Though feast week was last week, the final week of November brings us the annual ACC/B1G Challenge. The Challenge makes for tremendous matchups before we get into league play over the next few weeks. Here are the best games from the Challenge to watch on Wednesday, December 1st, 2021.
Michigan Wolverines at North Carolina Tar Heels
One of the best matchups of the ACC/B1G Challenge is taking place on Wednesday evening. Michigan has had a bit of a rocky start to the season. While they boast a 4-2 record overall, all their victories have come against teams ranking outside the top 80 while both of their losses have come against teams ranking within the top 40.
North Carolina currently ranks 50th in the Pomeroy rankings but they have also struggled against quality teams this season. The Tar Heels four wins have come against teams ranked outside of the top 200 while their two losses have come against teams within the top 20. Michigan is currently #9 in the rankings.
If you are planning on placing a wager on the game, you should know that UNC is currently a 1.5 point underdog. Carolina has yet to cover a spread on the season in six tries and is underperforming the number by an average of -8.1 points per game. You could argue that they are “due” but how often do you put a whole lot of faith in that?
The game is scheduled to tip off at 9:15 PM EST and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Virginia Tech Hokies at Maryland Terrapins
Another game from “The Challenge” this is a game that both of these teams desperately need right now. Both enter the game with 5-2 records on the season but have yet to log a significant victory.
The Hokies had a couple of opportunities last week when they faced both Xavier and Memphis. They held second half leads in both games but ultimately came up short. Mike Young’s group was just a missed tip away from defeating Xavier but Justyn Mutts couldn’t get it to fall.
If the Hokies are unable to get this victory they only have St. Bonaventure left on the out of conference schedule to make an impact before the gauntlet that is the ACC season.
Maryland does own a nice win on the season with their Thanksgiving day victory over Richmond but even that isn’t great at the moment as the Spiders are just 3-4 on their season.
Eric Ayala is having a nice season for coach Mark Turgeon but if this Terrapins team is going to succeed this season, they need to improve their shooting. Maryland currently ranks 315th in the nation in three point shooting at just 28.5% on the season. Hakim Hart currently leads the team in shooting from deep at 35.3%. No other rotational regular is shooting better than 31%.
The game is scheduled for a 7:15 PM EST tip-off and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
