Can you really call it a challenge if one conference just annihilates the other year after year?

Here is my preview of all 11 games from August 15th. It’s so good I figured I wouldn’t revise it at all.

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The Atlantic Coast Conference has dominated the Big Ten in each of the 9 years of this yearly Challenge. The last two years the ACC has recorded 16 wins versus just 6 losses. The ACC’s total record is 56-30.

The Challenge tips off on the first of December with Wisconsin visiting Virginia Tech.

After the opening day game, 5 games on each of the next 2 days will take place. There are some salivating matchups for sure.

Is this the year the Big Ten will amass more than 5 wins in the challenge?

Nope.

7-4 will be the ACC’s record for this year’s challenge.

Schedule and further info can be found here.

The rundown…

Wisconsin at Virginia Tech
Everyone is back from Tech save Deron Washington. A.D. Vassalo might be the best baller most of America doesn’t know about.

On second thought, Wiscy’s Trevon Hughes might be the best unknown dude. At any rate, Tech must shoot the ball better from downtown if they are to escape Bo’s onslaught of a defense.

Edge- Wiscy

Ohio St. at Miami
The deep and deadly Hurricanes will stomp the Buckeyes, of course.

Edge- Miami

Iowa at Boston College
Both of these teams suck, but Tyrese Rice brings excitement and scoring to the game. Iowa could overtake the cellar from Indiana before it’s all said and done this year.

Edge- BC

Clemson at Illinois
Clemson returns 7 of its top 10 players from last year’s NCAA tourney team, including the Eric Piatkowski look alike, Terrence Oglesby. I vividly remember a game last year where Oglesby jacked up about 18 threes and hit about 2 of them. More accurately it was a 1 for 11 performance against Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tourney last year. Look for a strong game from Terrence.

Edge- Clemson

Duke at Purdue
This will be one of those early tests for Purdue, one in which will help sort out the veracity of the heavily pro-Purdue prognosticators.

Expect a shootout.

Edge- Purdue

Virginia at Minnesota
The teams look to be even, but the coaches are far from it.

Edge- Tubby

Indiana at Wake Forest
Wake will easily win this one. Wake looks like it could give anybody in the country problems as all five starters return and a highly touted class comes in.

Edge- Wake

Penn St. at Georgia Tech
Tech could be an ACC dark horse this year. Penn St. needs the Crispin brothers back.

Edge- GTech

Michigan at Maryland
Greivis vs Corperryale.

Michigan will turn the ball over 20 plus times but still be within 6 or 8 when it’s over.

I live in Michigan. Bet on it. No really.

Edge- Maryland

UNC at MSU (Ford Field)

MSU fans get loud. Ford Field is way bigger than the Breslin.

Unfortunately,

Hansbrough and Deon Thompson>>> Goran Suton and Marquise Gray

Edge- UNC

Florida St. at Northwestern

(Snorts and giggles)

The Seminoles will get their asses handed to them by an academic school that has had virtually no success in basketball, hence the giggling and snorting. This will feel like losing to Duke in football. Florida St. will have some mighty trouble this year, they lost too much from last year’s team. Northwestern is tough at home.

Edge- NW

The ACC, albeit not looking like a super strong conference this year, will still end up tearing apart most of the sluggish teams from the B10.

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Just heard ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb say that it would be more detrimental to MSU if Goran Suton missed Wednesday’s game against UNC than it would be for UNC to be without Tyler Hansbrough. Basicially Doug is saying that UNC is so good that they could still beat MSU even without T-Rex roaming around and pissing everyone off… always in the right place, always banking in those awkward shots, always being competitive, something lots of people just don’t like about him.

Bulletin Board material for Coach Tom Izzo?

To ensure that your college hoopin one track mind stays up to date, we will gladly provide you with pleasing golden nuggets of wisdom that you can, eh, change the world with. We’ll see.

**Oh, make no mistake about it, Nuss is revved about WSU basketball.

“He bulked up a little last year, but holy crap has he bulked up this year — the guy looks like he ought to be playing tight end tomorrow, not shooting guard in a month. Sheesh.”

**6′11 center from Ghana says he’ll play for Indiana in 09/10.

“Muniru is ranked the 111th best player in his class by rivals.com. He also has offers from Louisville, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UAB and Auburn, and was being recruited by Kentucky.”

