June 30, 2005

As part of its 2005-06 schedule, the NC State men's basketball team will certainly have a tough road trip on tap in late November when it travels to Iowa for the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The game, which will be played on Wednesday, November 30, is slated to begin at 9:30 on ESPN2. The Wolfpack upped its record to 4-2 in the Challenge last season with a victory over Purdue. The Hawkeyes are 1-3 in the event. Both teams are coming off of NCAA seasons: The Pack's 21-14 record included an appearance in the Sweet 16, while Iowa earned its fifth straight tournament invitation, posting a 21-12 mark.

The new, expanded ACC-Big Ten Challenge college basketball event - increasing to 11 games from nine in the six previous years -- will include two telecasts on ESPNU, the new 24-hour college sports network. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the other nine games, marking the fourth consecutive year every game will be televised nationally.

The seventh annual event between the two conferences playing for the Commissioner's Cup will feature 11 games from 11 different college campuses the first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28-30).

Since 2000, these two conferences have combined to make 13 Final Four appearances and captured four of the last six 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.

2005 ACC/Big Ten Challenge (All Times ET)

Monday, Nov. 28
7:30 p.m.          ESPN2           Virginia Tech at Ohio State
Tuesday, Nov. 29
7:00 p.m.          ESPN             Wisconsin at Wake Forest
7:30 p.m.          ESPN2           Purdue at Florida State
8:00 p.m.          ESPNU          Clemson at Penn State
9:00 p.m.          ESPN             Illinois at North Carolina
9:30 p.m.          ESPN2           Miami at Michigan
Wednesday, November 30
7:00 p.m.          ESPN             Georgia Tech at Michigan State
7:30 p.m.          ESPN2           Minnesota at Maryland
8:00 p.m.          ESPNU          Northwestern at Virginia
9:00 p.m.          ESPN             Duke at Indiana
9:30 p.m.          ESPN2           N.C. State at Iowa

2005 Challenge highlights:

ESPNU Televises Two Additional Games:
The launch of ESPNU will provide fans with coverage of two additional Challenge games, both at 8 p.m.: Clemson at Penn State Tuesday, Nov. 29 and Northwestern at Virginia Wednesday, Nov. 30. The ESPNU games will also be syndicated in the local markets of the competing teams and offered on ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN's college basketball pay-per-view package.

Three Final Four Teams in Action:
North Carolina, Illinois and Michigan State -- three of last year's Final Four teams -- will be in action. In addition to the rematch of last year's championship game between Illinois and North Carolina (Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. on ESPN), Michigan State will host Georgia Tech, a 2004 championship game participant (Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. on ESPN).

Top Programs in Competition:
Five of the top 10 teams in last year's final ESPN/USA Today rankings and seven of the top 25 will compete in the Challenge -- #1 North Carolina, #2 Illinois, #4 Michigan State, #7 Duke, #10 Wisconsin, #11 Wake Forest and #22 N.C. State.

Perennial Powers Meet:
College basketball tradition-rich programs Duke and Indiana will meet in Bloomington, Ind. on ESPN Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. The Hoosiers rank third all-time with five national titles, while the Blue Devils rank fifth with three.

New Teams to the Challenge:
This year's Challenge will include two new teams with the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech from the ACC. Virginia Tech will tip off the 11-game event at Ohio State Monday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Miami will visit Michigan Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 9:30 p.m. ESPN2 will televise both games.

Commissioner's Cup:
The ACC has won the Commissioner's Cup six straight years.

The 2005 Challenge will mark the first year of a six-year agreement (through 2010) between ESPN, the ACC and the Big Ten to continue the annual men's college basketball inter-conference Challenge.

ESPN and ESPN2's coverage of the 2004 ACC/Big Ten Challenge experienced significant audience growth over the 2003 event. ESPN's four telecasts in 2004 averaged a 1.6 rating and 1,423,000 households for increases of 33% (vs. 1.2) and 30% (vs. 1,094,000) over the four games in 2003. ESPN2's five matchups averaged a 0.6 rating and 495,000 households for increases of 50% (vs. 0.4) and 35% (vs. 365,000) over 2003's five telecasts.

In addition, 2004's coverage included ESPN's highest-rated and most-viewed Challenge telecast ever: North Carolina at Indiana with a 2.0 average rating and 1,749,000 households.