Official Big Televen/ACC Challenge Thread

[feldspar]

The ACC has their hands full this year with a relatively loaded Big 10 Conference. Here are the matchups:

Mon, Nov 30: Penn St. at Virginia
Tue, Dec 1: Wake Forest at Purdue
Northwestern at NC State
Maryland at Indiana
Michigan St. at UNC
Virgina Tech at Iowa
Wed, Dec 2: Illinois at Clemson
Minnesota at Miami
Boston College at Michigan
Duke at Wisconsin
Florida St at Ohio St

That's a lot of great matchups. The ACC has four ranked teams (Duke, UNC, Maryland and Clemson) and the Big 10 has six (Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio St, Minnesota and Michigan St).

This could very well be the year the Big 10 finally wins the thing. But I wouldn't count the ACC out just yet.

[dukeballer2294]

The ACC has their hands full this year with a relatively loaded Big 10 Conference. Here are the matchups:

Mon, Nov 30: Penn St. at Virginia
Tue, Dec 1: Wake Forest at Purdue
Northwestern at NC State
Maryland at Indiana
Michigan St. at UNC
Virgina Tech at Iowa
Wed, Dec 2: Illinois at Clemson
Minnesota at Miami
Boston College at Michigan
Duke at Wisconsin
Florida St at Ohio St

That's a lot of great matchups. The ACC has four ranked teams (Duke, UNC, Maryland and Clemson) and the Big 10 has six (Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio St, Minnesota and Michigan St).

This could very well be the year the Big 10 finally wins the thing. But I wouldn't count the ACC out just yet.

obviously barring upset i see 3 games that will sway the challenge to 1 side
PSU v VIrginia
NW v NSU
VTECH v Iowa
I think other than these games there is a clear favorite in the rest, making theses games crucial for the title

[throatybeard]

Anyone else sort of tired of this event? A lot of ACC teams play BE teams OOC as it is, and the BE has too many teams. The central concept is great, but I'd like to see us mix it up a bit, Big XII, SEC, Pac 10, anyone.

[uh_no]

obviously barring upset i see 3 games that will sway the challenge to 1 side
PSU v VIrginia
NW v NSU
VTECH v Iowa
I think other than these games there is a clear favorite in the rest, making theses games crucial for the title

the Big 10 also went 0-4 friday night...all losses to unranked teams...

[Bob Green]

Anyone else sort of tired of this event?

Yes. This is the 11th year for the ACC - Big 10 Challenge and I just as soon it be the last. I like the whole "Challenge" idea, but this one seems to have lost its luster. An ACC - Big 12 Challenge sounds intriguing. I'd welcome the opportunity for an early season match-up against Kansas or Texas or Oklahoma.

[uh_no]

Anyone else sort of tired of this event? A lot of ACC teams play BE teams OOC as it is, and the BE has too many teams. The central concept is great, but I'd like to see us mix it up a bit, Big XII, SEC, Pac 10, anyone.

what does the big east have to do with the big 10 Acc challenge?

[Bob Green]

what does the big east have to do with the big 10 Acc challenge?

The point I believe Throaty was making is that he would prefer to see ACC teams play schools from the Big 12, Pac 10, SEC etc...instead of all the games against the Big 10. There are already a number of ACC Big East match-ups.

Incidentally, prior to the ACC - Big 10 Challenge there was an ACC - Big East Challenge.

[kmspeaks]

what does the big east have to do with the big 10 Acc challenge?

The point I believe Throaty was making is that he would prefer to see ACC teams play schools from the Big 12, Pac 10, SEC etc...instead of all the games against the Big 10. There are already a number of ACC Big East match-ups.

Incidentally, prior to the ACC - Big 10 Challenge there was an ACC - Big East Challenge.

Either that or he was referring to the Big 10 with what their real initials should be. The Big Eleven= BE

[Bob Green]

Either that or he was referring to the Big 10 with what their real initials should be. The Big Eleven= BE

That has to be it. I'll go back to drinking my beer and quit trying to interpret other poster's thoughts.

[Newton_14]

Just for fun I thought I would take a stab at picking the winners. I will take anything over .500 and be satisfied I guess.

So here we go:

Mon, Nov 30:
Penn St. at Virginia (I'll take UVA only because they are the home team.)

Tue, Dec 1:
Wake Forest at Purdue (Purdue)

Northwestern at NC State (State. Not sure why though. Iffy pick)

Maryland at Indiana (Twerps. Indiana is not there yet)

Michigan St. at UNC (Mich St. No explanation needed)

Virgina Tech at Iowa (Va Tech. I know, I know. But Iowa is terrible)

Wed, Dec 2:
Illinois at Clemson (Clemson. Only because they are at home)

Minnesota at Miami (Minnesota. Miami is young in the wrong places)

Boston College at Michigan (Michigan. Same reason as above)

Duke at Wisconsin (Duke. Alarmingly Un-Athletic team to score more points)

Florida St at Ohio St (Ohio St. FSU not looking good right now)

So ACC squeezes out another one and takes the title 6-5.

