DURHAM, N.C. – The ACC and the Big Ten Conference announced on Wednesday the matchups for the 2016 ACC/Big Ten Women's Basketball Challenge with Duke traveling to Rutgers Thursday, Dec. 1. This year's Challenge will mark the 10th straight year of the event that pits two perennial strong conferences against each other.
All 14 Big Ten teams and 14 of the 15 ACC teams will participate in the 2016 Challenge. This year's event will be played in a two-day format beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 30.
The six-game slate on Nov. 30 includes home games for Syracuse (vs. Michigan State), Pittsburgh (vs. Purdue) and Boston College (vs. Penn State), while Notre Dame (at Iowa), Florida State (at Minnesota) and Wake Forest (at Illinois) will be on the road. On Thursday, Dec. 1, NC State (vs. Indiana), Virginia Tech (vs. Nebraska), Louisville (vs. Maryland) and Georgia Tech (vs. Michigan) will host Big Ten opponents, and Duke (at Rutgers), North Carolina (at Wisconsin), Virginia (at Northwestern) and Miami (at Ohio State) visit their inter-conference foes.
Duke and Rutgers will meet for the sixth time in school history. The Blue Devils hold a 3-2 advantage against Rutgers and will hit the hardwood for the first time since 2007. In games played in New Jersey, the Blue Devils and Scarlet Knights hold a 1-1 mark.
A year ago, the ACC and the Big Ten tied in the Challenge, each winning seven games, to mark the second straight Challenge tie and only third in Challenge history. The ACC owns a 62-46 edge over the Big Ten in Challenge games and six Challenge titles.
The ACC and Big Ten conference offices determine the schedule each season, and the official title of the Challenge rotates each year. The 2016 event will be referred to as the ACC/Big Ten Women's Basketball Challenge and will continue to mirror the official title of the two conferences' Challenge agreement for men's basketball.
The ACC and the Big Ten have long been among the most competitive conferences on the women's basketball scene. Since 1982, current members of the ACC (21) and the Big Ten (14) have combined for 35 berths in the Final Four and have combined for 430 total appearances in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
Last season, the ACC sent nine teams to postseason play, including five teams in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. Syracuse won five straight tournament games to advance the NCAA title game for the first time in program history. The Big Ten had 11 teams in postseason play, including five in the NCAA Tournament.
Game times, as well as television coverage, will be announced at a later date.
2016 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule Wednesday, Nov. 30Michigan State at Syracuse
Notre Dame at Iowa
Florida State at Minnesota
Purdue at Pittsburgh
Wake Forest at Illinois
Penn State at Boston College
Thursday, Dec. 1Indiana at NC State
Nebraska at Virginia Tech
Duke at Rutgers
Maryland at Louisville
North Carolina at Wisconsin
Michigan at Georgia Tech
Virginia at Northwestern
Miami at Ohio State
#GoDuke
#ACC
