Iowa and Virginia to Kickoff B1G-ACC Challenge in Charlottesville

ESPN announced the matchups, dates, times, and networks for this upcoming season’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge and the Virginia Cavaliers are in the opening spot.

The Hoos will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first game of the challenge on Monday, November 29 at 7 PM on ESPN2.

The game will be UVA’s 8th of the season and likely their fourth against a power conference team (Houston, Georgia, Northwestern or Providence). It will also be their final out of conference game before they start ACC play the following Friday (December 3) against the Pittsburgh Panthers; though they will play other out of conference games after the Pitt game.

Iowa is coming off a stellar season that saw them amass a 22-9 record on the season and finish the year in the top 15 (No. 8 in the AP) in both polls. They made it to the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament and were a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated in the round of 32 by Oregon. Senior Center Luka Garza was the Big Ten POTY, a consensus All-American, and the consensus National Player of the Year.

Though Garza will be gone, the biggest returning player from last year’s Hawkeyes team will be Senior guard Jordan Bohannon. The 2021-22 season will be Bohannon’s 6th with Iowa, thanks to COVID, where he has a 40% three point percentage and is averaging 11.5 points per game.

The matchup will be UVA and Iowa’s 4th all time meeting with Iowa holding a 2-1 record edge over the Cavaliers. Two of those meetings have come during Tony Bennett’s time in Charlottesville as most will remember the Hawkeyes eliminating UVA from the 2013 NIT tournament with a 75-64 win in Charlottesville. The other matchup came in 2016 where UVA handled Iowa 74-41 in the Semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic.

The rest of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge schedule can be seen below.