Purdue to host Boston College in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
From Purdue Athletics, the Big Ten and the ACC:
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue men’s basketball team will host Boston College on Wednesday, Dec. 4, as part of the 15th-annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. ESPN announced the lineup on Wednesday in a joint release with both conferences.
The Boilermakers won at Clemson in last year’s event to bring their Challenge winning streak to four games and even their all-time Challenge record at 6-6. The Big Ten claimed its fourth-consecutive Commissioner’s Cup in 2012 by way of a 6-6 tie.
Purdue has won both previous meetings with Boston College, each coming on a neutral floor. The Boilers scored an 82-54 win in Honolulu on Dec. 28, 1978, and claimed a 71-64 victory at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 26, 2008, behind a 19-point effort from then-sophomore E’Twaun Moore.
Game times and ESPN platform designation will be determined and announced at a later date. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 12 games of the two-day event, with all games also set to be available via WatchESPN.
The Boilermakers return four starters and four of their top five scorers from a year ago. Led by rising seniors Terone Johnson and Travis Carroll, Purdue will welcome three true freshmen to campus to join a talented young core that includes 2013 Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection A.J. Hammons and starters Rapheal Davis and Ronnie Johnson.
The Dec. 3-4 event will be highlighted by eight teams in an ESPN.com early preseason top 25, including six of the top 11 teams: No. 3 Michigan State, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 20 Indiana and No. 25 Iowa. Three of the games will pit ranked teams against each other: No. 9 Michigan at No. 5 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina at No. 3 Michigan State and No. 20 Indiana at No. 8 Syracuse.
ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 12 games of the two-day event matching top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioners Cup. All 12 games will also be available via WatchESPN.
All 12 Big Ten teams and 12 of the 15 ACC teams will participate in the 2013 Challenge, including the three newest ACC members Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Clemson, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest will not play in the 2013 event.
The ACC and Big Ten split last year’s Challenge with six wins each. In the event of a tie, the Commissioner’s Cup remains with the conference that won the previous year, which was the Big Ten in 2011. The ACC holds a 10-3-1 Challenge record, winning the first 10 events (1999-2008) while the Big Ten won the next three (2009-2011).
2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge schedule (times and networks are to be determined):
| Date | Game |
| Tue, Dec 3 | Indiana at Syracuse |
| Michigan at Duke | |
| Notre Dame at Iowa | |
| Florida State at Minnesota | |
| Penn State at Pittsburgh | |
| Illinois at Georgia Tech | |
| Wed, Dec 4 | North Carolina at Michigan State |
| Maryland at Ohio State | |
| Miami at Nebraska | |
| Wisconsin at Virginia | |
| Boston College at Purdue | |
| Northwestern at NC State |
