June 8, 2017
Full Big Ten/ACC Challenge lineup
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech will host Northwestern in the 19th renewal of the 2017 Big Ten/ACC Challenge with the game taking place on Nov. 28 at McCamish Pavilion. ESPN announced the full lineup of matchups for the Challenge Thursday in conjunction with the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten Conference. The 14 games will take place over a three-day period in late November and will be televised on the ESPN family of networks. Tip times and television will be announced at a later date.
This will be the fourth meeting between the Yellow Jackets and the Wildcats in the annual series, and the second one to take place in Atlanta. Tech won the most recent meeting by a 66-58 score in 2014 in Evanston, Ill. Northwestern won the first two games in the series, first by a 91-71 score in 2010 in Evanston, and again by a 76-60 count in 2011 at Philips Arena in Atlanta.
It is also Tech’s first Big Ten/ACC Challenge game at home since the Jackets defeated Illinois in 2013. Tech is 4-3 in Big Ten/ACC Challenge home games.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 21-16 campaign in head coach Josh Pastner’s first season on the Flats, which also saw Tech post an 8-10 ACC record and reach the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament. The Wildcats went 24-12 and 10-8 in the Big Ten last season, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s history.
The Tech-Northwestern game is one of 10 rematches in this year’s Challenge, also including Louisville-Purdue (2016), Duke-Indiana (2015), Notre Dame-Michigan State (2014) Wisconsin-Virginia (2013), Iowa-Virginia Tech (2012), Miami-Minnesota (2009), Clemson-Ohio State (2004), Illinois-Wake Forest (2004) and Penn State-NC State, who haven’t met in the Challenge since 2000. The other four are first-time matchups – Maryland-Syracuse, Florida State-Rutgers, Michigan-UNC and Boston College-Nebraska.
Fifteen of the 28 participating teams competed in the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship: NCAA champion North Carolina; Sweet 16 teams Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, as well as early-round participants Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
TECH HISTORY IN THE BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE
Georgia Tech has a 6-10 mark in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge after dropping a 67-60 decision at Penn State in November, 2016. The Jackets had won its previous two games in the annual series.
• Tech has faced Northwestern and Penn State three times each in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the most of any opponent. The Yellow Jackets have played Illinois and Michigan twice each. In seven appearances in the Challenge since 2008, Tech has played only Illinois, Northwestern or Penn State.
• Tech has played seven “home” games in the series and has a 4-3 record in those contests. Four of the games were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where Tech defeated Wisconsin (2001) and Michigan (2004) and went 1-1 against Penn State (2006, 2008). Two others were played at Philips Arena, an 80-77 loss to Michigan in the first Challenge game in 1999, and a 76-60 loss to Northwestern in 2011.
• The Yellow Jackets have a 2-7 mark in Big Ten/ACC Challenge games on the road. The Yellow Jackets scored a 73-53 win at Ohio State in 2003, the year in which Tech reached the NCAA Championship game, and won at Northwestern in 2014. Tech also has visited Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, Indiana and Northwestern (twice).
• Nebraska and Purdue are the only Big Ten teams the Yellow Jackets have not faced in the 18-year history of the annual series. Tech did not participate in 2009 and 2015.
TECH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE TAKING SHAPE
Georgia Tech now has 10 confirmed dates on its non-conference slate (with two more to schedule), including previously reported games against UCLA (Nov. 11 in Shanghai, China), the third game in the four-year series with Tennessee (Dec. 3 at McCamish Pavilion), the final game of the three-game series with Wofford (Dec. 6 in Spartanburg, S.C.) and the annual game against Georgia (Dec. 19 in Athens).
Following the team’s trip to China, the Yellow Jackets will play six straight games at home — Bethune-Cookman (Nov. 19), Texas-Rio Grande Valley (Nov. 22), North Texas (Nov. 24), Northwestern (Nov. 28), Grambling (Dec. 1) and Tennessee. In between the games at Wofford and Georgia, the Jackets host Florida A&M (Dec. 17).
Tech’s ACC schedule features home-and-away contests against Clemson, Notre Dame, Virginia and Wake Forest. The Yellow Jackets also host Duke, Miami, NC State, Syracuse and Virginia Tech, and will travel to Boston College, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina and Pittsburgh. The full slate will be announced in late summer.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is beginning its second year under head coach Josh Pastner after compiling a 21-16 record and posting a runner-up finish in the NIT. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram.
For more information on Tech basketball, visit here.
