For 10 years, the Atlantic Coast Conference dominated the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge — until last year, when the Big Ten won six of the 11 games and secured its first ever title. This year, a much stronger Big Ten conference looks for a repeat.

The games, which continue through Wednesday, started last night when No. 15 Minnesota lost to Virginia 87-79.

Tuesday night at 9 p.m. the Wolverines (3-2) face Clemson, a team fresh off a Thanksgiving tournament trip to the Virgin Islands where it went 2-1, its only loss coming against Old Dominion by one point.

This year's Tigers (5-1) are competing without coach Oliver Purnell, who led Clemson to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and Trevor Booker, who left for the NBA.

But Clemson brought in coach Brad Brownell, and Booker’s younger brother, Devin. Devin and Jerai Grant make up a post tandem that has been quite successful this year on the boards and in the scorebooks. The post play is complemented by balanced scoring from guards Demontez Stitt and Tanner Smith.

The teams have met three times before, with Michigan leading the series, 3-0. They last faced each other in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, which the Wolverines won, 62-59. None of the matchups have been decided by more than six points.

Michigan is hoping to keep on pace with those results and outperform this past weekend’s showing at the Legends Classic by studying their offense more in order to execute it better.

“Sometimes when you get in the game you might forget some stuff but the good teams never forget,” sophomore Darius Morris said after the Wolverines’ loss to the University of Texas El Paso on Saturday. “We’ve just gotta be able to execute … One day we’re gonna get there where we have a game plan and we’re gonna stick with it.”

But it isn’t just the Wolverines worried about Michigan’s offensive sets.

“(Beilein’s) an innovator,” Brownell said in a video posted online by the Clemson Athletic Department. “His offense is something he kind of designed and has tweaked through the years. It’s very difficult to play against, especially with a short prep.”

Both teams look to improve on their fates at last year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge, where Michigan lost to Boston College by four and Clemson lost to Illinois by two. Historically, the games have been tight matches — last year, seven of the 11 games were decided by seven points or fewer.