{"id":110160,"date":"2024-12-01T21:22:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T02:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=110160"},"modified":"2024-12-01T21:22:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T02:22:20","slug":"a-crucial-sec-acc-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/01\/a-crucial-sec-acc-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Opportunity for Statement Wins: A Crucial SEC\/ACC Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last season, the ACC tied the SEC in the inaugural SEC\/ACC Challenge. Despite the equal showing, the SEC nearly doubled the ACC&#8217;s bids in the NCAA Tournament. The opportunity again arises for the ACC to gain a number of statement wins in the annual challenge. Regardless of what happens in some of the matchups, there are five crucial games that give the ACC an opportunity for statement wins. Let&#8217;s take a look at five matchups that the ACC seeks to win in the SEC\/ACC Challenge to gain some national respect heading into conference play and the reveal of the first <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/news\/basketball-men\/article\/2022-12-05\/college-basketballs-net-rankings-explained\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NET rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Opportunity for Statement Wins: Crucial SEC\/ACC Challenge Games<\/h2>\n<h3>Honorable Mentions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Ole Miss @ Louisville, Tuesday 12\/3 at 9:00 p.m. ET<\/li>\n<li>Florida State @ LSU, Tuesday 12\/3 at 9:00 p.m. ET<\/li>\n<li>Texas @ NC State, Wednesday 12\/4 at 9:15 p.m. ET<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Wake Forest @ Texas A&amp;M, Tuesday 12\/3 at 9:00 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>This was a tough call, but I decided to put the Demon Deacons on the list. Wake Forest has struggled to beat quality opponents. The Aggies always represent a tough challenge, but this one just seems more important for Wake Forest. They haven&#8217;t even stood a chance in their two losses this season, despite the contests being labeled<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/26\/5-important-feast-week-matchups-acc\/\" target=\"_self\"> important games<\/a>. This game will show whether Wake Forest is a serious contender for an NCAA Tournament bid. They can&#8217;t afford to be blown out again.<\/p>\n<p>A win here would be huge for the ACC. Neither team will find themselves at the top of their respective conferences. The strength of the conference at the top is important. The strength of the middle helps earn a conference more bids. Wake Forest will be looking to strengthen the middle for the ACC on Tuesday and pick up a win.<\/p>\n<h3>Kentucky @ Clemson, Tuesday 12\/3 at 9:30 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>Kentucky has already taken down Duke, so it would certainly make the ACC more comfortable if Clemson could get the win. The Tigers looked bad against Boise State earlier in the season, but beating San Francisco and Penn State have created an intriguing matchup with the Wildcats. They will hold home court advantage in what aims to be a competitive game.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Pope brought his three-point style from BYU, so the strategy for Clemson needs to be slow down their potent offense. For Clemson, Kentucky is the best opponent they will face in the non-conference. A victory here would take the pressure off Clemson as they move onto other important games against Memphis and South Carolina. I stand by a crucial statement for college basketball: the earlier you can pick up key wins, the easier they are to come by. Clemson would love to get a statement win in December.<\/p>\n<h3>Alabama @ North Carolina, Wednesday 12\/4 at 7:15 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>Both of these teams have played challenging non-conference schedules so far this season. Alabama was able to win multiple matchups, but North Carolina touts only a victory over Dayton. The ACC needs North Carolina to accomplish more in the non-conference. The Tar Heels are watching their projected seed continue to fall, but that could all end here.<\/p>\n<p>North Carolina has looked hopeless on defense this season. Alabama will certainly put that to the test with their high-flying offense. Don&#8217;t be surprised if there are over 200 points scored in this game. I have mentioned that <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/rj-davis-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RJ Davis<\/a> will need to lead this team if they hope to have success this season. In reality, he has played very well, but they have failed to win important games. It&#8217;s time for the role players to step up and play some defense. The opportunity for statement wins does not come often, and North Carolina is running out of those opportunities. If they want to get revenge against Alabama for their loss last season in the Sweet Sixteen, look for Alabama to score less than 85 points. Alabama is 1-2 when they fail to reach 85 points, but are 5-0 when they exceed that total.<\/p>\n<h3>Auburn @ Duke, Wednesday 12\/4 at 9:15 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s time for Duke to look like the top team in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/26\/acc-power-rankings-for-week-4\/\" target=\"_self\">ACC power rankings<\/a>. This represents yet another opportunity for Duke to obtain a big win early on this season. Auburn looked invincible in Maui, so this will hardly be an easy game. The only consolation for the Blue Devils is they finally get to play at home. In their three games against top 25 opponents, the Blue Devils have traveled away from home. They were able to beat Arizona on the road, but took tough neutral-site losses to Kansas and Kentucky. A true contender wins at home regardless of the opponent. That is what Duke seeks to do.<\/p>\n<p>At times, the Blue Devils have looked too predictable on offense. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/cooper-flagg-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cooper Flagg<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/kon-knueppel-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kon Knueppel<\/a> are young stars, but they force shots too often. Auburn has been able to score at will and they always play strong defense under Bruce Pearl. Duke needs to run their offense and try to find easy baskets. They won&#8217;t come around often, but isolating most possessions won&#8217;t work either. Auburn has yet to lose, but they also haven&#8217;t played a true road game yet. Can Cameron Indoor Stadium rattle the Tigers enough to produce a key win for the ACC?<\/p>\n<h3>Pittsburgh @ Mississippi State, Wednesday 12\/4 at 9:15 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>It is only fitting that another top team from the ACC add to the opportunity for statement wins. Pittsburgh has quietly put together a strong resume that will likely place them in the top 25. After picking up a huge road win against Ohio State in the young season&#8217;s game of the year, Pittsburgh will look to win with less drama against Mississippi State. However, the Bulldogs will be playing their first game since a loss to Butler.<\/p>\n<p>It may catch some people by surprise, but Pittsburgh has arguably had the most impressive start to the season. This game would only add to a strong resume in the non-conference. The pressure is off for the Panthers, something nobody else can say in this article. Another win would put them in prime position for the NCAA Tournament and give them a great chance for a higher seed. However, the ACC would love for a top team from the conference to handle business against a good SEC school. Pitt allowed 54 points to Wisconsin in the second half and 48 points to Ohio State in the first half. Pitt has been stout defensively for the rest of the season. They will need to play strong defense to win, regardless of how many points their dynamic guard duo <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/ishmael-leggett-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ishmael Leggett<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/jaland-lowe-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaland Lowe<\/a> score.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last season, the ACC tied the SEC in the inaugural SEC\/ACC Challenge. Despite the equal showing, the SEC nearly doubled the ACC&#8217;s bids in the NCAA Tournament. The opportunity again arises for the ACC to gain a number of statement wins in the annual challenge. Regardless of what happens in some of the matchups, there [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5370,"featured_media":110192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773],"tags":[3120,1457,861,914,49588,1436,4220],"class_list":["post-110160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","tag-acc-basketball","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","tag-pitt-panthers","tag-sec-basketball","tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}