Big Ten/ACC Challenge Tied Going into Final Night

With the ACC going 3-2 against the Big Ten Tuesday night, they squared up the challenge and set up another ACC win based on the schedule tonight.

Last night Ohio State started things off with an upset win at Miami, but Iowa and Illinois likely killed the Big Ten's chances in the challenge with a pair of two point losses. Ohio State benefited from the ejection of Miami guard Jack McClinton after he bitch-slapped an OSU player; shocking from a Miami student-athlete. Illinois and Iowa both had chances to send their games to OT, but the Illini failed to get a shot off in the final 11 seconds and Iowa missed the front end of a 1 and 1 (that probably should have been a three-shot foul) with seconds left. Duke dominated Purdue throughout the game and Minnesota closed out the night with a win.

The win by the Gophers gives hope to the Big Ten, but not much. Here's what we're looking at tonight.

Indiana at (15) Wake Forest, 6:15 PM

The Hoosiers don't stand much of a chance in this game. I don't really know what a Hoosier is, but a Demon Deacon is not to be messed with. That's not the only reason though. Indiana has been anything but impressive early on with blowout losses to Notre Dame and St. Joes. Wake, meanwhile hasn't played much of anyone, but has looked great doing it. With Indiana looking sketchy and the game at Wake Forest, I'll pick the Demon Deacons to win this one.

Penn State at Georgia Tech, 6:30 PM

Add Penn State to the list of teams that has played absolutely no one yet this season, oh and look, add Georgia Tech. The Nittany Lions lost to Rhode Island, while GT has pulled out close games against Mercer and Jacksonville. Ron Mercer is kind of washed up and the Jags can't seem to beat anyone, so I don't see those wins as being too impressive. Based on the fact that this might be the Big Ten's best chance at a win, I'll pick Penn State.

Michigan at Maryland, 6:30 PM

Michigan might have the second best chance at a Big Ten win and that tells you a lot about the Big Ten's chances. Maryland is a killer at home, winning over 86% of their games in College Park over the past 10 years. The Terps have been a bit difficult to figure out thus far, beating Michigan State by 18, then losing to Gonzaga and Georgetown by 22 and 27, respectively. The Wolverines have an upset of their own against UCLA and a 15 point loss to Duke. With a young team rebuilding under Beilein, I think Michigan falls short at Maryland and the Terps get the win.

(1) North Carolina at (13) Michigan State, 8:15 PM

A week ago this looked like an unbelievable match-up. A possible Final Four preview, even at the Ford Field venue, which will host this year's Final Four. A week later, it looks like the Spartans will be lucky to keep things close. Tyler Hansbrough's health and availability was still in question as of Tuesday night, but the Spartans have health issues of their own with big man Goran Suton out and Delvin Roe limited. You can never count a Tom Izzo coached team out of any game, but this will be one of his toughest tasks against a Tar Heels team that has the best talent in the country. UNC wins and if this thing isn't decided already, the ACC wins the challenge.

Florida State at Northwestern, 8:30 PM

And for dessert, we get FSU and Northwestern. The Noles are 7-0 with wins at Cal and at Cincy coming into the game with Northwestern. The Wildcats, well they have won some game, but they're still Northwestern and this is basketball. I expect a loss.

The Big Ten is ACC-Challenged

The annual whooping the ACC puts on the Big Ten in basketball started last night. Actually, it was Wisconsin who came out on top of Virginia Tech Monday to start off the challenge.

Some people think this may be the last game the Big Ten wins in the entire event. However, Wisconsin's 74-72 buzzer-beater win might be the spark the Big Ten needs to pull the upset. It's not hard to see why people would doubt the Big Ten though. In nine years, the ACC holds a 56-30 advantage and the Big Ten hasn't even come close to winning this thing in the last few years. Not to mention, many view this as a "down year" for the conference.

