I honestly didn't expect that this event would be stopped, even with all the rights issues around TV deals. Just felt as if there was a recognition that basketball was a different animal and that it made competitive and financial sense to keep things more or less status quo. Guess not. The way I read it is ESPN is going to attempt to elevate the SEC in terms of its basketball profile. That league has done some good work in recent years in improving the standard of its head coaches and from a competitive standpoint, it's getting better, as programs like Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee have gotten substantially better over the past 5 seasons or so, largely as a result of coaching hires. Still...they're not now, nor will they ever be, the Big Ten in this sport in terms of interest, and I'm talking about both the individual school fanbases and on a national level. It just means more in the Big Ten 
So, this appears to be the final rodeo for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Right now, the two conferences have done vastly different levels of work. Most (myself included) expected the Big Ten to be down a bit but the league has had a tremendous first 3 weeks or so of the season. Meanwhile, outside of Virginia, it's fair to say the ACC has been a major disappointment. Traditional heavyweights UNC and Duke both look flawed, though certainly each possesses the potential for significant improvement between now and March. FSU, which has probably been the 4th best program in the league in recent years, is in complete freefall...to show how bad things are, Nebraska handled them with ease this weekend. Louisville appears to be hitting rock bottom. Syracuse looks awful. These are traditional heavyweight schools, but all around the conference, the ACC has problems. So how do things shape up in this final turn of the Challenge?
MONDAY
Minnesota at VaTech - The Gophers are in Year Two of Ben Johnson's rebuild. Thankfully, they got their best player, Jamison Battle, back from a foot injury (imagine that...another program with a player out with a sore foot?) last week and that should make the Gophers much better as they're largely starting over from last season's outmanned but highly competitive group. Dawson Garcia, the UNC transfer, is giving them a VERY different look inside than they had last season and Johnson has enough guys to be regularly playing 10, a huge difference from last season's six player ironman group. Still, it's been a tough start for Minnesota with a 4-2 record and the losses coming versus DePaul and UNLV. VaTech is a solid program and they've won the one major conference game they've played thus far...61-59 over PSU. At home, hard to go against the Hokies in this one.
PICK - Virginia Tech
Pitt at Northwestern - Pitt is, to put it bluntly, all kinds of bad. The program has fallen solar systems away from where it was during the Ben Howland/Jamie Dixon period, and it appears that Jeff Capel is about ready to run out of rope. They're 4-3 with blowout losses to WVu and Michigan (so you KNOW they're off to a bad start). Northwestern could have been looking at a possible Tournament season IMO if they'd convinced Pete Nance and Ryan Young to stay instead of decamping for Tobacco Road. That said, they're 5-1 and the loss was a 1 pointer against Auburn, so it's a decent start for the Cats. Their guard play is what will make or break them and I think it's good enough to get a home court win here.
PICK - Northwestern
TUESDAY
Maryland at Louisville - Maryland is quietly putting together a very nice non conference run in Kevin Willard's first year. Donta Scott has slimmed down and is really looking as if he's going to have a strong senior season, soph Julian Reese is blossoming and their transfer guards have done a nice job. Louisville is in free fall as mentioned above. Kenny Payne is having a horrific start to his tenure there, and at a place which cares as deeply about the sport as they do in the Ville, there's not ever going to be much of a honeymoon period. Louisville is 0-6 on the season and they're highly likely to fall to 0-7 with this one.
PICK - Maryland
Penn State at Clemson - Interesting game. PSU is fun to watch, going ultra, ultra small a lot of the time, mostly out of necessity. That may pose a problem in a Big Ten which still has a lot of quality bigs (and i mean REALLY big bigs) but in the nonconference, they've been competitive, with only a 2 point loss to VaTech marring their season. Clemson has played three power five games and lost two of them, falling to South Carolina by a bucket and to Iowa by three. They've become a pretty dull program in recent years IMO, and I think PSU pulls off a narrow upset (not even sure if it's really that, given that KenPom has the Nits as a one point favorite).
