Virginia to play Michigan State in 2020 ACC/B1G Challenge

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Posted on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, 2:03 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

ACC-Big-Ten-ChallengeVirginia will host Michigan State in the 22nd ACC/B1G Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Tip times and networks for this year’s Challenge, which includes 14 games, will be announced at a later date.

All 14 Big Ten teams and 14 of the 15 ACC teams will participate in the 2020 Challenge. Wake Forest will not play in the 2019 event.

Virginia and Michigan State meet for the third time in the Challenge and sixth time overall. The Cavaliers are 0-1 against the Spartans in the Challenge and 0-5 overall. Michigan State topped Virginia 82-75 in East Lansing, Mich., in the 2002 Challenge, while the Spartans-Cavaliers 2001 Challenge game was halted due to wet floor conditions at Richmond Coliseum. MSU edged UVA in the 2014 NCAA Sweet Sixteen (61-59) and 2015 NCAA second round (60-54).

This year’s Virginia-Michigan State Challenge contest features a matchup between brothers Sam and Joey Hauser. Sam is a redshirt senior for the Cavaliers, while Joey is a redshirt junior for the Spartans. The Hauser brothers were teammates at Marquette before transferring after the 2018-19 season. The duo helped Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) to back-to-back state championships in 2015 and 2016.

UVA has a 13-7 record in the Challenge. UVA’s five-game winning streak in the Challenge ended at Purdue last season. The Cavaliers have won eight of their last 10 Challenge games and Virginia is 7-2 all-time at home in the event.

In 2019-20, Virginia finished with 23-7 overall and tied for second in the ACC with a 15-5 record. UVA finished the season on a nine-game winning streak before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

All 14 games will air on ESPN’s networks and be available via the ESPN app, matching top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioner’s Cup.

The ACC leads 12-6-3 in the series and 133-106 in games. The ACC won the first 10 consecutive challenges, while the Big Ten has won five of the last seven along with two ties. The most recent challenge was won 8-6 by the Big Ten. In the 21 years of the event, 10 of the challenges have been decided by a single game.