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

By Toby Brown | Sep 28, 2019

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) /

5 of 5

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans is defended by Javin DeLaurier #12 of the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

1. Duke Blue Devils at Michigan State Spartans

Now, the final game everyone has their eyes on will be the Duke Blue Devils traveling to East Lansing to play the Michigan State Spartans. The Duke Blue Devils will have a tough task to deal with being on the road playing a very veteran team in the Spartans. Coach K will have his team ready for this bout but I do not know if that is going to be enough to get past Tom Izzo’s Spartans.

Talking about the Blue Devils, they lost three key players to the NBA Draft. However, they replaced every single one of those guys with another great recruiting class. With that being said they also have arguably the best coach in all of basketball. This team might be young but they will still have a lot more talent than most of the teams they face this coming season.

As for the Michigan State Spartans, they are coached by one of the best in the business with Tom Izzo. Their roster will be bringing in the reigning Big Ten Player of the year in Cassius Winston. He will play a vital role in the success this year just as he did in the past year. Going into depth, this Michigan State team has a number of forwards on the roster. This will give Izzo and the Spartans plenty of options to put on the court, making them a very deadly team. Michigan State also has a very big matchup with Kentucky early on in the year. This will give Izzo and his staff the proper film to be able to determine the team’s weaknesses and strengths to prepare for this Duke matchup.

Next. Preseason ACC power rankings for 2019-20. dark

I believe that even though Duke may have some better talent on their roster, the Blue Devils are an unproven team going to East Lansing to face off with a very good Michigan State team. I think the depth of the Spartans, as well as the homecourt advantage, will propel the Spartans to a 78-72 victory.

Home/NCAA Basketball News