May 2, 2006

EVANSTON, Ill.--The Big Ten Conference today announced the pairings for the 2006 ACC/Big Ten Challenge, with Northwestern playing host to the Miami Hurricanes at 8:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 28 in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN2. The meeting will be the first between the two teams.

"We look forward to the Challenge every year," NU head coach Bill Carmody said. "We have always felt the Challenge is a great opportunity to prove yourself against a quality opponent early in the season and see where your team stands. This year's game will be another good test for us."

The Wildcats, who return three starters from last year's team, are making their eighth straight appearance in the Challenge. NU was 14-15 a year ago and finished tied for eighth in the Big Ten with a 6-10 conference mark.

Miami was 18-16 overall last season and finished in a three-way tie for seventh in the ACC with a 7-9 league mark. The Hurricanes advanced to the postseason NIT, winning their first and second round games before losing to Michigan in the quarterfinals.

For the second consecutive year, the event will feature 11 games (an increase from nine in the six previous years) from 11 different college campuses and include two telecasts on ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the remaining nine games. This year's event will be played on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after Thanksgiving (November 27-29).

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

Below is the complete 2006 ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Monday, November 27
7 p.m., ESPN2-Michigan @ North Carolina State

Tuesday, November 28
7 p.m., ESPN-Maryland @ Illinois
7:30 p.m., ESPN2-Florida State @ Wisconsin
8 p.m., ESPNU-Penn State @ Georgia Tech
9 p.m., ESPN -Indiana @ Duke
9:30 p.m., ESPN2-Miami, FL @ Northwestern

Wednesday, November 29
7 p.m., ESPN-Michigan State @ Boston College
7:30 p.m., ESPN2-Virginia @ Purdue
8 p.m., ESPNU-Iowa @ Virginia Tech
9 p.m., ESPN-Ohio State @ North Carolina
9:30 p.m., ESPN2-Clemson @ Minnesota

2006 Challenge highlights:
ESPNU Televises Two Games: For the second consecutive year, ESPNU will televise two games, both at 8 p.m.: Penn State at Georgia Tech Tuesday, Nov. 28 and Iowa at Virginia Tech Wednesday, Nov. 29.

ESPN's coverage of the 2005 Big Ten/ACC Challenge experienced audience growth over the 2004 event. ESPN's four telecasts in 2005 averaged a 1.7 rating and 1,493,000 households for increases of 6% (vs. 1.6) and 5% (vs. 1,423,000) over the four games in 2004.

Big Ten highlights include:
History of NCAA Success: Since the inception of the NCAA Tournament in 1939, the Big Ten has recorded the most appearances of any conference in the Big Dance with 174 (ACC, 160) and has the second-most NCAA Tournament victories with 277 (ACC, 316). The conference is tied with the ACC for the most Final Four appearances (38) and boasts the second-most national titles (10) in college basketball history. The Pac-10 leads the nation with 15 titles.

Final Four Frenzy: The Big Ten trails only the ACC (7) in Final Four appearances since 2000 with six league representatives reaching the national semifinals. The Big 12 follows with five appearances over that time span, followed by the SEC (3), Big East (2) and Pac-10 (2). Michigan State leads the Big Ten with three appearances (2000, 2001 and 2005), while Illinois (2005), Indiana (2002) and Wisconsin (2000) have each earned a Final Four spot in that time span.

Eight-Year Plan: Over the last eight NCAA Championships, Big Ten teams rank second in winning percentage, while finishing third among all conferences in victories. The Big Ten's winning percentage of .638 is second only to the ACC (.692), while the league ranks third with 67 triumphs behind the ACC (72) and Big East (71).

The Nation's Best Fans: The Big Ten has led the nation in total attendance in each of the last 29 years (through the 2004-05 season). During the 2005-06 campaign, the league broke the two-million mark in all games for the 14th straight year, while also reaching the one-million plateau for league games only for the 29th consecutive season. In 2005-06, a total of 2,186,322 patrons passed through the turnstiles for 176 games for an average attendance of 12,422. In league contests, 1,191,079 fans flocked to conference arenas for 88 games.

Non-Conference Success in 2005-06: The Big Ten closed the 2005-06 season with the best out-of-league winning percentage in over six years at .767 (115-35). With 115 wins in 2005-06, the league also posted the most non-conference victories since 2000-01 when the Big Ten tallied a 116-40 (.744) mark. During the 2005-06 campaign, the RPI Report rated the Big Ten No. 1 in 13 of the final 15 weeks, while Sagarin had the conference ranked as the top league 11 times during that stretch. The Big Ten concluded the 2005-06 season rated No. 2 in the RPI Report, while finishing third in the Sagarin ratings. It marks the highest finish for the conference since 2000-01 when the Big Ten ended the season ranked No. 1 in the RPI Report and No. 2 in the Sagarin ratings.

2005-06 Basketball Times Rankings: The Big Ten led the nation with all 11 teams ranked in the final Basketball Times Regular Season Schedule Rankings. The Big East followed with nine teams, while the ACC had 7 teams in the top 35. Indiana finished in second place (157.8) and Michigan State ranked third (155.6). Rounding out the Big Ten contingent were Iowa (14th-145.2), Michigan (15th-144.4), Purdue (16th-144.1), Minnesota (18th-143.2), Penn State (20th-142.8), Wisconsin (23rd-140.9), Illinois (27th-139.0), Ohio State (33rd-136.4) and Northwestern (35th-134.4).