PICK - Penn State
Syracuse at Illinois - Boy, this game would have been something in the 80s, 90s or even the early Oughts. Not now. The Illini have had a major league roster turnover but they've looked good in beating UCLA and then losing a competitive game to Virginia. Syracuse is 3-3 and just lost a home game to Bryant. Not a chance in hell they go into CU and win this one.
PICK - Illinois
Georgia Tech at Iowa - The Hawks just took their first loss of the season, falling by 13 to a solid TCU team. Still, they beat Seton Hall on the road and CLemson on a neutral court and the offense looks very Iowa-like so far, with Kris Murray doing a reasonable impersonation of his twin in the early going. Georgia Tech is another once interesting program that now just seems dull, as Josh Pastner hasn't managed to turn it around in terms of recruiting or energy. Easy Hawk pick at Carver.
PICK - Iowa
Wake Forest at Wisconsin - A pair of one loss teams in this one. Wake's played tomato cans other than Georgia, whom they beat by 10. Their loss came by two to Loyola Marymount. The Badgers have been a bit more tested...they own wins over Stanford, Dayton and USC and the loss came by one in OT to Kansas. It's looking like a standard issue Wisconsin type of team in some ways...they don't turn the ball over. However, they're shooting miserably but also playing the best defense they have in a long time. That equation plus Kohl Center should equal a Badger victory.
PICK - Wisconsin
Virginia at Michigan - UVa has no superstars but this much more like Tony Bennett's program than what we've seen the last couple of seasons. They're a balanced team which has been shooting the hell out of the three but does everything decent to great on offense and on defense they're actually much more aggressive than their pack line roots would suggest...a lot of halfcourt traps of pick and roll are leading to TOs, and they're 60th in that category nationally. Michigan is, to put it kindly, a gigantic mess at the moment. They've actually done a fantastic job of valuing the ball and they shoot the 2 well, thanks to Hunter Dickinson, but they have been miserable from outside the arc, awful from the FT line and have been surprisingly terrible on their offensive boards. On defense, the story is worse. They just aren't very good at limiting opponent success from 3 or from 2 , and against a smart, disciplined Virginia team which shoots well...it just doesn't look good for the Wolvies.
PICK - Virginia
WEDNESDAY
Michigan State at Notre Dame - The Irish only have one loss but they haven't faced a high major opponent yet and have struggled in most of their wins against lesser opponents. St. Bonaventure drilled them by 12 the other day. MSU shorthanded might have some issues on the road...the Irish have a team which has been OK from 3 but in theory should be better than that, and if a couple guys bust out of slow starts, who knows? They also start four 5th year seniors, thus maxing out Mike Brey's "get old, stay old" theory, at least for this season. Still, when push comes to shove, I'm going to go with the better team and I believe even a shorthanded MSU (and who knows about Akins?) is that.
PICK - Michigan State
Purdue at Florida State - Purdue had themselves a weekend in Portland. No denying it, routing Gonzaga and Duke looks impressive. However, I'm not sure that the Boilers are quite that good...they actually haven't shot it great from 3 yet, and though the defense looks vastly improved over last season, that's still a young backcourt which isn't overly athletic. However, none of this is likely to get tested in this game. FSU has had some eligibility issues with players hurt them but a 1-7 start, including a loss to Nebraska this weekend, is a worst case scenario. Hard to see the Boilers blowing this one.
PICK - Purdue
Ohio State at Duke - I've seen OSU a couple of times already and I mostly like what I've seen. The 2 point offense has been strong, led by Key and freshman Brice Sensabaugh, who might be the front runner for FOY in the conference. Maybe most importantly, they too have made some strides on the defensive end, where they've been horrendous the last couple of years. Duke looks very much like a work in progress to me. I thought that when KU beat them and the PK showing did little to mitigate that view. They have been a truly terrible shooting team which has been salvaged only by great offensive rebounding. Defensively, they've been steadier. I think OSU could steal one here but I'm going to go with home court in what I think will be a tight game. Duke's not great, at least not yet, but I think OSU probably isn't quite ready to pull one off in Cameron.
