The 9th annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge is underway and the ACC seems to be picking up where they've left off. The Atlantic Coast Conference has won all eight previous Challenges and won 8 of the 11 games last year.
Well, it's starting again. On Monday, Wake Forest beat Iowa, 56-47 to give the ACC a quick 1-0 lead. On Tuesday, the ACC won 4 of the 5 games played.
- Florida State beat Minnesota, 75-61
- Virginia beat Northwestern, 94-52
- Duke beat Wisconsin, 82-58
- Clemson beat Purdue, 61-58
The lone game that the Big Ten won was a surprisingly close win by Indiana over Georgia Tech, 83-79. The ACC is currently 5-1 against the Big Ten and needing just one more win to get their 9th straight Challenge.
The Big Ten will have a good shot on Wednesday to make some hay. Of the five remaining games, four are at Big Ten sites: NC State at Michigan State, Boston College at Michigan, Virginia Tech at Penn State and North Carolina at Ohio State. #1 UNC heads into Columbus in a rematch of last year's wild game where the Tar Heels beat the then-#1 Buckeyes.
The lone ACC home game is Illinois at Maryland.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-28-2007 @ 11:17AM
Tim Cryer said...
Unfortunately the Big Ten/ACC challenge isn’t much of a challenge. Since ESPN created the made for TV bloodbath, the ACC leads the (Little) Big Ten 53-28. This year, the ACC has jumped out to a 5-1 record.
In basketball, just like in football, the faster, more athletic teams have learned to spread out their offense and negate size as a dominant characteristic of a winning team. Because the teams outside the Big Ten run a faster paced game they attract more of the top-notch athletes to their programs. Last night was a perfect example of the widening talent gap between the ACC and the Big Ten.
Tonight looks to be another win by the ACC. (Although several of the games should be closer then the Tuesday night games.) I am particularly looking forward to the NC State/Michigan State and the UNC/OSU math-ups. A big win in either of those games should mandate that the Big TEN wave their white flag immediately. If (when) the ACC wins tonight, that would be the ACC’s ninth challenge win in nine years.
It’s time for ESPN to consider running something else. If they want competitive games maybe they should promote the Big Ten/MEAC challenge. If they want ratings they should work hard to get an ACC/Big East or SEC challenge.
If their was a change, I would love the see some of the early season tournaments combined into a blockbuster challenge. You could run a giant preseason tournament with all the preseason favorites invited. Hosted by the NIT, (now owned by the NCAA) it could bring relevance back to the NIT and start of the basketball season with HUGE fireworks. I would vote to move the entire season back 3-4 weeks. If you started in early December, the preseason tournament could run over the holiday break without much fall semester interference.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 11:59AM
Tim Cryer said...
Unfortunately the Big Ten/ACC challenge isn’t much of a challenge. Since ESPN created the made for TV bloodbath, the ACC leads the (Little) Big Ten 53-28. This year, the ACC has jumped out to a 5-1 record.
In basketball, just like in football, the faster, more athletic teams have learned to spread out their offense and negate size as a dominant characteristic of a winning team. Because the teams outside the Big Ten run a faster paced game they attract more of the top-notch athletes to their programs. Last night was a perfect example of the widening talent gap between the ACC and the Big Ten.
Tonight looks to be another win by the ACC. (Although several of the games should be closer then the Tuesday night games.) I am particularly looking forward to the NC State/Michigan State and the UNC/OSU math-ups. A big win in either of those games should mandate that the Big TEN wave their white flag immediately. If (when) the ACC wins tonight, that would be the ACC’s ninth challenge win in nine years.
It’s time for ESPN to consider running something else. If they want competitive games maybe they should promote the Big Ten/MEAC challenge. If they want ratings they should work hard to get an ACC/Big East or SEC challenge.
If their was a change, I would love the see some of the early season tournaments combined into a blockbuster challenge. You could run a giant preseason tournament with all the preseason favorites invited. Hosted by the NIT, (now owned by the NCAA) it could bring relevance back to the NIT and start of the basketball season with HUGE fireworks. I would vote to move the entire season back 3-4 weeks. If you started in early December, the preseason tournament could run over the holiday break without much fall semester interference.
Reply