Dave Sez

ACC - Big Ten Challenge Previews

The sixth annual ACC - Big Ten Challenge gets underway tonight when Purdue pays a visit to NC State. Honestly, I should have put the word Challenge in quotations, "Challenge." Is it really considered a challenge when one side wins every time? In five previous "challenges," the ACC has won five times. The margins were 5-4, 5-4, 5-3, 5-4 and 7-2. Notice that last one - the ACC won 7-2 last year!

I wouldn't bet that the ACC will win by the same margin again this year, but it wouldn't surprise me. The ACC is stacked this year, but there are a few (OK, two) good Big 10 squads as well. My prediction is 6-3 ACC. I also think there will be a couple of blowouts in the ACC's favor - keep an eye on NC State, UVA and UNC.

Here are some previews links (there are surprisingly few):
The Duke Basketball Report
The Charlotte Observer
ESPN.com (shockingly bare)
CBS Sporstline (Gregg Doyel)

Oh, by the way, while we are comparing conferences, unless I'm missing a game, the ACC is currently 3-0 against the Pac 10 this year, with two lopsided wins (UVA over Arizona and UNC over USC).