Yes, it's that time of year again. The Big Ten and the ACC square off in their annual competition of conferences, which at one point made sense -- these were the two best conferences in the country, and they matched themselves up and got some great ratings and everyone was happy. Now? Not so happy. At least not the Big Ten, because the conference always, always loses.

One Big Ten team has a winning record in the Challenge -- Michigan State. The rest:

Michigan Wolverines 3-4
Indiana Hoosiers 3-4
Illinois Fighting Illini 3-6
Wisconsin Badgers 3-6
Minnesota Golden Gophers 3-6
Ohio State Buckeyes 2-5
Purdue Boilermakers 2-5
Iowa Hawkeyes 2-5
Penn State Nittany Lions 2-5
Northwestern Wildcats 2-7

Ugh. Comparatively, the ACC:

Duke Blue Devils 9-0
Wake Forest Demon Deacons 7-1
Clemson Tigers 7-2
Florida State Seminoles 6-3
Maryland Terrapins 6-3
Virginia Cavaliers 5-3
NC State Wolfpack 5-4
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 4-5
North Carolina Tar Heels 4-5

Eesh. Even Florida State, a perennial (though not so much any more) loser in the ACC, has managed a winning record in the Challenge, which is more than we can say for Indiana. As Mike DeCourcy notes in his Monday column, part of that is because of ratings: ESPN wants teams like Indiana and Illinois and Michigan to play marquee ACC teams and boost ratings, even if the games aren't a fair matchup per se. Which is just horrible and unfair and evil, sure. But just because the competition is arbitrary or ratings-based doesn't mean the Big Ten is any better than its record in would suggest. And its record suggests that it is not very good.

This year, that just might change. Of the 11 games, the Big Ten has a puncher's change at winning seven of them, and that's not counting the upset potential of UNC-Michigan State at Ford Field. So maybe Big Ten fans will have something to get excited about this year -- a competitive showing in a basically meaningless preseason tournament. Woo-hoo!

Failing that, I'm sure some NCAA bids would be nice. But let's not get carried away here.

Related: Big Ten Basketball, ACC Basketball