ACC - Big Ten Challenge

[gw67]

Is this the year the Big Teneleven breaks through? The ACC supposedly is down and six of the eleven games are played on Big Ten courts. I think not! There are still a handful of games to be played this weekend but the ACC has a better OOC record than any conference in the country and several of its' teams are playing surprisingly well. The following is how I see the matchups:

• Duke over Wisconsin: As Dkbaseball pointed out in a post earlier this week, the Badgers are a good team even after the loss of Tucker. However, Singler and Nelson are leading a Duke team that is playing very well early in the season. If that wasn't enough, the game is being played at CIS.
• UNC over Ohio State: The game is being played in Columbus and the Buckeyes have size, speed and some shooting ability. However, Hansbrough, Lawson and Ellington are potential 1st team All ACC players and the good supporting cast is filling in with rebounds, assists and defense. I see the Heels winning in a close one.
• Michigan State over N.C. State: The game is at East Lansing and State hasn't looked impressive to me. The Spartans are not a great team but Neitzel, Morgan and their big guys should be too much for State.
• Indiana over Georgia Tech: White has really progressed as a player and is one of the best in the country as a senior and some of the commentators consider Gordon the best freshman in the country. It is a home game and I see them winning comfortably over Tech which has plenty of good players but seems to have a difficult time getting it together under Hewitt.
• Clemson over Purdue: The Tigers seem to have all the ingredients for a good season and they are playing well. The game is at Clemson.
• Virginia over Northwestern: Virginia still relies on Singletary but transfer Baker looks good in the backcourt as does freshman Jones. The frontcourt has size and a large number of bodies. How that works itself out will determine how well Virginia does this year but they should defeat Northwestern at home.
• Illinois over Maryland: I'd like to pick the Terps but their shooting woes are almost comical. Against Lehigh, I believe only two players made shots over three feet from the basket. That's OK if you have a couple of horses underneath the basket but they don't. They do play decent defense and Illinois is not a great shooting team so the game should be close at Comcast.
• Florida State over Minnesota: The Noles are an up and down team but they have talent and experience on the perimeter and should easily win at home.
• Virginia Tech over Penn State: This game is a pick-um and it is at State but I have a hunch that Tech will pull it out.
• BC@Michigan and Wake@Iowa should be close games although Skinner always puts a competitive team on the floor. I see BC winning and Wake losing.

In summary, I see the "weak" ACC winning 7-4 and probably getting very little credit come Selection Sunday. I note that Miami is not playing and that is too bad. It appears that they are much better that their football team and may be better than some of the ACC teams in the Challenge.

gw67

[Buckeye Devil]

but I don't see UNC/OSU being close at this point in the year. OSU's has a lot of talent but their youth rivals that of Duke last year. They looked very strong against Syracuse but got destroyed by Texas A&M last night. To date, they have played 2 top 25 teams, and have UNC, Florida, and Tennessee before league play ever starts. Pretty hard scheduling for a team like this. Assuming that OSU makes the Big Dance (they will likely have double digit losses which might cast some doubt on their resume'), I think that they could surprise some people when tournament time rolls around but not UNC this early in the season. I expect the Holes to win by 10+.

Illinois is big, but Illini faithful that I know who follow them closely don't expect too much this year and are waiting for 2008-09. I think Maryland has a good shot at beating them.

[allenmurray]

are u kidding me!!!

NC STATE will definatley beat Michigan State.

The Spartans lost at home to Grand Valley State and struggled aainst Mizzouri.

NC State has to many threats in the post and will definatly beat the Spartans

[Sixthman]

are u kidding me!!!

NC STATE will definatley beat Michigan State.

The Spartans lost at home to Grand Valley State and struggled aainst Mizzouri.

NC State has to many threats in the post and will definatly beat the Spartans

Didn't the Wolfdogs lose at home to New Orleans and struggle against Rider?

[Sixthman]

Duke over Wisc
UNC over ohio state
MSU over NC State
Ga. Tech upsets Indiana
Clemson over Purdue
Virginia over Northwestern
Maryland over Illinois
Florida State over Minnesota
Penn State beats Virginia Tech
Michigan beats BC
Iowa over Wake

That's 7-4 ACC but the Tech and Maryland wins are upsets. Anyone think any of my picks in favor of the Big Ten team are upsets?

[Olympic Fan]

are u kidding me!!!

NC STATE will definatley beat Michigan State.

The Spartans lost at home to Grand Valley State and struggled aainst Mizzouri.

NC State has to many threats in the post and will definatly beat the Spartans

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Seriously, Michigan State has really good since that brain-fart against Grand Valley. They won a tough game in Kansas City (hardly a neutral site) from a Missouri team that may be better than the Pack -- just ask Maryland, which lost to the Tigers one night later. They then played UCLA extremely tough in the CBE championship game. I know UCLA is still without Collison, but a 68-63 loss to the co-No. 1 team in the nation is not disgrace.

NC State, as I'm sure you know had its own brain-fart against New Orleans (only this one was in the regular season, not an exhibition). The Pack then struggled against Rider and beat a very average South Carolina team in Orlando. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the title game against Villanova (and BTW, how lucky did they get with scheduling to be in the opposite bracket from George Mason, Kansas State, host Central Florida and 'Nova?)

