Trying to find the latest NFL point spreads will take up plenty of time during the Fall and Winter months, but this is also when college basketball is just getting going. There usually isn’t a ton of hype during the nonconference portion of the year, but there is one annual event that always attracts plenty of viewers.
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge pits two of the top conferences in the country against one another, and it always seems to deliver some big games. The 2022 schedule of matchups was just released, and plenty of terrific contests were announced.
This will be the 24th edition of this primetime event, and the ACC will be looking to get some revenge on the Big Ten Conference. The ACC once dominated this matchup, but things have started to shift in recent years.
The Big Ten Conference won eight 14 games a season ago, including most of the marquee matchups. This league has won this challenge three seasons in a row, but the ACC still holds a slight edge of 12-8-3 overall.
Other events now occur during the college basketball season, rivalling this showdown, but this one remains the best. There are so many historic programs in both conferences that fans watch great teams battle it in front of some great college basketball atmospheres.
UNC/Indiana Set For Showdown
There always seems to be one game in this challenge that could be a potential national championship preview, and that game in 2022 will take place in Bloomington, Indiana. The Indiana Hoosiers will host the North Carolina Tar Heels, and both teams are expected to win their respective leagues.
North Carolina was in the national championship a season ago, and they will likely be the preseason number-one team when the polls are released. Indiana made it to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, and they bring four starters back to go along with a loaded recruiting class.
Ohio State is set to travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a matchup with Duke, and this will be another marquee matchup of the challenge. Jon Scheyer will be in his first season with the Blue Devils, but he will have the best recruiting class in the country on the floor with him.
Ohio State lost a ton of talent from last year’s team, but they loaded back up with recruits and transfers. Both of these teams should be in the NCAA Tournament, and the winner of this game will get a big resume-boosting win.
Here is a complete look at the matchups that are set to take place:
- Minnesota at Virginia Tech
- Pitt at Northwestern
- Syracuse at Illinois
- Maryland at Louisville
- Penn State at Clemson
- Virginia at Michigan
- Wake Forest at Wisconsin
- Georgia Tech at Iowa
- Ohio State at Duke
- Purdue at Florida State
- Rutgers at Miami
- North Carolina at Indiana
- Michigan State at Notre Dame
- Boston College at Nebraska
Illinois Lands Another Prospect
Nearly all 28 teams set to take place in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge hit the transfer portal hard this offseason, and most teams will look different. Some teams will look completely new, valid with the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Illinois landed two players from Baylor and one from Texas Tech this offseason, and they are also bringing in a loaded recruiting class. That recruiting class improved as a prized international prospect joined the roster at the end of June.
17-year-old Zacharie Perrin has committed to Brad Underwood and his staff and is giving up on a chance to play professionally overseas. The product from France has caught the eye of international and college scouts over the past 12 months, and the big man could provide an immediate impact at Illinois.
Perrin is 6’11 and weighs 220 pounds, and he is expected to get better after spending time in Illinois. The Fighting Illini could struggle with chemistry early, but this team is loaded with talent again after losing nearly all of the production from 2021-22.
