ACC/Big 10 "Challenge" prediction thread

Shine · Post by **Shine** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 2:36 am

It's almost time for the annual made for ACCPN event where the ACC wins easily.

Wake Forest at Iowa- The Demon Deacons are dealing with the loss of their coach while the Hawkeyes are welcoming in a new coach in Todd Lickliter. Lickliter is a helluva good coach and I think in time he'll get Iowa back to a more competitive level, but not this year. The Hawkeyes are always a tough out at home but Wake has too much firepower to not win this thing, although it should be relatively close. ACC up 1-0

Georgia Tech at Indiana- Had the 2 GT frosh stuck around this could have been THE matchup of the challenge. But of course they both went pro. IU in the Hall WAY too much for the Yellow Jackets and IU rolls. Tied 1-1

Minnesota at Florida State- This is one of the more evenly matched games of the challenge this year. Minny has a lot of experience on their team and a solid front line for Tubby to work with. FSU is down a notch from the past few seasons but they aren't without talent, primarily their backcourt with Swann and Douglas. This is a toss-up game IMO but I'll give the slight edge to FSU because of the homecourt. ACC up 2-1

Northwestern at Virginia- NW is well coached enough to possibly avoid the blowout but they have no shot at a W. ACC up 3-1

Wisconsin at Duke- This is the best game of the event this year IMO. Duke is much more athletic this year than they've been the past couple years and they're back to playing a more aggressive/up-tempo style. If they have a weak spot it's that they're thin up front with bulk. Bucky is stocked up front with not only bulk but big guys with range. If they have a weak spot it's an unproven backcourt. Duke wants this game up and down to negate their weakness, Bucky wants a half court game to maximize their strength. I've gotta give the edge to the Dookies being in Cameron. [obligatory]And of course the fact that Bucky will be playing 5 on 8.[/obligatory] ACC up 4-1

Purdue at Clemson- PU has some talent but they rely too heavily on their 4 frosh to on the road early and beat a team like Clemson. ACC up 5-1

NC State at Michigan State- Night 3 of the event starts with the ACC on the verge of wrapping it up once again. Sparty puts that on hold, albeit briefly, here. NCST is good enough to make this a game but the Sparty depth and home crowd are too much for the Wolfpack to snap a W. ACC up 5-2

Illinois at Maryland- Neither team is playing at the level they were a few years back but both teams are solid. This is a pretty even matchup but I give the edge to the Terps, not only because they're at home but because their backcourt should be able to dominate the weak Illannoy guards. Pruitt and Randle will keep it close though. ACC up 6-2

Boston College at Michigan- Intriguing game as BC is down and UM is in rebuilding mode. Beilin will eventually get the Wolverines back to competing at a high level but this year will be tough. I'll give them the slight nod here though. ACC up 6-3

North Carolina at Ohio State- If the Wisc/Duke matchup isn't the best of the slate then it's this game. Hansbrough vs Koufos will be fun to watch as it'll be a match of contrasting styles. I do expect the defensive assignment to fall to Hunter most of the time though. Both teams like to get up and down so it should be a high scoring affair. I'll give the W to tO$U since the ACC will have already wrapped up the overall win, but this one could truly go either way. ACC up 6-4

Virginia Tech at Penn State- Last year I thought PSU would surprise behind Cornley and Claxton and it didn't even come close to happening. Well call me a sucker because I think PSU has a shot again this year to fair well, relatively speaking of course. Cornley prolly won't be 100% by game time but I'll still give the nod to PSU over a not that great VT squad. ACC up 6-5

So as per usual I'm calling for a close event. I can easily see UNC winning to make it 7-4, and I could see UM or PSU not holding their home court for an 8-3 margin.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 2:47 am

i'll take the chalk: ACC.

HEAVY chalk based on history.

Adelpiero · Post by **Adelpiero** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:32 pm

Illinois at Maryland- Neither team is playing at the level they were a few years back but both teams are solid. This is a pretty even matchup but I give the edge to the Terps, not only because they're at home but because their backcourt should be able to dominate the weak Illannoy guards. Pruitt and Randle will keep it close though. ACC up 6-2

Illinois should be able to win, maryland has virtually no outside game., but they do have 2 real good forwards.

MU just ran them off the court, and played 35minutes of,"some sort of heck", and forced a bunch of turnovers, no reason illinois wont try to do the same, they are athletic.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:37 pm

Wake over Iowa
IU over Ga Tech
Minnesota over FSU
UVA over N'western
Duke over Wisconsin
Purdue over Clemson
MSU over NC State
Illinois over Maryland
BC over Michigan
UNC over Ohio St
Va Tech over Penn St

6-5 ACC

Shine · Post by **Shine** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:59 pm

I'm now highly doubtful tO$U can knock off the Heels so that makes my count 7-4 ACC. I'm also very leery of PSU holding serve so an 8-3 tally wouldn't shock me either.

buckeye_in_sc · Post by **buckeye_in_sc** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:59 pm

Hard to believe Big 10 is 0-8 in this but it always seems they get the matchups the wrong year

last nights game was damn near unwatchable...Iowa is horrific...Lickliter will do a good job...but good lord...

let's see if the Big 10 can rally tonight!

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 9:58 pm

Duke vs Wisconsin will be a close game. Badgers have a lot of size to throw at the short little Dookies.

And keep your eye on Trevon Hughes tonight. Kid is going to have a big year.

