June 9, 2004

Wake Forest and Illinois, two teams likely to be in the top 15 of most preseason college basketball polls, meet Dec. 1 in Champaign as part of the sixth annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The complete pairings were released today by both league offices.

Wake Forest has never lost in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, posting an unblemished 5-0 record. Last season the Demon Deacons beat Indiana, 100-67, in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest has also won ACC/Big Ten Challenge games at Wisconsin (2002-03 season), vs. Minnesota (2001-02), at Michigan (2000-01) and vs. Wisconsin (1999-00). The Deacons join Duke as the only teams from either league to maintain unbeaten records in the Challenge.

Illinois, 26-7 last season, was ranked 13th in the final Associated Press poll of 2004. Wake Forest, 21-10 last season, was ranked 17th. Both teams advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.

Both the Demon Deacons (Taron Downey, Justin Gray and Chris Paul) and Fighting Illini (Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head) often use a three-guard lineup. In an early preseason poll posted by the Charlotte Observer, Illinois is ranked No. 2 and Wake Forest No. 4.

The Dec. 1 meeting at Illinois' Assembly Hall (16,500), televised by ESPN, will mark just the second meeting ever between the two teams. Wake Forest won the only previous meeting, 75-73 in overtime, on Nov. 10, 1998 as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Since 2000, the two conferences have combined to make 10 Final Four appearances, capturing three of the last five 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.

The ACC won seven of nine Challenge games last year, capturing the Commissioner's Cup for the fifth consecutive season.

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge kicks off Nov. 29 when Purdue plays at NC State. On Nov. 30, Michigan plays at Georgia Tech, Florida State at Minnesota, Michigan State at Duke and Maryland at Wisconsin. Action on Dec. 1 begins with the Wake Forest/Illinois game at 7 p.m., followed by Ohio State at Clemson, North Carolina at Indiana and Virginia at Northwestern.