Michigan to face Syracuse at Crisler in ACC/B1G Challenge

Submitted by michchi85 on
BrianHamiltonSI
Huge ACC-B1G challenge matchups @SINow has learned: #Duke-#Wisconsin, #OhioState-#Louisville, #Syracuse-#Michigan. http://t.co/vOfypcAjt7
5/1/14, 12:07 PM

 

I like this matchup against Syracuse, although both teams are going to be having plenty of fresh faces to start the year.

 

Edit: More Matchups:

Duke at Wisconsin

Iowa at UNC

Virginia at Maryland

OSU at Lousville

goblue16

May 1st, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^

Very nice matchup. Both teams have a lot of talent lost should tell us where we r early in the season

LSAClassOf2000

May 1st, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^

Some of the other games that are beginning to float about on Twitter include North Carolina versus Iowa, Pittsburgh versus Indiana and Duke versus Wisconsin. Some interesting ones so far with more to come obviously. Either way, I like the pairing here as well - that should be a pretty good game between two teams that are quite different than they were just a year ago. 

alum96

May 1st, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^

Looks solid.  Really difficult to seed anyone in the Big 10 after Wisconsin due to all the losses of players - you can make a case for about 6 teams to be the 2nd place team in the Big 10 next year.  And 6 teams to be the 7th place team.

Maison Bleue

May 1st, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^

Interesting... OSU finally plays a tough non-con game and it's on the road. While whomever MSU gets will kind of be snoozeville. NCST? Notre Dame?

Maison Bleue

May 1st, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^

Last year they played 1 top 50 kenpom team (Maryland because of the ACC/B1G challenge) and 1 Tournament team (Something called North Dakota State) in their Non-Con.

Two years ago they played Duke (Because of the ACC/B1G Challenge) and Kansas. They did not play Florida in the 2012-2013 season.

So in the last two years they have played 1 ranked team (Kansas) that they scheduled themselves (not through the ACC/B1G Challenge). Congratulations!

mh277907

May 1st, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^

Marquette was ranked 24th by KenPom last year - it was not OSU's fault that the game got cancelled. That is two teams ranked in the top-24 not including the ACC/BIG Ten challenge. Notre Dame has been a top-50 KenPom every year since 2005- again, not OSU's fault that ND sucked this year. 

Michigan, on the other hand, played Pittsburgh last year ('12-13) - the only team ranked in the top-50 KenPom outside of the ACC/Big Ten challenge. They played Syracuse and Kansas in '10-11 - the only  two top-50 KenPom outside of the ACC/Big Ten challenge. As you can, scheduling games against perennial top-50 teams does not ensure actually playing teams ranked in the top-50. Yes, Ohio State's non-conference slate was weak this year but it has been no weaker than Michigan's if you look at the past several years with each team playing on average 3-4 top-50 teams each year.

Erik_in_Dayton

May 1st, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^

...that I wish McGary was going to be around to help pick apart the 'Cuse zone.  There is no point in staying angry about that situation, so I'm not going to do it.  Nope, not me.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

May 1st, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^

There's a lot of bad blood, but I'm not happy and based on initial reactions, I'd say neither are most other UVA fans.  I get the impression they wrote this down in 2012 when Maryland made their decision.  We were hoping that the ACC champs might get a bigger-name draw.  If you polled the fanbase I'd bet at least a plurality wanted another shot at Sparty.  Maryland is watching their whole team walk out the door - they'll be up to at least five transfers when all's said and done - and the only way they'll be much good is if their whole freshman class (which is admittedly very, very solid) lives up to billing immediately.

Lazy scheduling, is the impression I get.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

May 1st, 2014 at 5:58 PM ^

Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell graduated, everyone else is back.  Ton of depth and there'll be a lot of good candidates for the minutes they leave behind - I think the biggest question will be not how to replace Harris, but how to replace Mitchell's defense.  Should be a strong contender for the ACC title again.

Lucky Socks

May 1st, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^

It's the offseason, so a hypothetical: Coach Cal to Lakers, Booker gets an out of his scholarship. Does Michigan make a play for him with MAAR and Dawkins in the fold? We have a scholarship open, and no guarantee Hatch plays out his eligibility. Plus the LeVert to pros buzz, and belief that MAAR can become a 1 while Dawkins is more a 3/4. I say yes, I'd welcome Booker's talent in a heartbeat. Shame he isn't 7 feet. Karl Towns is though...would be reconsider Michigan (childhood favorite), even though we weren't among his top 5.



This is all hypothetical. It's May and I read that the Lakers are gonna make a play for Coach Cal. Personally I could definitely see him taking that job. He'll get all the support that a coach doesn't get in, for example, Minnesota.

Lucky Socks

May 1st, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^

True, but I've read that his role will be combo guard with the hopes that he can grasp and contribute significantly at the 1 so I'm not grasping at straws. I think a 5* would feel OK about having a combo guy, especially a 2* combo guy on the roster ahead of him. There aren't many elite programs with zero competition.

Lucky Socks

May 1st, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^

I tried to prevent this type of response by stating that it's both hypothetical, and May. Excuse me for being redundant on a fan site message board, where the motto should be "you've probably discussed this to the point of exhaustion"

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

May 1st, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^

Cuse is losing Ennis, Fair, Grant, and Keita, so they'll be a very different team than they were this year.  Two very good freshmen in their class to join Cooney, Christmas, Coleman, and whoever else might step up to be a contributor.  Even with a revamped team ourselves, I think there's less newness on our team and U-M should be the favorite.

dahblue

May 2nd, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^

I believe we were on the road 3 of the last 4.  One would think that it would be even.  Unless "one" is Dave Brandon, who loves a good roadie.

Perkis-Size Me

May 1st, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^

How do you beat a 2-3 zone?



Make it rain 3's.



Let's see: Beilein's squad can do that. Couple that with home court advantage, and I like our chances. Still, should be a great game.

Raoul

May 1st, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^

posted by ESPN

Date Game
Mon, Dec 1 Nebraska at Florida State
  Rutgers at Clemson
Tue, Dec 2 No. 21 Syracuse at No. 24 Michigan
  Ohio State at No. 8 Louisville
  Pittsburgh at Indiana
  NC State at Purdue
  Illinois at Miami (Fla.)
  Minnesota at Wake Forest
Wed, Dec 3 No. 2 Duke at No. 4 Wisconsin
  No. 18 Michigan State at Notre Dame
  No. 25 Iowa at No. 6 North Carolina
  No. 7 Virginia at Maryland
  Georgia Tech at Northwestern
  Virginia Tech at Penn State