I think the Illini over Clemson on the road was the team who came up biggest.  They had no life in the first half, then somehow managed to overcame a 23-point defecit to complete the biggest comeback in schools history.  After Illini pigskin, and a sub par effort by the basketball team against Bradley, this roundball triumph is something the school/fans can finally be proud off. Lets see if this is something that can build momentum….

 

 

Andrew Linnehan

There were two clear-cut upsets for the Big Ten in the Challenge, so I think you have to look at one of those games: Northwestern over NC State or Wisconsin over Duke. I’m tempted to go with Northwestern, a traditionally atrocious road team and perennially in the bottom half of the conference. But how can you steer away from a middle-of-the-pack Badgers squad that took blow-after-blow (and three-after-three down the stretch) from the top 5 Duke Blue Devils. Everyone will say, ‘Yea, but it was in Madison, nobody wins in Madison.’ The people that say that haven’t followed college basketball since 2007. I guarantee you if you would have polled ACC nation before the Challenge started as to what game they could count on to win the most, it would’ve been this one. Props to Bo Ryan and Co.

 

 

Carrie Philips

While my purple price makes me want to pick the ‘Cats, I’m going to have to go with Wisconsin.  While the Badgers tend to play well at home, they were up against an annual powerhouse in Duke.  They got out to an early lead and did a great job of keeping it by getting high percentage shots and playing smart, tough basketball.  Perhaps knowing that OSU was up double digits against FSU (and seemingly in control) so the Wisconsin game was all the B10 needed to clinch the Challenge victory added to the importance/excitement of the game, but it was exciting to the end. Congrats to the B10 and all of the six teams that held up their end of this bargain, and I’m ready for March!

 

 

Nicholas Perrino

For me the Big 10 team that came up the biggest in the Big Ten/ACC challenge was Illinois. I know, I know, Wisconsin shocked everyone with their win over #6 Duke, but for me Illinois comeback from a 51-28 Clemson lead in the second half was one of the most impressive things I have seen since I’ve been watching college basketball, plus the comeback win demonstrated that no matter the deficit, no matter the rank of the opponent, the Big Ten is going to play and play tough. Just ask then #18 Clemson who only a few days earlier beat a 12th ranked Butler squad. All of the Big Ten teams played tough this week and made a statement to all other conferences that the Big Ten is the premier basketball conference in the country, and that this year is no exception. But to me, no team made a bigger statement than Illinois.
Random Fact: The largest deficit ever overcome in NCAA Division-1 basketball came at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats in 1994 when they overcame a 31-point deficit to defeat LSU 99-95 in regulation. Although not as impressive as Kentucky’s win, Illinois’ win was pretty amazing and it was against a ranked ACC opponent none-the-less.

 

 

Ryan Burnett

I gotta go Wisconsin. Duke arguably has one of the top five most talented teams in the country. Wisconsin might not be one of the five most talented teams in the B10, but this win was not only a testament to the grittiness and depth of our league, but of the superb coaching job Bo Ryan does EVERY year. His recruiting on the other hand….