ESPN Forms Big 10/ACC Challenge By George Stahl NEW YORK (AQB)--ESPN has arranged the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, a new men's basketball event that will begin with the 1999-2000 season. The multiyear agreement (the exact length was not disclosed) with the Atlantic Coast and Big Ten conferences will match nine teams from each conference on the first Tuesday and Wednesday following Thanksgiving. Indiana and Ohio State, both from the Big 10, will not participate in the challenge for the first two years of the event, which ESPN will manage and market. "Ohio State volunteered to sit out, and Indiana declined to participate," ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys told the USA Today. As you might guess, ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale is excited by the news. "It's always great to eliminate the Cupcake City games, and to get two of the nation's marquee conferences together like this will really whet the appetites of college hoop fans early in the season," Vitale said. "Take it to the bank - these games will be Maalox Specials, they'll be nailbiters. We're talking big-time college basketball at its finest!" ESPN and ESPN2 will present the 1999 Challenge on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at campus sites in each league. The format is as follows: Teams in each league will be ranked one through nine, with the corresponding teams playing each other (i.e. No. 1 vs. No. 1, No. 2 vs. No. 2, etc.), unless they're already meeting during the regular season. Games will be played at three campus sites in each conference, plus two neutral sites and one site to be announced (involving No. 9 teams). ESPN and ESPN2 will simultaneously televise two doubleheaders each night featuring teams one through eight. The game involving the No. 9 teams will be syndicated locally by ESPN Regional Television and offered nationally by ESPN Full Court. The pairings and matchups will be determined each spring by the conferences and ESPN. By George Stahl Back to the top What do you think of this? Let us know on the Speak Out page. To e-mail your opinion to George, click here.

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