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On Thursday, the 2019 matchups for the annual men’s basketball Big Ten/ACC Challenge were announced. The Ohio State Buckeyes will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Wednesday, Dec. 4 from Chapel Hill, N.C.
Other high profile contests in the series will include Michigan — under new head coach Juwan Howard — against Louisville, Tom Izzo versus Mike Krzyzewski as the Duke Blue Devils travel to East Lansing, Mich., and defending national champion Virgina will visit Purdue.
2019 Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchups pic.twitter.com/yDCGvfuu1m
— Anna Negron (@ItsAnnaNegron) June 6, 2019
With this game now officially added to OSU’s schedule, the Buckeyes will have an incredibly challenging non-conference season. In addition to going on the road to face the Heels, Chris Holtmann’s squad will take on reigning Big East champion Villanova in the Gavitt Games, a presumed home-opener agains Cincinnati, a matchup with West Virginia in Cleveland, and a game against Kentucky in Las Vegas.
The Buckeyes fell to North Carolina in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in 2017 by a score of 86-72. As it will be this season, that game was also played in the Dean Dome. The good news is that those Buckeyes went on to finish second in the Big Ten later that season.