Each weekday, our college hoops experts discuss the biggest issues, trends and themes in the college basketball world.
1. When the dust settles, which conference will have won the Big Ten/ACC Challenge?
Andy Katz: The ACC will win it. I do like a few of the road Big Ten teams like Michigan and Northwestern as well as Michigan State at home. But overall the ACC is deeper and stronger. The toughest game to call is Pitt-Purdue. The overall strength and the home/road split favors the ACC. The ACC also has more potential Final Four and national title contenders. The Big Ten probably only has one -- Michigan State.
Jeff Goodman: The ACC is going take this one -- and it may not even be close. It's the better league this season, especially with Ohio State and Wisconsin taking significant dips. The ACC is the best overall league in America this season from top to bottom.
John Gasaway: I like the ACC's chances to win this thing outright (no tie) for the first time since December of 2008. The league's been more or less as good as advertised, while the Big Ten's overall strength has been hurt significantly by the early-season struggles of 2015 NCAA tournament teams like Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio State.
2. What is the most important matchup in Maryland/North Carolina?
Katz: The bigs. North Carolina has experience. Maryland has a mixture. Carolina has the potential to run out and finish better than the Terps. But Maryland has more stretch shooting up front. The guards may negate each other. The game could be won up front.
Goodman: I'll go with the matchup in the paint between the bigs. Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson vs. Robert Carter, Diamond Stone and Damonte Dodd. I think this game gets decided on the glass and in the paint.
Gasaway: The most important matchup is the Maryland offense vs. the UNC D inside the paint. The Terrapins have been unstoppable close to the basket, making 63 percent of their 2s this season. Meanwhile the Tar Heels have held opponents to just 41 percent shooting on the interior. Something has to give.
3. Which Miami should we expect to see more of this season: The version that beat Utah and Butler or the version that lost at home against Northeastern?
Katz: Northeastern beat Miami on a last-second play. The Huskies are a solid squad that will compete for a top spot in the CAA. I don't think Miami should panic. Expect the Hurricanes to win in Lincoln. Miami has too much length, experience and physical toughness for the Huskers.
Goodman: The 'Canes will likely be up and down this season, much like they were a year ago. However, that will depend largely on whether Angel Rodriguez can display more consistency than he showed a year ago. I think it's a team that finished somewhere in the 4-6 range in the ACC at the end of the day.
Gasaway: We should definitely expect to see more of the Utah/Butler version of Miami. The Northeastern game was a shocker (kind of like the Canes' lopsided loss at home last season to Eastern Kentucky), but Sheldon McClellan's off to an incredible start and Miami's very hard to stop on offense.