Big Ten Roundup (Sept. 21): Braelon Allen Speaks on Lack of Touches, Boo Buie No. 33 in Top 100

Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen spoke to media on Tuesday about his lack of touches in the Badgers' offense through the first three weeks of the season, while Northwestern point guard Boo Buie was ranked as the 33rd best player in college basketball entering the 2023-24 season by The Field of 68.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Wisconsin football won its second game of the season on Saturday, defeating Georgia Southern 35-14 following a dominant second half. 

However, star running back Braelon Allen was once again not featured heavily in the game plan. On Tuesday, Allen spoke with Wisconsin media, and said that he does not know why he has not been receiving more touches and more playing time. 

In basketball news, The Field of 68 published "The Almanac," which is the company's comprehensive guide to the 2023-24 college basketball season. In The Almanac, they rank their top 100 players in college basketball for the upcoming season, and placed Northwestern point guard Boo Buie at No. 33 overall. 

Here's everything you need to know in today's Big Ten Roundup:

Braelon Allen on Lack of Touches in Offense

Through the first three weeks of the 2023 season, Allen is averaging a career best 7.1 yards per carry. However, the number of times Allen has carried the ball each game has sharply declined from his sophomore to junior year. 

The star running back averaged more than 19 carries per game in 2022, but is only at a mere 12 carries per game this season. Allen was only given seven carries total in the Badgers' 31-22 loss to Washington State in Week 2. In Week 3, he did not touch the ball at all during the first quarter as Wisconsin struggled mightily with Georgia Southern. 

“I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ve struggled with [the lesser amount of carries],” Allen said to media on Tuesday after Wisconsin's practice. “Definitely been a different feel. I’ve always felt as the game went on, the more carries I got, I was able to get into a rhythm.”

A Wisconsin reporter then asked Allen why he didn't see the football at all during the first quarter of last Saturday's game. The running back had a simple, yet telling, answer. 

“I don’t know. I don’t really got the answer to that,” Allen said.

#Badgers RB Braelon Allen on reason for lack of playing time: “I don’t know”

(via @RohanChakrav)https://t.co/hOxcxt879v

— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) September 20, 2023

Shortly after leaving Cincinnati to take the job at Wisconsin, coach Luke Fickell hired offensive coordinator Phil Longo away from North Carolina, making him the new play caller in Madison. With quarterbacks such as Drake Maye, Longo has long run a pass-happy system, which is an antithetical approach to the previous 30 years of Wisconsin football.

The Badgers are still 2-1 and are playing their first conference game this Friday night against Purdue. There's still plenty of time for them to get Allen more involved and right the ship, but things have gotten off to a bumpy start to say the least. 

Boo Buie Named 33rd Best Player in Country

The fact that several Northwestern fans might find a 33rd overall ranking for Buie disrespectful shows how much things can change in one year.

After being much maligned for the better part of three years, the Northwestern point guard broke out with a dream season in 2022-23, leading the Wildcats to their most successful basketball campaign in program history. 

Number 0 in the top 💯 pic.twitter.com/JiW7rYHoRe

— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) September 21, 2023

Buie averaged 17.3 points per game and was named to the first team All-Big Ten in 2022-23. He especially shined during the latter half of Big Ten conference play. Starting on Jan. 15, and going through Feb. 26, Buie scored 22, 20, 17, 21, 20, 23, 13, 19, 26, 21, 23 and 35 points in 12 successive Big Ten games. 

He currently has the 10th most points in the history of Northwestern men's basketball with 1,541. The all-time leader in program history is John Shurna with 2,038, a number Buie is well within reaching here during his fifth season of college basketball. 

Related Stories on Big Ten: 

• 2023-24 BIG TEN BASKETBALL SCHEDULE: The conference released its schedule in full for the upcoming college basketball season. Here is every game, conference and non-conference, that a Big Ten team is playing in for 2023-24. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 3 BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS: We're well into the 2023 college football season, and things have started to separate in the Big Ten. There's a clear top three in the conference, but also a whole lot disappointing squads, including two nearby teams that slid below Indiana in this week's rankings. CLICK HERE
• BIG TEN SP+ RANKINGS: The ESPN advanced metric ranks Ohio State as the No. 1 overall team in the country, while Michigan State took a huge fall down the rankings after getting blown out by Washington. CLICK HERE