Usually when N.C. State schedules someone like Notre Dame early, it's a sure
loss for State. Not this time:
State pretty much had their way with Mike Brey's Irish.
Clemson only beat
Charleston Southern by 12, but they missed 17 free throws.
Boston College was losing to Oklahoma State 52-39,
but came back to win 76-68, or a turnaround of 21 in the last 13:07.
Why is a college tournament in Vegas being held at Valley High School?
Maryland is back from Maui,
and they think they are building a pretty good team. We weren't
impressed with their second-half performance against Gonzaga, but they were
pretty solid and very athletic. They'll be a handful for sure.
| ACC - Big Ten Challenge | ||
| Virginia Tech at Ohio State | ESPN2 | 7:30 |
| Tuesday | ||
| Wisconsin at Wake Forest | ESPN | 7:00 |
| Purdue at Florida State | ESPN2 | 7:30 |
| Clemson at Penn State | ESPNU | 8:00 |
| Illinois at North Carolina | ESPN | 9:00 |
| Miami at Michigan | ESPN2 | 9:30 |
| Wednesday | ||
| Georgia Tech at Michigan State | ESPN | 7:00 |
| Minnesota at Maryland | ESPN2 | 7:30 |
| Northwestern at Virginia | ESPNU | 8:00 |
| Duke at Indiana | ESPN | 9:00 |
| NC State at Iowa | SPN2 | 9:30 |
They'll
face mighty Nicholls State next before the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
On Sunday, Maryland-Nicholls State aside, Miami plays Temple and UVa travels
out to Tucson for an interesting progress measure for Dave Leitao.
On Monday, the ACC-Big Ten Challenge begins with Virginia Tech at Ohio
State. It's hard for us to see them winning, frankly.
This could very well be the Big Ten's year. Wisconsin could certainly
take Wake as they sort out their ballhandling issues, Illinois may well beat UNC,
Michigan could take Miami, Michigan State should take Georgia Tech although they
may be a bit steamed after the Illinois-Chicago debacle. One would hope
so.
Northwestern could beat UVa, Iowa should be able to compete with N.C. State,
and Indiana will love getting a shot at Duke, and in particular Josh McRoberts.
They could win 5-7 games this year.
If you add the NIT, the Maui Tournament, and now the Challenge, college
basketball is benefiting from great exposure.
This'll never happen, but here's an idea: take three or four top
rivalries, schedule early-season matchups in a common place, and watch the
ratings soar.
Maybe they could do it in an NIT-like format: schedule say Xavier-UC,
Kentucky-Louisville, Michigan-Michigan State, UConn-Syracuse, and let them beat
each other's brains out to see who comes out in first place. It'd be incredible.