If you're just trying to parody the mindless optimism of State fans, I apologize for misreading your post ... but since every fan base is guilty of mindless optimism at times (including this one), I didn't get the joke.

[tbyers11]

are u kidding me!!!

NC STATE will definatley beat Michigan State.

The Spartans lost at home to Grand Valley State and struggled aainst Mizzouri.

NC State has to many threats in the post and will definatly beat the Spartans

The same Michigan State team that took UCLA to the last minute with Drew Neitzel sick as a dog. Granted, UCLA is missing Collison, but it was still a pretty good performance for MSU. I think Grand Valley State was an anomaly rather than the norm

I saw NC State play in person yesterday against South Carolina in Orlando and they did not look remotely like a team picked to finish 3rd in the ACC. They won 63-61, but South Carolina didn't look good either and is predicted to finish last in the SEC East.

Costner is still very good. Hickson can score in the post very well but the rest of his game looked very freshman-like (traveling calls, dumb fouls, poor defensive rebounding). I don't know what is up with McCauley. He has lost a lot of PT to Hickson and just doesn't seem to be close to the same player that was voted honorable mention all-ACC last year. Fells is the same streaky shooter that doesn't bring much else to the table. Grant appeared to be limited by some upper left leg injury and barely played in the second half so I'll give him a mulligan. Degand is very quick at point guard but over-penetrated and made bad decisions as often as he made good ones. He also is not much of an outside shooter as I don't remember him taking one the entire game. They'll miss Atsur big time come ACC play.

State is also a very shallow team that only really goes seven deep with the McCauley/Hickson non-starter and Horner (a servicable sub, but if he has to play 22 minutes like he did yesterday State is in trouble) coming off the bench. Gonzalez, a freshman point guard, got 5 minutes spelling Degand in the first half but doesn't bring much to the table at this point.

As NC State lost at home against UNO and was in trouble for 30 minutes against Rider, their lackluster play against South Carolina seems to be the norm rather than the exception at this point in the year.

[captmojo]

It's going to be a long year for Georgia Tech. I expect Hewitt to rebound next season.

[throatybeard]

If you're just trying to parody the mindless optimism of State fans

State fans are good friends of mine, senator, and I find them far more capable of mindless pessimism.

Except early in a coach's career I guess, yeah.

[newbdisapain]

I'm picking the ACC to win 7-4. Even with the battle of the States going to Michigan, the Big Eleven has some really bad teams, and our top and bottom teams look like locks. The one night a year we can root for the Holes without reservation.

[snowdenscold]

I'm picking the ACC to win 7-4. Even with the battle of the States going to Michigan, the Big Eleven has some really bad teams, and our top and bottom teams look like locks. The one night a year we can root for the Holes without reservation.

Hmmm, I dunno - I think I'd be OK with the ACC barely winning 6-5 and UNC losing...

[sandinmyshoes]

Hmmm, I dunno - I think I'd be OK with the ACC barely winning 6-5 and UNC losing...

With Lawson not playing, or at least not being one hundred percent, your chances of getting that are entirely realistic!

Of course, it seems like UNC has a history of bringing players to games in ambulances, rolling them out onto the bench area in an iron lung, and then have them go for a triple double.

[riverside6]

Wake got a big win last night at Iowa, one that I was surprised to see when I checked the box scores.

We posted our two previews here and here. I have the ACC winning 6 to 5, although there are several of the games that could go either way. Should be an entertaining couple of nights.

[Indoor66]

Wake got a big win last night at Iowa, one that I was surprised to see when I checked the box scores.

We posted our two previews here and here. I have the ACC winning 6 to 5, although there are several of the games that could go either way. Should be an entertaining couple of nights.

I see it going 8-4. I think the ACC is stronger than anticipated.

[kydevil]

I note that Miami is not playing and that is too bad. It appears that they are much better that their football team and may be better than some of the ACC teams in the Challenge.

gw67

This may have all ready been discussed or I just missed it, but how was Miami the team chosen not to play in the challenge?

[riverside6]

This may have all ready been discussed or I just missed it, but how was Miami the team chosen not to play in the challenge?

I agree, it isn't entirely fair which team sits out, and Miami is, in my opinion, one of the better (top 6) teams in the ACC.

[DukeDude]

Penn State is horrible. They just went 0-3 in the Old Spice Classic finishing with losses to such powerhouses as Rider, UCF, and South Carolina. If VaTech loses, I say they will finish last in the ACC.

[loran16]

This may have all ready been discussed or I just missed it, but how was Miami the team chosen not to play in the challenge?

There are 12 teams in the ACC, and the teams match up based on their place in the conference, LAST YEAR.

So miami came in last last year, and thus is the one to sit out. Normally this results in a benefit for the ACC (the worst in the conference isnt usually a good team to play in the challenge).

So its not really unfair.

[crimsonandblue]

If the ACC is down, the Big Ten is subterranean.

[freedevil]

^ Awesome post.