A look into Tarheel athletics

Thanks to my friend Choppy for passing this along to me (before StateFansNation posted it).

Fresh NCSU at MSU thread

Two top 25 teams from power conferences face off tonight at 7:15pm on ESPN. Yet, when I go to ESPN’s Men’s Basketball page I see nothing about it. I do see, however, a mugshot of Greg Paulus. I also see write ups on WF and Clemson. Wouldn’t you think they would be pumping up the game tonight?

I go to Yahoo! College Hoops and quickly notice a link to a preview of the game tonight.

Game is on ESPN. ESPN.com has no front page coverage, Yahoo! does. Go figure.

UPDATE, 1945 hrs. The Wolfpack looks horrible. We could be blown out at this rate. I think our PG play is really hindering us. The offense is lazy and sluggish.

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NC State played horribly last night. Michigan State executed their offense, and put an invisible forcefield around the lane it seemed.  Seriously, could the Pack not go inside without getting double and triple teamed? Degand looked lazy at times. Our entire offense was sluggish, save Hickson. But when you are surely being double teamed everytime you get the ball on the block, there’s not much you can do, especially when the rest of your team isn’t rebounding.

N.C. State is off until Dec. 8, when we travel to ECU. Hopefully the time of will be valuable learning time. If not, it’s going to be a long year. (Anyone else having football deja vu?)

MSU fans realize the Pack is a legit threat. ACC is KING.

www.greenandwhite.com

tonight. No. 10 MSU (4-1) hosts No. 24 N.C. State (4-1) as part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Wolfpack bring in plenty of size and firepower, enough to threaten for a win at Breslin and an ACC title.

Series: N.C. State leads 5-1, including a 69-58 comeback win in the last meeting, in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

Prediction: MSU 72, N.C. State 70

spartansinsider. This guy is the whiniest loser to ever sit at a keyboard. You have to read this entry, it’s laughable. I’m guessing most fans up there don’t hold this disdain for the ACC’s dominance, and propensity to declare it. He’s just a sore loser. Here are a few of his statements:

One thing for sure, it’s always been skewed toward the ACC.

The ACC Basketball Media Guide singles out the challenge as a marquee event; the 2006-07 Big Ten guide didn’t even mention it as a separate entity.

One league takes it as seriously as a street fight… and the other just seems to consider it as an opportunity to schedule games against ACC opponents without having to beg.

…the ACC didn’t expand to 12 teams until ‘05, meaning that for the first six Challenges, there was always a chance for one of the weaker Big Ten teams to be involved.

Izzo thinks too much is made of the rivalry between the conferences, especially since the ACC holds it over the Big Ten in recruiting battles.

spartansweblog.wordpress.com These guys are actually pretty fair and good spirited about the game.

livingstondaily.com Nothing special, just local Michigan coverage.

Detroit Free Press

Izzo said of N.C. State. “They have size and the second-best freshman big man in the country. We’ll have the chance to play two within a week’s period of time — (UCLA’s Kevin) Love last week and (J.J.) Hickson this week.”

(Hickson and) MSU freshman guard Chris Allen were AAU teammates in Georgia and remain friends. Allen had a message for his teammates: “They’ve been watching film, and all he’s doing is banging. I’ve been telling them don’t back off him because he will shoot the shot.”

ACC / Big Ten Challenge synopsis revisited

TALLEY: ACC 5 – Big Ten 1

(Like we needed more proof that the ACC is #1)
So, before the games had started today I had made the following predictions:

W: Clemson – Purdue, Virginia – NW, Duke – Wisconsin, BC – Michigan
L: Indiana – GT, Minnesota – FSU
?: NCSU – MSU, UNC – Ohio St, VT – Penn St., Illinois – Maryland
(I then updated to reflect that WF had beaten Iowa Monday night and VT should beat PSU.)

ACC losses will be in red, wins will be bolded. Note, this does not reflect by picks, but rather the pure result of the game and it’s effect for the ACC.

Tuesday update, 2050 hrs.
Virginia laid the smack down on Northwestern. It was over when UVa was taking shoot around.
GT is trying their best to give Indiana the ball game. Both teams are horrible looking.
FSU had led from the get go against Minnesota.

Tuesday update, 2120 hrs.
GT looks like a classless, whiny bunch of playground ballers. They are also overrated.
FSU is good. Not Final Four good, but top 5 of the ACC good.
Minnesota is not a bad team. Their offense is fluid, great to watch. The defense, not so much.

Update 2200 hrs: Duke is spanking Wisconsin. Did the Badgers do something wrong?

Last update for Tuesday, 1130hrs. ACC goes 5-1 thru end of day. Duke is good, Clemson will be good, FSU can be good. GT sucks. Virginia will win the NIT.

ALL-ACC: Morgan and Blackman

Second Team DEF: Safety, DeJuan Morgan

Second Team Special Teams: KR-PR, Darrell Blackman

Garnering Honorable Mentions were Kalani Heppe, OG and DeMario Pressley, DT.

Wolfpack back in Top 25 / ACC – B10 Challenge

NC State is back in at number 24 in the latest AP Poll. Villanova has dropped out.

Yet, in the USA Today / ESPN poll, Villanova merely dropped from #19 to #21, and State remains unranked?!?! Even IF they watched the game and judge on that, wouldn’t one think both teams are equal? The score was 68-67 before the perhaps controversial foul at the end.

How big is the game Wednesday night gonna be?? #24 NCSU at #10 Michigan State! Spotlight game.

I implore everyone, pull for every ACC team in the Challenge. Come tourney time, these wins will matter. Yes, even pull for Carolina (or at least be impartial). For Carolina to lose would severely tarnish the image of the ACC. Trust me, we have much much more to gain from Carolina winning than losing. Also be pulling for Duke as the host #20 Wisconsin.

Wins: WF over Iowa (Monday), Clemson over Purdue, Virginia over NW, Duke over Wisconsin, BC over Michigan

Losses: Indiana over GT, Minnesota over FSU

Toss ups: NCSU – MSU, UNC – Ohio St, VT – Penn St., Illinois – Maryland

If the sure wins and losses hold true, we need 2 more wins to claim victory as a conference from the toss up games. Of course we are looking for State to upset MSU, but also look for Maryland to challenge Illinois. VT will probably lose to Penn State. If Maryland loses, we need UNC to win.

TUESDAY UPDATE: WF beat Iowa. VT will beat Penn State. That gives us a 6-2 edge on paper. Ballgame for the ACC. A Wolfpack win will be icing. Actually, icing, candles, party hats, favors, napkins, etc.