**The first Korean born DI player hopes to qualify for 08/09 eligibility at Maryland.

“The biggest question about Kim is what will Gary do with him? Kim has a great stroke and can stretch defenses with his 3-point shooting ability but he’s also only 180 pounds, so he needs to hit up the weight room in a hurry. Also, Kim was initially suppose to be a 09 commit, but is trying to reclassify for 08.  Does that mean MD will redshirt him, which allows him to get accustomed to Div 1 basketball life, put on some pounds in the weight room, and get in some practice before starting his college career?”

Video of Jin Soo Kim via Testudo Times

Kim has impressive passing skills but the muscle mass of Shawn Bradley.

**Bench All-Stars.

**Tyler Hansbrough vs. Patrick Patterson, from Ken Pomeroy.

“Here’s what I see.  Hansbrough is taller, heavier, and stronger, and nearly impossible to bully out of his post defense.  With that size comes the fact that he is not quite as quick as Pat, nor do I think he passes quite as well.  I would say that the physical comparison is a wash, or at worst a slight edge to Patrick, with a nod toward his superior athleticism.”

**Not too many guys out there more likeable than Stephen Curry.

“Curry’s unassuming nature is of a piece with the Davidson Way. A college of 1,700 students 23 miles north of Charlotte, Davidson is the kind of place where almost nobody locks their doors, and (shock of shocks) the basketball players take all of their classes with the rest of the undergrads.” ‘”If you had a roster of every student, I probably would know a little something about each one of them,” Curry says. “’After a game we’ll go to the student union and just walk around. Everyone will be talking about the game, and it’s not random people you’ve never seen on campus. You know their names. That’s a special thing.’”

**Brian Butch and Shawn Pruitt couldn’t hold Michael Ruffin’s jockstrap.

Happy Monday

Let’s backtrack a little and look back on the picks, predictions, prognostications—ah whatever—that I have laid out here so eloquently in the collegefastbreak domain somewhat recently.

In no particular order and in no particular feeling of confidence either:

**** Scoff at it, just get mad at it UofA fans. Your team will lay an egg this year but totally get hot and win the NIT.

^ Addition by subtraction in Texas—ludicrous to say maybe, but D.J. and A.J. were beguiling wonders on the court that irrevocably held back the Longhorns from placing more impactful punches against stronger fighters.

$ The Spartans will further cement themselves as the college version of the 21st century Detroit Pistons. Each has won one championship, yet both fan bases are becoming impatient with the standstill success. So much talent yet so little to show for it.

#!#@ Calling Conference USA a power conference was a little wishful. That statement, although made while sober, still feels dirty, but it could end up alright. Just hoping Vaden or some other power conference guy can make a run at the scoring title.

? Calling Northwestern a NIT team was an undemonstrative springboard to tomfoolery, as this season I will probably be glued to all news NW basketball, akin to the energy I gave them during the Jitim Young and Tavaras Hardy days.

(Preview of Big Ten season)—Probably the most accurate prediction of the Big Ten season as you will find, minus the Michigan placement. No Big Ten quality pg will be available to suit up for the Wolvies until the second semester.—-

% Hasheem Thabeet is ready for a monster year and a long run into the tourney. It would not be surprising to see the Huskies stay in the top 5 for the entire season, especially if Thabeet can average 14.5ppg, 9 reb and more than 4 blk. Just think about the terror an offensively skilled Thabeet would be.

高人 Speaking of impact big men, one should keep an eye out for UNC-Asheville’s Kenny George. When fresh, he’s really not much different than your rudimentary 7 foot center, except for the fact George can regularly hit free throws and, while this might not seem feasible, still surprises many guards with his length. After awhile you’d think they would find new ways to attack a 7’7 dude, but often they make the same mistake over and over. However the time to attack George is when he’s sucking major air. Not exactly an original idea, yet, for huge guy, the opportunities present themselves much more frequently.

It’s almost as of George has decent enough foot speed to move laterally and react, but it’s the body that often takes awhile to catch up. If the coach can really substitute him frequently and wisely, UNC-Asheville will be the best in the Big South.

The next two are direct matchup predictions.

$$$ The Big Ten will once again fall to the superior ACC and it will, as it has always been, be because of the significant back of the conference weakness’s of the Big Ten. Need I go further?

\&/ The Fighting Irish will beat the Tar Heels in the finals of the Maui Invitational.

So with that out of the way,

#1

My pick to win the whole enchilada.

Discuss.

photo credit: Newscom