Virginia Tech and Wisconsin Set for Defensive Battle in ACC-Big Ten Challenge

During the doldrums of the college basketball offseason, it’s difficult to keep busy.  At the present time, everyone appears to be stoked about college football or buzzing about the latest major league baseball trade.  The outstanding NCAA Championship game seems oh-so-far off.

That leaves us with a number of arbitrary exercises. We could look at the Prestige rankings or which school outputs the most NBA draft picks.

I’d rather look forward than back, so let’s preview the ACC-Big Ten Challenge! 

Why?

It will give everyone a nice lay of the land and also broaden the spectrum of everyone who just looks within their own conference, which is easy to do at this point in the game.

Also, the ACC has won the last/only 10 challenges.  Thus, this gives me a chance to tout ACC superiority.  Right?  Right?  Well, we will see.

I’m also planning to employ one of my old buddies, BHall (J-Bug, Cousin Sal, and House were unavailable) to preview a couple of games as well.  BHall grew up with me in the rough, ragtag neighborhoods of Charlottesville, VA.  He went on star in a Lifetime movie about his life: Where Are My Pants?  The BHall Story.

Unfortunately, he blew all the proceeds from that on cheap wine and vintage hookers (maybe it was vintage wine and cheap hookers, whatever).  

I’m paying him on a one Yen per word basis.  So even if you don’t read my prose, read his—that stuff is expensive.

We’ll take this chronologically and in installments, like a serial novel with hyperlinks.

Wisconsin at Virginia Tech (Monday, Dec. 1, 7 PM, ESPN2)

Virginia Tech comes off a surprisingly successful 2007-2008 campaign.  Seth Greenberg’s crew was picked 11th in the ACC last season but finished fourth in the final standings.  The Hokies owe their good fortune to a (relatively) light ACC slate and to an excellent defensive effort.

The Hokies play defense without gambling.  This is evidenced by their stingy 93 points per 100 possessions (17th in the country), middle-of-the road TO percentage (21 percent, 158th), and a low eFG of 47 percent (34th). 

However, the Hokies shan’t be returning all-world super freak Deron Washington.  Washington will probably be best remembered for his mad hops and crazy dunks.

All those ridiculous flushes aside, he only had an eFG of 44 percent.  He just wasn’t a guy who scared you offensively.  As long as you didn’t foul him, the best thing he could contribute to the Hokie offense was his ability to not turn the ball over—something their backcourt managed to have in spades.

Expect that turnover rate to drop, though, as the Hokies are a young team and return most of their starters.  Malcolm Delany and A.D. Vassallo can be deadly on offense.  They’re capable three point shooters and simply cannot be left alone or fed after midnight.

Jeff Allen occupies the middle.  I say “occupies” because he could do a lot more for them if he just wouldn’t take bear claws two at a time.

Don’t expect Tech’s matchup with Wisconsin to be a barnburner (the game could be in the 40s or 50s, and I wouldn’t be surprised), as Wisconsin shares a very similar statistical profile.

The Badgers, though, were a much better defensive team than the Hokies (first in the country in points per 100 possessions).  They also don’t cause many turnovers, leading to low shooting percentages for their opponents. 

They also lead the nation in coaches named Bo.

Wisconsin has two solid forwards, Joe Krabbenhoft and Michael Landry, coming back next year.  Krabbenhoft, in particular, will benefit from shots that Brian Butch (28 percent of shots) and Michael Flowers (18 percent of shots) are no longer taking.  Bo Ryan’s swing offense allows him to get to the line in bunches, and he makes three-quarters of his shots there.

I also hear that Ryan’s got a nice recruiting class coming in.

The Pick: Wisconsin.  It’s a tight matchup and both are solid defensive teams.  Bo Ryan just reloads better.

ACC-Big 10 Preview: Ohio State - Miami