MN Gophers to Visit Wake Forest in 2014 ACC/B1G Challenge

The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team will travel to face Wake Forest as part of the 2014 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, as the full slate of games was announced today by the conferences. The Golden Gophers and the Demon Deacons will square off on Tuesday, December 2 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Game time and television broadcast information will be announced at a later date.

This will be the seventh meeting between the two teams in a series that dates back 60 years, with a 3-3 split of the prior matchups. Most recently, the Gophers topped the Deacons, 73-58, in the opening round of the 2006 National Invitation Tournament at Williams Arena.

Prior to that, Wake Forest defeated Minnesota, 85-79, at home in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in 2001. That was the only prior time the teams have met in the annual event. In overall series history, each team has gone 2-0 on its home court, while they split in consecutive years at the 1954 and 1955 Dixie Classic in Raleigh, N.C.

The Gophers are 7-8 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge after posting victories in their past three matchups. The ACC leads the series 10-3-2 after the 2012 and 2013 events ended in a 6-6 tie. This year’s challenge, newly expanded to 14 games featuring every conference school, will feature Big Ten newcomers Maryland and Rutgers along with new ACC member Louisville.

Wake Forest will host the Maroon and Gold in their first season under new head coach Danny Manning. The Demon Deacons return four starters and nine letterwinners from their 2013-14 squad.

Coming off the 2014 NIT championship and a school-record 25 wins, the Gophers will return four starters and eight letterwinners mixed with six newcomers as they take the court for the second year under head coach Richard Pitino.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 14 games of the three-day event matching top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioners Cup. All 14 games will also be available via WatchESPN.

2014 ACC/Big Ten Challenge (game times TBD)

 Monday, December 1^st

·         Nebraska at Florida State

·         Rutgers at Clemson

Tuesday, December 2^nd

·         Illinois at Miami

·         Minnesota at Wake Forest

·         NC State at Purdue

·         Ohio State at Louisville

·         Pittsburgh at Indiana

·         Syracuse at Michigan

Wednesday, December 3^rd

·         Duke at Wisconsin

·         Georgia Tech at Northwestern

·         Iowa at North Carolina

·         Michigan State at Notre Dame

·         Virginia at Maryland

·         Virginia Tech at Penn State