ACC/Big 10 "Challenge" prediction thread

[Shine]

When this thing started it was supposed to be a great match-up of the two best hoops conferences. That's more or less what it was, aside from the Big 10 not sending their top 9 and the slanted schedule favoring the ACC. After the initial 5-4 close calls this thing has turned into an annual ugly bashing of the Big 10 by the ACC. Will this year be any different??

Wisconsin at Virginia Tech- One of the more intriguing match-ups this year. Wisconsin with their system and size against a more up-tempo but youthful Hokies attack. I give the slighest of edges to the Badgers here but wouldn't be at all surprised to see VT end up with the W. Big 10 up 1-0.

Duke at Purdue- This is one of the top two match-ups in this years slate of games. Dook has to play a true road game in an extremely hostile environment, but they get to play a team that stylistically wants to play very similar to how them Dook boys like to play. Typically the way to beat Dook is to overpower them inside as most teams that try to beat them at their own game walk away beaten. The Purdue faithful are five steps beyond hyped for this game. They see it as their chance to make a national statement that they are a legit FF caliber team. I'm just hard pressed to see them getting the W even in Mackey arena, but again could easily see it going the other way. The slight edge to the Devils here. Tied 1-1.

Clemson at Illinois- With the loss of both Pruitt and Randle inside I'm hard pressed to see Illannoy ready for this tough of a test this early in the year. Clemson doesn't have a ton of size which will help negate the interior losses dUI suffered but I think the Tigers have just enough to get a hard earned road W. ACC up 2-1.

Ohio State at Miami- I would love to see them play again later in the year when the Buckeyes young guns like Mullen have more experience. Miami is poised to challenge the elite ACC teams this year so I don't see them dropping this one at home. ACC up 3-1.

Virginia at Minnesota- Tubby has the Gophers poised to return to a tournament caliber team and the Barn is a house of horrors for visiting teams. ACC up 3-2.

Iowa at Boston College- Take away Rice and BC is a very young team but Rice is a great senior leader and all those BC sophs have had a year to adapt to the college game and the BC system. Lickliter is only in year 2 of his 4 year rebuilding project so the Hawkeyes aren't ready for a road win like this. ACC up 4-2.

UNC vs Michigan State- The marquee match-up of the event and the lone "neutral" court game. Guys coming back from injury could determine the winner here. How healthy will Hansbrough be and how close to 100% is super frosh Delvon Roe?? If Hansbrough is back I've gotta give the edge to UNC as his experience down low is key. If he isn't then UNC is reliant on unheralded players and frosh, which gives Sparty a big edge down low. I can't wait to see the Lucas vs Lawson PG speed battle. I think if there's any chance of playing Pyscho T won't miss this game in his final collegiate season. For that reason I'll give the edge to UNC, but this is another one I could see going either way. ACC up 5-2.

Indiana at Wake Forest- This could get ugly. I don't want to talk about it. ACC up 6-2.

Michigan at Maryland- Manny Harris is a STUD but the Wolverines aren't quite ready for prime time yet, even against a mediocre Terps squad. DC Clone and PreDone, where are they now?? ACC up 7-2.

Florida State at Northwestern- This is a tough spot for Sissyroo's boys as Northwestern actually has some pretty good players and employs a style that can give teams fits. I'm giving the edge to the Cats. ACC up 7-3.

Penn State at Georgia Tech- PSU may make a game out of this, or it might end up exhibit 34562 as to why they're looking for another head coach come of the offseason. ACC wins 8-3.


So to answer my own question, nope it won't be any different this year. On a plus the match-ups again are pretty decent, it's just that the talent disparity is too wide right now to make this thing more competitive.

[Adelpiero]

acc 9-2

[Mustang]

Question is............does Shine root for Purdue?

Elsewhere, I'm forced to root for Michigan St. If that board bitch was still around and snarling, she may have swung me to be for the 'holes.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

I predict it will be closer this year, but the ACC will still pull it out.

