Providence Men’s Basketball To Play At Ohio State On Nov. 17 In Second Annual Gavitt Tipoff Games

PC News Release…

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — On May 3, the BIG EAST and Big Ten Conferences announced the matchups for the second annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, with eight men’s basketball games set to be played from Nov. 14-18, 2016.   Providence College will play at Ohio State on Thursday, Nov. 17.  The BIG EAST home games will be televised on FS1, while Big Ten home games will air on BTN or an ESPN network.

For the Friars, who have posted a 0-1 record all-time versus Ohio State, it will mark their first game against the Buckeyes since Providence was defeated 84-83 on March 15, 1990 in the Salt Lake City, Utah in the NCAA Tournament. 

Last season, the Friars hosted Illinois in the Gavitt Games and earned a 60-59 win on Nov. 18, 2015.  The Friars have registered a 15-17 mark all-time versus teams from the Big Ten.

The Gavitt Tipoff Games is an annual early-season series played between the two conferences and named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the BIG EAST and basketball visionary.

Below is the complete schedule for the 2016 Gavitt Tipoff Games. Start times and specific television assignments will be announced at a later date.

Monday, Nov. 14

Villanova at Purdue

Tuesday, Nov. 15

Maryland at Georgetown

Wisconsin at Creighton

Wednesday, Nov. 16

Northwestern at Butler

Thursday, Nov. 17

Seton Hall at Iowa

Providence at Ohio State

Rutgers at DePaul

Friday, Nov. 18

St. John’s at Minnesota

Beginning in 2015 and scheduled through 2022, the Gavitt Tipoff Games will be played on four consecutive days in the first full week of the college basketball campaign. The series will span eight years, with games played at home sites. Each BIG EAST team will participate a minimum of six times, while Big Ten programs will take part a minimum of four times. Teams from both conferences already meet in some traditional rivalry games, and those matchups will continue in the upcoming seasons.

The unique series between the two conferences is named to honor the late Gavitt, who had a profound and lasting influence on the sport of basketball on the collegiate, professional and Olympic levels. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.