Big 10/ACC Challenge

Let's have a post about these games.  These are meaningless in the big scheme of things with regards to conference hierarchy, but individual games may be useful.

Monday:
Wake Forest at Rutgers
Clemson at Minnesota - good way to hide the meaningless games on a Monday!  Clemson and Minny both might be fringe at-large candidates, but I doubt it.  Wake and Rutgers most definitely aren't.

Tuesday:
Michigan at NC State - if I had to predict, Michigan will be fine and NC State won't.  Here's a road chance for UM to pick up a modest win for the resume.
Northwestern at Virginia Tech - I think NU is pretty clearly the better team, which makes this dangerous.  Road game at a competent opponent.  Tourney teams win this more often than not, good chance for an early statement.
Virginia at Ohio St - tough to value this game when OSU has turned into a tire fire.  The good news is a loss for them won't hurt, while a win erases a lot of sins.  As for UVa, a road win never hurt a resume.
Miami at Nebraska - Miami is probably exceeding expectations, and here we go:  another game where the road team is a modest favorite.  Things are interesting, no?
Purdue at Pittsburgh - Purdue is probably a very solid tournament team, and those teams win these games.  Big chance for Pitt to leap into the bubble conversation.
Maryland at North Carolina - sexy on-court matchup, little actual impact.  Both will have plenty of signature win chances going forward, so this won't make or break either team.

Wednesday:
Louisville at Michigan St - see Maryland/UNC comment.
Wisconsin at Syracuse - I pegged Syracuse as a bubble team early, but winning Atlantis changes things fast.  Considering Wisky is fading, all of a sudden Syracuse is in a must-hold situation.
Penn St at Boston College - ew, no
Indiana at Duke - Duke is Duke, which means Indiana has a big chance to add something of value to their resume.  Kind of a no-win situation for Duke.
Notre Dame at Illinois - UI is becoming a tire fire, so Notre Dame must hold as a road favorite, which is never trivial.
Florida St at Iowa - Both are fringy bubble teams, so this could actually be really valuable to both teams.

The overarching theme:  Modest road favorites.  Northwestern.  Miami.  Purdue.  Notre Dame.  And we all know road wins are pure gold currency.  Which teams will get it, and which teams will receive a black mark on the resume?