• The 20th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge begins Monday with 14 games taking place through Wednesday. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 14 games of the event.
• Through the first three weeks of the season, the Big Ten and ACC have the top two win percentages and win totals among all Division I conferences. Big Ten teams have combined for a 67-13 record for an .838 win percentage while the ACC programs are 71-14 with an .835 win percentage. The Big Ten has five undefeated teams while the ACC has four unbeatens.
• Three Challenge match-ups pit ranked teams in the AP Poll with No. 4 Virginia battling No. 24 Maryland, No. 7 Michigan playing at No. 11 North Carolina and No. 15 Florida State hosting No. 19 Purdue.
• Three of the games will have first-time Challenge matchups: Syracuse-Ohio State, Minnesota-Boston College and Pitt-Iowa.
• Several games are rematches from prior Challenges: Georgia Tech-Northwestern, Indiana-Duke and UNC-Michigan, who all met in last year’s Challenge; Nebraska-Clemson and Rutgers-Miami (Fla.) in 2016; Michigan State-Louisville and Illinois-Notre Dame (2015); Virginia Tech-Penn State and Virginia-Maryland (2014); NC State-Wisconsin (2010), and Purdue-Florida State, who haven’t met in this event since 2005.
• Seven Big Ten programs are ranked in the Top 25 in this week’s Associated Press Poll. With seven teams ranked in the AP Poll, it marks the first time the Big Ten has seven teams ranked in the poll since the Feb. 9, 1999 poll.
• Overall, 10 Big Ten programs are ranked or receiving votes in a poll this week: Michigan (No. 7 AP/No. 5 USAT), Michigan State (No. 9/No. 8), Iowa (No. 14/No. 15), Ohio State (No. 16/No. 16), Purdue (No. 19/No. 18), Wisconsin (No. 22/22), and Maryland (No. 24/RV). Additionally, Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska are among others receiving votes in both polls.
• Two Big Ten teams captured championships of tournaments last week. Michigan State defeated UCLA and Texas at the Las Vegas Invitational with Big Ten Co-Player of the Week Cassius Winston earning MVP as he averaged 19.5 points and 8.5 assists per game. Minnesota remained perfect on the season with three wins at the Vancouver Showcase, beating Texas A&M, Santa Clara and Washington. Jordan Murphy was named MVP after averaging 15.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists in three games.
• Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, who has earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors for the third week in a row, has posted double-doubles in all six Badger games this season. He has 10-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 5-plus assists in five of six games. No only player in the nation has more than three such games this year. Happ is only player in the nation averaging at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists with his averages of 17.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists through six games.
• Michigan is 6-0 including winning the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. On Nov. 14, Michigan defeated then-No. 8 Villanova, 73-46, in a rematch of the 2018 NCAA Championship Game. The Wolverines are off their best start since opening 2012-13 with 16 consecutive victories.
• Big Ten teams will compete in a 20-game conference schedule for the first time, playing seven teams both home and away and six teams once (three home and three away). All 14 teams will play one conference home and one road contest from Nov. 30 through Dec. 6 beginning this Friday with Michigan State at Rutgers and Wisconsin at Iowa with both games airing on BTN.
• Seven active Big Ten coaches have posted 200 or more career wins, including six with at least 300 victories and four with 400 wins. Michigan’s John Beilein earned his 800th career coaching win against Norfolk State in the Wolverines’ 2018-19 opener. Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has 579 career victories, all with the Spartans. Nebraska’s Tim Miles is 17 wins from the 400-win plateau in his career and won his 100th game with the Huskers on Nov. 14 against Seton Hall. Iowa’s Fran McCaffery and Maryland’s Mark Turgeon both surpassed 400 career wins in 2017-18. Purdue’s Matt Painter won the 300th game of his career as a coach last year and 300th as Purdue’s head coach on Nov. 23 vs. Robert Morris.
• The 2019 Big Ten Tournament will be held from March 13-17, and will be played at the United Center in Chicago for the 10th time in conference history, equaling the number of events also held in Indianapolis. The Big Ten Tournament returns to the Midwest for a four-year span as it will be played Indianapolis in 2020 and 2022 and in Chicago in 2021.
Big Ten Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 26-Dec. 2)ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Nov. 26-28)
Nov. 26, 2018
Nebraska at Clemson
Clemson, SC
7:00 pm
ESPN2
Minnesota at Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
9:00 pm
ESPN2
Nov. 27, 2018
Illinois at Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
7:00 pm
ESPNU
Virginia Tech at Penn State
University Park, PA
7:00 pm
ESPN2
Michigan State at Louisville
Louisville, KY
7:30 pm
ESPN
Pittsburgh at Iowa
Iowa City, IA
9:00 pm
ESPNU
North Carolina State at Wisconsin
Madison, WI
9:00 pm
ESPN2
Indiana at Duke
Durham, NC
9:30 pm
ESPN
Nov. 28, 2018
Rutgers at Miami (FL)
Coral Gables, FL
7:00 pm
ESPNU
Syracuse at Ohio State
Columbus, OH
7:00 pm
ESPN2
Virginia at Maryland
College Park, MD
7:15 pm
ESPN
Georgia Tech at Northwestern
Evanston, IL
9:00 pm
ESPNU
Purdue at Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
9:15 pm
ESPN2
North Carolina at Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
9:30 pm
ESPN
Nov. 30-Dec. 2 Schedule
Nov. 30, 2018
Michigan State at Rutgers
Piscataway, NJ
6:00 pm
BTN
Wisconsin at Iowa
Iowa City, IA
8:00 pm
BTN
Oklahoma State at Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
10:00 pm
BTN
Dec. 1, 2018
Northwestern at Indiana
Bloomington, IN
1:00 pm
BTN
Purdue at Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
3:30 pm
ESPN
Penn State at Maryland
College Park, MD
5:00 pm
BTN
Dec. 2, 2018
Illinois at Nebraska
Lincoln, NE
5:00 pm
BTN
Minnesota at Ohio State
Columbus, OH
7:00 pm
BTN