Michigan Upsets Duke

On Saturday, the upstart Michigan Wolverines basketball team upset No. 4 Duke 81-73 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Duke, which entered the game undefeated, had already beaten Michigan 71-56 in the 2K Sports Classic two weeks ago, and had just dismantled #10 Purdue earlier in the week in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge.

The victory marked the second time in as many weeks that Michigan (6-2) has upset the fourth ranked team in the nation. The Wolverines upset then -No. 4 UCLA in the 2K Sports Classic before going on to lose to Duke in the tournament's final.

Michigan, which hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1998, is beginning to put together a strong Tournament resume (assuming their newfound winning ways continue through the Big Ten portion of their schedule). Drive and Dish thought that the hiring of John Beilein as men's head basketball coach was a master stroke by Michigan in 2007. Drive and Dish had been extremely impressed by Beilein's work at West Virginia and it was our opinion that Beilein was the best candidate to turn the Wolverines' long under-performing basketball program around.

It looks like he's starting to get it done.

(Image: Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

2008 ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge Field Announced

On Thursday, ESPN unveiled the field for next season's edition of the made-for-TV ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge.

More about the upcoming 2008 incarnation of the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge, via the Illini Basketball Fans Blog:

"The Big 10/ACC Challenge games have been announced by ESPN. This is the ESPN special that takes place over a few days, matching up two of the top conferences head to head. The only problem is, the ACC always wins. I predict the Big 10 will win this one of these years, but I doubt it happens this fall. Here's a list of the games:

Duke at Purdue
North Carolina at Michigan State
Wisconsin at Virginia Tech
Ohio State at Miami
Clemson at Illinois
Virginia at Minnesota
Iowa at Boston College
Penn State at Georgia Tech
Indiana at Wake Forest
Florida State at Northwestern
Michigan at Maryland"

While it's probably a little premature for Drive and Dish to prognosticate those games, our initial impression is that it looks like 2008's Challenge will see the ACC teams wipe the floor with the Big Ten yet again.

Acc vs. Big Ten Challenge Kicks Off With a Whimper

Tonight, Iowa hosted Wake Forest in the first game of the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge. This game was so ugly that I won't even bother posting the final score, or any sort of detailed analysis of either team. The only conclusion that anyone who watched this hideous drek disguised as a basketball game could have possibly come away with is: Iowa and Wake Forest really, really suck.

Consider that midway through the first half, the score was Wake Forest 11, Iowa 3. This game looked, for the world, like a bad pick up game at the local YMCA. Missed layups and turnovers were followed by more missed layups and turnovers. And there were just about as many empty seats at Carver Hawkeye Arena as there are at a typical Tampa Devil Rays home game. Oy. That place used to be one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten, if not in the entire country. And this game was nationally televised. That alone is usually enough to draw crowds - especially in the Hawkeye state, which is usually only in the national consciousness once every four years (when they hold the Iowa Caucuses).

Maybe folks in Iowa City didn't show up because they were in a state of shock - considering all the Kirk Ferentz to Michigan rumors that have been floating around today. But it's more likely that nobody - not even nutty Iowa fans - wants to be subjected to the Godawfulness that is Hawkeye basketball.

Iowa is terrible. And Wake isn't a whole lot better. 'Nuff said.


EDIT:

Not that any sane person would want to, but if you're interested in reading what Iowa sports writers have to say about the Dreadful Hawkeyes, this article from the Cedar Rapids Gazette should be good for a couple laughs. That may have been the worst college basketball game that I've ever seen (and Iowa is one of the worst Big Ten teams I've ever seen), but the Cedar Rapids Gazette's game recap is titled: A Wake-up Call For Hawks.

The Quad City Times has a better perspective on both the game and the 2007/08 Hawkeyes.