The annual men’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge will begin Monday night, and it’s not often that things seem as lopsided as they do heading into the 2022 edition. The ACC has not won the event since ’17 and faces an uphill climb to change that this year, with Big Ten teams favored to win 10 of the 14 matchups on KenPom and nine of the 14 on T-Rank. The only thing that matters, of course, is what happens on the court, but the ACC’s general start to the season has not inspired confidence. And of the six games that have already featured the two conferences facing off in 2022–23, the Big Ten has won four, including Purdue’s 19-point thrashing of Duke on Sunday. It also doesn’t help the ACC’s cause that the team left out of the event this year is 6–1 NC State.
Despite all that, the ACC has a big opportunity in front of it over the next three nights. If it can pick off a few notable upsets, it could go a long way toward helping the league’s perception—which will help when it comes to NCAA tournament seeding and bubble discussions in March. On the other hand, the Big Ten can further put a stamp on what’s been a successful opening few weeks for the conference ahead of this week’s league openers. Below, we preview and predict all 14 matchups:
All times are Eastern.
