SUPER BOWL 2012

On a night when most ACC teams succumbed to their Big Ten counterparts in the 5th edition of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, at least Maryland and Georgia Tech did their parts, defeating Michigan and Nebraska, respectively.

With these important wins, both the Terps and the Yellow Jackets maintained their perfect records in the Challenge. Five years, five wins. Plus, in doing so, they saw to it that there are no longer any undefeated teams in the Big Ten. Not Michigan, which had won each of its four prior Challenge games, and not Big Ten newbie, Nebraska, which was welcomed to its first Challenge tonight with a Big L, courtesy of GT.

To Michigan's credit, it wasn't an easy W for the Terps. For about the first 35 minutes, the Wolverines shot the lights out from beyond the arc, an offensive performance that saw the game tied at the half, and tied or nearly so for 15 minutes after that. The Terps struggled with their inside game, but fortunately, Alyssa Thomas had a big scoring night, putting up 19 points in the first half, and 24 overall, including her first 3-pointer! (Alyssa had to leave the game for about three minutes late in the second half, when she suddenly went down with what appeared to be a very painful leg cramp. Luckily, she was able to return.) Is it just us, or has anybody else noticed that Alyssa's best games are the big games? We love that about her. She led her team against Georgetown and led her team tonight. Against the cupcakes other opponents, not quite as much.

Lynetta Kizer, still coming off the bench, was a huge factor in turning the tide in the Terps' favor late in the game. She hounded Michigan on the defensive end, and helped Maryland get some much needed stops.

Tianna Hawkins played 37 minutes and made every one of them count! T-Hawk scored 10 points and added a game-high 16 boards. These double-doubles are becoming a habit for Maryland's (mostly unheralded) junior post player. Without T-Hawk's steady, determined presence, Maryland would never have been able to dominate the Wolverines on the boards the way they did (47-24).

Laurin Mincy (11 points) also finished in double figures tonight. And Anjale Barrett continued to dish out generous post-Thanksgiving servings to her teammates, notching 8 assists.

The BCs also want to give the Maryland crowd a shout-out tonight. With about five minutes left in the game, and the two teams in a virtual dead-heat, the 4,000 or so Terps fans in the house raised the decibel level markedly . . . and sustained the noise practically to the final buzzer. The Wolverines, at times, seemed visibly rattled by the noise. Their shots stopped falling. The Terps racheted up the defensive pressure and went on a run . . . finally putting the game away, 74-65.

The BCs are completely hoarse. Late in the game, we looked over and noticed that the gentleman next to us was wearing earplugs. Now we're not sure that was related to our screaming, but we wouldn't bet against it either. Our section gets pretty loud and "involved!"

So, a good night for the Terps. But a not-so-good night for the ACC. The Tarheels got embarrassed in (not-so) Happy Valley, where they lost to Penn State, 103-84. Florida State lost an OT heartbreaker (on the road) to #18 ranked Ohio State, 78-75. Meanwhile, Boston College, NC State and Virginia Tech also fell to their Big Ten opponents.

At the end of Day 1, with the Big Ten holding a 5-2 edge, we hate to admit it, but tomorrow the BCs will be rooting for duke, as well as Miami, Wake Forest, UVA and Clemson. To win outright, the ACC needs to sweep all five Day 2 games. A tall task, but not impossible.