PICK - Duke
Rutgers at Miami - The college basketball world at large likely won't care much about this game, given that its between two decidedly unsexy programs, but I think it has a chance to be a very good game. RU's gotten good play from transfer guard Cam Spencer but they've been missing point guard Paul Mulcahy and defensive lynchpin Caleb McConnell for several games, including their one loss to Temple. McConnell is back but Mulcahy's status remains unclear with a shoulder injury. Miami beat Providence but got run out of the gym by Maryland in their two power five games. If I knew Mulcahy would play, I'd be very tempted to pick RU but with that uncertainty, I'm going to figure on a tight Hurricanes win.
PICK - Miami
UNC at IU - UNC got exposed a bit in Portland, but truth be told, they weren't very impressive before that. What's driving them currently is an ability to hit 2s and get to the line and convert free throws. Their three point shooting has been horrible and they are not thus far offensive rebounding the way Carolina typically does. IU statistically looks great. They're shooting 2s extremely well (#5 in the nation). They're rebounding well at both ends, they've valuing the ball and they're finally hitting 3s. 2 point defense has been outstanding as well. Yet, they haven't been tested much. The only opponent they've faced thus far with a KenPom rating better than #254 is Xavier, and the Hoosiers held on to win that one by just two points. It was a road win, and that's not an easy place to play, but still...I think IU can be described largely as "promising but unproven" in comparison to much of the rest of the conference, most of whom have faced multiple higher level teams. Having said all of that...if IU is for real, this is a game they absolutely win at home. I think they will.
PICK - Indiana
Boston College at Nebraska - Who knows here? Two programs which feel as if they're just west of oblivion in many ways facing off in Lincoln. BC is 5-2 but has losses to Maine and Tarelton, so that can't be confidence inspiring. We know all about Nebraska and double digit losses to St. John's, Oklahoma and Memphis don't tell the story of a vastly improved squad either, though they did beat a terrible Florida State team. Being at home gives the Huskers a chance but it's tough for me to pick them to win any game against a Power conference opponent, so I'm going with the Eagles.
PICK - Boston College
So, tallying it up, I have a 9-5 Big Ten advantage.
Bye bye, Challenge...you were usually fun while it lasted.
So, this appears to be the final rodeo for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Right now, the two conferences have done vastly different levels of work. Most (myself included) expected the Big Ten to be down a bit but the league has had a tremendous first 3 weeks or so of the season. Meanwhile, outside of Virginia, it's fair to say the ACC has been a major disappointment. Traditional heavyweights UNC and Duke both look flawed, though certainly each possesses the potential for significant improvement between now and March. FSU, which has probably been the 4th best program in the league in recent years, is in complete freefall...to show how bad things are, Nebraska handled them with ease this weekend. Louisville appears to be hitting rock bottom. Syracuse looks awful. These are traditional heavyweight schools, but all around the conference, the ACC has problems. So how do things shape up in this final turn of the Challenge?
MONDAY
Minnesota at VaTech - The Gophers are in Year Two of Ben Johnson's rebuild. Thankfully, they got their best player, Jamison Battle, back from a foot injury (imagine that...another program with a player out with a sore foot?) last week and that should make the Gophers much better as they're largely starting over from last season's outmanned but highly competitive group. Dawson Garcia, the UNC transfer, is giving them a VERY different look inside than they had last season and Johnson has enough guys to be regularly playing 10, a huge difference from last season's six player ironman group. Still, it's been a tough start for Minnesota with a 4-2 record and the losses coming versus DePaul and UNLV. VaTech is a solid program and they've won the one major conference game they've played thus far...61-59 over PSU. At home, hard to go against the Hokies in this one.
