Big Ten Talk with Mary-Rachel Dick: Reflecting on the Big Ten/ACC Challenge

December 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I am very pleased this afternoon to introduce a new regular MSF feature: Big Ten Talk with Mary-Rachel Dick.

Mary-Rachel, who made her debut post on MSF earlier this week, will be joining us on a regular basis to talk about the Big Ten.

And while there is still a football bowl season still to come, we decided to dive head first into basketball today on the heels of the Big Ten’s first ever win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

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Among the many topics that Mary-Rachel and I discussed today:

  • The importance of the Big Ten’s recent win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
  • What we can take, if anything, from Michigan State’s third loss in two seasons to North Carolina.
  • The growth of the Purdue basketball program since Matt Painter’s 9-win debut season in West Lafayette.
  • Mary-Rachel’s memories of covering Tom Crean’s introductory press conference in Bloomington.
  • Her picks Big Ten champ, MVP, and for most overrated and underrated team.

Oh, and I reminded her about our rule here at MSF: no mentioning this jackass by name.

Below is Mary-Rachel’s bio so that you know her background. And remember, you can listen to and subscribe to the MSF podcast on iTunes.

And to all my fellow IU fans out there, if you take one thing from the podcast, let it be this: remember that Purdue only won nine games in Matt Painter’s first season in West Lafayette, and he was in a much better situation than what Tom Crean stepped into last year. So while things seem pretty bleak right now, the right man with the right plan can get things turned around.
Hopefully Tom Crean is that man, and the fact that Mary-Rachel (a *gasp* Purdue fan!) thinks so certainly is encouraging.

About Mary-Rachel Dick

MR_Headshot_22Upon graduating from Purdue University in 2007, Mary-Rachel Dick began working as a reporter for Big Ten Network. For the last two years, she has been a part of the Network’s coverage of Big Ten men’s football and basketball.

Aside from her work with BTN, Mary-Rachel has also hosted ESPN and Voom HD’s 10 episode series “Sports and Muscle in Monterey” highlighting Russo and Steele’s collector car auctions. She also got to spend some time with Michael Phelps during the USA Swimming National Championships as the poolside reporter alongside Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines.

You can check out Mary-Rachel’s work at http://maryracheldick.com/.

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Filed Under: Big Ten Basketball, CBB Tagged With: Big Ten, Big Ten Talk, Big Ten/ACC Challenge, indiana hoosiers, Mary-Rachel Dick, matt painter, Michigan State Spartans, Purdue Boilermakers, tom crean
About Jerod Morris

A proud graduate of Indiana University, Jerod Morris founded Midwest Sports Fans in August of 2008 and has been its Managing Editor every day since. Follow him on Twitter (@JerodMorris) for MSF updates, sports discussion, and a compelling daily assortment of funny and interesting links.
In addition to his work at MSF, Jerod hosts the fast-growing Indiana basketball postgame show The Assembly Call and provides regular music recommendations at IndieChristmas.com. He also helped develop the Synthesis Managed WordPress Hosting platform on which MSF and all of his other sites are run.