Big Ten ACC Challenge College Basketball: TDG Predicts the Winners of B1G/ACC Challenge

I like pretending that I know something about basketball and most years I give you my B1G/ACC Challenge predictions.  I'm not going to bother to go back and see how I did because unless I nailed most/all of them then it isn't worth revisiting.  But time is of the essence so I'll give you my quick thoughts on the games.

Tuesday Night

Florida State at Minnesota - last year this was a nice road win for the Gophers.  This year I think Florida State gets the road win but this isn't going to be a real resume building win.  I fear the Gophers will struggle this year against quality opponents, hopefully getting things figured out by the end of the year.  FSU does turn the ball over at an alarming rate (22.7% of possessions, 329th in NCAA basketball) and they don't rebound particularly well, so maybe this will be closer than I'm anticipating.

Winner: Florida State

Indiana at Syracuse - Wait, Syracuse is in the Big East.  I'm confused.  The Orange ended Indiana's quest for a National Title last year and the Hoosiers will be playing to avenge that loss.  But it won't matter.  Indiana does crash the offensive boards VERY well and they are playing pretty good defense right now, but Syracuse is at home and will be very comfortable there.

Winner: Syracuse

Illinois at Georgia Tech - Any decent team on Tech's schedule has been a loss for the Yellow Jackets.  Illinois is 7-0 but hasn't played anybody so they are hard to truly gauge.  I think the Big Ten gets a win here.

Winner: Illinois

Penn State at Pittsburgh - The battle for the state of Pennsylvania, this has gobs of intrigue.  But not really.  Pitt is pretty good and Penn State is not.

Winner: Pittsburgh

Michigan at Duke - This on paper looks to be an exciting game.  But I like Duke here.  Their offense is clicking early at a very efficient pace.  Michigan doesn't turn the ball over, they rebound and they can score too.  Were this in Michigan I might feel differently but I think the Dukies win this one at home.

Winner: Duke

Notre Dame at Iowa - I just have trouble seeing Iowa as a ranked basketball team.  But their KenPom numbers do stand out.  They defend very well so far, they don't turn the ball over while creating turnovers and they are a decent rebounding team.  Notre Dame just isn't very impressive this year with a loss to Indiana St. and their best win being Santa Clara.

Winner: Iowa

I guess would give the ACC a 4-2 advantage after the first evening of games.

Wednesday Night

Maryland at Ohio State - Ohio State is the better team here and they are at home.  I'd be shocked if this one is a Big Ten loss.  The stats all point to OSU, the big names on the rosters favor OSU and so will I.

Winner: Ohio State

Wisconsin at Virginia - I guess the intrigue here is Tony Bennet facing the school his dad once led and where he was an assistant.  This also appears to be a pretty evenly matched match-up.  Undefeated Wisconsin has a few nice wins on their resume and they have a pretty talented roster.  Virginia has what appears to be a very good defense but they struggle offensively a bit.  Look for a game that will make your eyes bleed and I will bet that Wisconsin sneaks out a close one.

Winner: Wisconsin

Northwestern at NC State - Northwestern is terrible, NC State is decent and the Terps are at home.  JerShon Cobb and Drew Crawford are capable of scoring and the Wildcats have played a challenging schedule so I guess a road win for the Cats isn't out of the question but I'm not holding my breath here.

Winner: NC State

North Carolina at Michigan St. - Michigan State has one of their better teams and I just don't believe this is a great North Carolina team.  This one will be a Spartan win and I think it might be a convincing one.

Winner Michigan State

Boston College at Purdue - I don't see this as a particularly intriguing or entertaining match-up.  Purdue is at home where they usually enjoy the ability to play rather physical.  I'm not all that impressed with Purdue so far but BC hasn't really done much either (losing to Toledo!).  I have to pick someone here so I'll go with the home team.

Winner: Purdue

MIami at Nebraska - This is the game we get to watch to see if the Big Ten wins the Challenge or it ends in a tie for the second year in a row.  Yuck, and I thought the last game was bad.  I will give the advantage to Tim Miles at home here.

Winner: Nebraska

By my count the Big Ten goes 5-1 on Wednesday and wins this thing 7-5.  Book it.