After the ACC won each of the first ten years of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Big Ten won for three consecutive years before last year's 6-6 tie. This year, the ACC took an early 4-2 lead after the first day of the challenge, though the Big Ten's Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin are all on the slate for day two. Still, a number of the match ups could end up having ramifications on Selection Sunday.
Syracuse 69, Indiana 52: Syracuse took care of business at home over a Hoosier team that looked fairly overmatched. For Indiana, this won't have much of an effect, being a road game against a top team. The committee just doesn't look at margin of victory, especially for December games. For Syracuse though, this is the kind of non-conference win that gets thrown into the good-win column in March if only on Indiana's name and recent success. A seventeen-point win over Indiana just feels important.
Georgia Tech 67, Illinois 64: Georgia Tech still has a lot of work to do to get on the bubble, but this was a good start. Later road wins against Vandy and Charlotte could go a long way. For Illinois, this was a major opportunity to get a decent road win that they plainly gave away. Illinois doesn't have any true road games remaining on the non-conference schedule (though it does play Oregon in Portland), so it's lone road win will remain over a struggling UNLV squad. Illinois was currently in my play-in game, and although this loss doesn't hurt them, the Illini could have used a boost.
Duke 79, Michigan 69: The committee members were no doubt watching this game, and if they were, they saw Duke look dominating, albeit with the comforts of home. Michigan had a lot of trouble keeping the game close, and Duke always had an answer. But the game won't hurt Michigan. As for Duke, there was a clutchness that didn't exist in the Kansas or Arizona games. But Duke's defense remains suspect, and it only has one more opportunity for a quality non-conference win, against UCLA in MSG. Duke will head into ACC play without a road game on its resume, let alone a road win.
Iowa 98, Notre Dame 93: Iowa held serve at home against a tough challenge from the Irish. Notre Dame looks like a bubble team, as their entry into the Dance will likely revolve around whether anyone thinks that the ACC will end up deserving 9 bids. On the other hand, the Hawkeyes continue to solidify themselves as a major player in this year's Big Ten and a team a few freak plays in the Bahamas away from being undefeated.
Minnesota 71, Florida State 61: This game means a lot more for Minnesota than it does for FSU. Minnesota needed a good quality win, as the rest of its non-conference schedule is terrible. The Maui loss to Arkansas hurt Minnesota primarily in that it lost an opportunity for a major RPI points boost by playing Gonzaga rather than Chaminade. Each of these teams are likely dancing if they finish .500 in their conferences, but any losing record will leave them sweating on Selection Sunday.
In Tuesday night's other games...
Belmont 70, Middle Tennessee 58: See, Belmont did here what Illinois couldn't. They took care of a lesser but decent opponent on the road out of conference. Belmont has four more games on its non-conference slate including a date with Kentucky. It has a shot, despite being in the Ohio Valley, of playing itself into an at-large berth. Belmont is the fourth-best team from a one-bid conference after Wichita State, Harvard, and Drexel, but the OVC is far worse than the conferences those teams belong to.
Colorado 67, Colorado State 62: Colorado State is not a bad team, but it was still important for Colorado to get a decent road win. Colorado has a rough stretch coming up (Kansas on Saturday and Oklahoma State in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks), so it is important for the Buffalo to win the rest of these filler games.
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