DURHAM, N.C. – Duke will travel to Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, Nov. 29 to face Ohio State in the premier matchup of the 13th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. The Big Ten/ACC Challenge will be played Nov. 29 & 30 with all 12 games being shown on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
This year’s event – featuring top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioner’s Cup – will include 11 teams that played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament: Clemson, Duke, Florida State and North Carolina from the ACC and Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.
Duke (No. 5) and Ohio State (No. 3) both rank in the top 5 of ESPN.com’s 2011-12 Preseason Top 25, while North Carolina (No. 1), Wisconsin (No. 11), Florida State (No. 21) and Michigan (No. 23) are also ranked in the poll. Miami, Virginia and Michigan State are listed among a group of teams fighting for a spot in the preseason poll.
The ACC won the first 10 Challenges before falling by 6-to-5 margins in each of the last two seasons. Overall, the ACC has won 72 of the 119 games played in Challenge history with Duke leading the way with an 11-1 record. Boston College (6-0) is the only team with a higher winning percentage than the Blue Devils.
Duke, playing its third true road game in the last four years in the Challenge, is 3-1 all-time in Big Ten/ACC Challenge road games. The Blue Devils are 1-0 against Ohio State with a 91-76 win over the Buckeyes on Dec. 3, 2002 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Since 2000, the ACC (10) and the Big Ten (nine) have combined for 19 Final Four appearances and six national titles: Duke (2001 & 2010), North Carolina (2009 & 2005), Maryland (2002) and Michigan State (2000). The ACC leads in NCAA Tournament victories (355), NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.665), and Final Four appearances (44) while the Big Ten is first in Tournament appearances (203).
2011 Big Ten/ACC Challenge schedule - times and networks are to be determined
(Rankings refer to preseason top 25 by ESPN.com senior college basketball writer Andy Katz)
Tuesday, November 29
Miami at Purdue
Northwestern at Georgia Tech
Illinois at Maryland
No. 23 Michigan at Virginia
Clemson at Iowa
No. 5 Duke at No. 3 Ohio State
Wednesday, November 30
Indiana at N.C. State
Penn State at Boston College
No. 21 Florida State at Michigan State
Virginia Tech at Minnesota
Wake Forest at Nebraska
No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 1 North Carolina
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