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Notre Dame's ACC/Big Ten Challenge Game Set, Schedule Slowly Taking Shape

Notre Dame basketball’s non-conference opponents are coming into view, and the revised list of them is a truncated one.

The latest additions are two Big Ten opponents, one of them a long-awaited announcement of a home opponent in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Notre Dame will host Ohio State Dec. 8, the team announced Friday morning. The challenge is normally in late November, but it was moved back due to the season’s delayed start and will be held Dec. 8-9. Tipoff time, broadcast information and attendance plans will be released at a later date.

With the Buckeyes now a firm addition, the rest of the schedule becomes a little clearer and is expected to be final in the next couple weeks. (UPDATE 1 p.m. ET): Notre Dame has also scheduled a game at Michigan State on Nov. 28 and a game against Western Michigan is also planned, a source confirmed to BlueandGold.com. The South Bend Tribune was the first to report that news, which has not been announced.

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Mike Brey and Notre Dame will play Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Mike Brey and Notre Dame will play Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. (Adam Hagy/USAToday)

Spartans coach Tom Izzo told reporters on a Thursday Zoom media session he and Notre Dame were in talks about a possible game this year.

Notre Dame will still travel to Howard on Jan. 18, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Dec. 12 game at Kentucky – part of a three-year series agreed to this spring – is still on, Wildcats coach John Calipari said in late September. No official announcement has been made, but the Dec. 19 Crossroads Classic appears to be moving forward. Notre Dame’s opponent is Purdue.

Howard, Kentucky, Purdue and the ACC/Big Ten Challenge were in the original 11-game non-conference slate. Much of that is gone, notably the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. initially slated for Nov. 23-24 but now in Connecticut on Dec. 2-3. Notre Dame backed out of it earlier this fall.

In pushing the season’s start date to Nov. 25, the NCAA lowered the maximum number of games allowed before conference tournaments from 31 to 27. The ACC is staying at 20 conference games, leaving the rest open for non-league opponents for Notre Dame. Right now, six are clear and a seventh is in the works.

Notre Dame will play three ACC games in December, according to a previous report from CBS' Jon Rothstein. Per Rothstein, ACC teams will play two conference games in December, on Dec. 15 or 16 and Dec. 29 or 30, with Notre Dame among the six that will play a third on Dec. 22. The ACC has not released its conference schedule.

Notre Dame is 4-3 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge – including 3-0 at home – since joining the ACC prior to the 2013-14 season. The Irish's last win in the event was a 76-74 home victory over Illinois on Nov. 27, 2018. They lost at Maryland last year, 72-51.

Ohio State and Notre Dame will play for the 14th time, and the Buckeyes lead the all-time series 8-5. They won the most recent meeting, 64-61 on Dec. 21, 2013.

Michigan State leads Notre Dame 60-37 in the all-time series. They last played in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in 2017, a meeting of teams ranked in the top five. The Spartans won, 81-63.

The full 2020 ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups:

Illinois at Duke

North Carolina at Iowa

Michigan State at Virginia

Louisville at Wisconsin

Indiana at Florida State

Ohio State at Notre Dame

Syracuse at Rutgers

Boston College at Minnesota

Pitt at Northwestern

Penn State at Virginia Tech

Purdue at Miami

N.C. State at Michigan

Georgia Tech at Nebraska

Maryland at Clemson

This story has been updated.

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