This year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge will be the final one here in 2022. The series is ending after 23 years after the ACC and SEC announced a new challenge that will begin for the 2023-24 season.
On Monday, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported that the ACC and SEC will host a challenge for both men’s and women’s basketball beginning next season. The games will all be aired on ESPN featuring 28 games across men’s and women’s basketball until 2025-26. The SEC is set to expand and add two more teams in Oklahoma and Texas, setting the challenge to 30 games beginning that season.
Here is the statement the SEC, ACC and ESPN released:
“The future ACC/SEC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Challenges will be outstanding events for our student-athletes, member institutions and fans,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said. “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.”
“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,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. “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 new event will allow us to see some premiere matchups including the potential of Kentucky taking on North Carolina, Duke, or Virginia depending on earlier tournaments in the season.
Kentucky is involved in the CBS Sports Classic with UNC and the Champions Classic with Duke.
Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee are also other programs that will be intriguing matchups for the ACC.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.