Wisconsin over Va Tech
Purdue over Duke
Illinois over Clemson
Miami over Ohio St
Minnesota over Virginia
Boston College over Iowa
Michigan St over North Carolina
Wake Forest over Indiana
Maryland over Michigan
Florida St over N'western
Georgia Tech over Penn St

6-5 ACC

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

I'd like to change my pick. After watching last night's performance vs Maryland, I can't even homer my way into picking MSU in this one. Even with a healthy Goran Suton, it won't matter. This team is not playing with any chemistry or effort right now, can't grab fucking boards (which is a HORRIBLE sign if you're a tom izzo coached team) and makes Memphis' free throw shooters look like a bunch of Pistol Petes.

Oh, and Shine -- Roe won't be 100% for many months. Possibly not even until next year.

[Arch Angel]

Wisconsin over Va Tech
Purdue over Duke
Illinois over Clemson
O$U over Miami
Minnesota over Virginia
Boston College over Iowa
UNC over MSU
Wake Forest over Loosier Cheating U known as Indiana, an embarrassment to the Big Ten, if they keep it within 25, I will be impressed
Michigan over Maryland
Florida St over N'western
Penn St over G-Tech

[Shine]

Question is............does Shine root for Purdue?

Tough call. If a PU win would someone factor in to a B10 "win" then I would absolutely pull for them. As things stand I just can't see how the B10 gets 6 W's so I'll probably pull for Dook.

(vomits in mouth)

Actually until the ball is tipped I don't know how I'll react.

As far as my original predictions in light of seeing a few more games played:
- think VaTech will knock Bucky off now
- think Illannoy will win at home now
- think UNC will win more easily now

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Wisky captures a nice win on the road. I thought they'd find a way to blow it in the end.

Big Ten up 1-0.

[Shoalzie]

Wisconsin over Virginia Tech
Duke over Purdue
Illinois over Clemson
Miami over Ohio State
Minnesota over Virginia
Boston College over Iowa
North Carolina over Michigan State
Wake Forest over Indiana
Maryland over Michigan
Florida State over Northwestern
Georgia Tech over Penn State

ACC 8, Big Ten 3

[L45B]

One of the shitty things about being on the west coast. I'm still at work when the 7pm EST games start! Wonder if I should hurry to get outta here, as tOSU looks like they're getting their asses kicked by the Canes already. At least I'll get to see Duke & Purdue tip off.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

HUGE win by Ohio St. Of course there's always one or two upsets to be had in this tourney, and that was one of them.

Purdue played like total ass. When I stopped watching, they were something like 1-10 from three point line, and Hummel was a total non factor. They couldn't grab a board for shit either. Purdue still found a way to hang around and would've been in it if they could've gotten some 3s to fall. Duke should've won by 25+ the way they owned this game on both ends.

Minny up by 11 though with 7 to play. Hopefully they can hang on and the Big Ten can tie this thing up 3-3 heading into tomorrow's games.

[Shine]

If McSwipey doesn't get booted from the game I don't see how tO$U would've won. This thing has played out more or less how I thought it would so far. Which means while it appears to be a close battle right now things are about to get ooogly for the Big 10. It very well could end up an ACC sweep tonight.

As far as my "rooting interest" for the PU/Dook game it went about as I expected. I was hoping for a Dookie win and was fairly pleased by the lopsided nature of it. Familiarity does breed contempt as whenever I'm not living in Indiana I view Purdue as a rival and an afterthought at the same time. When I am living in Indiana they become annoying as all get out. This game was circled by their fanbase as a chance to make a statement that they're program is back and will be a force to deal with. Thanks to Dook the country got to see PU for what they are, a pesky little brat that will have a moment or two but is always second tier.

That said, I'm worried as hell that with nearly their entire team back next year they'll be a SERIOUS threat to make the FF in Indy!!!

[Mustang]

Glad the Duke boys could help you out a little.

Purdue in the Final Four in Indy? What's worse........that, or a Cubs-White Sox World Series where the Sox win?

[buckeye_in_sc]

I don't either Shine...but the fucker lost his cool fuck him...great shooter though...gave me nightmares of corey brewer from Florida...

even right now and anything can happen...

[L45B]

Damn, I unjinxed my own team. Got home from work to the surprise that tOSU had mounted a comeback on the road. Don't really care that George McClinton Parliament Slappadelic got booted, that's still a big road win for the Bucks.

