Maryland Basketball: Terps face familiar foe in Clemson for ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Maryland Basketball is looking to get a resume-building win this season when they face Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

For Maryland basketball fans, it seems to be getting back to some kind of normal state as the pairings for the 2020 ACC-Big 10 Challenge was announced. The Terp’s will face an old foe, as they will travel to South Carolina to play the Clemson Tigers. The game is scheduled for Dec. 9 to be played In Littlejohn Coliseum, home of the Tigers, which some Terp fans have fond memories of.

This will be the 141st meeting between the Terp’s and the Tigers which began in 1938, has Maryland holding a commanding lead with 90 victories, which includes winning the last 13 consecutive meetings from 1998 until 2014. This will be the first time Maryland has played the Tigers since leaving the ACC in 2014 for the Big 10 conference.

Since its inception, the ACC is 12-6-3 in the Challenge and 133-106 in Challenge games. The Terp’s all-time record in the challenge is 11-10 as a member of both the ACC and the Big 10 conferences. The Terp’s record while a being a member of ACC was 10-5, but has a dismal 1-5 record representing the Big 10 conference, with their only win coming last year defeating Notre Dame 72-51 in College Park.

Clemson holds an 11-9 advantage in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and the 11 wins are tied for the fourth-most among all 29 ACC and Big Ten programs that have taken part in the challenge over the years with one of the losses coming last year against Minnesota 78-60.

The Tigers finished the 2019 season with a record of 16-15 record and 9-11 in ACC conference play. CBS Sports recently released its ACC predictions and was picked to finish 9th in the ACC in 2020. Clemson will enter the 2020-21 season with a team that looks similar to that of their 2019-20 team.

The Tigers will have four of their top-five scorers from last season back, who is also four of their top-five rebounders, and they also have each of their top-five assist leaders back. The Tigers come March could be a team on the bubble when March Madness rolls around,

Historically, the top ACC team and the top Big 10 teams get paired, second best, etc. So, Maryland fans were looking forward to a matchup against UNC, UVA, or even Duke and I’m sure some Terp fans are feeling a little slighted with a pairing against Clemson, as the Terp’s are reigning Big 10 Champs.

But, the way I see it, and with all that has transpired over the last several months with the pandemic and scheduling efforts. I think Clemson could be the best non-conference team they will face this year, so the Terp’s need to play this game as if it was a championship game.

A win for the Terp’s against a solid Clemson team, could no doubt only enhance their resume come March and I think this game could be the difference between being in the dance and last four out.