Elsewhere in the B1G: Bo Ryan lands 300th win, Badgers win slugfest in Charlottesville

No. 8 Wisconsin 48, Virginia 38

Playing four of six games on the road last night, the Big Ten finished the first night of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge with a 2-4 record. Tonight, four B1G squads enjoy a home court advantage, but not the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers, who headed to Charlottesville for a tough matchup against Tony Bennett's UVA squad. 

As Michigan fans know from the Wolverine basketball team's trip to John Paul Jones Arena two years ago, that is a tough place to play, especially against a team as defensively sound as the Cavaliers. Many people, including myself, have made this observation, but the Cavaliers would be a perfect fit in the Big Ten. 

Despite losing a trio of important frontcourt players, the Badgers have jumped out to an 8-0 record, the best start UW's had during the Bo Ryan era. 

Although the Badgers have shown an ability to push the pace this season in a way that can only be deemed uncharacteristic of your average Ryan team, tonight's game against UVA would assuredly be a stereotypical Big Ten slugfest, neither fast nor aesthetically pleasing. 

Predictably, the first half was just that, as the two squad found themselves tied at 16-all with six minutes to play in the first half.

Somehow, the Cavaliers were down just 19-15 with 3:38 to play in the half despite not having scored a field goal in almost 10 minutes. It was that sort of half for both teams. On several occasions, the Badgers' swing offense failed to generate anything, resulting in a last second of the shot clock airballed three. 

Even so, Frank Kaminsky came to play, as has usually been the case for him thus far this season. In the opening frame, Kaminsky scored seven points and hauled in nine rebounds. UW went into the half up 25-20, a lead that felt positively insurmountable.  

Then again, UVA had to feel good about being down by only five given that they didn't make a basket for 10 minutes. With that said, another half like that for the Cavs would mean one more win in the Big Ten's Challenge total. 

The Weekly Who Are You?: November 28 - December 3

Now that the College Football season is coming to a close, I'm going to start spending some more time on Basketball and Hockey. Rather than doing a single Who Are You and Why Do We Care post for each game, I will do a rundown of the week in Basketball and Hockey.


November 29th: Michigan Basketball at Virginia Cavaliers

So far this season, the Cavaliers are 5-1 with wins over South Carolina State, Winthrop, Drexler, Drake, and Green Bay and a loss to TCU. Michigan will be their fist real test. The Virginia Cavaliers basketball team is coached by Tony Bennett (Not That Tony Bennett). Bennett was previously the head coach of the Washington State Cougars. The Cavaliers' official colors are Orange and Navy Blue, and they have three jerseys: home, away, and alternate. They have a mascot named Cavman, who also has a real life form. The game will be played at John Paul Jones Arena, which opened in 2006, and holds 14,593 people. They run an eight-man rotation, and have had the same starting five for every game so far. In their history they have five conference regular season championships and one conference tournament championship. Although the "Hoo Crew" will be decently loud, the Cavaliers are not a very good team, and Michigan should win this game for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

December 3rd: Michigan Basketball vs. Iowa Cyclones

The Cyclones are 5-1 with victories over Lehigh, Western Carolina, Northern Colorado, Providence, and Rice and a loss against Drake. The Cyclones coach is Fred Hoiberg. Hoiberg played four seasons at Iowa State, and lead Iowa State to a 16-16 record last season in his first year as a head coach. Iowa State plays their home games at the Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones official colors are Cardinal and Gold. They have a cardinal jersey for away games and a white jersey for games at home. Their mascot is Cy the Cardinal. In their history, they have six conference regular season championships and four conference tournament championships. Maybe I'm just getting spoiled, but after losing to Drake, this looks like another guaranteed Michigan victory.

December 2nd and 3rd: Michigan Hockey vs. Alaska Nanooks

The University of Alaska-Fairbanks started playing hockey in 1925. In 1992, the Nanooks joined the CCHA, and have remained a member since. Their head coach is Dallas Ferguson, who has lead the Nanooks to a 51-45-20 record over the past four seasons. This year, Fairbanks is 5-4-1 and had not won a game on the road until this weekend when they blanked Bowling Green in back-to-back nights.The Nanooks play their home games at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. Their official colors are Blue and Gold, and they have three uniform sets. The Nanook mascot is a polar bear called the Honeybear. The bear is used in many ways including their pump up video: 

(This may be the best video ever created)

As I mentioned, Alaska is not a very good team (although Michigan isn't either), and Michigan should sweep the weekend. 

Weekly Win Prediction: Michigan 4 - Opponents 0