The non-conference portion of the college basketball season provides a bit of everything. There are anticipated showcase games, Thanksgiving tournaments and cross-conference matchups whose outcomes can cause fanbases to either get irrationally high or low.
Today, the ACC and Big Ten conferences are lining up for night two of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge — the ACC opened with two wins on Monday — which will feature six men’s basketball games. Across the six games will be three ranked teams and some potential national championship hopefuls.
We take a look at each game from a betting angle and discuss every matchup before making a final prediction on the outcomes.
Enjoy!
All odds courtesy of BetMGM.
No. 22 Maryland vs. Louisville
Behind a balanced attack from its starting unit, the Terps are off to a good start to the 2022-23 season, even if their schedule has yet to truly test them. That schedule only gets easier on Monday against maybe the worst team in the ACC.
Lousiville’s 0-6 start is about as bad as it gets. The Cardinals’ first three losses each came by a point, which sent them to the Maui Invitational looking for a win. Post-Maui, and three blowout losses later, Lousiville is still looking for its first win of the season.
Prediction: Maryland ML
Louisville has lost all of its home games this season by one point, which is a far cry from the 26, 32 and 19-point beatdowns they took on a neutral court in Hawaii. Even if the Cards don’t win, they’ll be more competitive at home and will surely be playing with an edge to them following what happened during Feast Week.
Game Lines
Penn State vs. Clemson
Interestingly enough, the ACC is the only thing that’s stopped the Nittany Lions from having an undefeated start to the season. Penn State’s lone loss came at the hands of Virginia Tech last week at the Charleston Classic. The Nittany Lions will be road underdogs as they travel to Clemson for a date with the 5-2 Tigers who are having an uneven start to their campaign.
The battle between Chase Hunter (Clemson) and Jalen Pickett (Penn State) should make this game worth watching.
Prediction: Clemson (-1.5)
The homecourt advantage will end up making the difference in what looks like a pretty even matchup on paper.
Game Lines
Syracuse vs. No. 16 Illinois
Bryant, St. John’s and Colgate — having those three L’s on Syracuse’s schedule leads me to believe this is going to be a long season for the Orange. I also can’t imagine what they’re going to look like on the road against an already battle-tested Fighting Illini team that looks like it’ll contend for a Big Ten championship.
Prediction: Illinois (-12.5)
This is not your grandfather’s Syracuse basketball team. Illinois will out-talent and out-execute the Orange from the jump.
Game Lines
Georgia Tech vs. Iowa
Iowa exited the AP Top 25 after losing to TCU in the Emerald Coast Championship Game. That loss aside, the Hawkeyes are perfect on the season, and though they lost one Murray brother (Keegan) to the NBA, the other (Kris) is stepping up in a big way to keep Iowa functioning.
Georgia Tech’s upset bid will come down to whether or not it can keep up with Iowa on the scoreboard. The numbers suggest GT won’t keep up. The Hawkeye’s 87.3 points per contest rank 10th in the nation while the Yellow Jackets’ 70.7 don’t come close.
Prediction: Iowa ML
Historically, Iowa is great at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which is the sight for Tuesday’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge. More than a 15-point win seems like a lot, so I’ll air on the side of caution and suggest a moneyline bet.
Game Lines
Wake Forest vs. Wisconsin
This battle between the Demon Deacons and Badgers features two teams with one blemish each on their 2022-23 resumes. For Wake Forest, the blemish comes from a weird overtime loss to Loyola Marymount. And for Wisconsin, the lone negative strike on its season comes from the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks, who earned a 69-68 win over the Badgers thanks to a buzzer-beating putback by Bobby Pettiford.
Nevertheless, the losses aren’t actually created equal. At least, not in my book. And Wisconsin’s wins feel much more inspiring than Wake Forest’s.
Prediction: Wisconsin (-6.5)
The Badgers are a Kansas Jayhawk game-winning shot away from being undefeated on the season. They’re the better team in this contest and the home court just gives them an even bigger advantage. Given how they’ve faired against some pretty strong opponents thus far, they should be able to win this one by more than six points.
Game Lines
No. 3 Virginia vs. Michigan
Of the six ACC/Big Ten games on Tuesday, there’s no question that this Michigan-Virginia matchup is the game to watch. Virginia is playing with a chip on its shoulder after a rough 2021-22 season, and it’s led to them looking like a national championship contender early with big wins over Baylor and Illinois in the Continental Tire Main Event in Las Vegas.
Michigan isn’t quite there yet, but don’t expect that to prevent them from competing like they are. While I remain pretty high on the Wolverines this season (previously mentioned them as a Big Ten title sleeper), there are levels to basketball. And currently, Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers are on a different level than Michigan.
Prediction: Virginia (-3.5)
The home crowd keeps Michigan in it for a while but Virginia pulls away late and covers the spread. Keep an eye on how the Cavaliers match up with Jett Howard — a long player that can shoot the three — and if Virginia can keep getting to the free throw line with the same regularity that they have early in the season.
Game Lines
