April 17, 2007

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest and Iowa, which have not met on the basketball hardwood since the 1993 NCAA Tournament, will kick off the annual 11-game Big Ten/ACC Challenge Nov. 26 in Iowa City.

The Deacon-Hawkeye match-up, televised by ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m., will be the only Challenge game played Nov. 26. The remaining 10 games will be played on the evenings of Nov. 27th and Nov. 28th.

Wake Forest, which did not play in the Challenge last season for the first time since the event began in 1999, has enjoyed success in the Challenge. The Demon Deacons are 6-1 all-time in the Challenge, including a 4-0 record at home and a 2-1 mark on the road. The last time Wake played in the event -- Nov. 29, 2005 -- the Deacons beat Wisconsin in Winston-Salem, 91-88.

Iowa is 2-4 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge including a perfect 2-0 mark at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Last November the Hawkeyes lost at Virginia Tech, 69-65.

Wake Forest holds a 2-0 all-time series record against Iowa. The Deacons and Hawkeyes have not met since the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament in Nashville -- an 84-78 WFU victory. The only other meeting in the series came in the second round of the Far West Classic in Portland on Dec. 28, 1974. Wake Forest won that contest, 92-71.

Iowa will be under the direction of new coach Todd Lickliter, who replaced Steve Alford after previously serving six seasons as the head coach at Butler. Lickliter was the NABC National Coach of the Year in 2007 after leading Butler to a 29-6 record.

The Hawkeyes finished 17-14 last season, including a 9-7 mark and a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten. Eight letterwinners and four starters return for Iowa, which loses Adam Haluska, its leading scorer. Forward Tyler Smith, a freshman last season, will be top returning scorer (14.9) and rebounder (4.9).

The Deacons, 15-16 overall and 5-11 in the ACC last season, also return eight letterwinners and four starters. Wake Forest loses center Kyle Visser, who led the team in scoring and rebounding. Ishmael Smith, a freshman last season, is the leading returning scorer at 8.7 points per game. Smith led the ACC in assists last season as a rookie.

Matchups for the ninth annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge were announced today the ESPN and both conferences. Every game in the Challenge will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The ACC has won the Commissioner's Cup eight consecutive years, winning 48 of the 75 games played in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

For the third consecutive year, the event will feature 11 games (an increase from nine in the six previous years) from 11 different college campuses and include two telecasts on ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the remaining nine games. This year's event will be played on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after Thanksgiving (November 26-28).

This year's schedule includes the first-ever meeting between Wisconsin and Duke, a rematch of last year's Ohio State-North Carolina Challenge game and first-ever Challenge showdowns -- Georgia Tech-Indiana, Wake Forest-Iowa, Boston College-Michigan, N.C. State-Michigan State and Virginia Tech-Penn State.

2007 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule (All Times ET)

Monday, Nov. 26 7:00 p.m. ESPN2 Wake Forest at Iowa

Tuesday, Nov. 27 7:00 p.m. ESPN Georgia Tech at Indiana 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Minnesota at Florida State 8:00 p.m. ESPNU Northwestern at Virginia 9:00 p.m. ESPN Wisconsin at Duke 9:30 p.m. ESPN2 Purdue at Clemson

Wednesday, Nov. 28 7:00 p.m. ESPN N.C. State at Michigan State 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Illinois at Maryland 8:00 p.m. ESPNU Boston College at Michigan 9:00 p.m. ESPN North Carolina at Ohio State 9:30 p.m. ESPN2 Virginia Tech at Penn State

Results by Team ACC H R N W-L Clemson 3-0 3-2 0-0 6-2 Duke 2-0 2-0 4-0 8-0 Florida State 3-1 2-2 0-0 5-3 Georgia Tech 3-0 1-3 0-1 4-4 Maryland 3-0 1-1 1-2 5-3 Miami 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-2 North Carolina 1-3 1-2 1-0 3-5 NC State 4-0 1-3 0-0 5-3 Virginia 3-0 1-3 0-0 4-3 Virginia Tech 1-0 0-1 0-0 1-1 Wake Forest 4-0 2-1 0-0 6-1

Big Ten H R N W-L Illinois 2-1 1-1 0-3 3-5 Indiana 0-2 1-2 1-0 2-4 Iowa 2-0 0-2 0-2 2-4 Michigan 2-1 0-2 1-0 3-3 Michigan State 3-1 1-2 0-0 4-3 Minnesota 2-2 1-3 0-0 3-5 Northwestern 2-2 0-4 0-0 2-6 Ohio State 2-1 0-2 0-1 2-4 Penn State 1-2 0-3 0-0 1-5 Purdue 2-1 0-3 0-0 2-4 Wisconsin 2-1 0-4 1-0 3-5

2007 Challenge highlights: - Duke (8-0) is the only undefeated team in Challenge play. - The ACC (.642) and the Big Ten (.616) are the two winningest conferences in NCAA Tournament history. - First-Ever Meeting: ESPN will televise the first-ever meeting between traditional programs Wisconsin and Duke. Duke has won its previous eight Challenge games. - Challenge Rematches: Ohio State, a participant in the 2007 National Championship game, will play North Carolina, an Elite Eight team in the 2007 Tournament, in a rematch of last year's Challenge game, won by North Carolina 98-89. Another rematch from last year will pit Illinois at Maryland. Last year, Maryland won 72-66 and also defeated Illinois 76-63 in the 2001 Challenge. - Unfamiliar Opponent: Georgia Tech and Indiana's first Challenge matchup will also mark the first time the teams have met since 1969, an 87-65 Georgia Tech victory. - ESPNU Televises Two Games: For the third consecutive year, ESPNU will televise two games, both at 8 p.m.: Northwestern at Virginia Tuesday, Nov. 27 and Boston College at Michigan Wednesday, Nov. 28. - Since 2000, these two conferences have combined to make 14 Final Four appearances and captured four of the last eight 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.