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:55 pm

Hmmmm........not too close. Big cheddar oafs were a non-factor, as were the refs. Nice try, chicken little. But good to finally see a Duke team with some quickness and depth. Off night for Henderson and Singler....but others stepped up. Couldn't really say that last year. Will be interesting to see what happens once the real season (ACC) starts. Of course, Davidson may be a test as they hung real tough with Carolina.

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:05 pm

Ouch. Props to Duke. That was an ass-whooping.

TheJON · Post by **TheJON** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:10 pm

Holy cow the Big-10 is bad. After Iowa's pathetic performance over the weekend in Texas, I kinda wondered how we'd win a conference game. Then, after the Wake Forest performance I was certain we'd go 0-18. Now, after finally getting to see other Big-10 teams play I'm wondering if we can't win 10 conference games!

Fuck you Steve Alford!

helmet · Post by **helmet** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:36 pm

I'm really liking this year's Duke team. They're a lot more fun to watch than last year's edition.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:02 am

Jesus Christ. Maybe it's time to switch to the MAC/Big Ten challenge.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:28 am

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Jesus Christ. Maybe it's time to switch to the MAC/Big Ten challenge.

We don't want any part of that.

Sin,

Todd Lickliter, John Belien, Kevin O'Neill (if he's still at NW)

Shine · Post by **Shine** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:12 pm

TheJON wrote:Now, after finally getting to see other Big-10 teams play I'm wondering if we can't win 10 conference games!

You can stop wondering because that won't even come CLOSE to happening. If Iowa wins 6 conference games this year you should be ecstatic. 9th place should be your goal.

Shine · Post by **Shine** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:15 pm

Screw_Michigan wrote: Kevin O'Neill (if he's still at NW)

Clearly you've not watched college hoops much this year or you'd have seen Mr. O'Neill on the sidelines for Arizona while Lute is out.

Or maybe you've not been paying much attention to college hoops this millennium since Bill Carmody has been the coach at NW since 2000.

buckeye_in_sc · Post by **buckeye_in_sc** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:07 pm

another year...another Beatdown...

9-0...will the Big 10 ever win this thing?

Of course living in ACC country they are all wet over themselves and call the Big 10 slow, non-athletic, etc...

they are saying down here it should be ACC/SEC challenge or ACC/Big East challenge...

Shine · Post by **Shine** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:20 pm

If ACCPN would ever set the matchups better we might actually get to see what could happen. The one year they did that the ACC won 6-5, and it's all Wisconsin's fault for losing at home to Wake.

Anyway, the first 4 years were 5-4* decisions and the B10 didn't send the likes of IU and Ohio State some years. There have been 3 blowout years but the other 6 were close as can be, and that's with biased matchups.

The Big 10 is more of a coaches conference, the ACC is more of an athletes conference. In November the athletic ability is more in peak condition than well coached teams. Different story come March, where during the timeframe of this made for TV event the Big 10 has sent 7 teams to the FF while the ACC has sent 5. Not to mention those FF teams represent 5 different B10 teams to the 4 of the ACC.

I'm not worried about the future of the conference where coaching is critical. In addition to stalwarts like Izzo, Matta and Ryan we've seen the following upgrades recently:

Sampson for Davis
Lickliter for Alford
Beilein for Amaker
Tubby for Monson

* one year the MSU/UVA game was called off due to poor rink, errr, court conditions

buckeye_in_sc · Post by **buckeye_in_sc** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 2:27 am

Shine: I see you working but it doesn't matter these local radio hacks (and it is their job) will not listen to anything within reason...they just sit back and say the Big 10 is slow and full of non-athletes in roundball, football, etc...

of course losing 5/4 is still losing in their eyes no matter what...it just sucks...I really thought this year there were some decent matchups...but I will tell you what if IU can become a little more consistent and if MSU plays with the same intensity all year like they did the other night...WOW...plus if tOSU can improve...I mean they lost to UNC by 11 and missed what 18 straight shots...and down here they fail to realize yes UNC still has Hansbrough, Ellington, and Lawson (who didn't play) but OSU had to replace Oden, Conley (with butler, but Conley is a much better PG) and Cook...so matching them up with UNC was just stupid...OSU v NCSU might have been a better game with MSU playing UNC...

eh...always next year...

Shoalzie · Post by **Shoalzie** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 6:31 pm

Screw_Michigan wrote:Kevin O'Neill (if he's still at NW)

Isn't Bill Carmody coaching N'western?

EDIT--Oops...read more, post less.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:26 am

Shine wrote:Clearly you've not watched college hoops much this year or you'd have seen Mr. O'Neill on the sidelines for Arizona while Lute is out.

there aren't a lot of arizona games on tv until the conference season, and i don't get FSN unless comcast sports net picks up games.

Shine wrote:Or maybe you've not been paying much attention to college hoops this millennium since Bill Carmody has been the coach at NW since 2000.

who? what school? oh, northwestern, the least relevant basketball program of all the major d-1 conferences. thanks for filling me in, cuntslap.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:31 am

Shine wrote:Beilein for Amaker

how did that work for beilein today?

Shoalzie · Post by **Shoalzie** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:26 am

Les thumbs his nose at the football job, Amaker strikes back, the Buckeyes appear to be heading to the big game for the glass football...at least the hockey team salvaged a split against the school to the South. This is still a pretty shitty day for WolverineFan.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:45 pm

I figured every day was a shitty day to be a Wolverine fan. But maybe I'm biased.