The full schedule for the 2019 ACC/Big Ten Challenge has been released, and there are a handful of truly tasty matchups for us to dive into.
The marquee game will feature a matchup of a pair of top five teams, as Duke will travel to take on Michigan State on Dec. 3rd in what may end up being the best game of the non-conference season. It will also be a rematch of last year’s battle in the Elite Eight, where the Spartans upset Duke to get to the Final Four.
Ohio State visiting North Carolina is probably the second-best game of the event, as the Tar Heels are a top 15 team and the Buckeyes will crack most preseason top 25 rankings. Michigan at Louisville could have been incredible, but with the Wolverines losing their top three scorers earlier than expected -- and then losing their coach to the Cleveland Cavaliers -- the shine has worn off of that matchup a bit. It would have been nice to see Maryland be the team to take on Louisville, as that would have given the event another battle between top ten teams, but the Terps will instead host Notre Dame.
Virginia at Purdue has some potential, as does Wisconsin at N.C. State, but beyond that, the rest of the matchups are fine.
Here is the full schedule:
Dec. 2nd
- Miami at Illinois
- Clemson at Minnesota
Dec. 3rd
- Michigan at Louisville
- Duke at Michigan State
- Iowa at Syracuse
- Florida State at Indiana
- Rutgers at Pitt
- Northwestern at Boston College
Dec. 4th
- Virginia at Purdue
- Ohio State at North Carolina
- Notre Dame at Maryland
- Wisconsin at N.C. State
- Nebraska at Georgia Tech
- Wake Forest at Penn State