First System Play of the '08-'09 Season!

Fellas, it is upon us - the first System Play of the 2008-2009 college hoops season! We waited all morning for the updated (Dec 1st) Top 25 rankings, and Wisconsin, even after a 19 point loss at home to UCONN, still hung around in the rankings at #22 to go into Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, VA tonight and are 3 point underdogs to unranked Virginia Tech.

ESPN's preview of the game is linked and part of it is pasted below. I hope to do some write-ups on these games before they happen, but my main goal here at this site is to post the System Play well before the game tips off and to track their record throughout the season. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/preview?gameId=283360259:

"Wisconsin hasn't fared well in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge, particularly on the road.
Looking for their first road win in six tries in the Challenge, the No. 25 Badgers visit Virginia Tech on Monday.

Wisconsin (5-1) is in the midst of a tough stretch for its young team. After playing in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands last week, the Badgers will play their next two on the road, including visiting in-state rival Marquette on Saturday."

Also, I will point out that VA Tech has been solid the past few years and has three scorers currently averaging over 16 ppg in returing starter AD Vassallo, as well as Jeff Allen and Malcolm Delaney. These guys are tough to beat at home and their past ACC experience will only help them to protect that home court advantage when playing out of conference foes. Wisco is also a solid team also with returning starters from last year like Trevon Hughes and Joel Krabenhoft and their system slows the game down, allows for them to stay close with more talented teams, and need to score just 50 points to stay close to their opponents because they don't give up much above 60 ppg as a team. All this just means points may be tough to come by tonight, but bottom line is we like the ACC home team here to win a close one. Plus, you have to love the Jewish coach, Seth Greenberg, on the sideline for VA Tech!

Good luck and here's to hoping that we get off to a 1-0 start to the System this year!