There are ten games left; five tonight and five on Wednesday, and the Big Ten needs a split to, well, steal the challenge. The article linked above seems to base predictions solely on strength of schedule, regardless of wins and losses, and how bad the Big Ten teams have done in this competition in the past. I suppose that is as good a strategy as any, but let's go with my policy of hardcore bias and gut instinct based on what I had for lunch.

Here are Tuesday's games:

Iowa at Boston College, 6 PM

Iowa's program is not in the best shape and Boston College boasts a start in Tyrese Rice, but these two teams aren't easy to figure out. Anything could happen, but when in doubt in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge go with the home team. BC big.

Ohio State at (21) Miami, 6 PM

Wait, how long has Miami's basketball program been better than their football program? Does Michael Irvin know about this? I like Ohio State to pull the upset in this one. Well, I don't like Ohio State, but you get what I'm saying. The Buckeyes have only played three games, but they have reloaded with some young talent. Look for a phantom pass interference call to push the Bucks to a win. Deja Vu! OSU wins.

Clemson at Illinois, 6:30 PM

This will be the Big Ten's first home game and the Illini have a pretty good shot here. Why not, they're undefeated right? Well, Clemson has pulled the same trick of winning all their games against terrible teams. Illinois does have a win against Vandy that looks pretty good, so what the hell, I'll go with the Illini.

(4) Duke at (9) Purdue, 8 PM

Duke has never lost in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and Purdue has never lost to Duke. Therefore, both teams will win. This is the showcase game for the entire event. Michigan State-UNC looks good tomorrow night, but not so much after MSU lost to Maryland last weekend. Purdue lost to Oklahoma last weekend and will have to close the free throw gap to have a chance against the Blue Devils. Oklahoma shot 46 free throws to Purdue's five. Robbie Hummel will have to step up for Purdue if they want to get the Big Ten a win here. Hate to do this, but I'll pick Duke.

Virginia at Minnesota, 8:30 PM

Minnesota has played no one good and is 6-0, Virginia has played one good team and four bad teams and is 3-2. This is usually when the Big Ten bias kicks in, but in a game where you have no idea who will win, always go with the home team ACC. Virginia wins.

There you have it. The Big Ten will likely be out of this thing by the end of the night, but they have a legit shot in at least four of the five games tonight and could keep it close enough for tomorrow's five games to mean something.

Week 13 Big Ten Preview

This is it for the Big Ten. The long, at times boring, occasionally exciting, a couple times shocking season is drawing to a close. I'll get unnecessarily nostalgic in the recap next week, but what will this last week hold for us? For one thing, we finally know what each of these teams is all about. Penn State and Ohio State rule the conference this year, while Michigan State has managed to not screw up their shot at taking down Penn State for a share of the title. There is a middle group including Northwestern, Iowa, with Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota confusing the hell out of everyone, then Michigan, Purdue and Indiana just lose a lot. And this is tough to say:

The game of the week has to be Penn State and Michigan State. I'll probably jinx the Nittany Lions by saying this, but until Michigan State in 2008 I've never seen a team accomplish so little and have a chance at an outright Big Ten Title in the last week of the season. They lost to a mediocre Cal team in the first week of the season and got blown out at home against Ohio State. They have zero impressive wins, but with just one they can win a share of the conference championship. The key to this game will be Javon Ringer vs the world Penn State defense. PSU is 10th in the nation against the run and the Spartans won't be able to beat them without Ringer going for at least 100. For Penn State, Daryll Clark has to take care of the ball and put Derrick Williams and Evan Royster in positions to make big plays. I don't believe that Michigan State has ever won in Beaver Stadium, so they'll look to break that trend along with their 10 game losing streak against ranked opponents. The game starts at 2:30 CST.

I can hardly believe that Ohio State - Michigan isn't the premier game of the weekend in the Big Ten. Regardless of the hype, this Jim Tressel said this is the most important game and the most important goal of the season for Ohio State. The Bucks have a chance to win their fifth straight game over Michigan, which would be the longest streak over the Wolverines in Ohio State history. It looked pretty likely throughout the year that it would be an easy win for OSU, but this week has made it look like a lock. Michigan will be without QB Steven Threet, RB Sam McGuffie, RT Steve Schilling, and still missing all their good offensive players ever and their defense's collective brain/self esteem. Terrelle Pryor throws the ball about 15 times per start, but he might not need to throw once to win. Key match-up is Pryor/Wells against tripping over their own feet. Michigan - Ohio State starts at 11:00.

