Maddux Sports Blog

I’m a big Big Ten fan. That’s been a rough thing to be over the last few years – especially since Michigan is my favored corner of the conference. Because of that I look at the Big Ten – ACC Challenge, which runs today and tomorrow, with more than a little fear. The concept of this series is brilliant – each team in the Big Ten plays a team in the ACC each year, and the team that wins more of the 11 games wins the Challenge for that year. Despite the fact that the Big Ten has had some really good teams over the last decade the event has happened the ACC has managed to win every edition of the Challenge. Even worse, Michigan State is the only team in the Big Ten that has a winning record in the Challenge. It has been total ACC domination. I’m hoping for different this year. Here’s a very brief look at the games and how they set up for each conference. The Challenge actually got an early start this year, when Penn State beat Virginia last night, so the Big Ten already has a head start. As you can see, I see it as anyone’s Challenge at this point:

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Here’s the way it looks as the ACC’s UNC Tar Heels take on the Big Ten’s Michigan State—the Spartans have to stop the Heels. Is that possible? UNC has been consistently the best team in the country. As the odds play out, the Tar Heels are favored by 7.5 points. The best money line you can get on UNC is -360. The best you can get on the Spartans is +310.

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I can’t decide what I feel about the ACC. There are several teams I think are pretty good, but I’m not sure of any of them. The winner could very easily come from the ACC, but they could also be shut out of the Final Four. The conference isn’t as dominant as they looked like they would be before the season, but they are still very dangerous.

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So much for my theory that Matt Kenseth’s Daytona 500 win was a fluke. After not winning a race all of last year, and mostly looking pretty useless, Kenseth has two wins in two races this year. Last week he won thanks to some bizarre circumstances, but this week he was just plain faster than anyone else. He’s driving with a new aggressiveness, and is benefiting significantly from a new crew that brings a much more positive attitude to his operation. Kenseth was particularly strong in the pits. It will be very interesting to watch how long he can maintain this momentum. Kyle Busch also had a very good weekend. A historic one, in fact. On Saturday he became the first driver ever to win two NASCAR events on the same day when he won both the truck and the Nationwide event on the same day.

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- Dave Wannstedt death watch? – Pitt was ranked to start the season (for no good reason, but that’s another story), but they did what they have done in the entire Wannstedt era – they disappointed. Bowling Green is among the elite in an underappreciated MAC, and they delivered a real setback to a Big East conference that already struggles for respect. Surely Pitt won’t tolerate the ceaseless mediocrity of this coaching regime for much longer.

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