2008 ACC/Big Ten Challenge (official thread)

[Bernini]

The Illini did end up being the goats indeed. And all of a sudden their win at Vandy is pretty meaningless. Illinois-Chicago hammered Vandy by 19 at their own gym last night. Maybe Illinois should be the official state school now and Illinois-Champaign should assume the hyphen.

Michigan and Minnesota appear to be separating themselves from the pack in the battle for the 5th spot.

If there was a power ranking, Ohio State would be ahead of MSU now for third place. I don't know if that carries into the regular season, but I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Wisconsin has just as much of a shot at the title as Purdue. The Boilers aren't quite the world beaters that I suspected.

[crazybuckfan40]

Purdue is missing Martin like I said thye would when he left...

They struggle to get scoring at times, with their big men, Kramer, and Lew Jack not really being big scorers...

They have Hummel, Grant, and Moore to score...That is about it...Sometimes Johnson, but if one of those first 3 is off they will struggle to score...

Not that they aren't a good team, but they are going to struggle on offense...

I think that we are the better conference 1-11...They have the better top 2 teams, we are stronger in the middle and at the bottom they are better because Inidiana has been decimated...

They had more home games, and won by 1 game...Really after UNC and Dook where does that conference go? Probably Miami, and we were the beneficiaries of their star losing his cool, but on a national stage Miami is a 6 or 7 seed...The ACC is not that great...The Big ten is on the rise tho with the classes coming in next year and the year after...Lots of talent...We are going to get one of these challenges in the near future...

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by crazybuckfan40

Purdue is missing Martin like I said thye would when he left...

They struggle to get scoring at times, with their big men, Kramer, and Lew Jack not really being big scorers...

They have Hummel, Grant, and Moore to score...That is about it...Sometimes Johnson, but if one of those first 3 is off they will struggle to score...

Not that they aren't a good team, but they are going to struggle on offense...

I think that we are the better conference 1-11...They have the better top 2 teams, we are stronger in the middle and at the bottom they are better because Inidiana has been decimated...

They had more home games, and won by 1 game...Really after UNC and Dook where does that conference go? Probably Miami, and we were the beneficiaries of their star losing his cool, but on a national stage Miami is a 6 or 7 seed...The ACC is not that great...The Big ten is on the rise tho with the classes coming in next year and the year after...Lots of talent...We are going to get one of these challenges in the near future...

I agree with everything.

And I also complimented Martin on this board before his decision to transfer and warned they'd miss him afterward. Although it didn't seep into my perception of this year's team originally.

Kramer may be the reigning defensive POY, but he is a complete hack offensively. I can't really blame him because clearly his leg issues prevent adequate first step quickness and leverage on his shots, but it is the reality. When they are scuffling on the offensive end it would be nice to sub Kramer for Martin, but unfortunately for them they don't have that luxury anymore. Lewis Jackson penetrating and kicking out to Martin and Moore would have been a nice dynamic. Martin had some trouble creating his own shot, but was a terrific shot maker, and his efficiency would have skyrocketed with a guy like that. Martin made a short-sighted decision because he didn't project to start for a while and it has adversely effected both he and the team, IMO. 25 minutes starting or off the bench, does it really matter?

The 6-4 true home/true road split was unfair. Same with the team who has the best conference record in the Big Ten over the span of the challenge (UW) playing a 3-6 true road/true home split. Delaney doesn't care about putting the Big Ten in the best position to win.....all he cares about is the immediate pay days. In the long run though it hurts recruiting vs. the ACC, and it makes fans skeptical about their favorite program playing the highest level basketball possible; which in turn decreases revenue. Which basketball conference generates more revenue annually, my guess would be the ACC. Not that it should be the primary motive. It clearly shouldn't when the biggest punishments are given out to athletes when they try to earn a buck.

[Jake]

Three months later, the Big Ten takes a 7-6 series lead thanks to Michigan defeating Clemson and Wisconsin knocking off Florida State in the first week of the NCAA tournament.

Duke and Carolina reach the Sweet 16, as do Purdue and Michigan State.

[bkochmc]

And on the women's side UNC and Duke were knocked out by Purdue and Michigan State... interesting coincidence.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by Jake

Three months later, the Big Ten takes a 7-6 series lead thanks to Michigan defeating Clemson and Wisconsin knocking off Florida State in the first week of the NCAA tournament.

And now, the NCAA championship:

North Carolina versus Michigan State

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