Gophers and FSU to Appear on ESPN2 in Big Ten/ACC Battle
The
University of Minnesota men's basketball team's Big Ten/ACC Challenge
tilt against Florida State on Nov. 27 will tip at 6:15 p.m. CST, the
Big Ten Conference announced today. The game, to be played in
Tallahassee, will be broadcast live by ESPN2.
Minnesota and
Florida State will be meeting for the eighth time, including the fourth
time in the history of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Minnesota lost to
FSU, 75-61, in the 2007 challenge, the only time Gopher head coach
Tubby Smith has faced the Seminoles in his 21-year career.
The
Gophers are 5-8 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge following last season’s
58-55 win over Virginia Tech at Williams Arena. Illinois (6-7),
Michigan State (6-6), Northwestern (6-7), Ohio State (6-5) and
Wisconsin (6-7) all have six wins in the history of the event. Penn
State (5-6) and Purdue (5-6) join Minnesota with five victories. Duke
holds the best record in the challenge at 11-2. Wake Forest is close
behind at 10-2. The 2012 Challenge will feature 12 games,
all of which will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN,
ESPN2, ESPNU & ESPN3.com).
Minnesota returns all but one
player from a team that finished the season 23-15 overall, and advanced
to the NIT Championship game. The 23 wins during the 2011-12 campaign
were the most at Minnesota since the 1989-90 team also won 23 (vacated
years not included).
The Gophers have appeared in the
postseason in four of the five seasons under head coach Tubby Smith.
Smith will enter the 2012-13 season with 103 career victories on the
Gopher sideline, joining just seven other coaches to win 100 games at
the University of Minnesota. His current winning percentage of .602
(103-68) is the fourth-highest in program history. Smith is 490-213
overall in 21 seasons as a head coach. Florida State
returns two starters and four of its top five scorers – including ACC
Tournament Most Valuable Player Michael Snaer – for the 2012-13 season
from its team that won the ACC Championship and played in its school
record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament.
The Seminoles
finished the 2012 season with a 25-10 overall record and a school
record 12-4 mark in ACC play. The Seminoles defeated an ACC-high
six ranked teams including both Duke and North Carolina twice and
defeated each of the four Tobacco Road teams in the ACC (Duke, North
Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest) in the same season for the first
time since joining the ACC for the 1991-92 season.
The Big Ten
captured the Commissioner Cup for the third consecutive event,
including an 8-4 win advantage over the ACC last year. In the event of
a 6-6 tie, the Commissioner’s Cup will remain with the conference that
won the previous year.
2012 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Schedule (times are Central) Tue., Nov. 27 Minnesota at Florida State 6:15 p.m. ESPN2 Iowa at Virginia Tech 6:15 p.m. ESPNU N.C. State at Michigan 6:30 p.m. ESPN Maryland at Northwestern 9:15 p.m. ESPN2 Nebraska at Wake Forest 9:15 p.m. ESPNU North Carolina at Indiana 9:30 p.m. ESPN Wed., Nov. 28 Virginia at Wisconsin 6:00 p.m. ESPN2 Purdue at Clemson 6:15 p.m. ESPNU Michigan State at Miami 6:30 p.m. ESPN Georgia Tech at Illinois 8:00 p.m. ESPN2 Boston College at Penn State 8:15 p.m. ESPNU Ohio State at Duke 8:30 p.m. ESPN
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