[The Poet]

I must admit, I did not expect my # 10 Tar Heels to do again pretty much what they did to the # 9 Spartans last season, yet they ran them off the court once more in the first half, 50-34, then held on while Michigan State came back for the 89-82 victory. Looking at the stats, it's a bit of a shock that the Spartans even made it that close, seeing as how they went 2-20 from beyond the arc, and only 7-42 from outside the paint. Well, I'll take it, regardless. Other scores from the evening's Big Ten/ACC challenge:

# 4 Purdue 69 - Wake Forest 68
Maryland 80 - Indiana 68 = I thought this might be closer, but looks like the Hoosiers are still in slide mode.
Virginia Tech 70 - Iowa 64 = A decent game.
Northwestern 65 - N.C. State 53 = An indecent one, for Sidney's sad-sack Pack.

Two other games worth watching last night were:

Temple 76 - Western Michigan 70
Evansville 91 - Tennessee Tech 90 in 2OT = Wanna bet there are some sore throats croaking in Cookeville today?

There are plenty of games involving ranked team tonight, and not just the balance of the Big Ten/ACC matchups:

# 1 Kansas vs. Alcorn State = OK . . . and?
# 3 Villanova vs. Drexel = Ditto.
# 6 Duke vs. Wisconsin = Now THIS could be interesting. Can Dook move that bulk outta the paint?
# 11 Tennessee vs. E. Tennessee State
# 14 U. Conn vs. Boston U.
# 15 Ohio State vs. Florida State = And this could be a good game too.
# 17 Gonzaga vs. Washington State
# 18 Clemson vs. Illinois = This too may be a good 'un.
# 19 Texas A&M vs. Prairie View A&M = This too will be a stinker.
# 20 Louisville vs. Stetson = Sheesh.
# 23 Butler vs. Ball State = Ehhh.
# 24 UNLV vs. Arizona = This one's in Tucson - look for the Rebels to run outta runs.
# 25 Portland vs. Portland State = Sounds like it will be played in cement, don't it?

Some other potential good games this evening, out of the ranked, include:

Arkansas vs. Oklahoma
Old Dominion vs. Richmond = Two quality mid-majors here.
Minnesota vs. Miami = More Big Ten/ACC action.
Boston College vs. Michigan = Ditto.

And believe it or not:

Georgia Tech vs. Siena = The Saints have a nice program, and their two losses were on the road to Temple (by 4) and St. John's (by 9). Meanwhile, The Wreck hasn't played much of anybody yet, and the one they did was a loss to Dayton - a close one, also by 4 - yet their wins haven't been awe-inspiring.

Enjoy the games.