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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
The matchups for the first ACC/SEC Challenge were announced Wednesday morning, headlined by Duke’s trip to Arkansas on the men’s side and Virginia Tech’s game against LSU on the women’s side.
The ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge will take place Nov. 28 and Nov. 28, while the Women’s Challenge is scheduled for Nov. 29 and 30.
On the men’s side, there are three games between likely preseason top-25 teams: Miami at Kentucky, Tennessee at North Carolina, and Duke at Arkansas.
The marquee matchup will be the Blue Devils, who are currently ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, traveling to face Arkansas, currently ranked No. 14. Duke brings in the nation’s second-ranked recruiting class and welcomes back four of five starters, while Arkansas adds six transfers as it hopes to make its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament’s second weekend.
Meanwhile, Tennessee could open the season as the favorite to win the SEC, and North Carolina is looking to bounce back from its disastrous campaign in 2022-23. Kentucky has reloaded in the past two weeks, bringing back Antonio Reeves and adding West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell to the No. 1 incoming recruiting class, and the Wildcats will host a Miami team coming off a Final Four run.
On the women’s side, Virginia Tech — ranked No. 9 in the Way-Too-Early Top 25 — will head to LSU, where the Tigers are coming off a national championship and are likely to open the season ranked No. 1 with the return of Angel Reese and the addition of Louisville transfer Hailey Van Lith.
Notre Dame at Tennessee, Louisville at Ole Miss and South Carolina at North Carolina are three other intriguing matchups.
This is the first season of the ACC/SEC Basketball Challenge, which was announced last November and will replace the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which ran from 1999 until last season, as well as the SEC/Big 12 Challenge that was held for the past 10 years.
“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 at the time. “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 added in November. “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.”
Men’s matchups:
Tuesday, Nov. 28
LSU at Syracuse (7 p.m.)
Missouri at Pittsburgh (7 p.m.)
Mississippi State at Georgia Tech (7 p.m.)
Notre Dame at South Carolina (7 p.m.)
Miami at Kentucky (7:30 p.m.)
NC State at Ole Miss (9 p.m.)
Clemson at Arkansas (9:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, Nov. 29
Tennessee at North Carolina (7:15 p.m.)
Texas A&M at Virginia (7:15 p.m.)
Florida at Wake Forest (7:15 p.m.)
Duke at Arkansas (9:15 p.m.)
Virginia Tech at Auburn (9:15 p.m.)
Georgia at Florida State (9:15 p.m.)
Boston College at Vanderbilt (9:15 p.m.)
Women’s matchups:
Wednesday, Nov. 29
Notre Dame at Tennessee (5 p.m.)
Florida at Georgia Tech (5 p.m.)
Vanderbilt at NC State (7:15 p.m.)
Miami at Mississippi State (7:15 p.m.)
Louisville at Ole Miss (9:15 p.m.)
Thursday, Nov. 30
Missouri at Virginia (5 p.m.)
Duke at Georgia (5 p.m.)
South Carolina at North Carolina (7 p.m.)
Arkansas at Florida State (7 p.m.)
Alabama at Syracuse (7 p.m.)
Boston College at Kentucky (7 p.m.)
Virginia Tech at LSU (9 p.m.)
Texas A&M at Wake Forest (9 p.m.)
Clemson at Auburn (9 p.m.)