GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) — For the 13th consecutive season, two of the nation’s premier women’s basketball conferences will square off for hardwood bragging rights, as the matchups for the Big Ten/Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Basketball Challenge were announced Tuesday. The annual challenge, which is scheduled to continue through the 2026-27 season, offers 14 high-quality matchups for the sixth consecutive season.
The Challenge takes place over two days in early December, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 4, with five matchups as ACC schools Miami and Notre Dame play host to Big Ten programs, while Boston College, Clemson and Duke will travel to Big Ten sites. The following night (Thursday, Dec. 5), features the remaining nine games of the Challenge as Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia Tech will serve as the ACC host schools, while Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia will play at Big Ten sites.
Game times, as well as network coverage for the 2019 Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge will be announced at a later date. All Big Ten home games in this year’s Challenge will appear on either BTN, ESPN, ESPN2 or BTN Plus, while ACC home games will be broadcast on either ACC Network, ESPN, ESPN2 or ACC Network Extra.
Nine teams from the two conferences appear in ESPN’s 2019-20 Way-Too-Early Top 25, including five from the ACC – No. 10 Syracuse, No. 11 Florida State, No. 14 Louisville, No. 17 Notre Dame and No. 25 NC State. Maryland leads the way for the Big Ten at No. 4 in the listing followed by No. 13 Michigan State, No. 18 Minnesota and No. 21 Michigan.
Last year’s Challenge once again proved to be among the most competitive in the event’s history, with the ACC edging the Big Ten, 8-6. Five of last year’s games were decided by single digits (and two others by a combined 11 points), including a pair of one-possession games and the first overtime games since 2016.
The title was the ninth in league history as the ACC, which owns a 9-0-3 advantage in the Challenge. Additionally, it was the third consecutive outright title for the ACC, as the league owns an 89-61 advantage against the Big Ten in Challenge games.
The Big Ten and ACC offices collaborate to determine the Challenge schedule each season. In addition, the official title of the Challenge rotates each year. The 2019 event is referred to as the Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge and will continue to mirror the official title of the two conferences’ Challenge agreements for men's basketball and softball.
The ACC and Big Ten have been among the most competitive conferences on the national women’s basketball landscape for many years, with each conference sending nine schools to postseason play in 2018-19. A record-tying eight ACC women’s basketball programs participated in the NCAA Tournament with Notre Dame finishing as the national runner-up, while the Big Ten had six schools qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
In the last six years, the ACC has had at least one team advance to the Final Four five times with Notre Dame winning the 2018 National Championship.
The complete schedule of home/away matchups can be found below.
2019 Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge
Wednesday, Dec. 4
Boston College at Northwestern
Clemson at Iowa
Duke at Nebraska
Indiana at Miami
Minnesota at Notre Dame
Thursday, Dec. 5
Michigan State at Florida State
Wisconsin at Georgia Tech
Louisville at Ohio State
Illinois at North Carolina
Maryland at NC State
Pitt at Penn State
Syracuse at Michigan
Virginia at Rutgers
Purdue at Virginia Tech
2018 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Results (ACC 8 - B1G 6)
Wednesday, Nov. 28
*Clemson 69, Illinois 67 (OT)
*Virginia Tech 67, Rutgers 51
Indiana 87, *Wake Forest 73
Duke 60, *Wisconsin 53
*Michigan State 91, Virginia 66
Thursday, Nov. 29
*Notre Dame 105, Iowa 71
*Louisville 85, Nebraska 68
*Maryland 67, Georgia Tech 54
*Florida State 87, Penn State 58
Pitt 52, *Northwestern 49
*Ohio State 76, North Carolina 69
*Purdue 74, Miami 63
*Minnesota 72, Syracuse 68
*NC State 66, Michigan 55
*Indicates host school