The Big Ten/ACC Challenge wasn’t the original inter-conference, made-for-TV battle, but it’s still the best. It represents a clash of styles, histories (especially with most of the Big East now in the ACC) and talent between two of the top basketball leagues in the country. The ACC dominated the Challenge from its inception, winning the first 10 meetings from 1999-2008, but the Big Ten is in the middle of a furious comeback by winning three in a row from 2009-11 before the ACC managed to eke out a couple of ties. This season the challenge expanded to a whopping 14 games, and on paper it looks like it will be another close one.

Frank Kaminsky and the Badgers Headline the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Monday (Big Ten leads 2-0)

The Challenge started on Monday night, with Big Ten schools coming away victorious in two blockbuster middling match-ups. Florida State and Clemson have disappointed to start the season, so their losses to Nebraska and Rutgers weren’t surprising. But it’s not like those two schools have looked like powerhouses either. It’s also important to note that both games took place on ACC turf, which means the ACC needs to steal at least two road games of its own in order to break even the rest of the way. That these were considered toss-ups is also somewhat troubling. Regardless, let’s look at the remainder of the schedule.

Tuesday

• Pittsburgh at Indiana (7:00 PM ESPN2): Recent history says this match-up will be awesome, but this season has been a disappointment so far for both teams. Jamie Dixon’s Panthers took an unexpected loss to Hawaii on its way to the Maui Invitational; likewise, the Hoosiers lost a shocker at home to Eastern Washington. Over the course of the season, Pittsburgh appears to be the better team, but without Durand Johnson (suspended for the season) and the game in Bloomington, there are plenty of questions. Prediction: Pittsburgh
• Minnesota at Wake Forest (7:00 PM ESPNU): Look at this game on paper and it looks like a blowout. The Demon Deacons have finished near the bottom of the ACC during the last four years, and they’re also coming off a loss to Delaware State (at home). But Minnesota looks beatable here — especially if Codi Miller-McIntyre plays up to his potential. The Gophers are more experienced, but Danny Manning’s team should be able to pull off a couple of a head-scratching wins this season at home (I mean, Jeff Bzdelik pulled the feat last year), so this game isn’t as straightforward as it looks. Prediction: Wake Forest

• Syracuse at Michigan (7:30 PM ESPN): In another match-up that would have been better in previous seasons, Michigan gets a shot at struggling Syracuse in Ann Arbor. It would be unwise to count Jim Boeheim’s team out of this one, but the Orange can’t shoot (under 20 percent from three so far this season) and don’t have nearly the depth they’ve had in recent years. John Beilein’s team, on the other hand, can shoot (42 percent from three on the season), which should help them break open the Orange’s pesky 2-3 zone. Prediction: Michigan
• Illinois at Miami (9:00 PM ESPN2): More on this game later today on the microsite, but this is a surprise Top 25 match-up that could turn out to be very important come Selection Sunday. Prediction: Miami
• NC State at Purdue (9:00 PM ESPNU): Mark Gottfried’s perfect Wolfpack look for their first test away from Raleigh, while Matt Painter’s Boilermakers try to prove they’re an NCAA Tournament team after two straight losing seasons. Purdue is the better team here, but NC State may be the Boilermakers’ first opponent that has someone capable of guarding freshman Isaac Haas in Beejay Anya. Prediction: Purdue
• Ohio State at Louisville (9:30 PM ESPN): More on this game later as well, but this match-up should be an awesome chance for Louisville to prove its legitimacy, or for Ohio State to start getting some love as Wisconsin’s primary challenger in the Big Ten. Prediction: Louisville

Wednesday

• Michigan State at Notre Dame (7:15 PM ESPN2): This is another swing game that could decide this year’s Challenge. Notre Dame doesn’t look unbeatable by any stretch, but they’ll put up points and Jerian Grant is playing out of his mind. Michigan State has suffered losses in its two toughest games, but no one wants to count out Tom Izzo in any situation. Reason tells me to go with the Spartans because Branden Dawson will be too much for Zach Auguste to handle, but the Fighting Irish are much better than I thought they would be coming into the season. Prediction: Notre Dame
• Virginia Tech at Penn State (7:15 PM ESPNU): Not a lot to say here. Virginia Tech is bad. Penn State isn’t great, but the Lions are playing at home. Prediction: Penn State
• Iowa at North Carolina (7:30 PM ESPN): Two probable NCAA Tournament teams that both like to run? This should be a fun game. The Hawkeyes have size to match up with North Carolina’s bigs, but the bigger question is how the Tar Heels will play as a team. If Marcus Paige is off and the bigs play soft, it will spell trouble for the Tar Heels. If the Hawkeyes want to pull off the road upset, Fran McCaffery will need his experienced starters to take the crowd out of the game early. Prediction: North Carolina
• Virginia at Maryland (9:15 PM ESPN2): Get out your conspiracy theories! The ACC scheduled one of its primary contenders against a Maryland team that struggled under Mark Turgeon? Luckily for the Big Ten, Maryland appears to be much improved this season (with a solid win against Iowa State), but without the injured Dez Wells available, look for Virginia to win in an ugly romp. Prediction: Virginia
• Georgia Tech at Northwestern (9:15 PM ESPNU): Give the people what they want!!! The Yellow Jackets and Wildcats take to prime time! Jokes aside, I think this could be one of the closer games in the Challenge. Georgia Tech looks better than I predicted (a loss to a poor Marquette team aside), but there’s no reason to trust them on the road. Meanwhile Northwestern hasn’t looked good thanks to too many close wins against bad competition. Prediction: Northwestern
• Duke at Wisconsin (9:30 PM ESPN): More on this game later as well, but this might be the best non-conference game we’ll see all season. Prediction: Wisconsin

Big Ten/ACC Challenge Prediction: 7-7

mpatton (576 Posts)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014 at 12:45 pm by mpatton and is filed under acc, big ten, microsites. Tagged: big ten acc challenge, clemson, duke, feature, florida state, georgia tech, illinois, indiana, iowa, louisville, maryland, miami, michigan, michigan state, minnesota, nc state, nebraska, north carolina, northwestern, notre dame, ohio state, penn state, pittsburgh, purdue, rutgers, syracuse, virginia, virginia tech, wake forest, wisconsin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.