" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

Rankings Update

• 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Rankings (Dec. 1)
  MSU drops to 13th in the AP poll and 12th in the coaches’ poll.  A larger fall could be justified.  Purdue is only other Big Ten team ranked in AP poll (at #9).  Four of first 11 teams under “Others Receiving Votes” are Big Ten teams: Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois.
• Jeff Sagarin NCAA basketball ratings
  Still relying partially on data from last season.  MSU at #21; probably closer to reality at the moment.

Goran Suton Updates

• The latest knees news
  Joe Rexrode.  Suton practiced today in a limited manner; he plans to suit up Wednesday night and wants to play (but see next link).   No swelling in knee(s) for Delvon Roe.  Only 15,000-20,000 tickets sold for Wednesday night’s game (Ticketmaster link).
• Spartans preparing for UNC’s best
  Andy Katz.  Izzo on Suton: “He hasn’t practiced in two weeks and he couldn’t play [Sunday], so I can’t see how he could play in a game like that.”

Big Ten-ACC Challenge

The opening game in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge ended with a flourish, as Wisconsin edged Virginia Tech 74-72.  Tech closed a 7-point lead in the final 70 seconds to tie the game with 7 seconds left, only to see Trevon Hughes hit a floater from the free-throw line with less than a second left.  The two teams combined to hit 23 of 33 three-point attempts.

Challenge-related links:

• ACC-Big Ten Challenge Tips Off Monday
  Official TV schedule.
• ACC/Big Ten Challenge Begins Tonight
  Viewing guide on FanHouse.
• Prepare thyself for the usually lopsided ACC/Big Ten Challenge
  The Dagger.  We all know MSU is the only Big Ten team with a winning record in the challenge.  But did you know North Carolina is one of two ACC teams with a losing record (4-5)?
• 2008 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Preview
  Crispin and Cream notes that ACC gets six true home games vs. only four for Big Ten.
• Here come the Dukies
  Off the Tracks previews tomorrow night’s marquee match-up.
• UNCA 48, UNC 116
  Hansorough sits out as a “precaution”; UNC still wins by 68 points.  (UNC Basketball Update is authored by Robbie Allen of StatSheet fame.)

Looking at projected scoring margins based on the current Sagarin ratings, the ACC is (not surprisingly) a heavy favorite to win the challenge once again.  Here are the projections:

• Miami over Ohio State by 7.5.
• Boston College over Iowa by 3.5.
• Illinois over Clemson 2.5.
• Duke over Purdue by 1.5.
• Minnesota over Virginia by 10.0.
• Wake Forest over Indiana by 14.5.
• Maryland over Michigan by 5.0.
• Georgia Tech over Penn State by 6.5.
• North Carolina over Michigan State by 9.5 (not accounting for any home court advantage).
• Northwestern over Florida State by 3.0.

The home team is favored in every game except Duke-Purdue and UNC-MSU.  If these projected results held, coupled with Wisconsin’s win tonight, the result would be a 7-4 ACC win.  The MSU game is actually the second-least favorable match-up for the Big Ten, though, so the possibility exists of a couple upsets leading to the Big Ten squeaking out its first ever win in the challenge.

Other Assorted Links

• Questions & Answers: One Month Progress Report
  UMHoops takes a tempo-free look at the Wolverines through the first month.
• Not a typo: 22 points in a loss
  Ohio State holds Samford to fourth lowest point total in Division 1 basketball over last 22 years
• CATS FIND THEIR MOJO’: Junior transfer Maurice Joseph is making the most of his new career at UVM
  Voted co-captain before playing a minute for Vermont; averaging 9.0 points/game so far.

Tags: big ten-acc challenge, goran suton