Is Miami basketball being fairly matched in ACC-Big Ten Challenge?

In his conference power rankings for next season conducted after the NBA early entry deadline Shaw posted on May 31 he said:

"“The Scarlet Knights, who went 3-15 in Big Ten play last season, don’t figure to move out of the league’s basement any time soon, as they lost star guard Corey Sanders to the NBA as well as three other rotation players to graduation. Steve Pikiell has shown promise early in his career in Piscataway, but faces a tough challenge this season.”"

Live Feed

Busting Brackets

Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern are the teams most frequently being picked to finish 11th in the Big Ten during the 2018-19 basketball season. The Hurricanes played at Minnesota in last year’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Although Minnesota and Northwestern came off disappointing seasons both would be better foes than Rutgers.

The Golden Gophers and Wildcats both began the 2017-18 season in the Top 25 but finished below .500. Minnesota and Northwestern both played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

The Miami basketball program has played Northwestern once and Minnesota twice in the Challenge.

The Hurricanes defeated the Wildcats 61-59 in Evanston, Illinois in UM’s second year in the ACC in the 2006 Challenge. Miami won both times against the Golden Gophers. The Hurricanes defeated Minnesota in Coral Gables in 2009 and in Minneapolis last season.

Miami and Iowa have not met in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Iowa is coming off of a 14-19 season. It was their first losing record since 2011. The Hawkeyes have missed the last two NCAA Tournaments.

Iowa made three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2014-’16. Iowa plays Pittsburgh in this season’s challenge. The Panthers were 8-24 and 0-19 in the ACC last season.