A Rematch in Name Only
Tuesday night, Illinois will meet North Carolina in Chapel Hill as a part of the seventh annual
Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Some have called it a rematch of last year's championship game, but with each team returning only one player who scored in the game, this contest is much more about this year.
The game will have plenty of hype. Illinois moved up three spots to #12 in the latest
AP poll and ESPN is calling upon
Dick Vitale to yell from the sidelines. According to Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
North Carolina expects its first sellout of the season in its 21,750-seat arena.
According to Inside Carolina writer Andy Britt, the UNC defensive strategy will be:
Stop, or at least try to slow down, Dee Brown. To listen to comments from Roy Williams on the matchup, click
here. For Illinois' official game notes, click
here.
Gregg Doyel of
CBS Sportsline.com predicts a win for Illinois and the Big Ten...the latter by a seven games to four margin.
Herb Gould takes an historical look at the series in a
piece for the
Chicago Sun-Times. With Ohio State beating Virginia Tech in the
opening game, the Big Ten is in the driver's seat, needing only to split the rest of the 11 games.