Tobacco Road Report

The staff at TRR has compiled and aggregated its picks for the 2006 ACC/Big Ten Challenge which begins tonight with Michigan facing N.C. State. We think this may finally be the year that the Big Ten breaks their winless streak, or maybe not. We make our picks below. Half of the staff has 6-5 in favor of the ACC and the other half has 6-5 in favor of the Big Ten. We had to hold our nose on some of the selections so we won’t be taking these to the bank just yet. Mea culpas may be in store.

1. Michigan at N.C. State. We’re taking Michigan here, but not by much. If this game were in Ann Arbor, we’d be more confident, but we still lean towards the Wolverines. Amaker has the Wolverines playing well early on and we think that Michigan may be underrated. They have the pieces to end their drought of NCAA appearances.

2. Maryland at Illinois. We’ll take Illinois and the home court advantage, despite the fact that we like what we see from Maryland early on.

3. Florida State at Wisconsin. We’re going with the Badgers at home, where they play tough in front of a large, loud sixth man.

4. Penn State at Georgia Tech. We think Tech rebounds from its loss to UCLA and smacks Penn State upside the head. If losses by PSU to Stony Brook and Shippensburg don’t say enough, the Nittany Lions played even with Bucknell who played even with Wake. ‘Nough said.

5. Indiana at Duke. Indiana is heading in the right direction and backcourt quickness may give the Dukies some troubles, but Duke is better top to bottom and the Cameron Crazies will give the Hoosiers all they can handle. If McRoberts gets White in foul trouble early, this could be a long night for IU. We’re taking Duke.

6. Miami at Northwestern. Um...this is like that dance in high school or college where you waited too long to find a date and then had to select someone. We’ll take Northwestern, only because they’re at home and we need a date.

7. Michigan State at Boston College. Before the season started, we’d take BC without question. Now we’re not so sure. We’re closing our eyes and taking MSU. Prove us wrong, Eagles, prove us wrong.

8. Iowa at Virginia Tech. Neither team is living up to expectations and have some problematic losses in the early going. Putting these two head to head makes it the hardest choice of the bunch. Virginia Tech since they're at home.

9. Virginia at Purdue. If this game were at the new JPJ Arena, Virginia without question. Since it’s in West Lafayette, it’s Virginia with questions. Staff split on this one. Half took Virginia and the other half took the resurgent Boilers. This is where we think the series will be decided.

10. Ohio State at North Carolina. As long as Hansbrough gets going inside, UNC should have enough to hold off the Buckeyes. The Buckeye offense is keyed by point guard Mike Conley, who doesn’t shoot the three, but penetrates with ease. We’re taking the Heels.

11. Clemson at Minnesota. “Yes, we have to pick one,” said TRR’s managing editor. Fine, Clemson.

It would be easy to justify alternatives for a handful of the games to change the outcome. Fortunately, that’s why they play the games. We choose, they decide.