The 11th annual ACC – Big Ten Challenge tips off tonight when the Penn State Nittany Lions travel to Charlottesville to take on the Virginia Cavaliers. This Challenge hasn’t been much of one in its first 10 seasons. The ACC has never lost a Challenge and holds a 62-35 advantage in total games.

This year three Big Ten teams come in ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. They are No. 6 Purdue, No. 9 Michigan State, and No. 15 Ohio State. The ACC has four teams ranked, but No. 23 Georgia Tech will not participate in this year’s challenge. Their ranked teams are No. 5 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina, and No. 19 Clemson. Florida State is also ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll but was unranked in the ESPN/USA Today Poll.

Will the Big Ten be able to win its first Challenge or will the ACC continue its dominance? Let’s look at it game by game. Today I will take a look at the one game tonight and the five games tomorrow.

Penn State (4-2) @ Virginia (4-2) Monday 7:00 ESPN2

The Nittany Lions could only muster a seventh place finish in the Charleston Classic where they lost their first two games to UNC-Wilmington and Tulane. They are coming off two wins against Davidson and Sacred Heart but will be challenged on the road. Talor Battle leads Penn State with 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. Virginia comes in with loses to South Florida and Stanford but they are 3-0 at home. They are led by Sylven Landesberg who averages 16.2 points. Penn State is 3-5 all-time in the Challenge and Virginia is 5-4. This is a toss up in my mind but I will go with Penn State.

Wake Forest (4-1) @ No. 6 Purdue (5-0) Tuesday 7:00 ESPN

The Demon Deacons are coming off a home loss to William & Mary and are sure to have their hands full with Purdue. Al-Faroug Aminu leads Wake Forest with 18.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Purdue has a big win against a good Tennessee team already and are led by E’Twaun Moore’s 15.8 points per game. Wake Forest is 8-1 all-time in the Challenge and Purdue is only 2-6 but I expect this one to go in the Big Ten’s favor to put them up 2-0.

Northwestern (5-1) @ North Carolina State (5-0) Tuesday 7:00 ESPN U

The Wildcats already have a couple impressive wins against Notre Dame and Iowa State this past weekend. Their only loss is to Butler and they are led in scoring by Michael Thompson’s 16.7 points. They will face the Wolfpack on the road who are still undefeated. Their biggest win was a two point win over Auburn. They are led by Tracy Smith, who averages 16.2 points and 10.4 rebounds a game. Northwestern is 3-7 all-time in the Challenge and North Carolina State is 5-4. This is another toss up but I give the advantage in this one to the Wolfpack because they are at home. 2-1 Big Ten leads.

Maryland (4-2) @ Indiana (3-3) Tuesday 7:30 ESPN2

The Terps finished in fourth place out in Maui, with losses to Cincinnati and Wisconsin. Entering tomorrow’s game they have four players who average more than 10 points a game. The Hoosiers are still rebuilding but are much improved over last year’s team. They finished last in the San Juan tournament with loses to Mississippi, Boston, and George Mason. Maurice Creek leads them with 16.3 points per game. Maryland is 7-3 all-time in the Challenge and Indiana is 3-5. I give this one to Maryland, which evens the Challenge up at two.

No. 9 Michigan State (5-1) @ No. 11 North Carolina (6-1) Tuesday 9:00 ESPN

This is a rematch of last year’s national title game and the marquee matchup in the Challenge. Michigan State’s only loss is to Florida and North Carolina’s loss is to Syracuse. Kalin Lucas leads the Spartans with 17.2 points per game and the Tar Heels are led by Deon Thompson’s 17.7 points. Michigan State is the only Big Ten team with a winning record in the Challenge. They are 5-4 while North Carolina is 5-5. I am going to go with the Spartans in this one, even though they are on the road. That puts the Big Ten up 3-2.

Virginia Tech (4-1) @ Iowa (2-4) Tuesday 9:30 ESPN2

The Hokies lost their only game to Temple and are led by Malcolm Delaney’s 21.8 points per game. They will take on a rebuilding Iowa team that lost their best player in Jake Kelly to transfer. Matt Gatens leads them in scoring with just over 11 points per game. Virginia Tech is 1-3 all-time in the Challenge and Iowa is 2-6. I give the advantage to Virginia Tech in this one. That leaves the Challenge tied at three apiece entering the last day of games on Wednesday.

I will preview those five games in an article tomorrow.