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Seven Preseason Ranked Teams on Schedule
The second annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge – an early-season men’s basketball event showcasing all 10 Big 12 teams and 10 of the 14 SEC programs – will be played over four days from December 3-6. Additional details, including start times and network designation, will be announced at a later date.
ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 10 games between the two premier conferences. All 10 games will also be available via WatchESPN. The inaugural event in 2013, which took place in November and December, saw the Big 12 winning seven of the 10 games.
Two games will feature a matchup of teams in the latest ESPN.com early preseason poll: No. 9 Florida at No. 10 Kansas and No. 17 Texas at No. 1 Kentucky. Additional Challenge teams ranked in the early poll include: No. 16 Iowa State, No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 23 Kansas State.
Schedule Highlights:
- Arkansas, LSU and Tennessee will be playing in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge for the first time.
- Ten teams earned a berth to the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship: National runner-up Kentucky, Final Four participant Florida, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Texas.
- Auburn and Texas Tech, opening the 2014 Challenge, will meet for the first time since Dec. 19, 1963.
- Baylor and Vanderbilt have met nine previous times. The Bears’ only win was a 61-52 victory at the All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City coming on Dec. 28, 1949.
- Two rematch games from the 2013 Challenge feature Florida at Kansas and Oklahoma State at South Carolina.
- Missouri will visit Oklahoma, marking the 210th meeting between the programs, with the Sooners leading the all-time series 112-97.
- Kentucky and Texas have played once in history, an 86-61 Wildcats victory at the Maui Invitational on December 21, 1993.
- Kansas State and Tennessee will face-off for the first time ever.
- The Challenge field has 19 players ranked in the 2014 ESPN Recruiting Nation 100, including five of the top 11: No. 2 Myles Turner (C, Texas), No. 3 Cliff Alexander (PF, Kansas), No. 6 Trey Lyles (PF, Kentucky), No. 9 Karl Towns Jr. (C, Kentucky) and No. 11 Kelly Oubre (SF, Kansas).
- Kentucky fields the No. 2-ranked incoming class and Kansas stands at No. 5 in the 2014 ESPN Recruiting Nation Class Rankings.
2014 SEC/Big 12 Challenge schedule (times and networks will be announced in August):
| Date | Game |
| Wed, Dec 3 | Auburn at Texas Tech |
| Thu, Dec 4 | Arkansas at No. 16 Iowa State |
| Baylor at Vanderbilt | |
| LSU at West Virginia | |
| TCU at Ole Miss | |
| Fri, Dec 5 | No. 9 Florida at No. 10 Kansas |
| Missouri at No. 19 Oklahoma | |
| No. 17 Texas at No. 1 Kentucky | |
| Sat, Dec 6 | No. 23 Kansas State at Tennessee |
| Oklahoma State at South Carolina |
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