We see you, Big Ten!

Well, Wednesday was admittedly a bit of a letdown after a killer Tuesday of college hoops, but Scottie Barnes, how do you do! The kid needed just one game to show why he’s almost certainly going to be the top contender for ACC Freshman of the Year and potentially Florida State’s best player this season.

But this intro isn’t about the ACC because its top teams got DOMINATED by the Big Ten in this year’s Challenge. I know, I know, the ACC made up ground Wednesday to finish 6-5, but both Duke and North Carolina lost to clearly superior opponents in Illinois and Iowa, respectively. That’s not to mention Penn State (!!) running a ranked Virginia Tech team off its floor, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Michigan teams that would’ve been favored, and a pesky Indiana squad that nearly upset Florida State in Tallahassee.

KenPom somehow has the Big 12 ahead of the Big Ten in his conference rankings, but I just don’t see it. Yes, Baylor is the clear No. 2 and the metrics love both West Virginia and Texas Tech. But it’s not crazy to think the Big Ten could send 12 teams to the tournament. That’s legitimately unheard of — it’s never happened!

League play kicks off Sunday for the Big 12 and Monday for the Big Ten, so we’ll start to get a better sense of how the intra-league competition is soon enough. I, however, am a Big Ten believer.

FOUR-POINT PLAY

Each Wednesday, we’ll check in with one of our podcast hosts and see what they’re up to — besides creating 🔥🔥  content for us at The Field of 68.

In this edition, we take a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to find former Gator great Patric Young, the host of Patric Young and the Rowdies, and learn a little about what he’s been up to since leaving Gainesville.

1. What’s been the most rewarding part of joining the Field of 68 Media Network?Going into this opportunity, I knew I would really enjoy the conversations where I got to learn about specific aspects of each person’s lives as well as the fingerprints they left at the University of Florida. But to my surprise, the most rewarding part has been the reviews and messages I have received [from people] that have really loved the podcast.

2. Where does this year’s Florida team need to grow the most if it’s going to fight for an SEC title?They need to grow the most in terms of cohesiveness, meaning they can grasp the vision of Coach White and execute the system that he has been successful with in the past. You have to play with tempo all year long because a lot of the gameplan involves conditioning, and you have to push that tempo on both sides to finish games.

3. Who has been your favorite guest thus far and why?My favorite guest thus far has to be Billy [Donovan]. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this man recruiting me and pouring time into my life. I hadn’t spoken to him in so long — it was so refreshing to connect with him and again and tell him how much I appreciate him.

AND ONE!!

1. You’re rehabbing in Greece right now, so what have you been doing to keep yourself entertained during COVID?Outside of all the training I’m doing weekly, I am currently in a lockdown due to the pandemic. That has made it difficult to do much of anything outside of the house. So the most exciting thing I’ve picked up recently is the bass guitar — it is a newfound love and I love the challenge it gives me.

THE MIXTAPE

We’ve already had some great moments this week on The Field of 68 and there will be more coming later today. But until then, here’s what you might’ve missed:

One of our newest pods is Big Vol’n, hosted by former Tennessee standout Dane Bradshaw. To kick things off, he brought on another Volunteer icon, Chris Lofton, and Chris had one heck of a story to tell about his cancer diagnosis:

Jeff Hawkins, the host of our Rock Chalk J-Hawk, was out of commission for a few weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19. The former Jayhawk point guard shared a little bit about his unfortunate experience and why we all need to take this virus so seriously:

Over at The House of Hoosier, A.J. Guyton just keeps bringing it, and this week, he got to talk with arguably the greatest Hoosier of all-time, the one and only Isiah Thomas. Enough said, no?

And for a taste of one of our other national podcast, Dauster and Da’Sean, Rob Dauster and former West Virginia star Da’Sean Butler got into what makes Iowa so dangerous and how Luka Garza has such a big impact on the rest of the Hawkeyes’ offense:

SECURE THE BAG

After a rough opening week for our Best Bets hosts, Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman, both guys hit it big on Tuesday night — Rob went 4-1 and Jeff jumped back above .500 for the season with an 8-1 (!!!) performance. That included taking Creighton +3.5, Illinois +4.5 and Iowa -4.5, plus some other savvy selections.

Is it the lucky Homefield Apparel? I know Rob thinks so. (P.S., you can use the promo code FIELDOF68 over with our friends at Homefield to get 20% off your next purchase). But if you want to take advantage of more than 30 combined years of college hoops expertise, make sure you subscribe to the podcast feed or check out The Field of 68 Twitter feed each morning at 9 a.m. when they’ll go live with their picks for the day.

Records (through Dec. 9)

Dauster: 18-21

Goodman: 24-21

If you haven’t already, hit that subscribe button, and please, please, please keep sharing The Field of 68 with anyone in your life who cares about college hoops. We want to keep growing and expanding our network, but we can’t do it without y’all.

Stay safe, wear your masks and we’ll be back on Monday!

Mitchell is a freelance sports journalist and a producer for The Field of 68 Media Network. He’s previously written for The Dallas Morning News, Sports Illustrated and The Philadelphia Inquirer. You can follow him on Twitter at @mpgladstone13 or reach him via email at [email protected].