Big 12/SEC Challenge Match-Ups Released
Pairings have been announced for the 2020 edition of the men’s basketball Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The seventh annual event will consist of 10 games played on Saturday, January 25, as every Big 12 member faces 10 squads from the Southeastern Conference. The leagues are coming off a season in which both featured a team in the Final Four as Texas Tech was the national runner-up while Auburn played in a national semifinal. Additionally, Texas captured the postseason NIT championship.
Half of the contests will showcase matchups in which both participants competed in the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship while nine will feature at least one team that advanced to a postseason tournament.
This will mark the fifth consecutive year for all games to be played in one day. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise the contests with ESPN’s College GameDay originating from one of the sites.
Big 12 teams are 35-25 (.583) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge after a 6-4 advantage in 2019. The Big 12 has a yearly Challenge record of 4-1-1 with wins in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The tie occurred in 2017 (in case of a tie, the trophy stays with the conference that won it the previous season).
2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge – Saturday, January 25
(Number in parenthesis is the Big 12 team record in the Challenge)
Baylor (5-1) at Florida
– Series record tied at 1-1 with UF winning in a 2018 Challenge matchup. Both 2019 NCAA tournament participants.
Iowa State (3-3) at Auburn
– ISU has won two consecutive in a 2-1 series with the last game in 2013. Both competed in the 2019 NCAA tournament.
Tennessee at Kansas (4-2)
– KU leads the series 3-1, including an 87-81 OT win in the Preseason NIT championship game last season. Both were 2019 NCAA Tournament teams.
Kansas State (3-3) at Alabama
– K-State leads 2-1 with wins in the last two games in 2009 and 2011. K-State played in the 2019 NCAA Championship while Alabama was in the NIT.
Mississippi State at Oklahoma (4-2)
– MSU holds a 3-0 series advantage. Both are 2019 NCAA tournament teams.
Oklahoma State (4-2) at Texas A&M
– OSU holds a 31-18 record with the last meeting a TAMU win in 2018.
TCU (4-2) at Arkansas
– UA has a 104-38 advantage with the last meeting in 1991. Both competed in the 2019 NIT.
LSU at Texas (3-3)
– LSU leads the series 19-11 with the last matchup in 2006-07. UT won the 2019 NIT title while LSU competed in the NCAA tournament.
Kentucky at Texas Tech (4-2)
– UK leads the series 4-0 with the last matchup in 1994. Both played in the 2019 NCAA tournament.
Missouri at West Virginia (1-5)
– The series is tied at 2-2 with WVU winning the last meeting in 2017.
