs for the 2 pm games). But I confess Louisville-Kentucky is oddly compelling. (Noon ET, CBS)

What else to watch (all times ET)

SATURDAY

• UConn (14-0) at Xavier (11-3), Noon (FOX)

• Virginia Tech (11-2) at Wake Forest (9-4), Noon (ESPN+)

• Arizona (12-1) at Arizona State (11-2), 2 pm (FOX)

• Marquette (10-4) at Villanova (7-6), 2 pm (FS1)

• San Diego State (10-3) at UNLV (11-2), 4 pm (CBS)

• New Mexico (13-0) at Wyoming (5-8), 4 pm (FS1)

• James Madison at Marshall, 2 pm (ESPN+)

SUNDAY

• Ohio State at Northwestern, 7:30 pm (Big Ten Network)

• Maryland at Michigan, 4:30 pm (FS1)

• Iowa at Penn State, 5:30 pm (Big Ten Network)

• Memphis at Tulane, 5 pm (ESPN)

Head of the Pac

Between Arizona and UCLA, the Pac-12 has two bonafide national title contenders, perched among the top 10 in both kenpom and barttorvik. The Cats are built around their explosive offense, while the Bruins are more balanced, but certainly lean on their defense.

So who's going to win the conference? And why is Bobby Hurley the front-runner for coach of the year? John Fanta, Rob Dauster and Terrence Oglesby explain.

Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube here and subscribe here to the DTF podcast.

Links as you decide if you really want to hit that New Year's Eve party or if it'd be more fun to just Netflix and chill.

• UConn continues to be motivated by not being a preseason Top 25 team.

• Sean Miller and his former assistant, Book Richardson, spoke for the first time in five years.

• 'Coach FEMA' is rebuilding San Jose State.

• Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren reportedly is a finalist to be the next President/CEO of the Chicago Bears.