The Big Ten finally did it Wednesday night. They claimed the ACC/Big Ten Challenge six games to five, thanks to some thrillers on what was a very busy and thrilling night of college basketball.
Illinois came from 23 down to defeat No. 18 Clemson, 76-74.
Miami got a big 63-58 home win over Minnesota.
Boston College held off Michigan, 62-58.
No. 6 Duke fell at Wisconsin, 73-69. It was the Blue Devils' first ever loss in the Challenge.
No. 15 Ohio State clinched the series for the Big Ten by beating No. 21 Florida State, 77-64.
In non-Challenge action
Georgia Tech was the only ACC team to miss out on the Challenge this season, and they beat Paul Hewitt's former team, Siena, 74-61.
Pitt needed to come back in the second half (and two OTs) to beat Duquesne, 67-58.
Georgia defeated St. Louis, 64-56.
South Carolina, despite being down two starters, had no trouble with Darin Horn's old team, Western Kentucky, 74-56.
Pesky East Tennessee State was at it again, giving No. 11 Tennessee fits before falling 78-66.
George Washington had an easy time with George Mason, 66-49.
You probably won't believe this score: Cornell 104, Bucknell 98.
Or this one, Harvard drubbed Rice, 85-64.
Butler recovered from a disappointing trip to Anaheim by beating Ball State, 59-38.
Vanderbilt (picked up a big non-league win over Missouri, 89-83.
St. John's stayed unbeaten heading into their big tilt with Duke on Saturday. They beat Stony Brook, 63-55.
Dayton defeated local rivals Miami (OH), 65-58.
Richmond beat Old Dominion, 67-60, in a game we didn't get to see in South Padre a few days ago.
Northern Iowa picked up a nice road win, stopping Iowa State by a 63-60 score.
Oklahoma had no trouble with reeling Arkansas, winning 67-47.
Tulsa blew Oklahoma State away, 86-65.
New Orleans won at Tulane, 51-50.
Alcorn State took a 4-0 lead on No. 1 Kansas, who went on a 98-27 run to end the game.
New Mexico pulled away from California late, prevailing 86-78.
No. 17 Gonzaga came back to beat Washington State, 74-69.
UNLV got a big win in double OT at Arizona, 74-72.
Utah State handled BYU, 71-62.
Meanwhile, over in Ogden, Weber State beat Utah fairly easily, 83-76.
No. 25 Portland won't be ranked much longer, as they fell 86-82 to Portland State.
San Diego State won their crosstown rivalry, beating San Diego 69-62.
If you don't see your team's score, click any of the score links. The full rundown will be on the right side of the page. For more on last night's action, visit Searching For Billy Edelin and the main SB Nation site.
Now that the ACC/Big Ten Challenge is over, national attention turns to another conference-on-conference battle, but a more drawn out, and less evenly set up one. Thursday is night two of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. Nebraska opened up the event with a win over USC on Sunday. The Trojans are back in action tonight (See what I mean about this not being that evenly set up?) in one of three matchups.
Elsewhere, don't look now, but conference action is underway. Matchups from the Horizon League, Northeast, Ohio Valley, and Summit League highlight the rest of the plausibly national TV schedule.
- Eastern Kentucky at Murray State (ESPNU, 7 p.m. ET)
- Mount St. Mary's at Robert Morris (NEC/MASN/MSG/FCS Atlantic, 7 p.m. ET)
- UMKC at Oral Roberts (Metro Sports/FCS Central, 8 p.m. ET)
- Cleveland State at Wright State (ESPNU, 9 p.m. ET)
For other games that are only going to be telecast locally, including a couple of Big South tilts, visit Matt Sarz' College Sports on TV site.
