Continuing what will likely be an ongoing series for us throughout the summer of looking at preseason hype rankings for matchups and awards, Andy Katz revealed his top 5 matchups for this year’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge and Michigan State versus Duke, not surprisingly, came in at #1 on that list.
The Challenge will have a fun slate of games this season, but this result isn’t exactly a surprise. A rematch of the March Madness Elite 8 game that was one of the biggest wins in Tom Izzo’s career, Duke will be traveling to East Lansing to face off against Michigan State.
Duke will be without their three biggest stars for the rematch with Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, and RJ Barrett all heading off to the NBA (all will likely be top ten draft picks). Michigan State, on the other hand, will be the favorite in this game unless something dramatic happens we are currently unprepared for.
Ohio State at North Carolina is next on the list, but for my money, I am excited about the Virginia-Purdue matchup.
