The Virginia men’s basketball team will host Wisconsin in the 15th ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The game will mark the second consecutive meeting between Virginia and Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and the fourth meeting overall. The Cavaliers defeated Wisconsin, 60-54, last season in Madison and own a 2-1 advantage over the Badgers in the all-time series. Wisconsin defeated Virginia, 66-56, in the 1999 Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. The only other meeting between the two teams came in the Milwaukee Classic during the 1974-75 season when Virginia won 86-78 in Milwaukee, Wis.
Wisconsin finished the 2012-13 season with a 23-12 record and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 15th consecutive season. Virginia posted a 23-12 record and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.
The Cavaliers have an 8-5 record in the Challenge, while Wisconsin is 6-8. Virginia has won three consecutive games in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and sports a 5-1 home record in the Challenge.
Dick Bennett, the father of Virginia head coach Tony Bennett, is a former head coach at Wisconsin. Tony Bennett served on the staffs of his father, Brad Soderberg and current Badger head coach Bo Ryan during four years at Wisconsin.
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, Pitt and Syracuse. Clemson, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest will not play in the 2013 event.The 2013 ACC/Big Ten Challenge is scheduled for Dec. 3-4. The games on Dec. 3 include Florida State at Minnesota, Illinois at Georgia Tech, Indiana at Syracuse, Michigan at Duke, Notre Dame at Iowa and Penn State at Pitt. The other games on Dec. 4 in addition to Virginia-Wisconsin include Boston College at Purdue, Maryland at Ohio State, Miami at Nebraska, North Carolina at Michigan State and Northwestern at NC State.
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. Starting times for the 12 games have yet to be determined.
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).
Virginia’s ACC/Big 10 Challenge Results
1999-2000 – Lost 74-62 at Minnesota 2000-01 – Won 98-79 over Purdue in Charlottesville 2001-02 – Game with Michigan State halted because of wet floor conditions at the Richmond Coliseum 2002-03 – Lost at Michigan State 82-75 2003-04 – Won 86-78 over Minnesota in Charlottesville 2004-05 – Won at Northwestern 48-44 2005-06 – Won 72-57 over Northwestern in Charlottesville 2006-07 – Lost at Purdue 61-59 2007-08 – Won 94-52 over Northwestern in Charlottesville 2008-09 – Lost at Minnesota 66-56 2009-10 – Lost to Penn State 69-66 in Charlottesville 2010-11 – Won 87-79 at Minnesota 2011-12 – Won 70-58 over Michigan in Charlottesville 2012-13 – Won 60-54 at Wisconsin
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Chris Graham
