The 13th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Nov. 29-30 will be highlighted by Duke at Ohio State and Wisconsin at North Carolina — four traditional power programs expected to be highly ranked entering the 2011-12 season – and an expanded format with new Big Ten member Nebraska. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com will combine to broadcast all 12 games of the two-day event, one more than in the previous 12 Challenges.

The 2011 Challenge involves six teams ranked an early preseason top 25 by ESPN.com senior college basketball writer Andy Katz, including three in the top five: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Duke, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 21 Florida State and No. 23 Michigan.

This year’s event – top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioner’s Cup — will include 11 teams that played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament: Clemson, Duke, Florida State and North Carolina from the ACC, and Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.

The ACC has won 10 of the first 12 Challenges with league teams winning 72 of the 119 games played. A year ago, the Big Ten won its second consecutive Challenge by a 6-to-5 margin. Home teams won six of the 11 games in 2010 and five of the contests were decided by eight points or less, including two by three or fewer points.

In the event of a 6-6 tie in the Challenge, the Commissioner’s Cup will remain with the conference that won the Challenge the previous year.

• Following a First with a Rematch: Georgia Tech and Northwestern will follow the first meeting between the programs (Northwestern 91-71) with a second consecutive Challenge showdown.
• Pursuing Perfection: Boston College will look to continue its undefeated streak in the Challenge when the program hosts Penn State. The Eagles have won their previous five games.
• Going for 12: Duke, which lost its only Challenge game in 2009, will look for its event-record 12th win. Duke also won its previous Challenge game against Ohio State, 91-76 in 2002.
• Commissioner’s Cup: The Big Ten won the Commissioner’s Cup for the second consecutive year; the ACC won the previous 10 Challenges.
• First Challenge Matchups: nine of the telecasts will feature first-time Challenge matchups: No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 1 North Carolina, No. 21 Florida State at Michigan State, No. 23 Michigan at Virginia, Miami at Purdue, Clemson at Iowa, Indiana at NC State, Penn State at Boston College, Virginia Tech at Minnesota and Wake Forest at Nebraska.
• Four’s a Charm?: Illinois and Maryland will meet for the fourth time in the Challenge with the Terrapins winning the previous three matchups (69-61 in 2007; 72-66 in 2006; 76-63 in 2001).

2011 Big Ten/ACC Challenge schedule – times and networks are to be determined
(Rankings refer to preseason top 25 by ESPN.com senior college basketball writer Andy Katz)

Tuesday, November 29
Miami at Purdue
Northwestern at Georgia Tech
Illinois at Maryland
No. 23 Michigan at Virginia
Clemson at Iowa
No. 5 Duke at No. 3 Ohio State

Wednesday, November 30
Indiana at NC State
Penn State at Boston College
No. 21 Florida State at Michigan State
Virginia Tech at Minnesota
Wake Forest at Nebraska
No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 1 North Carolina

The Justice Department has sent a stern letter to the NCAA asking why there isn’t a playoff system for big-time college football and implying that the Bowl Championship Series does not comply with federal antitrust laws.

Hey, this from an inept and politically motivated Justice Department that doesn’t have the time to investigate Project Gunrunner where the government sold weapons to Mexican drug lords and those weapons were used to kill Americans.

The open borders Justice Department instead wants to get involved in something for which they have no legal standing. As most with this Justice Department, the letter is politically motivated. With dreams of the successful college basketball tournament dancing in their heads, fans want that similar feeling from a college football playoff. The Justice Department knows they have a winner with this distraction.

But the majority of the NCAA member institutions don’t want a postseason tourney so why should the NCAA make plans to do something its members don’t want?

The fact is that college football and college basketball are different animals. For one, and for a lot of reasons I won’t go into now, there are a third fewer football games than basketball games. Each game of the college football season is huge. NCAA basketball champs Connecticut lost nine games this season – that’s about a fourth of their games. That’s like a football team winning the national championship with a 9-3 record – that can’t happen now and it shouldn’t.

I like college basketball the way it is – actually fewer tournament invitees would be better – and I like college football the way it is. The college football bowl system has been around since 1902 and there is great tradition. Why do we have to throw out tradition when a few tweaks here and there would preserve what has been successful? Yes, there are too many bowls games with strange names but Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney said what I believe is the best argument against a college football playoff.

He told me in an interview recently, “We are about making the regular season relevant – we think it’s the greatest regular season of all sports, college or pro.”

He’s right. Don’t mess with it to placate a politically motivated Justice Department and misguided fans who would miss the importance of each and every college football game. So-called fans will wait until the playoffs to start following college football.

To read a different take from Capital Sports’ Dane Huffman click here.

Letter From Dept of Justice to NCAA on BCS

Many complained back in 2005 when Congress called hearings into the allegations of steroid use in baseball. Didn’t Congress have more important things to do, such as (fill in your pet issue here).

But it turned into great theater as Mark McGwire refused to answer congressional questions. In fact, it was such an embarrassment that the backward monarchs of baseball were forced to act.

Was this an issue of paramount national importance? No. But Congress, seeing that baseball was ignoring the issued, acted, and we’re better off that it did.

A similar situation is looming now in college football. Major college football is the only major sport without a true champion and remains captive to the specific interests of the bowls. It’s an arcane, and frustrating, system and should be revised.

There are legitimate reasons for why a playoff is difficult. How do you handle the logistics of getting tickets to your fans? Can your fan base support multiple road games? How many teams should make a playoff, and what happens to the current bowl structure?

But all this is overcome in other sports, including what was once called Division II. No one  complains about the lack of academic integrity when college basketball players travel the continent in March.

There are a myriad of options for the Bowl Championship Series, and there is no point recounting them all here. But 16 teams in the tournament is the maximum. It’s unfair to expect a team to play more than four games and risk the injuries that come with it.  In fact, the best way to do it would probably be to have 12 teams and give the top four seeds byes. And yes, there would be a way to incorporate the bowls.

The old system has just lasted too long, and it’s time to move on.  Good for Congress for recognizing that, and for acting when college football will not.

To read a different take from Capital Sports’ Cliff Barnes click here.