By winning six out of twelve games against the Big 10 in their annual Challenge, the ACC established itself as the second-best conference in college basketball. However, several of the ACC's victories came from unexpected places.
The Heavyweights
#2 Duke 73, #4 Ohio State 68
The ACC's best win of the challenge. Playing on a hostile court, Ohio State had an answer for every Duke challenge...until the final six minutes, when the Blue Devils pulled away. Mason Plumlee continued his hot start (all against elite competition) by scoring 21 points with 17 rebounds. If the vote was held today, he would win the National Player of the Year award, which is a somewhat shocking development. He's the biggest reason why Duke has already beaten three of last year's Final Four participants. Ohio State, meanwhile, stands as a testament to the depth of the Big Ten. The one-loss Buckeyes came close to knocking off the #2 team in the country on the road, and yet they're only the third-best team in their own conference.
#1 Indiana 83, #14 North Carolina 59
So Indiana is one of the reasons why Ohio State isn't the Big 10 favorite. At one point this game was tied at 31-all. Indiana eventually stretched its lead to 32. Thirty-two. Over a Roy Williams team. It's almost like the Hoosiers have stolen Carolina's blueprint for success--dominant transition offense led by a Zeller brother. Duke has the better wins on its record, but Indiana is easily the best team in the country. It looks like beating them on their home court is going to be an impossible task this year. North Carolina, meanwhile, looked like a team of role players, and not like one of the ACC's best teams. A down year is coming. At least we were prepared for that.
#3 Michigan 79, #18 N.C. State 72
And here's the other reason why Ohio State is the Big 10's third wheel. I wasn't a big believer in Michigan entering the season thanks to their lackluster one-and-done appearance in last year's tournament. Yet after their last three games, it's tough not to be a believer in the Wolverines. They took down Kansas State and Pittsburgh on a neutral court, and then picked apart N.C. State at home. The game wasn't even as close as the final score indicates. Point guard Trey Burke didn't score in the first half, instead dishing out nine assists--only to score 18 in the second half. That's how it's done.
The Middle Tier
#21 Minnesota 77, Florida State 68
Duke, Indiana, and Michigan all held serve at home. Minnesota delivered the big-time win on the road, at Florida State, not exactly an easy place to play. The Golden Gophers have only lost once, to Duke, in eight games, and have already beaten Memphis and Stanford. Just another quality Big Ten team to worry about. Florida State isn't defending as well as it did in recent years, and as usual, the offense hasn't been good enough to compensate.
Miami 67, #13 Michigan State 59
Maryland 77, Northwestern 57
Virginia 60, Wisconsin 54
So North Carolina, N.C. State, and Florida State were all disappointing. The ACC picked up that slack in these three wins. Miami's victory at home over the Spartans was the most impressive. The Hurricanes were in control from start to finish. If only their fans hadn't rushed the court...poor form. Maryland is a lot like Miami--another very solid ACC team not so far away from the likes of, say, North Carolina. The Terrapins, who have only lost to Kentucky, had no trouble winning on the road against previously-unbeaten Northwestern. And finally, Virginia winning at Wisconsin was the biggest upset of the entire cross-conference battle. It's possible that, with the preseason loss of point guard Josh Gasser to injury, Wisconsin isn't going to be as rock-solid as usual.
#22 Illinois 75, Georgia Tech 62
Illinois is 8-0. It might be time to start paying attention.
The Dregs
Iowa 79, Virginia Tech 95
There were rumblings that Iowa was going to be a tournament contender this year. Here's the thing: in the unforgiving meat-grinder that is the Big 10, there's no room for teams that lose at Virginia Tech.
Purdue 73, Clemson 61
In case anyone was under the misguided impression that Clemson is good at basketball.
Boston College 73, Penn State 61
The basketball equivalent of Chiefs/Jaguars. No relevancy whatsoever.
Nebraska 79, Wake Forest 63
Nebraska's in the Big 10?
No comments:
Post a Comment