Illinois travels to Northwestern Saturday and will try to become bowl eligible. Hey, guess what the key to the game is...Juice Williams vs. turnovers! The Illini certainly have the talent to beat Northwestern, but the Cats have shown great mental toughness this year and have a great chance to win at home.

Minnesota hosts Iowa in a battle of teams going in opposite directions. Shonn Greene will have a chance to set Iowa's single season rushing record, and probably will.

Wisconsin takes on Cal Poly (wooo!) and Indiana and Purdue face-off in a game someone has to win. Let's go to the picks:

Indiana 24 - Purdue 31
Cal Poly 10 - Wisconsin 38
Iowa 27 - Minnesota 13
Illinois 27 - Northwestern 28
Michigan 10 - Ohio State 27
Michigan State 13 - Penn State 28

Your Week 12 Big Ten Preview

The National Title hopes are gone for Penn State, but there are still games this week that will affect the BCS. Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan State are the three teams still holding out hope for a BCS berth. The Spartans don't play and will be preparing for Penn State this week, Penn State will be preparing for Michigan State as they have a snoozer against Indiana, and the Buckeyes take on Illinois.

Ohio State at Illinois is the most intriguing game on the Big Ten schedule this week. Last season Illinois seemed to knock Ohio State out of the National Championship picture with a huge upset in Columbus. The Buckeyes ended up going to the big game anyway, but this year Illinois could knock the Bucks out of the entire BCS for sure. The key to every game this year for the Illini has been turnovers. If they limit the turnovers, they usually win. Illinois boasts the best offense in the conference, while Ohio State has the best defense. Northwestern had some success last week running Kafka through the Buckeye defense early. Juice can couple that with success through the air when he is on. I think this will be a close game that could go either way.

A trio of 3-3 teams will get a chance to move up the conference ranks with games against teams below them in the standings. Coming into the year, many would have thought that all the 3-3 teams would be underdogs this week, and a couple of them actually are.

Michigan will host Northwestern Saturday as the Wildcats have a chance to secure a very respectable bowl bid. Right now it looks as though Bacher and Kafka will share time and the latest reports are suggesting Bacher will start. The confusion should make things difficult on Michigan's defense. Northwestern is one of those 3-3 teams that comes in as an underdog as Michigan is favored by around 4 points. Nick Sheridan will start again this week for Michigan and starting tailback Brandon Minor is out.

Minnesota is the other underdog to a team in the bottom of the conference as they host go to Wisconsin, who comes into the game as a 14 point favorite. This is the lone 2:30 game this week and will probably be boring as hell, unless Minnesota brings back that British kicker to win that big axe.

Purdue will travel to Iowa as the Hawkeyes will try to avoid a letdown after the big upset last week. Penn State, conversly will try to bounce back at home against Indiana. I like their chances. Here come the picks:

Indiana 10 - Penn State 41
Purdue 13 - Iowa 24
Wisconsin 27 - Minnesota 14
Northwestern 20 - Michigan 21
Ohio State 28 - Illinois 24

Your Week 11 Big Ten Preview

All 11 teams are in action this week as they'll try to follow up last Saturday's theatrics. The conference has really started to take shape now as you can clearly see that Penn State and Ohio State are the class of the league, with MSU, Northwestern, and Minnesota separating themselves from the bottom of the conference.

As Penn State pushes toward a possible shot at the BCS title game, the Nittany Lions will take on Iowa this week. It will be the last game away from Beaver Stadium and a possible trap game for Penn State. Quarterback Daryll Clark will be ready to go after suffering a concussion against the Buckeyes. For Iowa this is a chance to make their season and the Hawkeyes will look to star Shonn Greene and will need a hell of a game from their own first year starter at quarterback. Penn State might have to do more than just win the next few weeks to silence a lot of whining that is sure to come from the Big 12 and SEC (I'm looking at you Urban).

