Wolverines To Host Xavier In Inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In conjunction with Big Ten and Big East conferences, the University of Michigan men's basketball program announced today (Wednesday, April 22), the Wolverines will host Xavier in the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games at Crisler Center on Friday, Nov. 20.
U-M's home matchup with the Musketeers will be the finale of the eight-game series over a four-day period in mid-November. Game times and TV designation will be announced at a later date.
Michigan holds a 3-0 all-time record against Xavier and last faced the Musketeers during U-M's "Shock the World" run to the 1989 national title. U-M recorded a five-point victory, 92-87, in the NCAA Southeast Regional first round played in the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Maize and Blue picked up its first win, 77-61, in a home game at Crisler Arena on Dec. 10, 1973. U-M's third victory was during U-M's run to the 1984 NIT title, when the Wolverines had a thrilling 63-62 quarterfinal win at Crisler to advance to Madison Square Garden and eventually go on to the postseason title.
The Gavitt Tipoff Games will be an eight-game series played between the Big Ten and the Big East to tip off the college basketball season. The Gavitt Tipoff Games will begin this season and run through 2022 as part of an eight-year deal. The games will be split evenly with four games hosted by each conference school.
Each Big Ten team will participate a minimum of four times in the series, while each Big East team will participate in the challenge a minimum of six times during the eight-year deal. All games played at a Big East campus are scheduled to be televised by Fox Sports 1 and all games played on a Big Ten campus will be televised by ESPN or the Big Ten Network.
2015 Gavitt Games Schedule
Tuesday, Nov. 17
Georgetown at Maryland
DePaul at Penn State
Nebraska at Villanova
Wednesday, Nov. 18
Illinois at Providence
Thursday, Nov. 19
Creighton at Indiana
Iowa at Marquette
Rutgers at St. John's
Friday, Nov. 20
Xavier at Michigan
