Syracuse basketball: Orange & Wisconsin will tip off on ESPN

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge schedule has been revealed for the 2016-17 men’s basketball season. The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team will tip off against Wisconsin Badgers on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

The repeat matchup certainly isn’t as exciting for Syracuse fans as a new matchup, but there are a lot of scheduling factors that come into play and ESPN gets the final say-so in all of this. And if you find repeat matchups disappointing, then you’re in for even more disappointment in the future, because it seems this series might be cancelled with the expanded ACC schedule. However, if giving up on the ACC/Big Ten Challenge means Syracuse still gets to schedule one or more former Big East foes, then it will be an acceptable move for the Orange faithful.

Some interesting things of note from ESPN’s release by Rachel Margolis Siegal:

• Two of the games in the Challenge this year are rematches from last year: Syracuse-Wisconsin and Ohio State-Virginia. Syracuse fell to Wisconsin by a score of 66-58 in overtime, and Ohio State lost 64-58 to UVA.
• Fourteen teams participating in the Challenge played in 2016 NCAA Tournament.
• ESPN’s early preseason top 25 poll includes 10 of these teams, five from each conference.
• The ACC holds a 10-5-2 record in the Challenge over the last 17 years.
• The Big Ten is the reigning winner, taking eight of 14 matchups last season.

Here is the entire schedule for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (all times EST):

November 28

Minnesota at Florida State (7 p.m., ESPNU)

Wake Forest at Northwestern (9 p.m., ESPNU)

November 29

Pittsburgh at Maryland (7 p.m., ESPN2)

Georgia Tech at Penn State (7 p.m., ESPNU)

Syracuse at Wisconsin (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

Iowa at Notre Dame (9 p.m., ESPN2)

NC State at Illinois (9 p.m., ESPNU)

Michigan State at Duke (9:30 p.m., ESPN)

November 30

Purdue at Louisville (7 p.m., ESPN)

Virginia Tech at Michigan (7 p.m., ESPN2)

Rutgers at Miami (7 p.m., ESPNU)

North Carolina at Indiana (9 p.m., ESPN)

Ohio State at Virginia (9 p.m., ESPN2)

Nebraska at Clemson (9 p.m., ESPNU)