2016-17 Louisville basketball schedule: Cards will host Ohio State in ACC-Big 10 Challenge

For the second time in three years, the Louisville basketball team will host Ohio State in the annual ACC-Big 10 Challenge.

Louisville will host Ohio State in next season's ACC/Big Ten Challenge, sources told @CBSSports.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 23, 2016

The Cards defeated D'Angelo Russell and the Buckeyes 64-55 at the Yum Center on Dec. 2, 2014. Wayne Blackshear scored 22 points, while Montrezl Harrell chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Louisville tasted defeat for the first time in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge last season when they fell at then-No. 3 Michigan State, 71-67. The loss was U of L's first of the season and one of only two games they dropped during the non-conference portion of their schedule.

Ohio State is coming off a disappointing season in which they went 21-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. They return one player Louisville fans should be very familiar with: sophomore JaQuan Lyle, who committed to U of L in June, 2013 before decommitting just three months later. He then made national headlines last October by becoming the first former Cardinal player or recruit to "confirm the gist" of Katina Powell's allegations.

Lyle, who averaged 11.2 ppg for OSU last season, did not seem overly enthusiastic about this scheduling news.

See you in December.

I'm a little bit surprised that the event is going back to this matchup just two years after it happened for the first time. I didn't expect to see Michigan State for a second straight year and the Cards are already slated to play Indiana, but I wouldn't have hated to see a little more of a change of pace. Wisconsin and Maryland are slated to host games, but Iowa and Purdue are two other options that the scheduling committee chose not to pursue here.

Oh well. Thad Matta's not going to let the Buckeyes have back-to-back dismal seasons, and this would be a huge early statement to his detractors. Should be fun.