Seemingly every major conference has taken part in a league vs. league challenge over the past several years, with some (Big 12/SEC Challenge, Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge) faring better than others (SEC-Big East Challenge, Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series). But since its inception in 1999, the headliner is still the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The four-day, 14-game series begins on Monday -- but the battle for league supremacy really started back at the Champions Classic, when ACC favorite Duke beat Big Ten favorite Michigan State, giving the ACC momentum to start the season. Since then, the ACC has had some impressive exempt event performances, while the Big Ten is generally looking for consistency.