Comments on: ACC-Big 10 Challenge Recap

By: Ricky Dimon

Ricky Dimon — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:57:54 +0000

@John yup, will do

By: John

John — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:58:08 +0000

@ David. Alright. If you are ever in New York, put on 660-AM and give him a listen. It was his statements and not mine.

@ Rick. We all know that the ACC is better. I made that clear. My point was that it only enhances the conference, not hurt it the way you said it did. Let’s be honest, though, do these challenges mean that much? Last year, the Big 12-Pac 10 Hardwood Series was won by the Pac-10 7-5. Who won the National Championship? Yup. A Big 12 team.

By the way, Ricky, can you at least put my name on here(@ John, Hey John) like everyone else does?

By: Ricky Dimon

Ricky Dimon — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:37:34 +0000

I haven’t missed the point. I’m simply telling you what you said, which was that you can’t say the Big 10 is better than the ACC because the ACC has a team that could go undefeated.

If somehow this wasn’t clear enough already, let me say it again: UNC possibly going undefeated has nothing to do with which conference is better.

You missed the point on Memphis and C-USA. It was an example to refute your claim about undefeated teams.

By: David Mihm

David Mihm — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:35:34 +0000

Hey John,

Never heard of Mike Francesca, but it seemed like you were endorsing his comment in your own. Just wanted to make sure that people knew where I stood on that issue, regardless of who raised it :)

By: John

John — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:02:48 +0000

@ Rick. Again, you missed the point. No one ever brought up Conference USA and we are not talking about last year. This is about the ACC and the Big Ten. Why does it say that a conference is bad because a team could potentially go undefeated? Your first statement is your truest. The Big Ten COULD have won. When have we ever said that before during one of these challenges? It tells me that the Big Ten could potentially be stronger than the ACC in the middle of the conference, not at the top. Stick with that theory and you are in good shape.

@ David. I’m not the one who made that statement. It was Mike Francesa of WFAN Radio in New York City. Do you know who he is?

By: David Mihm

David Mihm — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:37:58 +0000

I guess I’ll weigh in here:

- I think the middle of the Big Ten is much better than I expected. Illinois playing Clemson close, Northwestern beating FSU, Iowa hanging with BC, and certainly Penn State winning really showed me something. I don’t think that the ACC, beyond Carolina and Duke, is anywhere close to the Big East or even Big XII.

- It confirmed that UNC and Duke are really, really good.

- John, this comment: “the committee looks at things like how you have done in recent tournaments or how many teams a conference has gotten in in recent years” is simply not true. Syracuse certainly would have made the Tournament two years ago if this were the case. South Alabama would have been left home last year in favor of Arizona State or even a “bigger name” mid-major.

There are literally an unlimited number of examples that disprove this conspiracy theory. You may disagree with the Committee’s decisions but these kinds of things honestly play SUCH a small role they should not even be talked about.

By: Ricky Dimon

Ricky Dimon — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:23:26 +0000

It tells me that the Big 10 could have won. Did it tell you something other than that!??!!

Having a team that could potentially go undefeated has nothing to do with whether or not a confidence is good or not, and it certainly has nothing to do with why the ACC is better than the Big 10.

You think C-USA was the best conference in the nation because of Memphis last year? If you think that, you are crazy.

If anything, having a team go undefeated would speak volumes about how BAD a conference is, not how GOOD.

By: John

John — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:05:12 +0000

My point was not to say that the Big 10 is better than the ACC. No one with any factual knowledge can possibly say that when you have a team that could potentially go undefeated. My point was that after Purdue, Michigan State and Wisconsin, a real opportunity was created for teams like Penn State and Minnesota to put a nice win on their resume(more likely Penn State.) and perhaps get to the NCAA Tournament if they finish 4th, because(let’s face it), if you believe people like Mike Francesa(if you know who that is) the committee looks at things like how you have done in recent tournaments or how many teams a conference has gotten in in recent years. If Penn State is close to the tournament, that win will help them an awful lot. And it’s funny that you say some of those games could have gone either way and that the Big 10 did not lose as badly as we thought, because most of those games you listed were won by the ACC. What does THAT tell you?

By: Ricky Dimon

Ricky Dimon — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:20:27 +0000

I don’t think this says the Big 10 is better than the ACC in any shape or form.

It’s hard to say what the middle of the two conferences are, anyway. I mean in the ACC it’s UNC, then it’s Duke, then it’s everyone else. In the Big 10 it’s Michigan State, Purdue (?), Wisconsin, then everyone else.

Furthermore, Penn State beating GT by 2 says little, BC beating Iowa by a missed FT says nothing, Clemson beating Illinois in the last seconds says nothing, and Wisconsin hitting a wild buzzer-beater to beat VT says nothing. All of those could have gone either way.

It says the Big 10 did not lose as bad as a people thought. Other than that it didn’t say much to me.

By: John

John — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:38:28 +0000

I think what this proves is that the middle of the Big Ten(Minnesota, Penn State, Iowa) is better than the middle of the ACC(Virginia, Boston College, Georgia Tech.) I think you are slightly underestimating the chances of Minnesota and Penn State. Yes, Ohio State won at Miami, but let’s take it easy. We all know the Hurricanes would have won had Jack McClinton not been thrown out of that game(which in my opinion, was suspect.) Let’s see Ohio State go win at Notre Dame on Saturday, then I will be convinced that they are a Tournament team. The Big 10 always gets a 4th team into the field of 65, and if Minnesota or Penn State(or Michigan or Illinois) for that matter finish 4th, they will make it. Not much to say from the ACC’s side except that North Carolina is so good, they have a legitimate chance of going undefeated.