The only other fun game this week features Ohio State and Northwestern. There is some grumbling going on in Columbus as some of the seniors are upset they came back to see the offense handed over to a freshman QB, who has led the Bucks to 10th place in total offense. That wouldn't be so bad nationally, but I'm talking 10th in the Big Ten. Ohio State has outscored Northwestern 112-17 in Fitzgerald's first two games in the series as NW's head coach.

Michigan travels to Minnesota to battle for the Little Brown Jug, possibly the ugliest trophy in sports. It sounds like quarterback Steven Threet will be out for the Wolverines, meaning limp-armed walk-on Nick Sheridan will probably start, and lose.

Michigan State hosts Purdue with a chance to clinch their best season in recent memory with a win. Even if the Spartans can't upset Penn State, they would be on their way to a 9-3 finish...without one impressive win.

Illinois plays Western Michigan and Wisconsin travels to Indiana. Time for picks.

Wisconsin 30 - Indiana 17
Western Mich. 21 - Illinois 38
Purdue 13 - Michigan State 35
Michigan 14 - Minnesota 27
Ohio State 28 - Northwestern 10
Penn State 31 - Iowa 17

Your Week Ten Big....Ten Preview

Too many tens. All the Big Ten games will be done by around 6 PM this week. No games in prime time, because there aren't any games worthy of prime time. We'll give the game of the week nod to Wisconsin at Michigan State. The Spartans have fallen to self-inflicted late season doom every year in recent memory and this game against Wisconsin has the potential to send them down the same path. A week after their self-proclaimed epic victory over Michigan, a team with an actual physical presence comes to town. Wisconsin has their own issues though. Just a couple weeks ago the Badgers gave up about 740 yards to Iowa's Shonn Greene. You know that Sparty is going to pound Javon Ringer, the key to the game will be Wisconsin's improvement stopping the run.

Northwestern at Minnesota is the next best game of the week. See what I'm talking about? Actually, this match-up is somewhat intriguing. What are Minnesota and Northwestern doing near the top of the conference? Will the Iowa-beating Northwestern show up or will it be the team that handed Indiana a win last week? How in holy hell is Minnesota near the top of the conference? Check Lake The Posts for good info on both teams leading up to the game. Bacher is questionable and Sutton is out for NW, but as we saw last week, the conference is so unpredictable this season.

Illinois will try to bounce back from the loss at Wisconsin last week when they host Iowa in the lone 2:30 start of the week in the Big Ten. Iowa had the week off to prepare for the Illini, but the Hawkeyes struggled with the spread last time they faced it in a loss to Northwestern. The attack the Illini bring is significantly different from Northwestern's but I expect Illinois to move the ball just as well and match or surpass the 38 points the Wildcats pinned on Iowa.

Purdue will try to get its first Big Ten win this year as Michigan comes to town. Quarterback Curtis Painter is questionable and Purdue's backup QB is out, meaning that Justin Siller could see a lot of playing time again this week. Siller was a running back a few weeks ago.

Indiana plays host to Central Michigan. Picks?

God, really?

Central Michigan 28 - Indiana 24
Michigan 20 - Purdue 14
Iowa 31 - Illinois 42
Northwestern 17 - Minnesota 24
Wisconsin 27 - Michigan State 31

Your Week Nine Big Ten Preview

Coming into the year this may have looked like the best week of Big Ten football of the season. Now? Not so much, but there are still some intriguing games, including what is without a doubt the game of the year.

