North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Prepares for ACC/Big Ten Challenge
11/30/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
First and foremost, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge is a made for TV event. On Tuesday and Wednesday, ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to show a total of eight games featuring teams from the ACC and Big Ten.
But along with the obvious entertainment value, the games will also give coaches and players from all of the teams a good sense of how far they've come since the first day of basketball practice in mid October.
"I think it's good for college basketball," said coach Herb Sendek, whose NC State Wolfpack will play at Purdue on Wednesday night. "When the ACC coaches met to decide if this was something we wanted to do, the focus was on whether this was good for college basketball. That's why we decided to do it."
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge isn't an original idea. It will be very similar to the old ACC/Big East Challenge, which lasted for three seasons before ending in the early 90's.
While the ACC coaches were unanimous in their approval of the concept, a few Big Ten coaches weren't. Indiana's Bob Knight was one of the coaches who was vehement in his opposition to the idea. The Big Ten pacified Knight by not including his team in the two-night event.
"It generates a lot of interest, a lot of excitement," Sendek said. "Right now, it's a perfect time to test our basketball team."
And this will be the stiffest test NC State has faced to date. After posting wins at home over Georgia, Old Dominion and Stetson, the Pack is about to face the nations 19th ranked team on its home floor.
'It's going to be very hostile," said NC State forward Damien Wilkins in describing Purdue's Mackey Arena. "We've got to put all of that behind us and just play basketball. The crowd can't play, they can only cheer. We've just got to play NC State basketball. If we play hard and play without fear, I think we'll come out victorious."
ACC-Big Ten Challenge
Tuesday, November 30, 1999
Wisconsin at Wake Forest 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Iowa vs. Maryland (in Baltimore) 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Duke vs. Illinois (Chicago) 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Virginia at Minnesota 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Wednesday, December 1
Michigan vs. Georgia Tech 7 p.m. (ESPN)
NC State at Purdue 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Clemson at Penn State 8 p.m.
Michigan State at North Carolina 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Florida State at Northwestern 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
