Big Ten/ACC Challenge Matchups Announced

Matchups for the 2007 Big Ten/ACC Challenge were set earlier this week.
Virginia Tech will face Penn State on Wednesday, November 28 at 9:30pm. The game
will be televised by ESPN2. The Hokies’ game will be the very last game of this
year’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The winning conference will receive the
Commissioner’s Cup.

Here is a look at each matchup in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

The ACC has won all eight of the Big Ten/ACC Challenges, with victories in 48
of the 75 games played. The three-day event will feature 11 games, with every
team from each conference participating, with the exception of Miami. (The
Hurricanes won’t participate this year as a result of their last place finish in
the ACC a year ago.) Two of the games will be on ESPNU, and the rest will be
televised by ESPN or ESPN2.

The Hokies are going on the road for the challenge this year because they hosted
Iowa last season. Virginia Tech defeated the Hawkeyes 69-65 in Blacksburg on
November 29, 2006.

Considering the Hokies are going on the road with a team that will be
inexperienced, this is the best possible draw that they could hope for. Penn
State finished 11-19 overall and 2-14 in Big Ten play last season. They finished
the season in the conference cellar with Northwestern.

However, the Nittany Lions do return their top three scorers this year,
including 6-5 Geary Claxton. Claxton averaged 16.3 points and eight rebounds per
game last season.