Penn State will travel to Ohio State in what will be its biggest test on the way to a 12-0 season. Penn State has not won in Ohio Stadium since joining the Big Ten in 1993. That's a 7-0 mark in favor of OSU. Both quarterbacks will be starting in their first OSU-PSU game and both have passed early season tests. Daryll Clark has led the Nittany Lions to an unblemished record and Terrelle Pryor has shown he is the man to lead Ohio State's offense. Both won games on the road at Wisconsin (not that cool this year) and Pryor picked up another road win last week at MSU. Pryor has been asked to make plays with his legs and not make mistakes with his arm. Penn State will likely sell out against Wells, in an effort to make Pryor win through the air. Other than the QB position Ohio State has the edge in experience and I think this will be a tough one for Penn State to win.

Illinois travels to Wisconsin this week and will try and send the Badgers to 0-5 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin has officially moved Allan Evridge out of the starting spot and given the job to Dustin Sherer. For Illinois the key will be to get up early on the Badgers, much like Iowa did last week and force Sherer to put the ball in the air to come back. Illinois can score with the best of them, but they don't want to get into a grinding ground war with Wisconsin, I don't care what their record is.

Coming off a deflating loss to Ohio State, there is no better game for Michigan State to play next than Michigan. The Spartans should have no trouble getting up for this one, as it represents their best chance to beat the Wolverines in a long time. I think the game comes down to which quarterback will suck less. If Steven Threet is healthy for Michigan, they have a chance. With Threet at the helm, Michigan had a great start to the Penn State game, but as Threet broke down, so did the offense. Michigan's defense will obviously be keying on Ringer, giving Hoyer the chance to make a difference.

Northwestern is at Indiana and Minnesota is at Purdue. Picks?

Picks:

Northwestern 42 - Indiana 14
Minnesota 21 - Purdue 24
Michigan State 21 - Michigan 23
Illinois 38 - Wisconsin 17
Ohio State 24 - Penn State 20

Your Week Eight Big Ten Preview

Michigan State will host the game of the week in the Big Ten. The Ohio State Buckeyes will travel to East Lansing for a meeting featuring two of the three Big Ten teams still undefeated in the conference. ESPN isn't coming up with any "clever" names for this one, but it has the potential to be a headliner if the Bucks are looking ahead to the Penn State game next weekend. It will be another road test for freshman QB Terrelle Pryor, but the experience he gained at Wisconsin should really help. If you're interested for no other reason, it will at least be worth noting how Javon Ringer performs against a good defense.

Undefeated Penn State hosts Michigan Saturday at 3:30 CST. This looks like the year that the Nittany Lions ditch their nine game losing streak against the Wolverines. No one in the Big Ten has come close to topping PSU thus far and Michigan looks like one of the most unlikely teams to do it. Michigan has had trouble defending the spread and the mobile quarterback this season. Penn State spreads you out and has a mobile quarterback. As day turns to evening, then to night, Penn State's fans can celebrate avoiding a decade of futility against Michigan.

Northwestern and Illinois will both try to bounce back from losses, taking on Purdue and Indiana respectively. Purdue has come off of two tough games in a row against PSU and OSU, and played tough in both games. The Boilers struggled against Central Michigan's spread attack, so look for the Wildcats to move the ball. Illinois should be able to put up a ton of points on Indiana. If Northwestern and Illinois can protect the ball, I think they both win.

Wisconsin will travel to Iowa to try and get its first conference win. These are two old school Big Ten teams smashing their heads into each other. Might be excruciating to watch. How about some picks?

Picks:

Purdue 24 - Northwestern 31
Wisconsin 24 - Iowa 16
Ohio State 30 - Michigan State 17
Michigan 14 - Penn State 28
Indiana 17 - Illinois 42

More Baseball: American League Day

Today we stick purely to the land of the DH with both ALDS series playing a game two.



5 PM Chicago (Buehrle) at Tampa Bay (Kazmir)



So the momentum from the end of the regular season is probably gone for the Sox. They dropped game one, but really the goal is to just grab one of two on the road and take care of business at home. If the Sox can win today they have a great chance of moving on. Will there be more fireworks from the Cabrera - Balfour fiasco? Will Evan Longoria keep it up? I don't know, but I think the Rays win again, because God hates Chicago. 8-4 Rays.



