Pitt will visit Iowa in the 2018 ACC/Big Ten Challenge, according to a report by Jon Rothstein of FanRagSports.com.
It’ll be a return to the intra-conference showcase for the Panthers, who sat out the 2017 tournament. The date of the challenge is still to be announced.
It’s the third confirmed opponent for Pitt this season and second that will be on the road. The Panthers will face Duquesne at PPG Paints Arena in the annual City Game and also visit West Virginia in the first road leg of the renewed Backyard Brawl.
The Panthers haven’t visited Iowa City since 1935. Pitt and Iowa have met seven times overall, with the Panthers hosting a 5-2 advantage, but the Hawkeyes have won two straight against Pitt. None of the games have been recent, with a neutral-site game in 1976 and a game in Pittsburgh in 1950 marking the last two times the teams have met. They played five times between 1927 and 1935, with Pitt winning all five of those contests.
Because the ACC has one more basketball team than the Big Ten, one team must sit out. Pitt took its turn last year. Wake Forest is sitting out this year.
The Panthers are 2-2 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Pitt went on the road to beat Maryland, 73-59 in its last appearance in the challenge in 2016. In 2015, they lost 72-59 at home to then-No. 11 Purdue. The lost at Indiana in 2014 and beat Penn State at home in 2013.
