June 9, 2004

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For the second-straight year, the Maryland men's basketball team will take on Wisconsin as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Terrapins' first official date of the 2004-05 season was released Wednesday with the announcement of the pairings for the sixth annual event, as Maryland pays a visit to the Badgers' Kohl Center on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 9:30 p.m. in a nationally televised matchup on ESPN2.

The Terrapins take on the Badgers for the fourth time in five seasons this November, and are looking to extend a win streak over UW to three games. Maryland posted a 73-67 overtime victory in the 2003 ACC/Big Ten Challenge last Dec. 2 at Comcast Center, and defeated Wisconsin, 87-57, in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in March of 2002 at MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The Terps fell to the Badgers, 78-75 in OT, in the 2000 ACC/Big Ten Challenge at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

The Terrapins have not made the trip to Madison, Wisc., since the 1931 season. Maryland's complete 2004-05 schedule will be released in Mid-August.

The sixth annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups will once again feature top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioner's Cup. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the nine-game challenge Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, November 29 through December 1, from nine different college campuses.

Since 2000, the ACC and the Big Ten have combined to make 10 Final Four appearances, capturing three of the last five NCAA Championships, including Maryland's title in 2002. In addition, the two conferences combine to rank either first or second in all-time NCAA Tournament bids, victories and Final Four appearances.

The ACC was the nation's highest rated league during the entire 2003-04 season according to the RPI report, with six teams that finished ranked in the final USA Today/ESPN Top 25 and seven that appeared in the polls over the course of the 2003-04 season. ACC teams posted a 91-16 (.850) record against non-conference opponents last season, including a 7-2 record in winning the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The ACC has won the Commissioner's Cup in each of the five previous ACC/Big Ten Challenges.

2004 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Schedule (ALL TIMES ET)
Monday, Nov. 29 
7 p.m.        ESPN2     Purdue at N.C. State
Tuesday, Nov. 30
7 p.m.        ESPN      Michigan at Georgia Tech
7:30 p.m.     ESPN2     Florida State at Minnesota
9 p.m.        ESPN      Michigan State at Duke
9:30 p.m.     ESPN2     MARYLAND at Wisconsin
Wednesday, Dec. 1
7 p.m.        ESPN      Wake Forest at Illinois
7:30 p.m.     ESPN2     Ohio State at Clemson
9 p.m.        ESPN      North Carolina at Indiana
9:30 p.m.     ESPN2     Virginia at Northwestern