8:30 PM Boston (Matsuzaka) at Los Angeles (Santana - Not that Santana)



Boston has won 10 in a row against the Angels in the postseason (not this postseason, the series would have ended already) and have a good shot at 11 when Dice-K goes tonight. The Angels offense just did not look good-sound familiar?-in game one. I think Vlad and Teixeira get it going tonight though and take game two. This series is going to five games. Angels win 7-3.

Your Week Six Big Ten Preview

We're entering the second week of Big Ten play and while every game at this point has championship implications, there is one above all the others this week.

Ohio State travels to Madison to take on the Badgers. In the last 20 years Wisconsin has had more success than any team in the Big Ten outside of Michigan. Add that Ohio State is traveling to the land of cheese to play a night game with a freshman quarterback and there is a good game brewing. Now we saw Michigan's big slow white QB run for a 58 yarder last week and if UW loses contain against Pryor he is gone. Ohio State has been less than impressive so far this year, but this could be a breakout game for the Bucks.

The other major game in the conference this week is Illinois at Michigan. The Wolverines already handed one conference heavyweight a loss this year and will look for another this week, even though they are inexplicably slight favorites. Illinois' two losses have come against the #3 and #6 teams in the country and Juice Williams has looked good. Michigan's defense has struggled against spread attacks with short timing routes and Illinois has the best athletes they've seen this year. With Michigan's turnover prone offense, I think the Illini get their first big win this year.

Big Ten favorite Penn State travels to Purdue in what I would have called an upset alert a couple weeks ago. But Purdue has looked bad the last couple of weeks, but maybe Tiller has some voodoo tricks for his last season with the Boilers. Probably not.

Michigan State hosts Iowa this week also. Iowa has not looked too good recently, but it's October, so nothing is a given for Sparty. If you're a State fan, I wouldn't worry about losing, but you'd better hope Ringer has less than 40 carries this week.

Indiana travels to Minnesota. 12 people will be watching. Picks?

Picks:

• Ohio State 30 - Wisconsin 20
• Illinois 28 - Michigan 17
• Penn State 40 - Purdue 14
• Iowa 16 - Michigan State 24
• Indiana 21 - Minnesota 24

Three More Games Today!

Major League Baseball is the anti-NBA when it comes to playoffs...and refs cheating. So the after an opening day of the playoffs that featured three games, we have three more today.

1:30 PM Chicago (Vazquez) at Tampa Bay (Shields)

Of all the playoff teams, these are the only two most are surprised made it. The White Sox had their run at the end, becoming the first team to end the season on a three game streak against three different teams. The Rays? Well they've just always sucked. So how do they react to their first playoff game? The Rays took the season series 6-4, but that was the regular season. I really want to pick the Sox based on the momentum, but it's indoors and on turf today, which thankfully the tiebreaker game was not. I'll go Tampa Bay 5-3. Take heart Sox fans, I'm bad at predictions.

5:00 PM Milwaukee (Sabathia) at Philadelphia (Myers)

The Brewers almost pulled off the win in Game 1, which probably would have meant the series was over. Brad Lidge was able to get out of the jam, giving the Phils a big win. Today though, it's the workhorse, or ox, CC Sabathia. CC wasn't great in the postseason last year, but he wasn't pitching complete games every three days then either. Myers has been pretty good this year and the Phillies are always dangerous on offense, but CC continues his path of destruction. Brewers 5-1.

8:30 PM Los Angeles (Billingsley) at Chicago (Zambrano)

I'm so lost about this game I don't even know what to say. I think we know what we're going to see from the Dodgers. Runs will be hard to come by on Billingsley who has gone 4-0 over his past five starts. As I stated last night, I have faith in Zambrano. This quote gives me more hope: "It's in the past. This is a new age, new stage for the Cubs, new ballgame, new team. And I just have to go out there and try to do my job and have fun." New age. New stage. Z's dropping rhymes before the game. Cubs win. Please? 6-4.