University of Minnesota Athletics
MBB: Big Ten/ACC Challenge Matchups Announced
6/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota will travel to Maryland on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. The game will be shown on ESPN2. The two schools have not faced each other since 1961. The Terrapins hold a 2-0 advantage in the series. Maryland won in Minneapolis in 1960, 64-53 and in College Park, Md., in 1961, 75-64. Minnesota holds a 3-3 record in the Challenge.
This year’s schedule features a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament championship pitting Illinois at North Carolina on Tuesday, November 29 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Since 2000, these two conferences have combined to make 13 Final Four appearances and captured four of the last six NCAA Championships. In addition, the ACC and Big Ten rank either first or second in all-time NCAA Tournament bids, victories and Final Four appearances.
2005 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule (ALL TIMES ET)
Monday, Nov. 28
7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Virginia Tech at Ohio State
Tuesday, Nov. 29
7 p.m. ESPN Wisconsin at Wake Forest
7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Purdue at Florida State
8 p.m. ESPNU Clemson at Penn State
9 p.m. ESPN Illinois at North Carolina
9:30 p.m. ESPN2 Miami at Michigan
Wednesday, Nov. 30
7 p.m. ESPN Georgia Tech at Michigan State
7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Minnesota at Maryland
8 p.m. ESPNU Northwestern at Virginia
9 p.m. ESPN Duke at Indiana
9:30 p.m. ESPN2 N.C. State at Iowa
2005 Challenge highlights:
Three Final Four Teams in Action: North Carolina, Illinois and Michigan State -- three of last year’s Final Four teams -- will be in action. In addition to the rematch of last year’s championship game between Illinois and North Carolina (Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. on ESPN), Michigan State will host Georgia Tech, a 2004 championship game participant (Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. on ESPN).
Top Programs in Competition:
Five of the top 10 teams in last year’s final ESPN/USA Today rankings and seven of the top 25 will compete in the Challenge -- #1 North Carolina, #2 Illinois, #4 Michigan State, #7 Duke, #10 Wisconsin, #11 Wake Forest and #22 N.C. State. Perennial Powers Meet: College basketball tradition-rich programs Duke and Indiana will meet in Bloomington, Ind., on ESPN Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. The Hoosiers rank third all-time with five national titles, while the Blue Devils rank fifth with three. New Teams to the Challenge: This year’s Challenge will include two new teams with the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech from the ACC. Virginia Tech will tip off the 11-game event at Ohio State on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m., while Miami will visit Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 9:30 p.m. Both games will appear on ESPN2.
ESPNU Televises Two Additional Games:
The launch of ESPNU will provide fans with coverage of two additional Challenge games, both at 8 p.m.: Clemson at Penn State on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and Northwestern at Virginia Wednesday, Nov. 30. The ESPNU games will also be syndicated in the local markets of the competing teams and offered on ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN’s college basketball pay-per-view package.
Big Ten highlights include:
Returning to A Court Near You:
Another successful year is expected as 10 of the 15 2005 All-Big Ten selections return for the 2005-06 season. Returnees on the First and Second Team include 2005 Big Ten Player of the Year Dee Brown of Illinois, Iowa’s Greg Brunner, Michigan State’s Maurice Ager, Minnesota’s Vincent Grier, Ohio State’s Terence Dials and Purdue’s Carl Landry.
NCAA Tournament Success:
With Illinois and Michigan State advancing to the 2005 Final Four, the Conference has accumulated the most Final Four appearances with 39 (ACC-38) and boasts the second-most national titles (10) in college basketball history. The Pac-10 leads the nation with 15 titles. Since the inception of the NCAA Tournament in 1939, the Big Ten has recorded the most appearances of any conference in the Big Dance with 172 (ACC, 156) and has the second-most NCAA Tournament victories with 280 (ACC, 310).
Final Four Frenzy:
The Big Ten has sent at least two teams to the national semifinals on four occasions since 1992, the highest total among all conferences. The League also sent a pair of squads in 1992 (Indiana, Michigan) before pulling off the feat in back-to-back years for the first time in Big Ten history in 1999 (Michigan State, Ohio State) and 2000 (MSU, Wisconsin). Since 1992, only three conferences have sent a pair of teams to the Final Four - the Big 12 in 2002 (Oklahoma, Kansas) and 2003 (Kansas, Texas), the ACC in 2001 (Duke, Maryland) and 2004 (Duke, Georgia Tech) and the SEC in 1994 (Arkansas, Florida) and 1996 (Mississippi State, Kentucky).
Five Final Four Programs:
The Big Ten is the only conference since 1990 to advance five different programs to the Final Four. The ACC, Big 12 and SEC have each had four different schools reach the national semifinals over that time span, followed by the Pac-10 (3) and Big East (2). Michigan State leads the Big Ten with four appearances (1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005) and Indiana (1992 and 2002) has reached the national semifinals twice, while Illinois (2005), Ohio State (1999) and Wisconsin (2000) have each earned a Final Four spot in that time span.
2005 Postseason Success:
Big Ten squads racked up 12 NCAA Tournament wins in 2005, the most triumphs by the Conference since the 2000 event, when the League equaled its highest win total ever with a mark of 15-5 (matching the 15 triumphs in 1989). The Big Ten is the only conference to have produced double-digits wins in NCAA Championship play in four of the last seven tournaments (13-6 in 1999, 15-5 in 2000, 10-7 in 2001).
The Nation’s Best Fans:
Big Ten men’s basketball has once again attracted more fans than any other conference, while also leading the country in tournament attendance for the first time in the eight-year history of the event. The League topped the nation in total attendance for the 29th consecutive year, welcoming 2,255,332 fans through the turnstiles, while leading the way with an average attendance of 12,530 per game/session. In addition, the League led nationally for the first time with an average per session attendance of 21,850 at the 2005 Big Ten Tournament held at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The ACC, which had led the nation in average tournament attendance the last seven seasons, ranked second with 20,301 fans per session.
The 2005 Challenge will mark the first year of a six-year agreement (through 2010) between ESPN, the ACC and the Big Ten to continue the annual men’s college basketball inter-conference Challenge. ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage of the 2004 Big Ten/ACC Challenge experienced significant audience growth over the 2003 event. ESPN’s four telecasts in 2004 averaged a 1.6 rating and 1,423,000 households for increases of 33% (vs. 1.2) and 30% (vs. 1,094,000) over the four games in 2003. ESPN2’s five matchups averaged a 0.6 rating and 495,000 households for increases of 50% (vs. 0.4) and 35% (vs. 365,000) over 2003’s five telecasts. In addition, 2004’s coverage included ESPN’s highest-rated and most- viewed Challenge telecast ever: North Carolina at Indiana with a 2.0 average rating and 1,749,000 households.
