SEC/ACC Challenge for men’s and women’s college basketball will start in 2023

The SEC officially announced Monday that the conference will be part of an SEC/ACC Challenge for men’s and women’s college basketball starting next season.

“We are excited women’s and men’s basketball student-athletes will have the opportunity to compete with their colleagues from the ACC as we initiate a new Basketball Challenge experience,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in the official release. “I appreciate the collaboration of Jim Phillips and the ACC members, along with our broadcast partner ESPN, to make possible the SEC/ACC Basketball Challenge which will provide our fans with exciting basketball early in the 2023-24 season. I also thank the Big 12 for the many great challenge games we experienced together in past years.”

The SEC/ACC Challenge will replace the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and ACC/Big Ten Challenge after this season. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge enjoyed a 23-year run. The SEC/Big 12 Challenge lasted 10 years.

The NCAA’s Andy Katz first reported the agreement on Monday. ESPN loses broadcast rights to the Big Ten after this season, bringing to an end the agreement between the ACC and Big Ten for their annual basketball challenge.

According to Katz, the SEC/ACC Challenge games will be played the week after Thanksgiving in 2023.

Kentucky plays Kansas on Jan. 28 at Rupp Arena in this year’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

“The future ACC-SEC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Challenges will be outstanding events for our student-athletes, member institutions and fans,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “The SEC, led by Greg Sankey, and our partners at ESPN have been terrific, and there’s great excitement for the first annual ACC/SEC Challenge next season. As part of this announcement, we’d like to acknowledge the Big Ten for its partnership on the ACC/B1G Challenge that spanned more than 20 years.”

The Cats are 5-3 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, including 4-2 since the annual slate of non-conference games began playing in late January. Before that, the games between the two leagues, which began with the 2013-14 season, were spread out over several dates.

Kentucky’s scheduled game with Texas as part of the 2021 Challenge was canceled because of COVID-19.

Kentucky SEC/Big 12 Challenge history:

• Dec. 6, 2013 - Lost 67-62 to Baylor in Arlington, TX

• Jan. 5, 2014 - Beat Texas 63-51 at Rupp Arena

• Jan. 30, 2016 - Lost 90-84 to Kansas in overtime in Lawrence

• Jan. 28, 2017 - Lost to Kansas 79-73 at Rupp Arena

• Jan. 27, 2018 - Beat West Virginia 83-76 in Morgantown

• Jan. 26, 2019 - Beat Kansas 71-63 at Rupp Arena

• Jan. 25, 2020 - Beat Texas Tech 76-74 in overtime in Lubbock

• Jan. 29, 2022 - Beat Kansas 80-62 in Lawrence

This year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge takes place this week. Here’s the schedule:

Monday, November 28

• 7 p.m. - Minnesota at Virginia Tech (ESPN2)

• 9 p.m. - Pittsburgh at Northwestern (ESPN2)

Tuesday, November 29

• 7 p.m. - Maryland at Louisville (ESPN2)

• 7 p.m. - Penn State at Clemson (ESPNU)

• 7:30 p.m. - Syracuse at Illinois (ESPN)

• 9 p.m. - Georgia Tech at Iowa (ESPNU/2)

• 9 p.m. - Wake Forest at Wisconsin (ESPNU/2)

• 9:30 p.m. - Virginia at Michigan (ESPN)

Wednesday, November 30

• 7:15 p.m. - Ohio State at Duke (ESPN)

• 7:15 p.m. - Purdue at Florida State (ESPN2)

• 7:15 p.m. - Rutgers at Miami (ESPNU)

• 9:15 p.m. - North Carolina at Indiana (ESPN)

• 9:15 p.m. - Michigan State at Notre Dame (ESPN2)

• 9:15 p.m. - Boston College at Nebraska (ESPNU)

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