Northwestern draws Wake Forest in Big Ten/ACC Challenge, per report

Northwestern's opponent for the 2016 Big Ten/ACC Challenge will be the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Rothstein tweeted the news Monday:

Northwestern will host Wake Forest in next season's ACC/Big Ten Challenge, sources told @CBSSports.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 23, 2016

This is a slight letdown. Wake Forest was not very good last year. The Demon Deacons finished 125th in KenPom's team ratings and won just two ACC games. In fact, Wake's was best known last year for a game it mathematically "won" but in actuality lost, squandering a huge lead against Virginia in the final moments. Wake's best win of the season was a last-second victory over Indiana in the Maui Invitational.

Wake probably won't provide much of a resume building opportunity for the Wildcats. However, Danny Manning's team does have some interesting pieces that can give teams trouble. Konstantinos Mitoglou, a 6-foot-10 Greece native, can stretch the floor well for a guy of his size. The backcourt consists of Mitchell Wilbekin, the brother of former Florida All-American Scottie, and All-ACC Freshman Team member Bryant Crawford. Unfortunately for the Demon Deacons, they have to replace two of their three leading scorers from a year ago: Devin Thomas (first) and Codi Miller-McIntyre (third).

Either way, Northwestern gets to host a power conference team in Welsh-Ryan in a game that will probably be nationally televised. That's always fun!

Last season, Northwestern's won the Big Ten/ACC Challenge contest against Virginia Tech. In their most recent home game of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Wildcats lost to Georgia Tech.