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NCAA Basketball: Top 5 matchups in 2019-20 Big Ten/ACC Challenge

By Toby Brown

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 13: A general view of the Penn State Nittany Lions bringing the ball up court against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the championship game of the 2011 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse on March 13, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ohio State won 71-60. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 13: A general view of the Penn State Nittany Lions bringing the ball up court against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the championship game of the 2011 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse on March 13, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ohio State won 71-60. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 30: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers drives to the basket against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at KFC YUM! Center on March 30, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 30: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers drives to the basket against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at KFC YUM! Center on March 30, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

5. Virginia Cavaliers at Purdue Boilermakers

Up next the Elite Eight Rematch between the eventual Champs of Virginia and the Purdue Boilermakers. The biggest thing that makes me very excited to watch both of these teams play each other again will be how different the teams will look on the court.

Starting with the home team of the Boilermakers, they will be losing three starters in Carsen Edwards, Ryan Cline, and Grady Eifert. All of which played very vital roles in getting this team to the Elite 8 as well as making the game very competitive. The team added a very key graduate transfer in Jahaad Proctor, who should be able to help keep this young team focused.

It will be an interesting start for Matt Painter’s team with how young they are but they will be a tested team by the time they play this game against Virginia. They will have faced Marquette, Texas, VCU, and Tennessee/FSU. This should give Painter and this young team plenty of time to figure out how they will be playing the rest of the year. Not to mention they have the biggest homecourt advantage in the Country. If there is one place teams do not want to come and play it is Mackey Arena.

Now let’s talk about this Virginia team. Coming off the National Championship run last year they lost three key players. Ty Jerome, De’Andre Hunter, and Kyle Guy all ended up going to the NBA Draft. The good news for the Cavaliers was that Mamadi Diakete decided to return to the program after declaring. This brings back an upperclass leader on the team who can help get the younger players to buy into the program. Going into the early part of the season you will see UVA play a very easy schedule after they open the season against Syracuse. They will be coming into West Lafayette without really being tested causing what I believe will be a blow out at Mackey Arena.

Overall I believe that Purdue at home is one of the best teams in the Nation. I believe that the likes of Nojel Eastern, Matt Haarms, and Trevion Williams will project this Boilermaker team to a non-conference victory. The Boilermakers should easily handle this one winning 78-65.

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