Virginia To Play Minnesota In ACC/Big Ten Challenge
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CHARLOTTESVILLEThe Virginia men’s basketball team will play at Minnesota on Dec. 2 in the 10th ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
This is the third meeting between Virginia and Minnesota in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Cavaliers lost at Minnesota (74-62) in the first Challenge during the 1999-2000 season and defeated the Golden Gophers (86-78) at University Hall during the 2003-04 season.
UVa defeated Northwestern 94-52 at John Paul Jones Arena in last year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Cavaliers have a 5-3 record in the Challenge.
The 2008 ACC/Big Ten Challenge is scheduled for Dec. 1-3 and features 11 games.
Other games scheduled for Dec. 2 include Duke at Purdue, Clemson at Illinois, Ohio State at Miami and Iowa at Boston College.
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge opens with Wisconsin playing at Virginia Tech on Dec. 1. Games scheduled for Dec. 3 include North Carolina vs. Michigan State (at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.), Indiana at Wake Forest, Michigan at Maryland, Florida State at Northwestern and Penn State at Georgia Tech.
Starting times and television networks for this year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge games have not yet been determined. Two games will be televised on ESPNU with ESPN and ESPN2 combining to televise the remaining nine games.
The ACC has won the Commissioner’s Cup the nine previous years of the Challenge. The ACC won eight of the 11 games last season.
After losing at Minnesota in the first ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the Cavaliers defeated Purdue (98-79) at University Hall during the 2000-01 season.
Virginia played Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge during the 2001-02 season, but the game was halted with 15:04 left in the contest due to wet floor conditions at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va. The unseasonably warm temperature (70 degrees) combined with the ice surface under the playing court produced condensation on the court causing slippery conditions that forced the game to be halted. UVa led 31-28 when play was stopped.
The Cavaliers lost at Michigan State (82-75) during the 2002-03 season, defeated Minnesota (86-78) at University Hall in 2003-04, won at Northwestern (48-44) during the 2004-05 season, defeated Northwestern at home (72-57) in the 2005-06 season and lost at Purdue (61-59) in 2006-07.