The Big Ten's hope to actually make the Big Ten/ACC Challenge a legit challenge took a body blow late Tuesday night when Michigan State lost at North Carolina. Asking either Indiana or Iowa to win was a tall order, so it was up to the Spartans to keep the league on the winning side of the ledger. Instead, with MSU's third loss in 12 months to its nemesis, the Big Ten went from up 3-0 to a 3-3 stalemate.

But the conference still has a chance to win this thing for the first time since 1999. The critical games are Boston College at Michigan, Minnesota at Miami and Florida State at Ohio State. Wisconsin at home will be tough, but asking the Badgers to beat Duke is a tall order. Ditto Illinois -- the young Illini are still trying to regroup after losing to Utah and Bradley and winning at Clemson won't exactly be a cakewalk.

So that leaves it up to the Wolverines, Gophers and Buckeyes. Michigan and Minnesota both have received an early comeuppance, tumbling from their early-season rankings after disappointing losses. The Wolverines, who dropped two to Marquette and Alabama, need to be more than the Manny Harris show, especially against a BC team that is much better than people think.

The Gophers, in the meantime, looked great upsetting Butler, but struggled offensively against Portland and Texas A&M. Miami can score -- the Hurricanes put up 85 in their upset of South Carolina in the Charleston Classic - - so Tubby's boys will need to get the offense out of the 60s to win.

Finally, Ohio State is playing much better after its disappointing half against North Carolina two weeks ago. Double-double machine Evan Turner, David Lighty and Jon Diebler are making for a potent attack but the Buckeyes can't afford to get fat and happy at home. Florida State was the surprise winner at the Old Spice Classic, with Chris Singleton earning tourney MVP honors there.

The blueprint to winning this challenge exists for the Big Ten.

The question is: For once, can the league follow it?