Michigan State Women’s Basketball: Spartans will face Notre Dame in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

The Michigan State Spartans women’s basketball team will welcome the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to East Lansing on Thursday, Dec. 2 as part of the 2021 Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

The Spartans and Fighting Irish are meeting for the first time ever in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, but Notre Dame holds the narrow overall series edge at 11-10. Michigan State won the last matchup between the teams in November 2019, leaving South Bend with a 72-69 win. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series by MSU.

This year will mark the 14th year of the event for the women’s teams of the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conferences. The annual challenge started in 2007, fueled in part by the success of the men’s event that began in 1999. The challenge was paused for the women in 2020, however, despite the fact the men’s challenge did occur. Neither conference provided any form of justification for the glaring gender disparity of that decision.

The Big Ten is 1-9-3 in the event all-time, winning its first ever challenge in 2019. Michigan State is 6-7 all-time in the challenge, with the highlight wins coming in 2009 in an upset victory over No. 4 North Carolina and in 2010 over No. 15 Florida State. The Spartans will be playing in East Lansing for the third time in the past five years of the event after back-to-back road games in 2016 and 2017.

The men’s team welcomed Notre Dame to East Lansing during the regular season’s non-conference action last year and is scheduled to host Louisville on Dec. 1 in this year’s challenge. The men’s team was scheduled to play at Virginia in 2020, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.

The full schedule for the women’s Big Ten/ACC challenge is below (game times and TV channels will be announced at a later date):

2021 Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge Pairings

Wednesday, Dec. 1

• North Carolina at Minnesota
• Nebraska at Wake Forest
• Ohio State at Syracuse
• Georgia Tech at Purdue
• Virginia Tech at Wisconsin

Thursday, Dec. 2

• Florida State at Illinois
• NC State at Indiana
• Iowa at Duke
• Miami at Maryland
• Michigan at Louisville
• Notre Dame at Michigan State
• Northwestern at Clemson
• Penn State at Boston College
• Rutgers at Pittsburgh

The Spartans full history in the challenge:

• 2020 - Challenge postponed
• 2019 - Florida State 78, MSU 68
• 2018 - MSU 91, Virginia 66
• 2017 - Miami 67, MSU 57
• 2016 - Syracuse 75, MSU 64
• 2015 - Louisville 85, MSU 78
• 2014 - MSU 79, Georgia Tech 73 (OT)
• 2013 - Florida State 60, MSU 58
• 2012 - MSU 68, N.C. State 51
• 2011 - Miami 76, MSU 60
• 2010 - MSU 72, Florida State 64
• 2009 - MSU 72, North Carolina 66
• 2008 - Georgia Tech 57, MSU 50
• 2007 - MSU 68, Clemson 51

Bold = home games