North Carolina and NC State will be on the road and Duke will be at home while Wake Forest has been left out of the party in this year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The schedule for the 22nd annual showdown between the nation’s two best basketball conferences will be played on Tuesday, Dec. 8 and Wednesday, Dec. 9. All 14 games in the challenge will be televised on the ESPN family of networks with game times announced at a later date.
The Tar Heels and Blue Devils will highlight the first night of action, with UNC playing at Iowa and Duke taking on Illinois at Cameron Indoor Stadium. NC State will play at Michigan on Day 2.
Because the ACC has 15 teams compared to only 14 in the Big Ten, one conference squad can’t take part in the Challenge. This season, the odd team out are the Deacons with first-year coach Steve Forbes.
This will be the second time UNC and Iowa have played in the annual event. The Hawkeyes won the first meeting, 87-74 in Chapel Hill on Dec. 9, 1989. The Tar Heels are 10-11 overall in the Challenge, 10-7 under Roy Williams.
The Blue Devils have won both previous meeting with the Illini in the Challenge, earning victories in Chicago in 1999 and Greensboro the following season in the first two years of the event. Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team is 19-2 against Big Ten opponents in the series, including a perfect 9-0 mark at home.
State, meanwhile, has lost three of the four previous games against Michigan played in the Challenge and is 8-12 overall. Coach Kevin Keatts, however, is 2-1, including a win against Wisconsin last year.
Since its inception, the ACC is 12-6-3 in the Challenge and 133-106 in Challenge games.
Here is the entire schedule for this year’s competition;
Tuesday, Dec. 8
Boston College at Minnesota
Illinois at Duke
North Carolina at Iowa
Ohio State at Notre Dame
Penn State at Virginia Tech
Purdue at Miami
Syracuse at Rutgers
Wednesday, Dec. 9
Georgia Tech at Nebraska
Indiana at Florida State
Louisville at Wisconsin
Maryland at Clemson
Michigan State at Virginia
NC State at Michigan
Pitt at Northwestern