[brevity]

As long as we're guessing... (home teams in caps)

Penn State over VIRGINIA
PURDUE over Wake Forest
Northwestern over N.C. STATE
Maryland over INDIANA
NORTH CAROLINA over Michigan State
Virginia Tech over IOWA
CLEMSON over Illinois
Minnesota over MIAMI
MICHIGAN over Boston College
Duke over WISCONSIN
OHIO STATE over Florida State

So, 6-5, the other direction. Upside: maybe the ACC will be less interested in continuing this Challenge once they lose one.

Year in and year out, I see the slate and find myself unexcited to see 8 or 9 of the matchups. For example, VT-Iowa may turn out to be a great game, but it doesn't look appealing right now.

[sleepybear]

Penn St. at Virginia
Wake Forest at Purdue
Northwestern at NC State
Maryland at Indiana
Michigan St. at UNC
Virgina Tech at Iowa
Illinois at Clemson
Minnesota at Miami
Boston College at Michigan
Duke at Wisconsin
Florida St at Ohio St

I predict 6-5 Big Eleven

[Olympic Fan]

Well, I've been hearing "the is the year the Big Ten breaks through" forever. Sooner or later, it's going to be true. But like Clemson winning in Chapel Hill, I'mn not going to predict it until it happens.

I have a rule of thumb that has served me well ... the homecourt means much more when you're talking about bad or mediocre teams. Good teams win on the road -- in fact, that's almost the definition of a good team. Also, I hate this year's matchups. Going into the season Michigan State and Purdue are clearly the Big Ten favorites, while Duke and UNC are the clearcut ACC favorites. Why aren't they playing each other? In know they try to balance home and away -- last year UNC played MSU in Detroit ... to be fair, they should have MSU-UNC in Greensboro. Last year Duke was at Purdue ... why not Purdue at Duke this year? How come Purdue gets a second straight home game and Duke has to go on the road again?

Anyway, this is how I see it:

1. Penn State at Virginia. Penn State basketball has certainly improved under Ed DeChellis -- they won the NIT last year and they return a first-team league guard in Tailor Battle. But they lost two key players and they are struggling -- losses to Tulane and UNC Wilmington, a two-point win over a very weak Davidson team. Virginia isn't great, but their five-point loss to Stanford doesn't look as bad after the Stanford-Kentucky game and they looked pretty good in beating Cleveland State. Again, the homecourt edge in this matchup between two mediocre teams should give the ACC a 1-0 start.

2. Northwestern at NC State. A good test for the unbeaten Pack. The Wildcats are rebuilding a bit after last year's near NCAA miss (still no NCAA bids EVER). They looked good in the Chicago Invitational (played at CIC), upsetting Notre Dame and Iowa State. Their one loss to Bradley is no embarrassment. NC State has looked shaky in a couple of wins against mediocre opponents. I use my homecourt rule of thumb -- I give State the edge at home. Anywhere else, I'd pick Northwestern. ACC 2-0.

3. Wake Forest at Purdue. This was a slam dunk BEFORE Wake lost to W&M. A middle of the pack ACC team at the best or second-best Big Ten team? ACC 2-1.

4. Maryland at Indiana. One of the best matchups in the entire challenge. Indiana isn't much better than last year (6-25). They've already lost to Boston U, George Mason and Ole Miss this year. Maryland has been a disappointment, losing twice in Maui (to two decent, but not great teams -- Cincinnati and Wisconsin). I still think Maryland's veterans can go on the road and win against a bad team. Anywhere else and it's a slam dunk for the Terps. Even in Bloomington, I like Maryland. ACC 3-1.

5. Michigan State at UNC. After watching UNC lose to Syracuse, I thought this would be a slam dunk for the Spartans. But the loss to Florida on a neutral court (plus the earlier homecourt struggle against Gonzaga) makes me wonder. Let's see how UNC looks tonight against Nevada. At the moment, I'm picking MSU -- I think Izzo can exploit UNC's backcourt and its lack of 3-point shooting. Added spice because Roy essentially calls Delvon Roe a liar in his new book. I'm picking MSU, but not as confidently as I did last week. ACC 3-2.

6. Virginia Tech at Iowa. Usually a tough place to play, but Iowa has already lost at home to Texas San Antonio and Duquesne (which was playing without its best player). A neutral court loss to Texas is no big deal, but it was followed with a 17-point loss to Wichita State. Iowa did bounce back to beat NCCU at home by 10. VPI ain't playing great, but Malcolm Delaney is good enough to win this one by himself (although if Jeff Allen could help, it would help). ACC 4-2.

7. Illinois at Clemson. Clemson beat a better Illinois team in Champaign last year. Of course, that was a better Clemson team too. The Tigers certainly laid an egg against a good, but not great Texas A&M team. I'll be interested to see how they play against Butler tonight. But in any case, Illinois has done nothing to make anybody think they can win in a tough place like Littlejohn. They struggled to break away from Wofford at home, then left left home for the first time and lost to rebuilding Utah (picked fourth in the Mountain West) and Bradley (picked sixth in the MVC). ACC 5-2.

