The matchups for the 2019 Big Ten ACC Challenge, in its 21st year, are set and will be played across three days, beginning Monday, Dec. 2. The Challenge matches all 14 Big Ten teams against 14 ACC teams. Tip times and network assignments will be announced at a later date.
ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 14 games of the event, matching top college basketball programs playing for the Commissioner’s Cup. All games will also be available to stream via the ESPN app. News and highlights from the Challenge will be featured on ACC Network, which launches Aug. 22, 2019. For more information on ACC Network, visit www.GetACCN.com.
Since its inception, the ACC is 12-5-3 in the Challenge and 127-98 in Challenge games. The ACC has not lost the Challenge since 2015 (won the event in 2016 and 2017, and tied in 2018).
2019 Big Ten ACC Challenge highlights:
Two of the matchups are rematches from the 2019 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight with Michigan State hosting Duke on Dec. 3 and defending national champion Virginia traveling to Purdue on Dec. 4. The Blue Devils and Spartans have met four prior times in the Challenge, most recently in 2016, while the Cavaliers and Boilermakers last met in the Challenge in 2006.
Fourteen teams competed in the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship: Final Four teams Michigan State and Virginia (NCAA Champion), Elite Eight teams Duke and Purdue, Sweet 16 teams Florida State, Michigan and North Carolina, as well as early-round teams Iowa, Louisville, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio State, Syracuse and Wisconsin.
This year’s Challenge features eight games that will be first-time meetings in the event: Boston College-Northwestern, Florida State-Indiana, Georgia Tech-Nebraska, Iowa-Syracuse, Louisville-Michigan, Maryland-Notre Dame, Penn State-Wake Forest and Pitt-Rutgers.
Several other games are rematches from prior Challenges: North Carolina-Ohio State (2007), Miami-Illinois (2014), Clemson-Minnesota (2015) and Wisconsin-NC State (2018).
Seven of the top 15 teams in ESPN’s 2019-20 Way-Too-Early Top 25 are playing in the Challenge, including No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Louisville, No. 6 North Carolina and No. 14 Virginia from the ACC.
2019 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Schedule
Monday, December 2
Clemson at Minnesota
Miami at Illinois
Tuesday, December 3
Northwestern at Boston College
Duke at Michigan State
Florida State at Indiana
Michigan at Louisville
Rutgers at Pitt
Iowa at Syracuse
Wednesday, December 4
Nebraska at Georgia Tech
Ohio State at North Carolina
Wisconsin at NC State
Notre Dame at Maryland
Virginia at Purdue
Wake Forest at Penn State
ACC Basketball
The ACC has won three of the last five men’s basketball national championships – more than any other league (Virginia 2019, North Carolina 2017 and Duke 2015).
For the second time in the last three years, the ACC won the football and men’s basketball national titles in the same academic year.
The ACC is 74-35 (.679) in NCAA Tournament play over the last five seasons. The 74 wins are 24 more than any other conference. Over this five-year span, ACC teams are 68-29 (.701) against non-conference opposition as league teams have met head-to-head six times.
With its 15-6 mark in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the ACC has finished .500 or better in each of the last 32 tournaments. The Big Ten has the next longest active streak at 13.