Big Ten/ACC Challenge open thread
Iowa beating UNC 5-2 on ESPN, Notre dame beating MSU 18-16 on ESPN2, and Virginia Tech beating PSU 15-10 on the U.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^
Kamensky (sp?) can get a shot off against anyone in the country. And they don't turn the ball over.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:53 PM ^
Bo has the Izzo model up in Madison with a lesser ranked type of player.
Model - keep almost everyone for 4-5 years. Have a lot of seniors/juniors supported by 1-2 very talented younger guys. In this modern NCAA there is a big advantage to rolling out 21-22 year olds when a lot of teams (like ours) are constantly relying on 18-19 year olds. When your 18-19 year olds are not of the UK variety especially.
Izzo has been living off that system for 10 years now - but the NC and the hype machine of ESPN has him getting a lot better quality player than Bo. Bo is maximizing talent whereas Izzo has a ton of HS All Americans walk thru there (Dawson, Appling, Harris on last year's team alone along with 5 star Payne) who are often less then their sum of parts. And he keeps them there almost always til seniors (Harris the rare exception). A guy like Valentine was ranked exactly where Nik Stauskas was - one guy is in the NBA, the other is "a great leader and incredibly well developed" NCAA player per the analyst crew. Now Valentine is a total bonehead with his decision making but he has the raw tools to already be in the NBA under Beilein. But that's the difference right there - Valentine will be around all this year and next. We have to reload.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^
Agree with Kansas and UNC being down. I think Duke is real good this year though. Wisconsin is a top 5 team but I think they have some isues.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:07 PM ^
So no injuries for MSU so far what's IZZO gonna blam the loses on??
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:09 PM ^
Didn't you hear, Dawson had the flu last week. Dick Vitale only brought it up fifty million times vs. Kansas. And it was brought up again tonight, even though Dawson had 16pts/18 Rebs.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
Travis Trice was recovering from the flu along with Dawson. It is the reason why he shot so poorly. After his mystery illness from last year, I would think Trice has the immune system of a bubble boy.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
I thought Izzo had the same policy as Hoke not discussing injuries.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:10 PM ^
B1G vs. ACC Challenges. Beilein vs Boeheim in a Final Four rematch. State and UNC losing to unranked teams. All of which came down to the wire. Having the series wrapped up early. Wiscy/Duke shaping up well. I Wish we did this with a conference in football for one of the non-conference games!
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:15 PM ^
High times in Madison.
Wiscy can be B1G champions in both Basketball and Football.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:15 PM ^
Might have set a record for players who just look like they deserve a nice solid face punch? Valentine, trice, forbes, schilling for state. Several for nd, but vasturia in particular.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:16 PM ^
Scpechewstky (sp?) looks pretty mad. Never can remember if the P is silent in his name.
DOOK!!!
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:16 PM ^
I hate when they do timeout with a commercial break, play for 5 seconds and then take a TV time out. Just kills the flow of the game.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:08 PM ^
Don't mess with Profits!!!!!
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
Wisconsin is such a trash team. So reliant on the 3 ball and getting hot.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
Just like us?
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:26 PM ^
Not hardly old sport, not hardly.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:32 PM ^
Uhhh huuuuuh what?!
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:48 PM ^
Kid's very impressive.
December 3rd, 2014 at 10:53 PM ^
How does Nigel Hayes get away with hooking the defender to hold him while he spins around him to the bucket. It's his signature move and he never gets called for it.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:00 PM ^
Staee must have played too many weird guys!
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:09 PM ^
Will look good alongside Drummond come this time next year.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
Drummond is bum
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:09 PM ^
Might as well chalk up Duke and Kentucky for the final four... sigh...
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
Where has Dekker been all day?
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
Okafor with a beautiful bank shot over Frank. Wow.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^
Impressed with Maryland's resolve. They easily could've quit when it was 18(?). Had it to 11 and there's a lot of time left but Virginia are so good defensively.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
So ESPN is bottom-lining ppp stats for these teams (Duke-Wiscy). Are they crediting or referencing KenPom with this? I'm guessing not since that's what they do but that's bullshit.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
Officials are really screwing Wisconsin.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:19 PM ^
Good one, especially after that call.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:17 PM ^
Wisconsin has no business being in this game. Everything that trash Jackson is throwing up is buckets.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
Why exactly are his trash but Sulamon's, for example, are not?!
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:33 PM ^
I don't recall Sulaimon throwing in 20-footer after 20-footer despite being a mediocre at best outside shooter.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:20 PM ^
has bricked so many close shots.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^
Hard to beat Duke when they don't miss shots. Even with some soft Wisconsin D, 64% is ridiculous.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
...I'm honestly conflicted over who I want to lose this game more. Thoughts?
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:38 PM ^
Impressive road win here for Duke. They look a lot better than they did vs MSU.
Very young team that is improving very quickly with a centerpiece 5 and some nice wings. You can see the difference in athleticism out there at almost every position. Wisconsin is a savvy experienced group for the most part playing a lot of elite athletes - reminded me of the MSU vs UK game that kicked off last season. One team had a ton of experience and that was their calling card - the other team had players still in their infancy but some serious prodigies.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:39 PM ^
Dekker and Hayes no showed for Wisconsin but I'll admit, really impressed with Duke tonight.
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December 4th, 2014 at 12:22 AM ^
Is he not one of the most overrated players in the country? Bo didn't even have him in during critical moments of the game. Can't figure that out.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:45 PM ^
So Michigan ends up being the only ranked B1G team to win a game in the B1G/ACC challenge. Go Blue!
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:47 PM ^
Virginia's win at Maryland also very impressive. ACC incredibly top heavy. Duke/Virginia/Louisville are gonna beat each other up this year.
December 3rd, 2014 at 11:59 PM ^
You think its bad for them watch the Big 10 this year - on any given night the #9 team could beat #2 - they are all going to be almost identical
You can throw Maryland, UM, OSU, Illinois, MSU, Nebraska, Iowa in a bucket any night and not know who is going to come out.
Even teams like Indiana and Minnesota and Purdue have enough talent to pull a lot of upsets, especially at home.
Then throw Wiscy on top of all that.
The Big 10 is going to be brutal this year with tons of parity. If Wisconsin was not in the conference I would bet the 1st place team would have 6 losses. You are going to see a ton of teams between 8-10 and 11-7 this year in conf play. Possibly 9-10.
December 4th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
The Big Ten has maybe one elite team whereas the ACC has 3. Those 3 will compete for a national championship. Only Wisconsin, and that's a big maybe because they didn't impress me at all, will compete for the title. I said the ACC was top heavy because of this and those games will likely decide that conference championship.
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December 4th, 2014 at 12:11 AM ^
Good to keep the streak in tact against the ACC. After losing the first 10, we're all 4-0-2 in the last 6.
December 4th, 2014 at 1:05 AM ^
It looks like Michigan was the only ranked team in the Big Ten to win their ACC matchup. ILL, OSU, Wisc, MSU, and MD all lost, with MSU and Wisc losing to lower ranked (in MSU's case, an unranked Notre Dame) teams.
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December 4th, 2014 at 1:19 AM ^
Utah Wichita is a barn burner.