8. Minnesota at Miami. May actually be the best matchup of the Challenge. Tubby Smith's team is solid (not great). They beat No. 10 Butler in the 76 Classic, then lost to Portland in the second round. Look carefully at how they do against Texas A&M today. Miami is intriguing. They are off to a 7-0 start and that includes a decent win over South Carolina (in semi-neutral Charleston) and fairly routine wins over Tulane and UNC Wilmington, which have beaten some good teams. Miami's young guards, Durant Scott and Malcolm Grant, have had some good moments. This will be a good test to see whether the 'Canes can be a lot better than the team picked 10th in the ACC in preseason. It's in Miami, but that's not much of a homecourt edge. I'll pick Minnesota, but this is probably my least solid pick. ACC 5-3.

9. Boston College at Michigan. BC is still without Rakin Sanders. I'd pick Michigan in Ann Arbor anyway, but that makes it a slam dunk (even if he comes back, his ankle ain't right, yet). ACC 5-4.

10. Duke at Wisconsin. Tough place to play against a solid, well-coached team. But Wisconsin is not as good as the Purdue team Duke routed last year in an equally tough environment. And I think Duke is better than a year ago. This is where the homecourt shouldn't impact a good team. ACC 6-4.

11. FSU at Ohio State. I think FSU is going to be decent. Their loss to Florida in Gainesville doesn't look so bad after UF knocked off Michigan State. But nothing I've seen makes me think the Seminoles are good enough to go to Columbus and win. Tonight's game with Marquette might change my mind. ACC 6-5

So, I guess I've got the ACC winning by one game -- but I really feel more confident than that -- my two least confident picks are Minnesota over Miami and MSU over UNC. If anything, I could see ACC 8-3 before Big Ten 6-5.

[Acymetric]

Winning team is in bold:

Penn St. at Virginia
Wake Forest at Purdue
Northwestern at NC State
Maryland at Indiana
Michigan St. at UNC
Virgina Tech at Iowa
Illinois at Clemson
Minnesota at Miami
Boston College at Michigan
Duke at Wisconsin
Florida St at Ohio St

That puts the ACC at 7-4. I feel like I'm going out on a limb with BC and Miami, but neither win will surprise me, I think at least one team wins to get us 6-5, but I'll still call 7-4.

[ghendo]

yo guys I post on a ACC messageboard and they are doing a ACC-Big 10 Challenge Pick'em where the person who gets the most answers right gets a prize of their choice...cash,hat,t-shirt, etc.

Just wanted to pass this along to my DBR friends and hope you guys don't beat me! lol

http://accsportszone.com/forumdisplay.php?f=103

[dukemsu]

The ACC has their hands full this year with a relatively loaded Big 10 Conference. Here are the matchups:

Mon, Nov 30: Penn St. at Virginia
Tue, Dec 1: Wake Forest at Purdue
Northwestern at NC State
Maryland at Indiana
Michigan St. at UNC
Virgina Tech at Iowa
Wed, Dec 2: Illinois at Clemson
Minnesota at Miami
Boston College at Michigan
Duke at Wisconsin
Florida St at Ohio St

That's a lot of great matchups. The ACC has four ranked teams (Duke, UNC, Maryland and Clemson) and the Big 10 has six (Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio St, Minnesota and Michigan St).

This could very well be the year the Big 10 finally wins the thing. But I wouldn't count the ACC out just yet.

Per usual, I hate Big 10/ACC battles as each of my teams is involved, and I generally end up defending each conference to my pals from the other. I get a bit weary of the Conference v. Conference stuff, too. But oh well.

Here are my winners:
Penn State. Talor Battle is really good.
Purdue, in what will be a coming out party for the Boilers as Final Four threats
Maryland
NC State. Northwestern's best player, Coble, is lost due to knee surgery.
UNC, due to the homecourt and the fact that State tends to overprepare for these sorts of games. UNC, frankly, is due for a good performance.
Virginia Tech. Iowa is among the worst teams in Division I.
Clemson. Illinois is a great team at home, average anyplace else.
Minnesota, in a big way. The Gophers will be ranked for much of the season.
Michigan, due to the homecourt.
Duke, no explanation necessary.
Ohio State, as Turner atones for his dreadful UNC performance at home.

6-5 ACC.

dukemsu

[Acymetric]

Since game 1 of the challenge has started I figured I would bring this thread back to the top...early in the game Virginia looks good, obviously plenty of time left. If UVA picks up this game I think it helps the chances of the ACC winning significantly.

[RainingThrees]

This won't happen but if UNC was playing the last game of the challenge and it was tied up...would you want UNC winning and the ACC winning, or UNC losing and the ACC losing. I say I would rather that UNC would lose and because of that the ACC lose.

[airowe]

This won't happen but if UNC was playing the last game of the challenge and it was tied up...would you want UNC winning and the ACC winning, or UNC losing and the ACC losing. I say I would rather that UNC would lose and because of that the ACC lose.

[sagegrouse]

After a ten point lead in the first half, the Hoos are now behind by 11. Not pretty.

sagegrouse