PICK - Virginia Tech
Pitt at Northwestern - Pitt is, to put it bluntly, all kinds of bad. The program has fallen solar systems away from where it was during the Ben Howland/Jamie Dixon period, and it appears that Jeff Capel is about ready to run out of rope. They're 4-3 with blowout losses to WVu and Michigan (so you KNOW they're off to a bad start). Northwestern could have been looking at a possible Tournament season IMO if they'd convinced Pete Nance and Ryan Young to stay instead of decamping for Tobacco Road. That said, they're 5-1 and the loss was a 1 pointer against Auburn, so it's a decent start for the Cats. Their guard play is what will make or break them and I think it's good enough to get a home court win here.
PICK - Northwestern
TUESDAY
Maryland at Louisville - Maryland is quietly putting together a very nice non conference run in Kevin Willard's first year. Donta Scott has slimmed down and is really looking as if he's going to have a strong senior season, soph Julian Reese is blossoming and their transfer guards have done a nice job. Louisville is in free fall as mentioned above. Kenny Payne is having a horrific start to his tenure there, and at a place which cares as deeply about the sport as they do in the Ville, there's not ever going to be much of a honeymoon period. Louisville is 0-6 on the season and they're highly likely to fall to 0-7 with this one.
PICK - Maryland
Penn State at Clemson - Interesting game. PSU is fun to watch, going ultra, ultra small a lot of the time, mostly out of necessity. That may pose a problem in a Big Ten which still has a lot of quality bigs (and i mean REALLY big bigs) but in the nonconference, they've been competitive, with only a 2 point loss to VaTech marring their season. Clemson has played three power five games and lost two of them, falling to South Carolina by a bucket and to Iowa by three. They've become a pretty dull program in recent years IMO, and I think PSU pulls off a narrow upset (not even sure if it's really that, given that KenPom has the Nits as a one point favorite).
PICK - Penn State
Syracuse at Illinois - Boy, this game would have been something in the 80s, 90s or even the early Oughts. Not now. The Illini have had a major league roster turnover but they've looked good in beating UCLA and then losing a competitive game to Virginia. Syracuse is 3-3 and just lost a home game to Bryant. Not a chance in hell they go into CU and win this one.
PICK - Illinois
Georgia Tech at Iowa - The Hawks just took their first loss of the season, falling by 13 to a solid TCU team. Still, they beat Seton Hall on the road and CLemson on a neutral court and the offense looks very Iowa-like so far, with Kris Murray doing a reasonable impersonation of his twin in the early going. Georgia Tech is another once interesting program that now just seems dull, as Josh Pastner hasn't managed to turn it around in terms of recruiting or energy. Easy Hawk pick at Carver.
PICK - Iowa
Wake Forest at Wisconsin - A pair of one loss teams in this one. Wake's played tomato cans other than Georgia, whom they beat by 10. Their loss came by two to Loyola Marymount. The Badgers have been a bit more tested...they own wins over Stanford, Dayton and USC and the loss came by one in OT to Kansas. It's looking like a standard issue Wisconsin type of team in some ways...they don't turn the ball over. However, they're shooting miserably but also playing the best defense they have in a long time. That equation plus Kohl Center should equal a Badger victory.
PICK - Wisconsin
Virginia at Michigan - UVa has no superstars but this much more like Tony Bennett's program than what we've seen the last couple of seasons. They're a balanced team which has been shooting the hell out of the three but does everything decent to great on offense and on defense they're actually much more aggressive than their pack line roots would suggest...a lot of halfcourt traps of pick and roll are leading to TOs, and they're 60th in that category nationally. Michigan is, to put it kindly, a gigantic mess at the moment. They've actually done a fantastic job of valuing the ball and they shoot the 2 well, thanks to Hunter Dickinson, but they have been miserable from outside the arc, awful from the FT line and have been surprisingly terrible on their offensive boards. On defense, the story is worse. They just aren't very good at limiting opponent success from 3 or from 2 , and against a smart, disciplined Virginia team which shoots well...it just doesn't look good for the Wolvies.
