April 30, 2015
The SEC and Big 12 conferences have announced an extension of their women’s basketball challenge to 10 games in 2016 and 2017.
Vanderbilt is scheduled to host Iowa State in 2017 as part of the Challenge. It will be the fourth all-time meeting between the teams, with Vanderbilt leading the series, 2-1. The most recent matchup between the Commodores and Cyclones came in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, when Iowa State downed Vanderbilt, 55-51.
Under the Challenge’s new expanded format, 10 teams from the SEC will participate while every team from the Big 12 will take part in the Challenge each season. The format features five home games on campus sites for each conference per year. Teams will not face the same opponent twice.
In 2016, games will be scheduled over the dates of Thursday, Dec. 1 through Sunday, Dec. 4. Exact dates of matchups and television designation will be released when available.
“We are excited to see the SEC/Big 12 Challenge expand in women’s basketball,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “The matchups on these four days, each year, will showcase the strength and depth of our women’s basketball teams and provide the fans of both conferences with exhilarating games.”
The inaugural challenge was held in 2014 in Little Rock, Ark., and featured a top 5 matchup with No. 3 Texas squaring off against No. 4 Texas A&M. Oklahoma and Arkansas, who were both receiving votes in the Associated Press Poll, played in the second game. The conferences split the Challenge with the two games decided by a total of nine points.
The 2015 version will be contested in Oklahoma City on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015, with the opponents reversed. Texas will play Arkansas while Oklahoma entertains Texas A&M.
2016 SEC/Big 12 Women’s Basketball Challenge Matchups
Baylor at Tennessee
Mississippi State at Iowa State
Kansas at Alabama
Auburn at Kansas State
Oklahoma at Kentucky
Georgia at Oklahoma State
TCU at Florida
South Carolina at Texas
Texas Tech at Arkansas
Ole Miss at West Virginia
2017 SEC/Big 12 Women’s Basketball Challenge Matchups
Kentucky at Baylor
Iowa State at Vanderbilt
Arkansas at Kansas
Kansas State at Missouri
Florida at Oklahoma
Oklahoma State at Mississippi State
Alabama at TCU
Texas at Georgia
LSU at Texas Tech
West Virginia at Texas A&M