This was the 22nd edition.
Big Ten appears loaded again this year.
Big Ten appears loaded again this year.
Duke and North Carolina both lose in B1G-ACC Challenge for first time ever
- Thread starter MeetTheFerentz
- Start date
And the first time they both lost in the same night in non-conference games in 31 years. Boo-yah!
Duke is not great this year. ACC is down this year as a whole. I don't see an elite team. Have a several above average to good teams but I don't see anyone out of that conference challenging for a title. Big Ten and Big 12 have the best teams. Big East's top two teams I think are better than any ACC team with Creighton and Nova.
I can see a pause in the season, but I have a hard time seeing a full-on cancellation. There's lots of really good non-con matchups this season and there's gobs of TV money even if the gyms are 3/4 empty (if not more).
That said, the Big Four seem to all be slightly down this season (KU, UK, NC, and Duke). All four seem to be capable of putting together a Sweet 16 run, but they don't seem to be the titans of previous seasons. A big part of it is the relative lack of experience (all 4 schools are notorious for lots of freshmen and sophomores leaving early for the NBA draft).
Gonzaga looks to be the strongest team this year, but they are definitely not unbeatable. They have played a commendable non-conference schedule so far, but the lull of playing in the WCC may come back to bite them in the tourney when an similarly-talented, but more battle-tested team won't back down (that team could be Iowa).
Not sure what to think of Baylor, Nova, Creighton, and Houston. I think we would have learned a lot about both Baylor and Gonzaga but unfortunately that game never happened.