PICK - Virginia
WEDNESDAY
Michigan State at Notre Dame - The Irish only have one loss but they haven't faced a high major opponent yet and have struggled in most of their wins against lesser opponents. St. Bonaventure drilled them by 12 the other day. MSU shorthanded might have some issues on the road...the Irish have a team which has been OK from 3 but in theory should be better than that, and if a couple guys bust out of slow starts, who knows? They also start four 5th year seniors, thus maxing out Mike Brey's "get old, stay old" theory, at least for this season. Still, when push comes to shove, I'm going to go with the better team and I believe even a shorthanded MSU (and who knows about Akins?) is that.
PICK - Michigan State
Purdue at Florida State - Purdue had themselves a weekend in Portland. No denying it, routing Gonzaga and Duke looks impressive. However, I'm not sure that the Boilers are quite that good...they actually haven't shot it great from 3 yet, and though the defense looks vastly improved over last season, that's still a young backcourt which isn't overly athletic. However, none of this is likely to get tested in this game. FSU has had some eligibility issues with players hurt them but a 1-7 start, including a loss to Nebraska this weekend, is a worst case scenario. Hard to see the Boilers blowing this one.
PICK - Purdue
Ohio State at Duke - I've seen OSU a couple of times already and I mostly like what I've seen. The 2 point offense has been strong, led by Key and freshman Brice Sensabaugh, who might be the front runner for FOY in the conference. Maybe most importantly, they too have made some strides on the defensive end, where they've been horrendous the last couple of years. Duke looks very much like a work in progress to me. I thought that when KU beat them and the PK showing did little to mitigate that view. They have been a truly terrible shooting team which has been salvaged only by great offensive rebounding. Defensively, they've been steadier. I think OSU could steal one here but I'm going to go with home court in what I think will be a tight game. Duke's not great, at least not yet, but I think OSU probably isn't quite ready to pull one off in Cameron.
PICK - Duke
Rutgers at Miami - The college basketball world at large likely won't care much about this game, given that its between two decidedly unsexy programs, but I think it has a chance to be a very good game. RU's gotten good play from transfer guard Cam Spencer but they've been missing point guard Paul Mulcahy and defensive lynchpin Caleb McConnell for several games, including their one loss to Temple. McConnell is back but Mulcahy's status remains unclear with a shoulder injury. Miami beat Providence but got run out of the gym by Maryland in their two power five games. If I knew Mulcahy would play, I'd be very tempted to pick RU but with that uncertainty, I'm going to figure on a tight Hurricanes win.
PICK - Miami
UNC at IU - UNC got exposed a bit in Portland, but truth be told, they weren't very impressive before that. What's driving them currently is an ability to hit 2s and get to the line and convert free throws. Their three point shooting has been horrible and they are not thus far offensive rebounding the way Carolina typically does. IU statistically looks great. They're shooting 2s extremely well (#5 in the nation). They're rebounding well at both ends, they've valuing the ball and they're finally hitting 3s. 2 point defense has been outstanding as well. Yet, they haven't been tested much. The only opponent they've faced thus far with a KenPom rating better than #254 is Xavier, and the Hoosiers held on to win that one by just two points. It was a road win, and that's not an easy place to play, but still...I think IU can be described largely as "promising but unproven" in comparison to much of the rest of the conference, most of whom have faced multiple higher level teams. Having said all of that...if IU is for real, this is a game they absolutely win at home. I think they will.
PICK - Indiana
Boston College at Nebraska - Who knows here? Two programs which feel as if they're just west of oblivion in many ways facing off in Lincoln. BC is 5-2 but has losses to Maine and Tarelton, so that can't be confidence inspiring. We know all about Nebraska and double digit losses to St. John's, Oklahoma and Memphis don't tell the story of a vastly improved squad either, though they did beat a terrible Florida State team. Being at home gives the Huskers a chance but it's tough for me to pick them to win any game against a Power conference opponent, so I'm going with the Eagles.
PICK - Boston College
So, tallying it up, I have a 9-5 Big Ten advantage.
Bye bye, Challenge...you were usually fun while it lasted.
