May 14, 2015
The third annual Big 12/SEC Challenge schedule has been set, and the Commodores will travel to Austin, Texas, to take on the Longhorns on January 30, 2016, in a revamped format for the series. The game is a rematch of the two teams from a 2014 Big 12/SEC Challenge matchup at the Frank Irwin Center.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series between the two schools, 4-3, but Texas got the upper hand in the last meeting in 2014, a 70-64 win on December 2. Next January’s meeting will be only the second time the Commodores have played in Austin against the Longhorns.
All 10 of the Big 12’s teams and 10 of the SEC’s 14 member institutions will participate in this year’s event. Each of the 10 SEC teams participating in the 2016 Challenge will also play in the 2017 event.
Fourteen participating teams earned postseason berths in 2015 and nine of the 10 games will feature at least one team that participated in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
The first two years of the challenge were played over several days in November and December but the 2016 event will be consolidated to one single day in January. A bye in the league schedule for participating teams was created to accommodate the new format. The four SEC teams not participating will play each other in conference games the same day.
Eight of the 10 games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 and two games will air on ESPNU. All 10 games will also be available via WatchESPN. ESPN’s College GameDay Covered by State Farm — the Saturday morning and evening roadshow that discusses the top storylines of the college basketball season — will originate from one of the Challenge games, to be announced at a later date.
“The ability to showcase SEC basketball in this kind of inter-conference competition makes this a unique and exciting event for our coaches, student-athletes and fans,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said.
Start times and network designations will be announced at a later date.
2016 Big 12/SEC Challenge Presented by Sonic (January 30, 2016):
Vanderbilt at Texas
Texas Tech at Arkansas
Oklahoma State at Auburn
West Virginia at Florida
Georgia at Baylor
Kentucky at Kansas
Oklahoma at LSU
Ole Miss at Kansas State
Tennessee at TCU
Iowa State at Texas A&M
