Sure, it might not have quite the buzz as Tuesday night's games in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

There's no national title game rematch. No Duke. No North Carolina. No Illinois on the docket Wednesday night. But here's a little secret for you: If you can only pick one night to steal the remote from your (wife, girlfriend, husband, dog, whatever), pick Wednesday night.

	After getting past Georgia, Kevin Burleson and the Gophers take aim at Georgia Tech in the Challenge.

No, we're not crazy.

Why? Wednesday night's games in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge are simply more meaningful. They could have impact that lingers all the way to March. While watching the Hoosiers and the Terps battle again is interesting, it's a game that, to a certain extent, lacks drama. After all, neither team needs the win to improve its chances at simply reaching the NCAA Tournament. The same goes for the Blue Devils and likely the resurgent Tar Heels. Sure all of those teams would like to win, it certainly isn't mandatory.

That isn't necessarily the case in any of Wednesday night's games. The four games -- Virginia at Michigan State; Georgia Tech at Minnesota; Wake Forest at Wisconsin and Northwestern at North Carolina State -- can be summed up nicely as the battle of teams on the way up. Come March the winners of all the games will have a non-conference victory with a gold foil star next to it. It's a victory that will help in terms of RPI and in terms of perception.

Let's put it a different way. Watching Tuesday's games is like rolling to the Megaplex and plunking down eight bucks to watch James Bond blow stuff up in Die Another Day. Wednesday night is like having gone to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding eight weeks ago before any of your buddies had heard of it. It's a night where you might just see the next hot team.

OK, so Michigan State doesn't completely fit into that mold, but the rest of it fits.

Consider:

Virginia at Michigan State
The Cavaliers have already dispatched Kentucky in this young season. Now can Pete Gillen's team go on the road and win at Michigan State's Breslin Center -- one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten?

Can Virginia team beat a Michigan State team that really needs a victory after consecutive losses to Villanova and Oklahoma State in the Great Alaska Shootout? If that happens, maybe Virginia, a team that lost four starters from a year ago, really is an upper-division team in the ACC.

What to look for: Who's going to win the backcourt battle? At the Great Alaska Shootout, Michigan State's perimeter defense wasn't where Spartans coach Tom Izzo would like it. Villanova's Allan Ray and Gary Buchanan combined for 41 points. Oklahoma State's Melvin Sanders and Victor Williams combined for 42. In the Cavaliers upset of Kentucky, Virginia guards Todd Billet and Devin Smith each scored 15 points. Will they be the next guard duo to carve the Spartans?

Georgia Tech at Minnesota
This game might be the most interesting of the nine in the Challenge because both teams are essentially the in the same position. Both were teams that spent last March in the National Invitation Tournament when they hoped to be in the NCAAs. Both are teams with greater expectations for this season. Both already have a victory over Georgia. But both the Gophers and the Yellow Jackets are teams that could use a little more confidence.

As much as they think they are legitimate contenders, they still need to prove that's reality. The winner of this game, however, will have a quality non-conference victory that could increase confidence and open the eyes of the selection committee.

What to look for: Can the Gophers handle Georgia Tech's pressure? Minnesota's ball-handling is improved with point guard Kevin Burleson has 12 assists and two turnovers this season. The Gophers also handled Georgia's pressure well down the stretch before Michael Bauer hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Wake Forest at Wisconsin
This might be the most difficult non-conference test for a young Demon Deacons team that has had to deal with an injury to senior guard Josh Howard. Behind freshman big man Eric Williams, Wake Forest defeated Temple 83-76 on Sunday night. Any victory over John Chaney's Owls builds confidence, but a victory over the Badgers could be bigger. It would be a road victory over a top 25 team and one that shared the Big Ten title last season.

If Wake Forest is going to be a NCAA Tournament team, it's going to have to be able to win some games on the road. It sounds simple, but the sooner a team learns how to do it, the better. For a Badgers team that seems underrated by the pollsters, a victory over the Demon Deacons would be just one more reason to believe that a team that might not be the biggest, might not be the fastest and might not be the strongest, just might be a Big Ten contender.

What to look for: A potential Kirk Penney-Josh Howard matchup. Penney is the Badgers No. 1 option, Howard is Wake Forest's No. 1 defender. This might be the matchup that determines the winner.

Northwestern at N.C. State
This is a game that neither team really wants to play. With both teams running versions of the Princeton offense, the teams are almost playing themselves. Both teams will be making backdoor cuts to the basket, both will try to keep the score down. Imagine what it might be like if there wasn't a shot clock.

For the Wolfpack, the game against the Wildcats will be its most difficult game to date. It will also be the first true test of how well N.C. State plays without injured sophomore guard Illian Evtimov. Under Bill Carmody, Northwestern is much improved and if things fall right could sneak into the Big Ten's first division and onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. If that happens, the Wildcats are going to need this victory. Simply put, Northwestern's non-league schedule is pretty soft. While last weekend's victory at Kansas State was nice, Northwestern needs a good RPI win to balance out its loss to IUPUI.

What to look for: This is a game for hoops purists and one that will be played primarily below the rim. The winner of this game is probably the team that makes the best adjustments as there aren't going to be any major surprises.

Jeff Shelman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (www.startribune.com) is a regular contributor to ESPN.com