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00:00John, when you look at the Big 10 title odds right now, we discussed it earlier in the
00:06year until proven otherwise, that Big 10 regular season crown still runs through West Lafayette,
00:13but Michigan is the favorite at plus 340.
00:17There you see the Illini at plus 750, Wisconsin, a 20 to one number, despite being a top 20
00:24team in college hoops.
00:26When you look at Purdue or elsewhere atop the odds board, who do you think is the best
00:30challenger to the Boilermakers at this moment?
00:33Well, I think there's a number of different ways you can go, Ben.
00:36I think for all intents and purposes, obviously the balance of the Big 10 is going to be a
00:42major, major question when you look at this conference.
00:46I don't see a team that's really in position to push out among the rest.
00:51I think a couple of days ago, you'd have to say Dana Altman's Oregon Ducks, but I got
00:55to tell you, the performance that UCLA had on Sunday in Eugene was really impressive.
01:02I'm not saying obviously that UCLA was flawless down the stretch because it wasn't.
01:08UCLA for 37 minutes was clearly the better team than Oregon, and in the last two or three
01:13minutes there was a lot of miscues that Mick Cronin's team will need to rectify.
01:17But UCLA is markedly better than the team the first week of the season that went to
01:22Las Vegas and lost to New Mexico.
01:24I see the Bruins researching.
01:27I see unparalleled depth in the Big 10, and I see a team that looks to be a force in that
01:34league.
01:35UCLA is a unit right now that doesn't have a Jaime Jacquez, that doesn't have a Johnny
01:40Juicing, but the whole looks greater than the sum of its parts in Westwood.