The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team will play host to Ohio State University on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The matchups for the annual event were released by the participating conferences this morning.
Broadcast network, tip off time and Notre Dame men’s basketball home game attendance plans will be announced at a later date.
The Irish and Buckeyes will be meeting for the 14th time, with Ohio State leading the all-time series 8-5. The teams have only met three times since 1973, with all three meetings occurring as part of early-season multiple team events. The series dates back to 1912, when Notre Dame earned a 24-23 victory in Columbus, Ohio, on February 17.
In 1999, Notre Dame defeated No. 4 Ohio State 59-57 on a last second jump shot from David Graves during the Preseason NIT. Ohio State has won the last two meetings, both taking place during the Mike Brey era. The Buckeyes bested the seventh-ranked Irish 67-62 in the Hall of Fame Showcase at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008 and Notre Dame lost a late-game lead to No. 3/2 Ohio State during the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden in 2013.
The last three meetings between the two teams have been decided by a combined 10 points.
Notre Dame is 4-3 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and 3-0 during the event in Purcell Pavilion. The Irish have defeated No. 19/18 Michigan State (2014), Iowa (2016) and Illinois (2018) at Purcell during the Challenge.
Ohio State is 8-11 in its 19 Challenge appearances, falling to No. 7 North Carolina 74-49 on the road in 2019. The Buckeyes return five of their top nine scorers this season and finished 21-10 in 2019-20.
The Big Ten won the event last year with eight wins compared to six for the ACC. The ACC leads the all-time Challenge series history 12-6-3.