North Carolina is ripe to be picked off by OSU on the 19th if the Buckeyes play well... UNC is trying to find a groove with all of the young players and they haven't looked real good.. I think by seasons end UNC will be a really good team, but right now, they can be beaten.
Agreed. The two best teams right now are Kansas and Michigan State for the simple fact that they are returning a lot of experience.
By March though, it could very well end up being North Carolina and Kentucky, because we both have a ton of talent, and if it gels, we'll be tough to beat.
I expect UNC and UK both to get knocked off by a few teams early, but come March, they'll be completely different teams.
2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule (times and networks are to be determined):
Date Game Monday, Nov. 30 Penn State at Virginia Tuesday, Dec. 1 Maryland at Indiana Michigan State at North Carolina Northwestern at N.C. State Virginia Tech at Iowa Wake Forest at Purdue Wednesday, Dec. 2 Boston College at Michigan Duke at Wisconsin Florida State at Ohio State Illinois at Clemson Minnesota at Miami
IMO:
should be big10 wins: Ohio State, Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan
should be acc wins: Duke, VaTech, Maryland
the tossups: Ill/Clemson, PSU/UVa, NW/NCstate, and the biggie: MSU/UNC
It's the first year since they started the challenge that I think the big10 has more games they "should' win than the ACC. Still, a lot slides on all those tossup games where it's pretty even.
I agree the Spartans sort of should beat UNC given their youth....but, with all that talent, I just can't put UNC into a "should lose" category.
Not gonna lie, I didn't watch the game (wasn't on here in Dayton), but I will watch the game tomorrow and have a better idea of how bad the game really was for us.
But my inital thought (from highlights only) is, not much you can do when your opponent hits 15 3's, and at least 10 of them are with someone in your face, and another one (the one that tied the game), was from 5 feet behind the 3 point line.
It's early, and we have 7 new players, with 6 returning players (only 1 of which will be a major factor). I'm not too worried yet.
Kentucky...right now is rated too high. Right now theyre on the fringe of a top 25 team. But thats completely fine.
What youre going to see with Kentucky is a team that just absolutely peaks at the perfect time. Patrick Patterson, John Wall, Bledsoe and company are going to get it all together around late February and theyre going to make a run like Syracuse did in 03, Illinois did with Dee Brown and co...and theyre gonna take the college ball world by storm. The only way i see it not happening is if the hype machine gets too big too soon and they buy in and implode. I dont see Calipari letting it happen, but he has a huge ego, and could fall into it too, but i think hes too smart a coach for that.
to the ACC/Big Ten challenge. This year they finally did a very good job putting together good matchups. That being said. I think NCST will take out Northwestern. Northwestern isnt untalented but theyre not athletic enough to hang with NCSTs athleticism. theyre too quick and long. The rest of the picks that were made up above i agree with.
MSU/UNC should be epic. but MSU should win because theyre more seasoned. that being said. I think UNC will make a Kentucky-esque run too at the end of the year. Theyre just so big and their bigs run so well.
"It has to start somewhere It has to start somehow What better place than here? What better time than now?"
Quote: Right now theyre on the fringe of a top 25 team.
That's just not true. We are going to struggle early, yes. But fringe of a top 25 team? Not true. We're still a top 15 team. Top 5, no. But top 15, absolutely.
Quote: What youre going to see with Kentucky is a team that just absolutely peaks at the perfect time. Patrick Patterson, John Wall, Bledsoe and company are going to get it all together around late February
That's what I feel as well. Which is why I'm not worried.
Quote: and theyre going to make a run like Syracuse did in 03, Illinois did with Dee Brown and co
Ohio State in 06-07. They didn't quite struggle like we did last night, but they played a close game with Loyola early in the year. You're going to have games like this when you are as young as we are.
A reporter asked the Miami, OH coach last night "How they let that one get away", regarding blowing the big lead against UK. His response was classic...
i'm not sure I would have done that.....OSU had some troubles last year with teams that liked to get out and run and that is the one thing UNC should be able to do well this early on.
OSU can definately hang with UNC. OSU is very fast with Turner at PG. Plus he has a size advantage. OSU has more experience than UNC. Lastly OSU has played UNC tough the past few years, even though they let the game get away from them at the end.
has Cal heard of a 3-2 zone? oh I forgot, he gets his kids because they all want to play and-1 style of ball......
i wouldn't worry about it, once they learn when to switch on screens and when to go over/under them Cal will have them playing lockdown defense....Memphis always did well in defensive efficiency, i doubt that changes over the long haul.
Yeah. By no means am I happy with how the defense has looked the past two games. But, like I said, Cal does not run ANY defensive drills during the first month of practice. We're just now getting into defensive drills.
This is what you see a lot with young teams, they'll pick up one side of the ball early (with us offense), and struggle on the other end (defense).
Hopefully by January, we'll have the defense figured out, because the offense looks good.
I did think Cal was going to have a heart attack after they hit like the 12th 3 lol.
Ridiculous officiating going on in the UK/ Cleveland State game going on right now. 7 1/2 minutes to go in the first half, and they've already called 20 fouls!
This is pathetic. *These are not excuses, just observations.
Cancun should never be allowed to have another tournament again. There are cracks in the floor. The lighting is awful (they literally have chandaleirs lighting the court). The "arena" if you can even call it that is right across the street from a hole in the wall bar, and the officials they have are a joke.
The officials really might be the worst I've ever seen. And, I mean both ways. There was 24 fouls called in the first half of the game. That's 1.2 fouls per minute!
We're Kentucky, though. We don't need a recruiting pitch lol. We should have gone to Maui. This is just a joke. I played in better gyms as a 5th grader.
Quote: We're Kentucky, though. We don't need a recruiting pitch lol. We should have gone to Maui. This is just a joke. I played in better gyms as a 5th grader.
How did Wall do against the PG from Cleveland State, I think his name is Norse. Hes pretty good but that has been against Horizon League type competition.
KING
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
Did I hear them say that the baselines weren't straight and the court was out of square?
One would think that with all of those honest hardworking construction professionals in Mexico that they could find a few to layout a basketball court. Oh that's right, all of those people are here.
Quote: We're Kentucky, though. We don't need a recruiting pitch lol. We should have gone to Maui. This is just a joke. I played in better gyms as a 5th grader.
How did Wall do against the PG from Cleveland State, I think his name is Norse. Hes pretty good but that has been against Horizon League type competition.
KING
Wall had 15 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. He was guarded very well all game though. Cleveland State plays very stingy defense (especially their guards).
should be big10 wins: Ohio State, Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan
should be acc wins: Duke, VaTech, Maryland
the tossups: Ill/Clemson, PSU/UVa, NW/NCstate, and the biggie: MSU/UNC
It's the first year since they started the challenge that I think the big10 has more games they "should' win than the ACC. Still, a lot slides on all those tossup games where it's pretty even.
I agree the Spartans sort of should beat UNC given their youth....but, with all that talent, I just can't put UNC into a "should lose" category.
So far....
Penn State over UVa Maryland over Indiana Northwestern over NC State Purdue over Wake
UNC has controlled the whole game against MSU, but only up 9 now with 3 minutes left
Iowa v. VaTech has been a complete tossup...that would be a big upset for the Big10 if the Hawkeyes somehow pull this one off (2-4 on the year).
