Indiana will travel to Raleigh to play NC State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on November 29, per umhoops. Surprisingly, this will be only the third matchup between the Hoosiers and the Wolfpack, which have combined for seven NCAA championships. The teams played a home-and-home series in 1967 and 1968, and IU won both games. There are strong connections between the NC State program and the state of Indiana. Two of NC State's most legendary coaches, Everett Case and Norm Sloan, were from Indiana, and both coaches recruited Indiana well, landing the likes of future MLB reliever Tim Stoddard, who was a legendary high school basketball player in East Chicago.
This is not a bad matchup for IU. NC State recently fired its coach, Sidney Lowe, and hired former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried. The Wolfpack have not had a winning season in the ACC since 2006. NCSU lost to Wisconsin by 39 in last year's Challenge. This is far from a guaranteed win for a program that has won only one true road game in the last three seasons, but it's nearly the best matchup possible. I would guess that NC State fans feel the same way.