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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, KY – JANUARY 30: General view of the arena during the Virginia Cavaliers game against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC YUM! Center on January 30, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – JANUARY 30: General view of the arena during the Virginia Cavaliers game against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC YUM! Center on January 30, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

3. Michigan Wolverines at Louisville Cardinals

This next matchup is a home affair for the Cardinals. The team finished last year at 20-14 but they were 14-14 at the YUM Center. This was all under the first full year for Coach Chris Mack, rallying his team to a great season. The Cardinals have a very easy schedule running into this tough game against the Wolverines. The question will be how their freshman will be able to be effective. Louisville has a couple of graduate transfers, seven freshman, and seven upperclassmen.

It will be interesting to see at the beginning of the year how Coach Mack will split up his players’ minutes to get the most efficiency. Luckily he does not have to really worry about an early upset with the toughest opening game being Miami. I would expect to see Louisville’s rotation set in stone by the time this game rolls around. With that and the homecourt advantage, I would expect to see a win if I was a Cardinals fan but this Michigan team could sneak out a win.

The Wolverines have already gone through major program changes with the hiring of Juwan Howard as the head coach. This Michigan team will luckily have an older roster to help keep the team focused throughout the offseason and early on in the season. This is a roster where you will only see two true freshmen. With the transition from Beilein to Howard this team could struggle at the beginning of the year. The toughest game on the schedule for Michigan to open the year is going to the possible matchup of North Carolina.

It’s tough to say how this team will look by the time the Louisville game is up but it will not be an easy task for any team to walk into the YUM Center and win a game. If I was a Wolverines fan I would not expect too much out of this game. It will definitely be a good test for how good the defensive side of the ball is for Michigan but I would not put too much on the performance of the team during this game.

With both teams having an easy road to this game I would not think that injuries will play a role in this game. The biggest deciding factor for this game is that Louisville always plays very tough at home. In college basketball, the crowd plays such a vital role in the game. I see this game going in favor of the Cardinals by a score of 78-65.

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