The full slate for the 2017 Big Ten/ACC Challenge was announced on Thursday morning, and it is, frankly, disappointing.
The best team in the Big Ten is Michigan State -- they might be the best team in college basketball next season -- and instead of drawing Duke, Miami or Louisville, potential top ten teams that are on the road in this year’s event, the Spartans will be hosting Notre Dame. The Irish are a borderline top 25 team with Matt Farrell and Bonzie Colson coming back, but this is still somewhat disappointing.
Northwestern, who may actually be the second-best team in the Big Ten next season, will be paying a visit to Georgia Tech. Indiana, the Big Ten’s biggest brand that may finish in the bottom four of the conference in Archie Miller’s first season at the helm, drew Duke at home; the Blue Devils should be the odds-on favorite to win the league.
That’s frustrating.
But through all my complaining, there should be a couple of good matchups, namely Miami at Minnesota. The Hurricanes are ranked 6th in the NBC Sports Preseason top 25 while Minnesota is ranked 13th. That will be a matchup between two teams with excellent guard play. Louisville, a top ten team entering the season, will pay a visit to Purdue, who is a borderline top 25 team, while defending national champions North Carolina will host Michigan.
So there will be some games worth watching.
But the event is going to lack the kind of marquee games we are used to seeing:
Northwestern at Georgia Tech
Duke at Indiana
Notre Dame at Michigan State
Miami at Minnesota
Penn State at NC State
Boston College at Nebraska
Michigan at North Carolina
Clemson at Ohio State
Louisville at Purdue
Florida State at Rutgers
Maryland at Syracuse
Wisconsin at Virginia
Iowa at Virginia Tech
Illinois at Wake Forest