And agree on Purdue. They couldn't hit a jumpshot or buy a freakin' rebound. If they are the class of the conference this year, then the Big Ten pretty much blows ballz. Although looking at the scores right now, every game is pretty close. PSU to knock off GT? Go Sparty.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

UNC is a machine. MSU playing pretty well despite the turnovers and lack of (continued) inside game. I don't see any way they can pull this out though. Anything UNC tosses up goes in.

[Screw_Michigan]

I'm not surprised the Spartans got waxed. In fact, I pretty much expected it. What Spartan fan should be pissed about is the fact that there were many forces in play that lead to this absolute TRAVESTY taking place at Ford Field. Who didn't see this coming? Spartantailgate.net was absolutely up in arms today over this. I'll break down pretty much what I think happened:

I think when the ACC/Big11 Challenge started doing the matchups, MSU had either the option of "hosting" the game at a neutral venue or playing the game at Chapel Hill. (Note that neither UNC nor Duke will EVER be required to host a ACC/Big11 game at a neutral venue like Charlotte Coliseum). Not wanting to play at Chapel Hill, Izzo and MSU brass had the option of playing it at the Palace or Ford Field. From SpartanTailgate, it sounded like Ford Field wanted another test drive for the Final Four, even if they already had one last March with the Regional. Roy Williams was more than happy to have this game at Ford Field because he wants his team to have the experience of already playing there as the Final Four will be there. Spartan brass agreed to it and tried to sell it as Basketbowl 2.

Well, that was obviously a miserable disaster for many reasons. 1) I guess tickets were in the astronomical range: anything with even a halfway decent view was $100 and up (this is what I heard). Supposedly they only had 12k tickets sold by this morning. 2) 9:15 start was NOT NOT good for a midweek game in downtown Detroit. 3) Weather is horrible. 4) This MSU team isn't exactly the strongest and this might be the best UNC team they've had in a while. Nobody wants to pony up the big bucks and put up with all the hassle of going to Ford Field to see the Spartans get waxed. 5) Local economy is absolutely in the fucking tank. 6) Last but not least, as I well know, Ford Field is a HORRIBLE place to see basketball. It would be better if they even did the traditional "curtain up, cut dome in half" setup that domes used to do, but Ford Field decided they wouldn't settle for that and wanted to put the court smack fucking dab in the middle of the football field. Talk about horrible fucking sight lines for most of the fans.

Would be a great day tomorrow to read the papers and to listen to Detroit radio after this disgrace. Hopefully MSU brass will be fucking flagged in the media and some tough questions will be asked. Would be nice to hear what Izzo has to say, if he speaks candidly at all about this whole travesty.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Great take. I pretty much sympathize with all of that.

What I don't get about this MSU team is that after EVERY single fucking turnover or board results in giving the ball right back. They simply cannot capitalize.

[Mr T]

Well another year another ACC victory.

My noles got beat by a gritty NW team.

Hamilton has got to go. I am tired of this "We cant fire a black guy" bullshit. FSU plays in one of the best B-Ball conferences, we should be able to get better or make the tourny once this century.

Why the fuck are the noles settling for a underachieving piece of shit?

[Mr T]

Don't really care that George McClinton Parliament Slappadelic got booted, that's still a big road win for the Bucks.

99% of the time it is the guy that retaliates that gets tossed.

If McClinton was going to take a shot at him, at least make a fist. What was with both of them slapping each other?

[Goober McTuber]

Great take. I pretty much sympathize with all of that.

2nd. You couldn’t ask for a better take from an Extasy-addled, MGMT-loving, Certified Grade “A” tard.

I used to always go through the application process for Final Four tickets. Then they went to always hosting them in football stadiums, and the only seats available to the public were upper deck. You can’t really see the games from there, you can just say you were at the Final Four. No thanks.

[L45B]

99% of the time it is the guy that retaliates that gets tossed.

If McClinton was going to take a shot at him, at least make a fist. What was with both of them slapping each other?

I agree, if you're gonna hit back make it count. Looked like Rick James and Charlie Murphy out there.