The matchups for the 2021 ACC/Big Ten Challenge have been announced, and it includes North Carolina hosting Michigan as one of the featured games of the event.
The Tar Heels will host the Wolverines on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at the Smith Center. This will be the third time UNC and Michigan have met in this event, as the Tar Heels won at home in in the 2017-18 season and lost in Ann Arbor the following year.
UNC is coming off an 18-11 season that included a 10-6 mark in ACC play. The Tar Heels were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Wisconsin. Following the season, Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams announced his retirement and he was replaced by longtime assistant coach Hubert Davis.
The Tar Heels return four starters as well as a few key reserves in addition to adding Brady Manek, the 14th all-time leading scorer ever at Oklahoma, and Justin McKoy, who spent two seasons at Virginia.
Michigan is coming off a 23-5 season that saw the Wolverines earn a No. 1 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament and advance to the regional final before falling to UCLA. Third-year coach Juwan Howard’s team returns key starters Eli Brooks and center Hunter Dickinson, plus the Wolverines added point guard DeVante Jones, who was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year last season at Coastal Carolina.
In the most recent meeting between UNC and Michigan, the Wolverines won, 73-64, in the Battle4Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas, in November of 2019. Overall, the Tar Heels are 10-12 in the Challenge and 4-3 against Michigan. All games in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge will air on ESPN's networks and be available via the ESPN app. Game times and TV networks will be announced at a later date.
The rest of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Schedule:
Duke at Ohio State
Louisville at Michigan State
Florida State at Purdue
Indiana at Syracuse
Nebraska at NC State
Wisconsin at Georgia Tech
Iowa at Virginia
Notre Dame at Illinois
Clemson at Rutgers
Miami at Penn State
Minnesota at Pittsburgh
Northwestern at Wake Forest
Virginia Tech at Maryland
*Boston College is not slated to participate in the event.
*Note: A UNC Athletics released was used for part of this report.
